The Outback Way is the stuff of legends, thousands of kilometres of dirt road through the centre of Australia.
Completing the journey took our Back Roads team into uncharted territory and to places most people can only dream of seeing.
Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this story includes the name and image of an Indigenous person who has died.
It’s 7:18am and the road out of the Kings Canyon Resort in the Northern Territory is empty except for our two cars.
In one four-wheel drive, sound recordist Tony Hill is polishing off the servo breakfast we’d grabbed, while cameraman Rob Hill drives, checking the verges for kangaroos.
I’m in the other car, keeping an eye on the pale sky to our right. There’s just a hint of blue and the promise of another perfect winter day to come.
To our east, it’s as if an unseen artist is adding another wide brush of crimson paint as each kilometre slips by.
“Damian, do we have no time to stop for this sunrise?” I asked producer Damian Estall incredulously as its intensity grew.
“No time to stop for the sunrise, the amazing sunrise? No time,” the man at the wheel, in charge of our complex schedule, responded with a smile.
We had many kilometres to cover and every day seemed to be longer than the last.The fire in the sky peaked at 7:21am — I know because of the time stamp on the video I took on my phone.
Every now and then I look at that clip and I’m reminded of the startling beauty that unfolded for us every single day during our Outback Way odyssey.
The Outback Way is a series of roads and dirt tracks that cross the nation from Laverton in WA to Winton in Queensland.
They call it Australia’s longest shortcut, carving a path through the heart of Australia.
It’s a long, tough, isolated drive and one that requires plenty of planning.
An ambitious project involving various levels of officialdom is aiming to get rid of the dirt and seal it with bitumen by 2032.
If they manage to pull it off, it will be Australia’s third transnational east-to-west road.
But we wanted to enjoy the rugged dust and remoteness while we could.
The idea for a Back Roads story had its genesis around 2015 on one of the first-ever Back Roads stories, in fact.
The researchers and production staff toiled at matching schedules for a team of four — a presenter, producer, camera operator and sound catcher — with filming and travel permits, approvals from Indigenous communities and events on the ground, all while making sure the people we wanted to meet along the way would be available.
Filming permits were needed for Watarrka National Park (King’s Canyon) and Uluru, and permission was sought to film at Warakurna and Kaltukatjara/Docker River — communities that aren’t open to the public apart from their roadhouses and stores.
First published at ABC News, February 6, 2025
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