budget travel outback backpacking australia

Outback Queensland is a vague area that means different things to different people, but it probably stretches from Charleville and Birdsville in the south to Mt Isa and Richmond in the north.

That is, an area probably 3 times the size of England.

It is hot and dusty, and the nights can be quite cold - and the relentless distance is a problem for locals and visitors alike. Conditions can be uncomfortabe for tourists in summer, but in winter (especially after summer rains) the area can show a desert beauty that makes it well worth visiting.

This really is the 'sunburnt country', a rugged desert landscape vaulted by an impossibly blue sky usually without a cloud to be seen. The horizon stretches as far as the eye can see - a landscape of stark, striking colours with immense contrast between the reds of the desert, blueness of the sky and greens of the creeks and lagoons.

The key to budget travel in the outback is careful planning of the trip. It is a long way between attractions, and to be worth the effort to go there thought must be put into how best to enjoy the time and reduce the effect of travelling.

Because of the distance it is not really feasable to zigzag between the coast and the outback - if time permits it is best to plan an outback section followed by a coastal section in an overall trip of 3 to 6 months.