051 World’s longest stock route

This is a trip you’ll have to prepare for a little; as the Canning Stock Route is the longest and most remote stock route in the world.

This is a trip you’ll have to prepare for a little. It involves driving 2000km across several deserts, so don’t even try it if you get car sick. The Canning Stock Route, the world’s longest and most remote stock route, was established in 1906 – although “established” is hardly the word for a red dirt track on a route described previously as “absolutely impracticable”.

It’s named after surveyor Alfred Wernam Canning, who made several treks along the route, and on one expedition took 20 men, 62 camels, two horses and an astonishing 400 goats for milk and meat. Along the way they sank 52 wells, each about 25km apart (a day’s march for cattle). Although Canning’s status as an all-round Australian exploring hero has been tempered somewhat by allegations he forced Aboriginals to locate water, allegedly tying them up, feeding them salt and waiting to be led to their native wells.

Where // Spanning 2000km from Halls Creek to Wiluna in outback WA. www.canningstockroutecentenary.com

Did you know? // Not only did Canning establish his eponymous stock route, he also surveyed it for our famed rabbit-proof fence – a feat which took him three years. At one point, after the death of his camel, he walked for 338km.