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by ggm 660 days ago
When I first came to Australia in 1987 my (then girlfriend now) wife drove me from Sydney to Brisbane and the inland route we chose included gravel roads. I was .. amazed. I fell in love with them, and for a few years we could enjoy them close to Brisbane, sometimes within the metropolitan area. The Lyons road, a privately maintained crossing from qld to nsw (throw a coin into a bucket to pay your share of grading cost) was a joy. Now? Sealed and (I believe) adopted by the states. No doubt locals are delighted but I do miss the gravel.

We sometimes find a bit down in Queensland's Granite Belt, and there are thousands of kms left in the real outback, and forested areas. Closer to urban centres like south East Queensland, it's getting scarce.
2 comments
grecy 659 days ago
If it makes you feel better, I recently spent 18 months going around Australia driving as much "remote wilderness" in a big 4x4 as I possibly could. I explored all the corners of Tasmania, Goog's Track, The Flinders, Big & Little Desert, crossed the Simpson Desert on the Madigan line, explored Fraser Island, drove the old Telegraph Track, The Finke River Gorge the Gibb River Road and topped it off with the Canning Stock Route - 1,600 kms without seeing another person or vehicle on the track. It was epic.

Australia still has A LOT of wild places to explore.

Here's a small highlight reel of the drone footage from each state - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmmbpjMgFqY

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EdwardDiego 659 days ago
The Telegraph Track is a life goal of mine.
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grecy 658 days ago
I feel certain I will remember it as long as I live. It's every bit the adventure you imagine it to be!
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EdwardDiego 659 days ago
If you ever come to New Zealand, we've got some fantastic gravel roads in places, like Skippers Road above the Shotover Canyon, Lake Sumner Road, the road across Mackenzie Pass, and the biggest one IIRC, Molesworth Road through the largest high country station. Lots of the roads between remote bays on Banks Peninsula and in the Marlborough Sounds are gravel.

But the most famous one is probably the Forgotten World Highway. Worth a look!

Oh,

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