6 places worth detouring for
Posted 4 September, 2018
Jeremy Rochow
You’re driving along the highway, cruising towards your final destination, when you see a turnoff to a place you’ve never visited.
Do you make an unscheduled stop or continue on your journey without giving it a second thought? It’s a tough call. To help, we’ve chatted to our More for Member partner Apollo Motorhome Holidays to come up with our list of 6 places you should definitely make a detour for.
Perth to Exmouth – Monkey Mia, WA
It takes more than 13 hours to drive from Perth to Exmouth, on the north-west coast of Western Australia, so it’s a good idea to make a few stops along the way.
If you take the Shark Rd turnoff, about 9 hours north of Perth, and continue along the road for another 2 hours, you’ll end up at Monkey Mia. Here, you can feed the dolphins who visit the area daily.
Monkey Mia is also surrounded by rusty red sand dunes, white beaches, and turquoise water teeming with wildlife – not a bad place to take a break.
Adelaide to Darwin – Kata Tjuta, NT
Most people visit Uluru while travelling through the Northern Territory, but there’s a lesser-known sight that’s often overlooked.
The spectacular Kata-Tjuta rock formation, also known as the Olgas and found in the same national park as Uluru, is located 360km south-west of Alice Springs.
You can hike around its 36 domes, which cover an area of about 26km2 and are made of granite, basalt and sandstone.
Brisbane to Cairns – Great Sandy National Park, QLD
If you’re driving a 4WD, then the Great Sandy National Park – about 2 hours north of Brisbane – is the perfect location for a detour.
The park features untouched beaches, large sand dunes, rainforests, swamps, creeks, freshwater lakes and mangrove forests, making it a great place for exploring.
You can also walk one of the many scenic tracks and explore places such as the historic Double Island Point Lighthouse or even pack a tent and camp along the Cooloola Wilderness Trail.
