The Savannah Way

The Savannah Way is one of Australias ultimate adventure drives, linking Cairns in Tropical North Queensland with the historic pearling town of Broome in Western Australia, via the natural wonders of Katherine in the Northern Territory.

Whether you explore just a section, or the entire route, youll pass through an amazingly diverse and spectacular landscape of wide horizons, ancient gorges, rock pools, salt pans, hot springs and abundant wildlife.

CLIMATE

The tropical savannas lie in a climatic zone characterised by two distinct seasons: the wet and the dry. The wet summer months, December to March, are hot and humid, in contrast to the dry winter months of May to October which are cooler and have less. Much of the tropical savannas annual rainfall arrives in heavy bursts from thunderstorms, widespread monsoon depressions or from the passage of associated tropical cyclones.

INTERESTING FACTS

Compared to other tropical regions in the world, Australias tropical savannas have a sparse population with fewer than 350,000 residents -less than Tasmania.

The largest crocodile ever captured was shot by Mrs Krys Pawlowski - a North Queensland taxidermist - in the Norman River, near Normanton Queensland in 1958.  Named after its captor, Krys the Croc measured 8.63-metres and a replica  now sits in the main street of Normanton in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Normanton is internationally recognised as an important location for an estimated third of Australias migratory wading birds (eg brolga, sarus crane).

Magnetic termite mounds found in Northern Territory are precisely oriented with their narrow edges facingnorth-south.  The mounds  are built by tiny blind insects and are oriented so that they get the least sun at the hottest time of the day.

Wedge-tailed eagles are impressive birds. The largest eagles in Australia, and among the largest in the world, they have wingspans of up to 2.5 m. The wedge-tailed eagle once carried a bounty on its head. Between 1927 and 1968, 150,000 bounties were paid in Western Australia and ten thousand were paid in Queensland in a single year.

The first camel was imported into Australia from the Canary Islands in 1840, then in 1860 for the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition. There are now an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 feral camels in the Northern Territory alone (conservative 2001 census projections) - almost half of all feral camels in Australia  Feral camels double their number about every 6 to 10 years.

The bulbous boab tree found in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia stores water  and only sheds its leaves when there is no water. The boabs nearest relatives are  far away in Africa and Madagascar.
 

For further information on the Savannah Way please go to www.savannahway.com.au to find comprehensive information regarding distances, maps, itineraries etc.

Visit information bays along the Savannah Way or pick up a Savannah Way safety brochure, map and fact sheets at Visitor Information Centres in major towns.