Australia by Car

Speed, loud engines and lots of dust, all tearing up the heart of the Australian outback. What is it? Its Australia’s most gruelling offroad challenge, the Finke Desert Race, which takes place on the Queens Birthday Weekend every June, this year running from Friday 6th June until Monday 9th. If you’re in the area you’d be crazy to miss this truly unique outback event!

The track runs for 450 kilometres across all sorts of desert terrain, beginning just south of Alice Springs and continuing south to the small community of Finke (Aputula). En route it crosses the Finke River, reputedly the oldest river in the world. As you would expect of the outback, it is a rugged route that only the hardiest vehicles survive. While there are many bike, car and buggy entrants from all over the globe, only relatively few make it to the end.

The Finke is quite a spectator affair, with over 1200 people camping along the length of the track to catch a glimpse of the speeding vehicles, or to assist with refuelling and the like. Its a great time to experience the outback and an unique Australian event simultaneously. You are sure to have a whole heap of adventures of your own to go along with the excitement on the track.

The best means of getting to the Finke is to fly into Alice Springs and head down to the track from there. If you need a hire car, check out Discovery Car Hire. If you want more information on Alice Springs and things to see and do there, read this article.