CAPTAIN SINBAD
Contributor
Do; it's a lot of fun and there's some great stuff to see. However, if you're off the beaten track you need to be totally self sufficient. This isn't impossible (I've done a few remote trips) but you'll need some gear. You should also have off road driving experience; the middle of Australia is a bad place to learn things the hard way because medical care may be many hours away, and that's after waiting until someone finds your upturned vehicle and calls out the cavalry.
Also, general hire car companies get very snaky if you take their vehicles off-road, even if you've hired an off-road vehicle.There are specialist mobs around who'll hire you a fully kitted up off road 4WD, but they are quite expensive. Anyway, this is a good forum with lots of information about driving in Australia.
ExplorOz - 4WDing, Camping & Caravanning around Australia
A nice trip if you'd like to see some of the Outback (without having to spend too much on survival gear and car spares) is the drive from Townsville to Winton in Queensland, which is a fully sealed road. The drive from Brisbane is also good but it takes longer, and you may already be in Townsville to dive the Yongala (it's a great dive). You can do that drive in a standard car (though you can see more stuff on the way if you have a 4WD) and it's a reasonably well populated road so you shouldn't need a sat-phone and a three day supply of food and water. However, you'll still see kangaroos, red dirt and all the other Outbacky stuff. The Stockman's Hall of Fame in Longreach is on the way and it's great.
Likewise Sydney to Broken Hill if you're staying in NSW; very similar.
Anyway, all the best with your trip!
Thanks. This is exactly what I was dreaming to do and this gives me a lot of information. Thanks.