Cruising the remote Australian outback.

As a young man, I was once marooned in the flooded outback for nine days; food ran out on day three. I was relieved when a plane started dropping assorted crushed sandwiches to all the stranded outback travellers on day four.  There’s not often going to be a plane to help out. So, this little adventure taught me some valuable lessons. It also deepened my love for remote areas and inspired me to explore as much of our outback as possible once I retired.

Fast forward 35 years, and I set out into the outback with my adventurous first mate in a shiny Commodore Ute. Unfortunately, after a few thousand kilometres of rough roads, the Commodore began to fall apart,…. quite discouraging.

Next on the agenda was a vehicle upgrade to a sturdy Toyota FJ cruiser and the purchase of a satellite phone. Suddenly, the outback was our oyster. For the next 11 years, it took us wherever we wanted to go. We had all the add-ons but never ran into any bulls and never used the winch or the flashy spotlights. However, the stretchy snatch strap in my recovery bag, the Maxtraxs, the shovel, and the diff lock switch proved incredibly useful.

 Staying true to the Aussie snoozing tradition, our sleep time began with a double swag under the stars. However, my mate didn’t understand that pitching a small tent next to a waterhole full of crocodiles or in long grass filled with snakes and insects was not “best practice.”

The following year, a sleek James Baroude became part of our rooftop, and a little fridge sat on the pull-out shelf next to 2 big drawers in the back of our vehicle. This worked a treat; it was so good to be backed up to a little lagoon in safety and comfort, and the views were often spectacular.

At last! Adventure in comfort and with a pug to protect us 🙂

In 2025, following suggestions from my mate and our youngest family member (the Pug), it was decided to upgrade our accommodation to a remarkable Tommy camping canopy. It has an electric pop-up bed,  a little stand-up room inside, and much more space for many of the comforts you would expect to find in a motor home. It must sit on a flat tray, so it’s a painful goodbye to our beloved Terry Toyota.

Tommy will sit on the flat back of a 3L Isuzu DMax space cab Ute. It’s not as “ go anywhere “ as the cruiser, but it’s still relatively compact and will handle most tough road conditions. 

My adventuring mate has approved the ticket, and we are now off to enjoy the delights of South West Australia around Esperance. Then, we bushwhack back to FNQ through some of Australia’s central deserts.

I can’t wait to travel on some of the iconic roads less travelled, like the Connie Sue Hwy, Anne Badell Hwy, Sandy Blight Rd and Gary Junction Rd, for starters. 

Ps. Many of the roads are named highways, but in reality, they are rough dirt tracks that are usually unmaintained and seldom used,

I will add pics of our new set-up as soon as we pick it up in a few weeks.

Cheers, Rob, Syl and Pug.

If you are interested in buying our FJ Cruiser, click here.

If you want to see 100 of our favourite outback images, click here.

If you want to see all the info and range of Tommy campers, click here.