TOURING THE BIG COUNTRY

POSTCARD

In a country where a road trip can be anything from a drive to the shops to a summer holiday, this epic heartland journey is the big daddy of them all - 3,000 kilometres of iconic landscapes, from the wild Southern Ocean, through South Australia's wine-growing valleys, past Uluru (Ayers Rock) in the central desert, and into the tropical north. Grab some friends and discover the diversity that makes Central Australia the last great adventure road trip.

Start your big drive along the Limestone Coast, past the dunes and lakes of the sea-salty Coorong National Park. Further north, the Fleurieu Peninsula is a decadent weekender for Adelaidians, with expansive (often private) beaches, the magical McLaren Vale wine region, and Kangaroo Island's wildlife, forests and seafood just offshore. Adelaide itself remains a cultural high-water mark - a chilled-out city of 1.5 million people with world-class festivals, sensational restaurants and a hedonistic arts scene.

Further north, the Barossa and Clare valleys are self-assured viticultural success stories. Wheeling into the Flinders Ranges, wheat fields give way to arid cattle stations beneath russet and purple peaks and crags. North of here, you run headlong into the desert. As the dead-flat Stuart Highway beats out across the red sand and scrub, you'll be forgiven for feeling sunstruck and a little parched! Eccentric outback towns such as Woomera and Coober Pedy emerge from the heat haze as welcome oases. Of course, you can't visit central Australia without seeing Uluru and Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) - big country, big desert, and some mighty big rocks. As the sun cuts into the horizon every night, 50 buses carrying as many nationalities pull up to watch Uluru glow with deep, blood-like intensity - red, orange and burnt umber. The air out here is charged with desert ions; the night sky is milky with stars. Camping out in a swag is an unmissable experience.

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Back on the highway, Alice Springs and Katherine have rough-hewn, outback appeal. As you approach the tropical Top End, the foliage becomes taller, then denser and more lush, lusty clouds appear and the air gains a sweetness and humidity. Darwin is a city on the rise. It has the youngest population of any Australian capital, a billion-dollar redevelopment of Darwin Harbour under way and high-rise apartment blocks emerging as fast as tenants can sign up. Spotlit in Baz Luhrmann's film Australia, this is also a city with a turbulent history, bombed beyond recognition in World War Two, then flattened again by Cyclone Tracy in 1974. Beyond the city, don't miss a detour to gorgeous Kakadu National Park, with its crocodiles, ancient Aboriginal rock art and crystal-bright waterholes.

Pull up a barstool in a country pub anywhere north-to-south and it won't take much to get the locals talking: the plight of the dwindling Murray River in South Australia and the federal government's "intervention" into Northern Territory Indigenous communities are red-hot issues.

Towns along the lower Murray are in an economic sleeper hold, while there are almost as many social workers as tourists occupying beds in Alice Springs. Out here, X-rayed under the southern sun, the nation's social conscience and environmental policies receive the toughest of scrutiny. So forget the east and west coasts - if you want a definitive encapsulation of all Australia has to offer, central Oz is it! Crank up Midnight Oil's Diesel & Dust on the car stereo and hit the wide, open road: this is Australia at its most diverse, challenging and potent.

2008 Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd.

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This is an edited extract from Central Australia 5th Edition, by Charles Rawlings-Way Lonely Planet Publications, 2009.