Explorers Way: Adelaide to Darwin in 11 Days - Apollo

Ten nights and 4,215 kilometres from Adelaide to Darwin in a campervan, the whole Explorers Way in eleven days.

The run up to Coober Pedy is spread over the opening days, through Port Augusta and the arid country beyond it to an opal town where much of the population lives underground in dugouts to escape the heat.

Uluru follows, then Kings Canyon, where the rim walk runs six kilometres round sandstone walls a hundred metres high, and Alice Springs. The West MacDonnell Ranges come next with Glen Helen, where gorges cut through the range at Simpsons Gap, Standley Chasm and Ormiston and several hold permanent water. Tennant Creek, Daly Waters and Mataranka carry the route north, the last with thermal springs in palm forest, then Katherine and Litchfield before Darwin.

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. Eleven days for 4,215 kilometres is a hard schedule and the shorter of the two Explorers Way itineraries in the range: it adds the West MacDonnell gorges and Litchfield while giving everything less time. Winter is the season for the centre. The Uluru climb is closed and the base walk is the better way round it. Fuel stops are far apart on the Stuart Highway and road trains need room and respect. This is a one-way hire the length of the country, so a relocation fee is worth confirming at booking.