Destinations

WP-AU-RMTInterior & remote coast

Remote Australia

The part of the country that sets its own conditions, and is better for it.

Air
Sea
Stay
Experience

The WAYPOINT edit

9 selections

Distance, season and weather do most of the planning here. This edit runs from the Red Centre to the Kimberley coast, through station and escarpment country, floodplain and the Torres Strait, with one rail line and one small-ship expedition. Air movement is usually what makes an itinerary possible rather than merely faster. Lodges, vessels and journeys named here are publicly identified options; inclusion does not imply ownership, inspection, endorsement, representation or live availability, and access is confirmed directly during planning.

Tented pavilion in red desert dunes facing a large sandstone monolith at dawn

01Lodge

Longitude 131°

Stay · ExperienceUluru-Kata Tjuta, Northern Territory

Sixteen tented pavilions in the dunes, each facing Uluru through a wall of glass, so the rock is the first and last thing you see each day. Guided experiences take you to Kata Tjuta and out to the base at first light, with Anangu knowledge central to how the country is explained rather than added as a footnote.

Why it belongs

Sightlines and guiding, in the one place where both matter more than anything else.

April to September; nights are cold in winter.

Plan around this

Red rock gorge with still green water and a small boat in warm afternoon light

02Lodge

El Questro Homestead

Stay · Air · ExperienceKimberley, Western Australia

A nine-room homestead on the edge of the Chamberlain Gorge, on a property large enough to hold its own gorges, thermal springs and river systems. Days move by four-wheel drive, boat and helicopter across country that is closed for half the year. Aviation planning is what makes the stay work at either end.

Why it belongs

Small, seasonal and dependent on getting the flying right. Worth the effort of planning early.

Open in the dry, roughly April to October.

Plan around this

03Lodge

Berkeley River Lodge

Stay · AirNorth Kimberley coast

A fly-in lodge on the dunes where the Berkeley River meets the Timor Sea, with no road access at all. Villas sit above the beach; days go upriver to the falls, out fishing, or nowhere in particular. It reopened after a major refurbishment, so current facilities and operating dates are verified during planning.

Why it belongs

No road, no neighbours, and a coastline most Australians will never see.

Dry season only, roughly April to October.

Plan around this

Remote coastal dunes above a wide river mouth meeting the sea at sunset

Long flat-topped sandstone escarpment above dry grass plains and scattered gums at golden hour

04Lodge

Mount Mulligan Lodge

Stay · ExperienceMount Mulligan, Northern Outback Queensland

A remote lodge on a working property beneath the ten-kilometre sandstone wall of Mount Mulligan, reached as part of a planned journey from Cairns. Days run to the country rather than a programme: guided drives and ATV exploration, walking, fishing on the dam, pastoral and mining history, and long unhurried hours at the lodge while the escarpment changes colour.

Why it belongs

Outback scale within reach of the tropical coast, with the arrival planned rather than improvised.

Best in the dry, roughly April to October; hot and wet through summer.

Plan around this

Field note

Season is not a preference here

The northern lodges close in the wet, gorges become impassable, and airstrips soften. From roughly May to September the north is open, dry and at its best; the Centre is cool at night and clear by day. Plan the season first, then the route, then the aircraft. Everything else can move.

Airboat crossing a wide wetland floodplain with waterbirds rising at dawn

05Lodge

Bamurru Plains

Stay · Air · ExperienceMary River floodplain, near Kakadu

Ten safari bungalows on a buffalo station beside the Mary River floodplain, built light so the country presses right up against the mesh walls. Airboats across the wetland at dawn, thousands of magpie geese, crocodiles, and Kakadu within reach. It is a genuine safari lodge, run with a small footprint.

Why it belongs

The floodplain at first light is one of the great Australian wildlife hours.

February to October; the wet season programme differs.

Plan around this

Expedition vessel anchored beneath red sandstone cliffs on a remote tidal coast

06Water

The Kimberley by expedition yacht

Sea · AirBroome to Wyndham, north-west coast

The Kimberley coast has effectively no roads, enormous tides and waterfalls that reverse with them. An appropriate expedition vessel, ideally with a helicopter aboard, is the only way to move through it properly: Montgomery Reef, the Horizontal Falls, rock art galleries and anchorages no other vessel reaches that week.

Why it belongs

The vessel is the itinerary. Matched to the party, the season and the tides.

April to September; tide charts drive the route.

Plan around this

07Rail

The Ghan Expedition

ExperienceDarwin to Adelaide, via Alice Springs

The interior by rail, top to bottom, with off-train excursions at Katherine, Alice Springs and Coober Pedy. Used as one strong line inside a larger itinerary — rather than the whole holiday — it gives a traveller the scale of the country in a way that flying over it never will. Cabins are booked well ahead.

Why it belongs

One long, slow line through the middle, with air and lodges either side of it.

The Expedition service runs seasonally; dates confirmed each year.

Plan around this

Long passenger train crossing flat red desert country under a wide pale sky

Small white expedition ship at anchor beneath layered red sandstone cliffs on a remote coast

08Water

TRUE NORTH

Sea · Air · ExperienceKimberley coast; routes and embarkation confirmed by season

A small-ship expedition journey into remote Australian coastline, with the Kimberley as the lead context. The scale of the vessel is the point: anchorages larger ships cannot reach, daily shore and water activity, fishing, walking and natural history, and helicopter access on the itineraries where it is included. Current routes, dates and embarkation points are confirmed for the intended season.

Why it belongs

Small-ship access to coastline with no roads, planned around the season rather than a brochure.

Northern dry season; itineraries and embarkation vary by year.

Plan around this

Low tropical islands and shallow turquoise water under a wide sky in far northern Australia

09Culture

Strait Experience, Torres Strait

Air · ExperienceTorres Strait islands, via Cairns and Horn Island

The Torres Strait is its own place: Islander nations with their own languages, seafaring history, gardens, dance and law, set across islands between Cape York and Papua New Guinea. Strait Experience hosts small groups on Country with local guides, so what is seen and shared is decided by the communities themselves. Access runs through Cairns and Horn Island.

Why it belongs

Locally guided, community-hosted and genuinely rare. It is a journey to the Torres Strait, not a detour into a generic cultural tour.

Best in the drier months; island access and hosting are confirmed with the operator.

Plan around this

Season

Outback & wilderness

The northern dry season, May to September, is when the Kimberley, the far north and the floodplains are accessible and most lodges operate. The Red Centre is most comfortable April to September. Several properties and vessels operate seasonally, so dates, routes and access are confirmed early in planning.

Plan Remote Australia properly.

Tell us the season, the party and what you would like the days to feel like. WAYPOINT plans journeys around trusted operators, hosts and properties, and confirms the right access privately.

Plan a journey Return to the atlas