What I wish I’d known the first time I drove alone in the outback

The first time I drove in the Kimberley, I had no idea what I was doing. I confidently assumed I could drive in this region the same way I would drive anywhere else: carefully, but with no need to make any significant changes to the way I approached the road.

My first clue that might not be the case was over dinner at Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm on the Dampier Peninsula, 200 kilometres north of Broome. I’d driven up earlier that day, but the next morning I needed to return for an early tour and would be leaving before dawn. My dining companions – three locals – expressed concern.

“You’ll need to watch out for donkeys,” one said. “They don’t look up, so you won’t see your car lights reflected in their eyes.”

“And there’s the cattle,” said another. “They’re roaming free and often wander onto the road. Drive slowly,” she warned.

When I left the farm early the next morning and turned onto the dirt road leading to the road south, my high beam lights barely pierced the darkness. It was unnerving. As a rim of pink eventually edged over the horizon to my left, a warm fog rolled over the landscape from the coast. When I pulled over and stepped out of the car, I could hear donkeys braying and birds screeching, but I couldn’t see a thing. Thoroughly spooked, I waited until the fog cleared a little, then started driving again at low speed, suddenly alert to the dangers on the road and my isolated location.

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While nothing bad happened to me, except the feeling I’d been very foolish, I wanted to know more about how to drive in this wild environment.

A few days later I’m chatting to experienced guide Luke Robertson at the remote Berkeley River Lodge in the East Kimberley. Part of his role is to take guests on off-road and beach drives, boat trips on the river and hikes into the bush. He’s worked all over the region and calculates he must have driven the popular Gibb River Road about 70 times. I ask him what people need to know before they head into remote territory.

“A second spare tyre is a must. If you have mechanical knowledge, then that’s a bonus, because you’ll want to have tools and spare parts. If you’re not that mechanically minded, then you must have a reliable vehicle and drive it to the conditions,” he says.

Those conditions can include deep corrugations in the road, navigating sand and mud, knowing how to respond to unexpected downpours, and keeping an eye out for animals.

“Most of the time you just want to use the brakes and slow right down, because you don’t know what the animal is going to do,” he says. “If you swerve, they might move in the same direction, so you can end up with the animal under the side of the vehicle, which can throw you over.”

Knowing how to do basic vehicle repairs is essential. Robert says 4WD courses are good for building confidence, but aren’t necessary unless you’re tackling a difficult route.

Adam Sands, managing director of RedSands Campers, which has depots in Perth, Broome, Darwin and Adelaide, has been helping people explore remote Australia in fully equipped 4WDs for a decade.