Stop 1 of 13·June
Home base. The beds are built, the story kit is packed, and the relay begins with an eastern hop before the long loop.
15 beds aboard
⟶ Flight to Townsville and the ferry across; back to Meanjin after
Stop 2 of 13·15 to 17 June
The relay begins on Bwgcolman country: two days, out and back, the first consent conversations of the journey.
✈ The Mparntwe reset before the Utopia Homelands return
Stop 3 of 13·29 June to 1 July
The loop begins. Two nights to load, reset, and confirm the Utopia door, then north.
⟶ ~270 km · est 3.5 h drive · East from Mparntwe; local road condition to confirm
Stop 4 of 13·1 to 3 July
Two nights for stories to go home first: printed returns, consent clearances, and the relay question held through the community door.
⟶ ~500 km · est 6 h drive · From Utopia Homelands; route and timing need local confirmation
Stop 5 of 13·3 to 4 July
Four beds land on Warumungu country, with a full day to do it properly: doorsteps, yarning, the story going down the way the community wants it told.
4 beds
⟶ ~670 km · est 7.5 h drive · Long northbound day from Tennant Creek
Stop 6 of 13·4 to 6 July
Two nights at Katherine and Nitmiluk make space for the gorge, rest, and any warm-path story contact that should happen here.
⟶ ~520 km · est 6 h drive · Katherine to Lake Argyle on the Victoria Highway
Stop 7 of 13·6 to 13 July
The loop turns west into Miriwoong country, Lake Argyle, Kununurra, and the domes of Purnululu.
⟶ Down the Great Northern Highway through Fitzroy Crossing
Stop 8 of 13·13 to 17 July
Four days where the desert meets the sea: Cable Beach, Gantheaume Point, the markets. The mid-journey rest before the longest road of the loop.
⟶ The coast highway south, three days of it
Stop 9 of 13·17 to 22 July
South down the Pilbara coast: Port Hedland, Karratha, then the reef. Whale sharks swim the Ningaloo in July, and the family swims with them.
⟶ The Outback Way: gravel from Laverton, transit permits carried
Stop 10 of 13·22 to 26 July
East across the desert: Newman, Laverton, then the long unsealed road through Ngaanyatjarra Lands. Permit country, crossed with permission, roadhouse to roadhouse.
⟶ ~300 km · est 4 h drive · In from the west off the Tjukaruru Road
Stop 11 of 13·A window is held in late July; the community decides
Four beds are set aside for Mutitjulu, travelling by freight to meet the route. The door opens by nomination, never by a knock: if no warm path opens, the beds wait.
4 beds
⟶ Entry route set by the permit
Stop 12 of 13·28 to 31 JulyProvisional, permit-gated
Three days for the art-centre thread, as many studios as the permit and the communities allow. Two beds travel this way by freight. Permit lead-time keeps this leg provisional.
2 beds
⟶ The southern run: Coober Pedy, the Flinders, Adelaide
Stop 13 of 13·Home 3 August
Down through Coober Pedy and Ikara (the Flinders Ranges) to Kaurna country (Adelaide), then the Monday flight home unless a later night is removed. Five beds are still unallocated: each community on the route chooses where they go.
5 beds, community nominated
Every story pin on this map was shared with consent, and the story went home first. The route is indicative until it is set with the communities on it.