Logo for Off the Main Road Magazine with the tagline 'On safe now'

Off the Main Road: Slow Travel Across Regional Australia

Welcome to Off the Main Road

Hi there, glad you found us. We’re Neil, Cameron and Zoe, and we’re slowly wandering Australia one side road (and the occasional highway) at a time. Off the Main Road is where we share our stories, photos and the odd detour along the way.

From rugged coastlines to red-dust plains, quiet country pubs to swimming holes, we’ve seen a bit of everything in the three years we’ve been travelling full-time, and we’re still looking. It’s not all sunsets and postcards. Sometimes it’s flat tyres, long drives and too many flies.

Here you’ll find slow travel tales, photos that tell their own story, and a few handy tips picked up somewhere between the outback and the ocean. So pull up a chair, pour a cuppa, and come travelling with us off the main road, where the best stories begin.

Not sure where to start? Wander over to our Start Here page. We’ll show you around!

Browse all states
South Australia Travel Guides
Queensland Travel Guides
New South Wales Travel Guides
Victorian Travel Guides
Northern Territory Travel Guides
Yellow diamond-shaped road sign with black text that reads "WA" against a blue sky background.
Yellow diamond-shaped road sign with black letters spelling "TAS" against a blue sky background.
Coastal Themed Travel Guides
Hiking Themed Travel Guides
Rainforest Themed Travel Guides
National Park Themed Travel Guides
Small Town Themed Travel Guides
Outback Themed Travel Guides
Hidden Gem Themed Travel Guides

Latest Updates

Latest
Babinda: Bananas, Boulders and a Sad Legend
QLD
Babinda: Bananas, Boulders and a Sad Legend
QLD

Updated August 2026.

We stopped in Babinda for cheap roadside bananas and found the beautiful Babinda Boulders, the notoriously deadly Devil's Pool, Josephine Falls, and the sad Yidinji legend of Oolana woven through it all.

Read more →
QLD
Maryborough: Mary Poppins to Golden Thrones
QLD
Maryborough: Mary Poppins to Golden Thrones
QLD

Maryborough is full of surprises: the birthplace of Mary Poppins, a smugglers' bond store where opium was once legal, a lively arts scene, and the Cistern Chapel, public toilets complete with a golden throne.

Read more →
QLD
Tully: The Wettest Town and a Giant Boot
QLD
Tully: The Wettest Town and a Giant Boot
QLD

Updated August 2026.

You smell Tully before you see it: steam and sweet sugar from the mill. This is Australia’s wettest town by record, marked by a 7.9m Golden Gumboot, exactly the height of the rain that fell in 1950.

Read more →
QLD
Off the Main Road Magazine: Thank You!
UPDATE
Off the Main Road Magazine: Thank You!
UPDATE

The response to the Outback Edition has been better than we hoped. Here’s how to get your copy.

Read more →
UPDATE
Childers: Heritage, Sugar and a Solemn Memorial
QLD
Childers: Heritage, Sugar and a Solemn Memorial
QLD

Childers is a busy little heritage town on the Bruce Highway, known for its beautiful early-1900s main street and the deeply moving Palace Backpackers Memorial to the fifteen young travellers lost in the 2000 fire.

Read more →
QLD
Cardwell: Blue Water and a Quiet Coast
QLD
Cardwell: Blue Water and a Quiet Coast
QLD

Updated August 2026

Most people drive through Cardwell. We stayed and found a milky-blue swimming hole in the hills, a calm upgraded foreshore, and the quiet gateway to Hinchinbrook Island. Just time your Spa Pool visit for rain.

Read more →
QLD
St Lawrence: Lasagna, Mates and Old Boilers
QLD
St Lawrence: Lasagna, Mates and Old Boilers
QLD

Our second stop in St Lawrence, the quiet town between Mackay and Rockhampton: two nights at the community rec ground, Friday lasagne night, a local’s tour with a mate, and the old meatworks boilers in the bush.

Read more →
QLD
Paronella Park: One Man's Impossible Dream
QLD
Paronella Park: One Man's Impossible Dream
QLD

Updated August 2026

We broke up the drive north with stops at coastal Cardwell, rainy Tully with its Golden Gumboot, and the atmospheric Paronella Park. Each stop offered its own charm before we pushed on towards Cairns.

Read more →
QLD
Welcome to Off the Main Road Magazine: The Outback Edition is Here
UPDATE
Welcome to Off the Main Road Magazine: The Outback Edition is Here
UPDATE

It’s official: Off the Main Road is now a magazine.
The Outback Edition is now on sale, in print and digital.

Read more →
UPDATE
Wallaman Falls & Big Crystal Creek: Two Kinds of Falling Water
QLD
Wallaman Falls & Big Crystal Creek: Two Kinds of Falling Water
QLD

North of Townsville, two faces of the wet tropics: Big Crystal Creek, a clear rainforest swimming hole, and Wallaman Falls, Australia’s tallest single-drop waterfall, plunging 269 metres into a misty gorge.

Read more →
QLD
Townsville: Back in the Big City
QLD
Townsville: Back in the Big City
QLD

A slow guide to Townsville, North Queensland: Castle Hill views, the Strand, Queensland Museum Tropics, the RAAF Museum, and a dog-friendly wander at the Palmetum.

Read more →
QLD
Off the Main Road is now a Magazine
UPDATE
Off the Main Road is now a Magazine
UPDATE

It's official: Off the Main Road is now a magazine. The Outback Edition launches mid-August, print and digital.

Read more →
UPDATE
Latest
Our Fave things to do in Melbourne
Our Fave things to do in Melbourne

Our favourite way to experience Melbourne is on foot, looping between the State Library, NGV, laneways, arcades, gardens and the Yarra, with a tram ride to St Kilda and the occasional MSO concert.

Read more →
Our Top Five things to do in Adelaide
Our Top Five things to do in Adelaide

Adelaide’s best days are the slow ones. Museums, galleries, gardens and the Central Market make up our top five things to do in the city — an easy, walkable loop we return to every time.

Read more →
Favourite Waterfalls and Swimming Holes
Favourite Waterfalls and Swimming Holes

From rainforest pools to outback springs and shaded rockholes, these are the waterfalls and swimming spots that shaped our journey across Australia. Cool water, easy tracks, and quiet corners worth slowing down for.

Read more →
Tough Aussie Towns
Tough Aussie Towns

Everyone has a list of towns to avoid. We’ve got one too, except we went anyway. From Alice Springs to Port Augusta, these “tough” towns prove reputation isn’t always reality.

Read more →
Offbeat Australia
Offbeat Australia

From chicken races to jetty-less jetties, Australia’s full of surprises. These offbeat stops are the ones that made us laugh, pull over, and remember why we love the road.

Read more →
Detours and Side Quests
Detours and Side Quests

We’ve racked up a few extra kilometres chasing curiosity through Queensland. Side quests that started as quick detours and turned into full-blown adventures. A few wrong turns we’d happily make again.

Read more →
Our Top Five Coastal Favourites
Our Top Five Coastal Favourites

From Dundee Beach to the Sapphire Coast, these five Australian beaches made us stop for a while. Real coastal favourites that are relaxed and worth the drive every time.

Read more →
Hidden Gems of Outback Queensland
Hidden Gems of Outback Queensland

From drive-in towns to riverside camps, these are our hidden gems of Outback Queensland. Small places with big character, strung along quiet highways where the days stretch long.

Read more →
Our Top Five Northern Territory Favourites
Our Top Five Northern Territory Favourites

From red cliffs to waterfall gullies, these are our top five Northern Territory favourites! A mixed of big names and quiet corners that made us stop, stay longer, and fall a little bit in love with the NT.

Read more →

See All Latest Updates

Magazine cover titled 'off the main road' with a scenic desert landscape featuring red rocks and blue sky, also showing a smaller inset image of a magazine with the same title.

Photography Portfolios

See all portfolios >

Ruined shipwreck on a sandy beach with a clear blue sky and ocean waves.

Seas

A desert landscape with a tall, white-barked tree growing on rocky terrain against red-orange cliffs and a clear blue sky.

Trees

Close-up of a black buffalo with large horns and dark eyes in a natural outdoor setting.

Wildlife

A scenic view of a rocky cliff with green trees along a river at sunset, reflecting the landscape in the calm water.
Uluru, a large red sandstone monolith in the Australian desert with blue sky and sparse desert vegetation in foreground.

Sunsets

Icons

Old rusted tractor with a large water tank on a rural farm at sunset, greenery and trees in the background, partly cloudy sky.

Industrial

Close-up of a pink and yellow flower blooming on a tree branch with buds around it, with blurred green and blue background.

Botanicals

An outdoor scene with a vintage yellow armchair and a white book exchange fridge with black spots, located under trees on red dirt ground, with a clear sky overhead.

Quirky

A few things we genuinely use and recommend on the road

___LZSettings_N4IghgdglgtmAuUD2EDOIBcBtAugGnAFd4kBhAJyQAdN5zCBTAgI3IbAGsqkoJ4B5AG4Ny5KABMG6DMAC+BAMZIANsoYLEKAJLjMIAGxgAHACZ9AM0MAGMAHZxzAJxWFVgIxh2CgKz6QilTUNZAgAFQBPKgZMNwDlQhgIAHUJeAALTBMAFisCSVQoAHMIPTBiJEKxXQJzKGV4EUxQeDBCzAhCVUUEBkKkcnC9ACV1JBgYBghJXXkQQuIG8hjckDT2SXJQhgAPeD1-EFhWhgBBVCiNIYRkPTcD5SK0+GYkbcxzMGVUJhAH1HgtHBCqcHsUJnw9GpzHsCH8AUCGABlKAAL2iGAAzCsJi1xAgwAAFJAFTQlDDgF7CAC0iHgagOMCg2wY4lIKAaEIwdEYBCox2RaMw3l5YjgAwAsgxcfi9BAUNERUhxIQNABFQhQBQcABqUAYAHcAKIQMDMNS6DAfL4-b5KKZgCVSsB4lqy+UHVBpJBG7YKERUPZc+g2r36glgf78cgAVSoSkZEEKhuEfGkIEIcbGvDaBE93oJYj9tGDudDI2d4v6DAAMrwOMWeSA8-rQmkEswTXUGyHvaEoHT0dybQ98gSRENvZgMQQGrsTqCIODAyA-XxGjOdvABeim3BVAc6JBUOZ+jBpKBKC1SU0QCib4JPoxMCtCNBl5I2rJZqgFJ90aA3hkEAH3idE3CsF83z0ABSEBZkGICQKfDBwMg-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-DEwG8ExvAYbwMXt-QTHEbxHBMOCgA
Off The Main Road Magazine
Off The Main Road Magazine

Shameless plug alert: our own magazine, packed with real outback stories. We're a little biased.

Read more →
OUTRAK Hiking Micro Towel
OUTRAK Hiking Micro Towel

Clips straight onto Zoe's lead, wet it down at rest stops to help keep her cool. Small, simple, and always on hand.

Read more →
Freshwater Farm Hand Wash Refill Pouch 1L
Freshwater Farm Hand Wash Refill Pouch 1L

A refill pouch that's become a quiet essential in the van, keeping us stocked up on hand wash without adding bulk between towns.

Read more →
The Australian Bird Guide (Revised Edition)
The Australian Bird Guide (Revised Edition)

We've flicked through this book more times than we can count, trying to work out what just flew past. A guide that earns its spot in the moho.

Read more →
Power Force Pro Disinfectant Wipes 120 Pack
Power Force Pro Disinfectant Wipes 120 Pack

A pack-up routine essential, quick enough for a wipe-down, strong enough for the bathroom, and one less thing to restock constantly.

Read more →