There are manuals out there designed to help you go four-wheel driving, but I seem to have learned my lessons the hard way. Clearance, torque, towing capability — they’re all relevant. But there are simpler things to think about, too.

LESSON ONE - Know the Basics 

Ensuring that your vehicle has adequate clearance will suffice on most Australian roads. Years ago, my wife Michelle and I toured through the Flinders Ranges for our first time. We were driving an older Falcon and at no stage did we feel like we were out of our depth.

Save for The Outback Highway that skirted the ranges’ western flanks, the roads were all unsealed. There were probably one or two lesser-used tracks that we opted to sidestep, just to be sure, but we managed to get as far north as Arkaroola without any issues…apart from one flat tyre.

Of course, we carried a spare — something you should never go without. We’d made sure it was inflated properly before we left home. We’d also had plenty of practise changing tyres, which is something every outback traveller should be able to do.

Offroading in the Wahiba Sands region of Oman

LESSON TWO - Do your Research

A few months later, I travelled from Mildura to Mungo National Park with my older brother, then continued upriver, following the course of the Darling River through Pooncarie and Menindee until we reached Broken Hill. This time, our vehicle was his Toyota Camry station wagon, which managed to get through the trip unscathed. I liked to think of it as a characterbuilding exercise for a car that wasn’t exactly built for such rigours.

I wasn’t so lucky next time I visited Mungo to see the Walls of China lunette. This time, I was with my family in a Holden Astra station wagon, and my parents tagged along in their Prado, towing a caravan. We’d travelled up from Melbourne via Balranald.

Our plan was to take the quickest route north, towards Ivanhoe, then turn off the sealed road onto the dirt Marma Box Creek Road, in the direction of Turlee Station. But as we sat in the car park outside the Balranald Visitor Centre, an elderly couple in a Toyota Coaster campervan took a look at my parents’ van and advised them not to travel along that road because it wouldn’t be able to handle all the jolting and bouncing around caused by corrugations in the road surface. He recommended taking a two-hour detour through Wentworth before entering the park via the Top Hut Road.

After much debate, my parents decided to risk the drive along Marma Box Creek Road. When we arrived at the Main Campground near the Mungo Visitor Centre, I wondered aloud whether the guy had given us all a bit of unnecessary stress. Dad, however, thought what he said had proven to be accurate. But since they ended up driving out of Mungo via Top Hut Road, Dad said that had been just as bad or even worse. Sticking to our plans saved us two extra hours of driving.

Vehicles on top of the Simpson Desert’s Big Red sand dune, west of Birdsville

LESSON THREE - Be Flexible

My parents headed home to Melbourne after two nights at Mungo while Michelle and I stayed on for another night. After taking most of that additional day to complete the self-guided tour around the lunette, the first drops of rain fell on our way back to camp then continued throughout the evening.

Next morning, the roads were muddy and messy. A Landcruiser towing a caravan lost control and jack-knifed before it had gone 500 metres away from the campground. Had it continued, there was a fair chance its owner would have been slugged a hefty fine for driving on a closed road. Rangers at the visitor centre informed us that the fine for driving on a road that had been closed by the shire was $1000 per wheel, including spares and trailer wheels. The reason was obvious: the tyre tracks left by heavy vehicles would ruin the road.

We were forced to wait until the road had dried out before we could leave. That took a day and a half. In the meantime, we walked around the lake’s edge and organised cricket matches for the kids inside the woolshed. And we rationed our food supplies.

As we were eating lunch — whatever scraps we had left — on our second day of waiting, the ranger advised us that we’d be able to leave via the Top Hut Road if we travelled in convoy. Five vehicles were loaded up and ready to go 15 minutes later. Led by the only four-wheel drive in the group, we made it back onto a sealed road just as the rain started to fall again.

Mutonia Sculpture Park beside the Oodnadatta Track, west of Marree

LESSON FOUR - Choose Function Over Appearance

The first time I properly drove ‘offroad’ was in the Middle East. My wife and I lived there for seven years, first in Kuwait and then the United Arab Emirates, and it probably won’t be ground breaking news for most of you to hear that both of those are sandy desert countries that are fortunate to be built atop vast reservoirs of oil.

We lived in Kuwait for three years after Michelle secured a teaching contract at an international school. During our first 12 months there, we used buses and taxis to get around, preferring to avoid the hassle of having to sell a car when we were ready to leave. But once we decided to extend our stay, we hunted around for a second-hand car to buy for the extra freedom and convenience it promised, particularly during the sweltering summer months when airconditioning was essential.

Eventually, a four-wheel drive came on the market through a cricket teammate of mine. One look at the 10-year-old Daihatsu Rocky and my wife was smitten. Owning a 4WD vehicle would enable us to detour off the modern, multi-lane highways and explore the country thoroughly. So we bought it, despite reservations I voiced about its high mileage.

Well, it didn’t take long to realise the car had fought more rounds than its Hollywood namesake. The Rocky’s clearance was sufficient for most circumstances but the engine severely lacked grunt, and the first time I tested it in sandy conditions it failed miserably. My concerns about its high mileage were also justified when it kept breaking down and I eventually sold it to my mechanic for parts just before we moved to the United Arab Emirates. There was no fairy-tale comeback for this particular journeyman fighter.

The iconic and historic Birdsville Hotel

LESSON FIVE - Check Power to Weight Ratios

In Dubai, where we spent the following four years, I purchased a Chevrolet Blazer that I tested in the rolling sand dunes lapping at the edges of the city’s urban sprawl. Pretty soon I realised that it, too, didn’t cut the mustard due to its poor power-to-weight ratio. The Blazer may have been able to do a reasonable job on a cattle ranch in Wyoming, but in the soft desert sand of the Arabian Peninsula its performance was terribly underwhelming.

Everyone else who was zipping around the sand dunes outside Dubai drove either a Toyota LandCruiser, Nissan Patrol or Jeep Wrangler. Nothing else apart from quad bikes. Plenty of Range Rovers sped along the highways, nudging Nissan Sunnies that were favoured by Indian expats aside whenever they had the chance to, but you’d never find one in the sand. I once test-drove a Range Rover for a story in the magazine I was editing, but similarly to the Chevy Blazer, I found it to be too heavy for true offroad driving. So, lesson learned and I bought a Jeep.

It’s a crying shame that it took so long before I worked out what sort of vehicle I needed to go offroad, because for the next three years the two of us had great fun roaring up and down sand dunes that were like mini mountain ranges on the edge of the Empty Quarter. In neighbouring Oman, we’d negotiate rocky tracks through deep valleys that were heavily prone to flash flooding. And on the Musandam Peninsula, overlooking the Strait of Hormuz, we’d climb steep gravel roads over rocky peaks so we could camp on empty beaches in hidden coves. Without a doubt, getting out of Dubai became the best thing about living there.

Cooper Creek crossing at Innamincka

LESSON SIX - Study Road Conditions and Weather Forecasts

It’s been a while since we settled back in Australia and we now own a Nissan X-Trail that’s four-wheel drive, though I’d never, ever consider using it for that purpose on anything serious, like trying to cross the Simpson Desert. As far as offroad vehicles go, it’s really just a toy version. But for most Australian roads, that’s all you need. Remember, before farmers started driving unbreakable Toyota Hiluxes, Holden Kingswood utes were the vehicle of choice.

Our first true four-wheel driving adventure in Australia was four years ago, when we headed up to the Gold Coast for the Commonwealth Games and to go to the theme parks before we drove west to Innamincka then Birdsville. Returning to Melbourne via the Birdsville Track would cap off an adventure that had been brewing in our minds since our time in Dubai.

Rather than take the X-Trail, we borrowed my father-in-law’s Nissan Navara dual-cab ute and camped in a tent each night. The road from the Gold Coast to Innamincka was sealed until just past Eromanga, after which we travelled on gravel roads that were well maintained, probably because of the volume of oil and gas mining in the area. There was no reason for an RV or two-wheel drive not to have made it when we did.

Chambers Pillar in Central Australia

But that’s not to say that there weren’t a few concerns beforehand. Innamincka and Birdsville are located in an area that’s known as Channel Country, an ancient floodplain nourished by rivers that flow intermittently, fuelled by heavy rains in other areas of Queensland. Parts of the state were drowning in floodwaters during the early months of 2018. We weren’t sure how far we’d get right up until we reached Charleville, where numerous phone calls were made to determine whether or not it was worthwhile continuing. I’m glad we did.

Except for two flat tyres one hour apart on the Birdsville Track — a result of over-inflated tyres and going too fast through sudden dips in the road — it was smooth sailing all the way. The trickiest section was along the Cordillo Downs Road between Innamincka and Birdsville, when the corrugated road temporarily deteriorated into a barely distinguishable sandy track through a small, spring-fed wetlands area. It was the only time I remember engaging four-wheel drive during the five weeks we were away.

As for the Birdsville Track, it’s more of a road than a track these days. We spotted the odd offroad caravan travelling along it, though  they were mostly camper trailers or four-wheel drives with roof tents. If there were any motorhomes or campervans, I can’t remember them.

Some travellers were boasting of speeding up or down it at 100km per hour. We found it safer to stick closer to 70 or 80km per hour, or on occasions even less. It might have just come down to fortunate timing, but it’s certainly not the bone-rattling adventure it once was. Whatever you do though, be sure to check weather forecasts and road conditions first. You don’t want to get into trouble by acting irrationally. People can still die out there.

William Creek Hotel watering hole on the Oodnadatta Track

LESSON SEVEN - Restock Rations Whenever Possible

It was a similar story a year later, when we travelled to Uluru along the back roads. From Marree, we followed the Oodnadatta Track to William Creek then detoured to Coober Pedy to spend a night underground. From there, we travelled via the Arckaringa Station and the Painted Hills to Oodnadatta before continuing on to Dalhousie Springs and Mount Dare, then on to Finke and the Red Centre — eight consecutive days of travelling offroad that required extra rations of food, water and fuel in case we broke down or stayed longer than we planned.

The driving was mostly straightforward and this time, we managed to avoid flat tyres, having learned from our mistakes on the Birdsville Track. Without a doubt, the cross-border section between Mount Dare and Finke was more hard-core than the rest, with heavy corrugations and plenty of soft sand for tyres to sink into. Engaging four-wheel drive here was mandatory, and it paid to charge through in places rather than risk losing momentum that could see us getting  bogged. The track to Lambert’s Centre of Australia was particularly narrow and soft.

But would I recommend it? Absolutely, but not for first-timers. The Oodnadatta Track shouldn’t pose too many problems for novice offroading as long as you take some air out of the tyres and don’t drive too fast, and as long as rain isn’t forecast. You’ll collect plenty of dust along the way so don’t do it if that’s likely to bother you. And your rig will get shaken up and spat out if it isn’t built for such rigours. Otherwise, as long as you take suitable precautions, it’s an ideal track to start on.

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Written: Tue 01 Mar 2022
Printed: March, 2022
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