Warren Brown: On the road to an outback adventure

As part of News Corp’s first national Bush Summit, cartoonist and writer Warren Brown will be taking readers on a three-week grand driving expedition of discovery through outback Australia.

There’s a “rule of thumb” checklist every modern-day explorer goes through before heading off on an outback road adventure – the well-thumbed road atlas positioned under an already opened packet of Minties, the mandatory takeaway coffee unceremoniously squashed in the centre-console cup-holder, the cavalier adjustment of the rear-view mirror to capture your arched eyebrows and, finally, the reassuring sound of a clicking seatbelt announcing the conscious decision to put the car into gear, ready to drive headlong into the heart of rural and regional Australia.

And that’s precisely what I’m about to do – I’ll be taking you on a three-week grand driving expedition of discovery through outback Australia.

A road trip encompassing four states, travelling from Port Lincoln in South Australia, to Broken Hill in NSW, then to Wodonga in Victoria, up to Tamworth in northern NSW and on to Rockhampton in Queensland – a road distance greater than that from London to Moscow.

This outback adventure is all part of the first national Bush Summit, the News Corp initiative that focuses on those in rural Australia who actually bind the nation together – those who drive the cattle, who shear the sheep, who grow our food, and who create the jobs, security and wealth through our mining industry.

And, of course, those who’ve taken the plunge to run a small business in regional Australia – an outback servo, a bakery, a mechanic’s workshop, a cafe.

Rockhampton’s elevated treetop boardwalk at Mount Archer (Nurim).

Along the way I’ll be taking the time to yarn with the innovators, the entrepreneurs, the quirky, the bold and the unmistakably Australian characters who’ve taken a risk and backed themselves to succeed in a world few of us living in cities could ever comprehend.

Of course living in the bush is no longer just about living on the land.

I’ll be exploring the unexpected and surprising cultural initiatives regional Australia is developing to entice those from the cities to visit the bush – or perhaps to even make the tree change.

Yet I’ll also be focused on those who have been doing it tough, communities that have weathered whatever challenges rural Australia decides to throw at them – not only bushfires, floods and other natural disasters but the ever-increasing pressures of the cost of living, an escalating housing crisis, dysfunctional health systems and inequality of education in the bush compared to the city.

The countryside near Tamworth. Picture: Destination NSW

Certainly these are all live issues, but don’t think for a moment this road trip is going to be some dull, heavy-going investigative review of rural Australia. On the contrary, it’ll be a celebration of the fun and exciting things to champion in our regions.

Along the way I’ll be relentless in ascertaining which town has the best of the best in outback culinary fare, putting together a ready-reckoner guide of culinary delights for any long-distance, road-going traveller.

Get ready to climb into the passenger seat and travel with me as I write, draw and film for you via The Daily Telegraph in print and online.

I can smell the gum leaves already…