Savannah Way: Cairns to Broome by 4WD - Apollo

Twenty nights and 3,700 kilometres from Cairns to Broome in a four-wheel drive camper, along the Savannah Way across the top of the continent.

Ravenshoe, Mount Surprise and Georgetown come first, climbing onto the Atherton Tablelands and then out into the dry savannah woodland that gives the road its name, open to the horizon and dotted with termite mounds.

Normanton and Burketown follow on the Gulf of Carpentaria, where the barramundi fishing is the local religion and the Morning Glory cloud formations roll in off the water in spring. Hells Gate and Borroloola cross into the Northern Territory, then Cape Crawford, Limmen National Park with its sandstone lost cities, and Roper Bar. Mataranka comes next with its thermal springs in palm forest, then Katherine, Timber Creek, Kununurra and Warmun in the Kimberley, with the final stages to Broome set out on the Apollo site.

The camper and the day-by-day plan come from Apollo, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with a nil-excess insurance pack available at booking. Twenty-one days for 3,700 kilometres is a committed schedule and the driving is the holiday. The dry season from May to October is the only window: the wet closes roads across the whole north. Long sections of this route are unsealed, which is why the four-wheel drive matters, and the river crossings are seasonal. Fuel, water and spare food matter more here than anywhere else in the country. This is a one-way hire the width of a continent, so a relocation fee is worth confirming at booking.