It was to the south of Mount Surprise that copper and gold was found way back in 1866. Many people flocked to the area to seek their fortune here and in the Gilbert River region to the west. By 1908 a single line railway reached the outstation and it became a hub for the western section of the tablelands with a telegraph station, several hotels, schools and police station.

In 1920, a small settlement was established at Southend, where today several hundred people live and many do the commute to the mainland every day for work. Once on the island, you’ll need a 4WD to get around and explore its sheer ruggedness, like the newly cut in Ship Hill 4WD ridge-line track where at the last viewing point, it’s where Matthew Flinders stood in 1802 and looked down on his survey vessel, the Investigator.

I’ve been pretty lucky in my travel days, exploring our countries great drives, But having just spent time in East Arnhem Land, I reckon this has to be classed as one of Australia’s most iconic drives. The Central Arnhem Road takes you on a journey through 60,000 years of history in East Arnhem Land’s vast untouched wilderness.

An east coast low saw me held up in Mackay Queensland for a few days until it passed further north and out to sea. I’ve never explored the Mackay region before and until now it was only to pass through heading to the Cape. It’s a busy place where industry meets the tourism sector and with a near-perfect climate, the Mackay region is growing fast.

My turn for the Starke River track was just up the road from my overnight camp along Isabella McIvor River road for 30km to Mount Webb station.  It’s from here that the Starke Track starts. Rated as a medium track on maps and online, it was honestly just a nice drive through several Aboriginal land trust areas, where the cattle were serious fat and the area was severely green from a late wet season.

Crowdy Bay National Park is a hidden gem that lies an easy 4 hours north of Sydney on the mid north coast between Taree and Port Macquarie. Captain Cook sailed past in 1770 and spotted a group of Aboriginals on the headland and named it Crowded Head, over the years the name soon changed.

Kwiambal National Park in the north of NSW is only 9200 hectares and is the traditional country of the Kwiambal people, who have descended from the Murri people of the north west that have lived in the area for thousands of years.

I was having a quiet beer at the iconic Hebel pub, on the NSW QLD border 700km west of Brisbane thinking what a remote and isolated place this is. But back in the day it was a hive of activity with bushrangers, Cobb and Co stopover plus a border crossing customs office.

Georgetown in the gulf of Carpenteria is a quiet town these days with tourists passing through in the cooler months and large cattle stations surrounding the town, but it was once the site of a gold rush and played an important part with an overland telegraph station that provided crucial information to Cape York especially during critical times like WW11. I’ve stayed in Georgetown a few times and found it a great base to setup and explore the surrounding area.

Many people consider Coffs Harbour the 4wd capital of NSW, but there’s a more quieter and beautiful side away from the hardcore tracks, insane mud holes and hillclimbs that go on forever. Bindarri National Park just 20km out of Coffs is a 56 square km park that has a pretty special bio diversity with rare and endangered plants and animals but it also allows visitors to embrace the park through various avenues.

I can’t believe its taken us over 30 years to actually get to K’gari Island to discover its inner beauty and explore the islands amazing history and stunning scenery. Realistically, I think I’ve been avoiding the island because I thought there would be massive crowds and a lot of sand recoveries across the island, but boy was I wrong.

Tambo in central Queensland is one of those places where most people zip through giving no thought on past history or local attractions.

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When I was planning this trip I knew I’d have to fuel up along the way, and my target was the Aboriginal community of Ampilatwatja, nearly 500km from Camooweal. Ampilatwatja ( pronounced um blood a-watch ), is a community of around 500 people that welcome visitors to their community to fuel up and shop at the general store.

My 80 series is constantly off-road in some of the harshest conditions that our country can dish up. Quite often I’ll be away in dirty and dusty conditions for weeks at on end. But I find with the right products my 34-year-old Landcruiser 80 comes up a treat time and time again. Now while I’m happy to use self-serve car washes for soak and pre-wash while I’m on the road, I totally refuse to use those scratchy brushes they offer to avoid any more paint damage.

One of my favourite areas to explore is 90mins west of Coffs Harbour on the NSW north coast which is known for its dramatic gorges, waterfalls & landscapes with granite outcrops. My starting point was the little hamlet of Ebor which is surrounded by world heritage areas, multiple National parks, walking trails and some of the best waterfalls you’ll find.

Wyperfeld is the third largest NP in Victoria broken up into three different management areas to protect its fragile Mallee country, indigenous heritage and European history. Covering a staggering 357,000 hectares it was first reserved in 1909 but declared in 1921 to protect and manage. The Wotjobaluk people have called Wyperfeld home for many generations and there are signs throughout the park where artefacts, middens and burial sites have been found and are now protected.

I had already spent a full three weeks exploring the southern regions of the Pilbara and believed I had seen everything until I took a last-

By 1852 the light was built and it was a 15-wick oil-burning lamp lighting the way, 1920 it was converted to kerosene and today it's an efficient LED light that shines and is still a crucial navigation aid. There’s a self-guided heritage walking trail around the ground with a dozen different landmarks to explore. Cape Willoughby is often the coldest place in the state and the Sturt Light made of granite and lime mortar is the oldest lighthouse in South Australia where it’s na