when to travel the outback

Australia is a big country, a continent in fact. At one end are the tropics and at the other the roaring forties, and it has a correspondingly wide range of climates. Don't be fooled by the glossy travel brochures. The far north of Australia is under the influence of monsoonal troughs from November until April, the weather is hot and humid with lots of rain. This is great if you want to see the waterfalls of the wet dry tropics in full flood, and the savannah green, however it is HOT and oppressive, and lots of the 4X4 tracks are impassable. At this time of year there is cyclonic activity, and once they cross the coast they can dump literally meters of rain on the northern deserts, making vast tracts of the inland impassable.

At this time the beaches of Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, Southern New South Wales and Southern Western Australia are magnificent, but the big international tourism investment is in the north of the continent, so their advertising drives international visitors to the wet north. Take a careful look at the Australian climate before planning your holiday.

Travelling in the Outback between November and March you will experience extreme heat. The Simpson Desert is closed to the public then. Diamantina chooses to visit the Outback during the cooler months, when temperatures are ideal. The ideal time for desert travel is between April and September, and it is not only because of the temperature, but also the flies!

Flies
Flies can produce seven generations in one year. If you assume that a fly lays 120 eggs per generation and half of these develop into females, a single female fly can give rise to over five million million flies within a year. The most annoying flies are protien deficient females that are persistant in trying to extract protien from your eyes, mouth and ears. A fly net is handy and they mostly sleep at nights, except when it is very hot and there is a bright moon. The good news is their numbers drop dramatically in winter, and frosts kill them off. They are also only active when the temperature is above 16 degrees, and in winter there is hardly a fly at all.

So the best time to visit Australia will depend on where you are going and what you intend to accomplish, and if we could offer one word of advice – don’t try to do it all, the place is so big and so diverse you could spend a lifetime travelling and still see new places. If you are here for several months then you can plan to catch the best weather everywhere. Australia has six distinct climatic regions click here to see a map of those climate zones.

Vehicle and preparation
What you should consider and what preparation you should undertake to get your truck ship shape

Toolkit
What you should have in your toolkit, with handy tips from experts in Outback travel.

Roofracks
How good are roofracks, how should you set them up and what should you put on them

Tyres
What tyres you should run, what pressure you should put in them and how to repair them on the road

Trailers
Important information on what kind of trailer you should take and how to modify it for the outback

Maps
Information and links to both paper and digital maps, what you need and where to get it

Communications
Modern communications are essential in remote areas. Find out the what, why, where and when

First Aid
In the outback you could be several days from medical help. The RFDS can't get everywhere. Details of first aid kit contents and medical training. Essential!