Big Red Tour: How to travel by 4WD in the Australian Outback.

B I G R E D T O U R

How to travel by 4WD in the Australian Outback

WHERE TO GO

This section of the web site is information about vehicles and vehicle preparation. Please also check out the other sections for advice about eating, sleeping, driving, behaving and surviving in the bush.

THE VEHICLE
Landcruisers are the best **** the rest. :-)

VEHICLE PREPARATION
If you don't do it, you will regret it. Out there, you're on your own and without a well functioning vehicle that can take you back out again, guess what will happen?!

BICYCLING IN THE BUSH
For a horror story, see: Tilmann Waldthalers Travelstory.

Some of the most common questions people send me over the Internet is how to travel around the Outback. You have a number of options, such as:

Your own 4WD vehicle
A 4WD Campervan
Motorcycle
Push Bike
Organised tour
Tag a long tour

YOUR OWN 4WD VEHICLE
I consider the option of driving around in your own 4WD vehicle that you either buy or rent, as the superior alternative. This is the ultimate combination of freedom and comfort, compared with other alternatives.

4WD CAMPERVANS
4WD Campervans are very popular with German (and Swiss German) tourists. Personally, I could not imagine anything more horrific than having to sleep in a hot car. The beauty of travelling in the outback is to get close to nature, cook over an open fire and sleep under the stars. You will not get this experience with a campervan.

MOTORCYCLE
Travelling by motorcycle in the outback are for brave people who likes to swallow a lot of dust. You need to be experienced with driving in off-road conditions. What is relatively easy in a Toyota Landcruiser, is much tougher on a bike. You have to travel with less equipment than if you travel by car. Water will always be the main concern.

PUSH BIKE
Bicycling around outback Australia is for masochistic people. The heat and distances will be a real and serious problem. I wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy. Still, you meet some of these self torturers every week. That not more of these people get killed, is a mystery to me. This site does not deal with travelling on bikes.

ORGANISED TOURS
There are a large number of tour operators in Australia, who bring people out in the outback in various vehicles, from normal size 4WD cars to big buses. Generally I loathe the lot. There might be one or two that are good, but most are a big pain.
If you go on one of these tours, you will be herded around by some guy in a para-military outfit, who often scream at their customers, as if they had been recruits in a third world army. Tours are a big pain when they arrive to National Parks or other beautiful spots. Loads of screaming people destroy the night peace for everybody else and scare away the wild life (or feed them, which is just as disastrous).
What bugs me most about the para-militarys, is the huge bonfires they make every night. The surroundings are scavenged for all available firewood, thus destroying the habitat for small animals. It's as if these bastards sit at their business meetings and decide that they are going to have an even bigger bonfire than their competitors.
If you're looking for a "real" bush experience, then avoid to be one of these suckers that fall in the hands of these para-military idiots. There will be no links to para-militarys from this site. Just say NO!

TAG ALONG TOURS
Some para-miltarys run tag along tours. It might appear as good idea to go in a convoy with other people. Safety in numbers. Well, it's easy enough to find other helpful and friendly people to travel with in caravan parks. There's no need to pay money to some self proclaimed "bush man", who will be of little use anyway.

CONCLUSION
As Fleetwod Mac says: "You must go your own way".