I've always loved a good road trip — maybe because that was my parents' idea of a family holiday and old habits die hard.
What a way to see this vast country, if you're prepared to cop the occasional flat tyre, lack of mobile phone reception, dust, flies and even snow blizzards.
And let's not forget the many wonderful and quirky characters you meet along the way.
With summer holidays just around the corner, I'll share with you some of my favourite road trips.
This week I'll take you cruising into the South Australian outback, hang out in the Victorian high country, before sharing my tips about crossing the Nullarbor.
On the Oodnadatta Track
Take William Creek on the Oodnadatta Track in South Australia.
Sure, a tiny town painted completely white may not be everyone's cup of tea, but Trevor Wright actually owns this town, so he can do whatever the hell he wants. He reckons it was like playing monopoly, buying up this place.
Population 11 at last count, William Creek has an excellent pub bedecked with business cards from around the world pinned to the walls of the front bar — where a smiling Trevor greets customers.
I arrived there on sundown in a bright purple ute owned by stockman Bobby Hunter I'd met at Maree a few hours back down the road.
We'd enjoyed the annual Camel Cup together, followed by a colourful reunion of Afghan cameleer descendants and Bobby offered to be my guide as I continued along the track.
The natural wonder of Lake Eyre-Kati Thanda National Park was the clear highlight of our journey, as it would be for any traveller.
The largest salt lake in Australia really comes to life after desert rains, and if you can manage it, a scenic flight from William Creek puts the sheer size and beauty of this phenomenon into perspective.
The endpoint of my trip was the Pink Road House at Oodnadatta, painted bright pink of course (they seem to have a thing about colours out here) where I was just in time for the camp draft and bronco branding contest. Not to mention beers and a laugh or two with competitors and spectators around the fire pits set up at close of day.
If possible, it's ideal to time your travels with local events like this — few and far between since COVID, but they'll come back. And aim for a variety of landscapes, and the best seasons.
Driving the Barry Way
For the record, I've never been a skier, but there's something truly magical about Dinner Plain in the Victorian high country on the Great Alpine Way and waking to freshly fallen snow.
This is a unique town worth checking out in winter or summer.
Officially opened in 1986 and surrounded by majestic snow gums, the architecture of every building in Dinner Plain is strictly restricted to timber, local stone and corrugated iron, and the result is fabulous.
The design is inspired by the pioneering cattlemen's huts, and you can just imagine those days if you take the time to head from Dinner Plain towards the snowfields of Jindabyne in NSW by opting for the less well-worn path of the Barry Way.
Parts of this winding road are unsealed but it is so worth a dirt pothole or two for the breathtaking views across the Snowy River valleys.
There are plenty of lookouts, and I recommend the lot.
Don't miss Suggan Buggan timber schoolhouse, lovingly maintained by the descendants of those who rode their horses to school here back in the 1870s.
As a few of the diehard farmers left around these isolated parts say, driving the Barry Way is like flying with the eagles. They proudly boast it's just as good, if not better than Victoria's way more famous Great Ocean Road.
I reckon they just might be right.
Crossing the Nullarbor
Speaking of famous roads, crossing the Nullarbor Plain from south to west should be on every curious traveller's bucket list.
The key is not to rush the journey to Perth, as I did first time round back in the 1980s.
A two-week Back Roads adventure starting near South Australia's Ceduna in 2019 showed me how much I had missed.
You've just got to venture off the Eyre Highway a bit.
From whale watching at Fowler's Bay and the Great Australian Bight to checking out the ruins of old town buildings at Eucla right on sunset, there are so many glorious surprises.
My personal favourite was the Eyre Bird Observatory about half an hour's drive from the Cocklebiddy roadhouse on the WA side, where you can actually step back in time and stay off-grid in this restored telegraph station and birdwatch if so inclined or walk the wild beaches.
More delights when you hit the sparkling, pristine coastline near Esperance, but that's a story for another day.
Heather returns to the screen with a new series of Back Roads starting January 3, 2022 on ABC TV at 7.30pm, until then, head over to ABC iview to watch the show's previous seven series.
