Sacred Earth Safaris

You will be col­lect­ed from your hotel in Broome 5.30am this morn­ing for a morn­ing tour to the Hor­i­zon­tal Falls. You will board a sea­plane at Broome Air­port, so you can enjoy low lev­el fly­ing over the amaz­ing islands of the Buc­ca­neer Arch­i­pel­ago and Cape Lev­eque before your sea­plane lands safe­ly in the calm waters of Tal­bot Bay right near the Hor­i­zon­tal Falls. 

Then enjoy a thrilling ride on the fastest boat in the Kim­ber­ley through the water­falls, fol­lowed by a laid-back island cruise. Return to a lux­u­ry house­boat for a fresh­ly pre­pared breakfast. 

Return to Broome on the sea­plane to com­plete your mem­o­rable Hor­i­zon­tal Falls sea­plane adventure. 

Your Sacred Earth Safaris guide will now col­lect you, to begin your 10 day 4WD safari through the Kim­ber­ley region. This after­noon you’ll trav­el to Der­by, where you’ll vis­it the prison boab tree, Mowan­jum Art Cen­tre as well as tak­ing a look around the wharf. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion – Der­by, motel room with en-suite 

Day 2 — Tues­day 5^th July (L,D)

Our des­ti­na­tion this morn­ing is Wind­jana Gorge, where we can take a walk into the gorge, part of an ancient Devon­ian reef sys­tem where the Lennard Riv­er has cut through the Napi­er range. We view the fos­silised reef sys­tem and fresh­wa­ter croc­o­diles can often be seen laz­ing around on the riv­er banks. 

The after­noon is spent explor­ing Tun­nel Creek, a 750m long lime­stone tun­nel in the Napi­er Range, carved into the rock over thou­sands of years. View sta­lac­tites and sta­lacmites and hear the sto­ry of Jan­damar­ra, who used the tun­nel as a hide­out in the late 1800’s.

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion – motel rooms with en-suites at Fitzroy Riv­er Lodge 

Day 3 — Wednes­day 6^th July (B,L)

This morn­ing you’ll take a ranger lead boat cruise through Geike Gorge, where flood waters of the Fitzroy Riv­er have carved the 30-metre-deep Gorge through the lime­stone at the junc­tion of the Oscar and Geike Ranges. 

In the dry sea­son, the riv­er trans­forms itself into a qui­et stream strung out beneath the tow­er­ing cliffs of the Devon­ian reef. Here, lay­ers of fos­sils and the lime­stone stra­ta of an ancient reef are exposed in cross sec­tion, show­ing glimpses of life in the Devon­ian peri­od before rep­tiles or mam­mals evolved. 

We now con­tin­ue to Kununur­ra, where we’ll base our­selves for the next 5 nights to explore the sur­round­ing area. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion – motel room with en-suite in Kununur­ra (5 night stay) Day 4 — Thurs­day 7^th July (B,L,D)

There’s some free time this morn­ing to relax or have a look around Kununur­ra, which sits on the banks of the mighty Ord Riv­er and is sur­round­ed by 350 mil­lion-year-old sand­stone ridges and rocky outcrops. 

Lat­er on, we trav­el north to the beau­ti­ful Par­rys Lagoon, which offers excel­lent bird watch­ing in the com­fort of the pur­pose built bird hide or from one of the walk­ways. We also stop to enjoy the breath­tak­ing views from Tele­graph Hill, over the bill­abong and wetlands. 

We have a look around near­by Wyn­d­ham, before head­ing back to Kununurra. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion – motel room with en-suite in Kununurra 

Day 5 — Fri­day 8^th July (B,L,D)

Today you have a day tour to Pur­nu­l­u­lu Nation­al park (the Bun­gle Bun­gles), famous for the ancient range of unusu­al bee­hive-shaped domes, gorges and chasms over 350 mil­lion years old 

Depart­ing from Kununur­ra you’ll take an amaz­ing scenic flight where you receive a per­spec­tive of the Kim­ber­ley only seen from the air — all pas­sen­gers have a win­dow seat ! Over­fly Lake Kununur­ra, Lake Argyle, Kim­ber­ley Sta­tion Coun­try and the Osmond ranges before com­ing into cir­cuit over Pur­nu­l­u­lu Nation­al Park to view the ancient bee­hive domes and mag­nif­i­cent gorges. On land­ing at the parks Bell­burn Airstrip, jump into the 4WDs and head off on the dirt track that runs along­side the west­ern side of the escarp­ment as you head for Echid­na Chasm. Morn­ing tea is served before you’ll walk into the chasm, learn­ing the sto­ries of the cheeky Echid­na as you go. After watch­ing the chasm glow gold you’ll jump back in the 4WD and around to Cathe­dral Gorge for a bush tuck­er and bush med­i­cine walk. Once enter­ing Cathe­dral your guide will enlight­en you with sto­ries of the sacred pool and the gate keep­er of the gorge. Lunch is pro­vid­ed in the gorge, then head on to the look out, learn­ing about the cul­tur­al and geo­log­i­cal his­to­ry of the area. On the return flight to Kununur­ra, you’ll fly over the Argyle Dia­mond Mine, Carr Boyd Ranges and Ivan­hoe Cross­ing. Overnight accom­mo­da­tion – motel room with en-suite in Kununurra 

Day 6 — Sat­ur­day 9^th July (B,L,D)

Today you have a full day tour to Mitchell Falls, with a scenic flight, 4WD trans­fers, hik­ing, heli­copter and then scenic flight back to Kununur­ra. With an ear­ly morn­ing depar­ture from Kununur­ra we head west to the Cock­burn Ranges and Pen­te­cost Riv­er and then onwards over the heart of the north-cen­tral Kim­ber­ley to the Mitchell Plateau. On arrival at the Mitchell Plateau air­field we board the 4WD coach for the 20km bush track to the Ranger Base and the start of the 4.5km Punamii-unpuu Hik­ing Trail to the Mitchell Falls. Along the way you can swim and explore Lit­tle Merton’s and Big Merton’s Falls and be amazed at the ancient rock art sites fea­tur­ing the myth­i­cal Gwion Gwion spir­it fig­ures, and lis­ten to some of the sig­nif­i­cant dream­ing sto­ries of the Wunam­bal peo­ple. You’ll arrive at the spec­tac­u­lar Punamii-unpuu (Mitchell Falls) at around mid­day, for your pic­nic pack lunch, eat rest and swim. For the next 2 hours you can explore the escarp­ment and swim in the upstream (croc­o­dile free) water­holes. You then meet at the Heli­pad for an exhil­a­rat­ing chop­per ride over the Falls back to Base and return in the 4wd back to the air­field for a cold beer, wine or a cup of tea, before board­ing your home­ward flight. The plane departs the air­field and will track to the Cam­bridge Gulf, and the pio­neer town of Wyn­d­ham and come in low over the Low­er Ord wet­lands. Please note: This tour requires a mod­er­ate lev­el of fit­ness and agili­ty. If in doubt then a 2‑way heli trans­fer is also avail­able, for an addi­tion­al cost (approx.. $160.00pp.)

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion – motel room with en-suite in Kununurra 

Day 7 — Sun­day 10^th July (B,L)

Today we day trip to El Que­stro Wilder­ness Park, which is a mil­lion acres in size. 

We start our vis­it with a dip at the Zebedee Springs ther­mal pools, set amongst palm trees. 

Then after some time to look around the sta­tion area, we trav­el to Emma Gorge and this after­noon, take the walk to the beau­ti­ful Emma Gorge and water­fall. A cool reward awaits you at the end of the walk in, where you can swim at Emma Gorge pool and the 200ft water­fall that is fed from a series of nat­ur­al springs high above the plateau of the Cock­burn Range. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion – motel room with en-suite in Kununurra 

Day 8 — Mon­day 11^th July (B,L)

After break­fast, we leave Kununur­ra and head towards Lake Argyle. 

Lake Argyle is Australia’s largest man- made lake, cov­er­ing 1000sq km and built as part of the Ord Riv­er scheme. It offers a great expanse of water from which steep red rocky slopes reach up approx­i­mate­ly 150m, in awe-inspir­ing grandeur. 

After lunch you’ll take the sun­set cruise on the lake, where you’ll cruise through some of the 90 islands and inlets to search for wildlife and to take in the mag­nif­i­cent scenery of the Carr Boyd Ranges. The cruise con­tin­ues out to Hagen island and ​‘Mount Mis­ery’ which tow­ers over the now sub­merged site of the orig­i­nal Argyle Downs Home­stead after which Lake Argyle is named. Head­ing west into the sun­set, we then stop for a refresh­ing swim in the tran­quil waters of the ​‘Bay of Islands’ as drinks and nib­bles are served. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion — Lake Argyle Resort, in en-suite rooms 

Day 9 — Tues­day 12^th July (B,L)

After break­fast, we start our jour­ney towards Dar­win, pass­ing through the bor­der into the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry and trav­el­ling through Tim­ber Creek and Gre­go­ry Nation­al Park. 

We stop to view the Vic­to­ria Riv­er, one of the largest tidal influ­enced rivers in the Ter­ri­to­ry with an abun­dance of salt­wa­ter crocodiles. 

We reach Kather­ine and make our way to Top Dij Art Gallery, where you’ll take a hands on cul­tur­al expe­ri­ence. Activ­i­ties on offer include sit­ting down with res­i­dent artist, Manuel who will tell you tales of trib­al life, lan­guage, the hunt­ing and gath­er­ing tech­niques, cer­e­mo­ny, weapons used and abo­rig­i­nal con­tem­po­rary life. Expe­ri­ence your own Rarrk paint­ing with Manuel and you will also have an oppor­tu­ni­ty to par­tic­i­pate in one of the tra­di­tion­al hunt­ing activ­i­ties (fire­light­ing, spear throw­ing etc.). 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion – motel room with en-suite in Katherine 

Day 10 — Wednes­day 13^th July (B,L)

Our des­ti­na­tion this morn­ing is Nit­miluk Gorge, home to 13 spec­tac­u­lar gorges, carved out of the rock by tor­ren­tial sum­mer rains, over mil­lions of years. 

It’s an ear­ly start but a love­ly way to start the day, on the dawn cruise. The colours of the ear­ly morn­ing awak­en as you emerge into the first gorge. See the mist ris­ing above the smooth waters sur­face, hear the wildlife stir­ring and breathe in the crisp, clear air. 

After break­fast, we start head­ing north towards Dar­win. En-route, we call into Leilyn (Edith Falls), part of Nit­miluk Nation­al Park and well known for it’s pic­turesque water­falls and pools. In par­tic­u­lar, the large pool at the base of the escarp­ment is great for a swim. 

We arrive into Dar­win at approx­i­mate­ly 5pm and you will be dropped off at your Dar­win city hotel. 

END ITIN­ER­ARY

B= Break­fast L= Lunch D= Dinner 

You will be col­lect­ed from your hotel in Dar­win at 7.30am this morn­ing for your 10 day 4WD safari through the Kim­ber­ley region. 

Today we’re head­ing south towards the town­ship of Kather­ine. En-route, we call into Leilyn (Edith Falls), part of Nit­miluk Nation­al Park and well known for it’s pic­turesque water­falls and pools. In par­tic­u­lar, the large pool at the base of the escarp­ment is great for a swim. 

We arrive at our Kather­ine accom­mo­da­tion, fresh­en up and then late this after­noon we trav­el to near­by Nit­miluk Gorge, home to 13 spec­tac­u­lar gorges, carved out of the rock by tor­ren­tial sum­mer rains, over mil­lions of years. Here you’ll cruise for 2 hours through the gorge, dis­cov­er­ing the cus­toms of the tra­di­tion­al land own­ers, the Jawoyn peo­ple. Dis­cov­er the sto­ries and ways of the Jawoyn peo­ple against the mag­nif­i­cent back­drop of the Nit­miluk Gorge, chang­ing colour with the set­ting sun. The tour includes a three course can­dle light din­ner, fea­tur­ing fresh, local Aus­tralian pro­duce cooked on board, a com­pli­men­ta­ry glass of sparkling wine, tea and coffee. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion – motel room with en-suite in Katherine. 

Day 2 – Sun­day 7^th August (B,L)

This morn­ing we take a hands on cul­tur­al expe­ri­ence at Top Dij Art Gallery. Activ­i­ties on offer include sit­ting down with res­i­dent artist, Manuel who will tell you tales of trib­al life, lan­guage, the hunt­ing and gath­er­ing tech­niques, cer­e­mo­ny, weapons used and abo­rig­i­nal con­tem­po­rary life. Expe­ri­ence your own Rarrk paint­ing with Manuel and you will also have an oppor­tu­ni­ty to par­tic­i­pate in one of the tra­di­tion­al hunt­ing activ­i­ties (fire­light­ing, spear throw­ing etc.). 

We now trav­el west through Gre­go­ry Nation­al Park and Tim­ber Creek and into West­ern Aus­tralia. We also stop to view the Vic­to­ria Riv­er, one of the largest tidal influ­enced rivers in the Ter­ri­to­ry with an abun­dance of salt­wa­ter crocodiles. 

Our des­ti­na­tion today is Lake Argyle, Australia’s largest man- made lake, cov­er­ing 1000sq km and built as part of the Ord Riv­er scheme. It offers a great expanse of water from which steep red rocky slopes reach up approx­i­mate­ly 150m, in awe-inspir­ing grandeur. 

The rest of the after­noon is yours to relax in your room, have a swim in the infin­i­ty pool or take a walk. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion — Lake Argyle Resort, in en-suite rooms 

Day 3 – Mon­day 8^th August (B,L)

At 10am you’ll take a 3 hour cruise on Lake Argyle, with great scenery and unique wildlife with a smörgås­bord lunch included. 

Enjoy an expert com­men­tary from the expe­ri­enced tour guides and skip­pers includ­ing infor­ma­tion about the his­to­ry of the area, the Ord Irri­ga­tion Scheme, pio­neer­ing Durack Fam­i­ly and unfor­giv­ing rugged land­scape. This cruise mean­ders across the north­ern reach­es of Lake Argyle explor­ing the many bays and inlets that make this immense body of water so unique. Wal­la­bies, Wal­la­roos, Fish Feed­ing, Birdlife and Fresh­wa­ter Croc­o­diles are just part of the Lake Argyle Fam­i­ly whom you may meet. 

Stop at a remote island beach for a swim in the pris­tine waters while our crew pre­pare your buf­fet lunch includ­ing a taste of the fresh caught Lake Argyle Sil­ver Cob­bler, cold meats, sal­ads, fruits and a cou­ple of com­pli­men­ta­ry beers, glass­es of wine, soft drinks and/​or cold water. 

On return to the boat ramp, Lake Argyle Tours will con­tin­ue with a 20 minute bus tour of the Main Ord Dam site for a clos­er look at the dam wall, intake tow­er, hydro pow­er sta­tion and irri­ga­tion out­let valves and down into the spec­tac­u­lar Ord Riv­er Gorge below the tow­er­ing wall. Lunch with bev­er­ages includ­ed plus tea, cof­fee, iced water avail­able through­out the cruise. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion – motel room with en-suite in Kununurra 

Day 4 – Tues­day 9^th August (B,L)

Today you have a full day tour to Mitchell Falls, the Kim­ber­ley Coast and Kalum­bu­ru Abo­rig­i­nal community. 

In the cul­ture of the Kim­ber­ley peo­ple, the Wand­ji­na is the supreme Cre­ator and a sym­bol of fer­til­i­ty and rain. Peo­ple have been paint­ing Wand­ji­na and Gwion Gwion fig­ures in rock art sites scat­tered through­out the Kim­ber­ley for millennia. 

Fly across to the Mitchell Falls, then con­tin­ue to Port War­ren­der and the Kim­ber­ley Coastal Camp, the rich pearl farms and the his­toric WWII Truscott air­base and miles of exot­ic and pris­tine coast­line. Arrive at the remote set­tle­ment of Kalum­bu­ru where your Wunam­bal guide will meet you for an incred­i­ble jour­ney into the coastal com­mu­ni­ties. Vis­it the Art Cen­tre, his­toric WWII air­craft grave­yard, amaz­ing Gwion Gwion rock art sites that are all along the coast and to check out the beach; if the tide is low then oys­ters are on the menu with fresh peri­win­kles on the fire. 

On the tour learn mod­ern com­mu­ni­ty life and how it encom­pass­es cul­tur­al prac­tices includ­ing how the rock paint­ings were made 30,000 years ago. Have a pic­nic lunch before head­ing back to the airstrip for a stun­ning scenic flight along the remote Tim­or Sea coast, over­fly­ing Far­away Bay, the spec­tac­u­lar King George Falls, Berke­ley Riv­er, and the mighty Cam­bridge Gulf. You’ll track east over tidal flood­plains and the Ord Riv­er Irri­ga­tion Area back to Kununur­ra, over Ivan­hoe crossing. 

**please note that this tour does not get onto the ground at Mitchell Falls. It flies over the falls, so you will see them from the air** 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion – motel room with en-suite in Kununurra 

Day 5 – Wednes­day 10^th August (B,L)

Our des­ti­na­tion today El Que­stro Wilder­ness Park, which is a mil­lion acres in size. En-route we vis­it the beau­ti­ful Par­rys Lagoon, which offers excel­lent bird watch­ing in the com­fort of the pur­pose built bird hide or from one of the walk­ways. We also stop to enjoy the breath­tak­ing views from Tele­graph Hill, over the bill­abong and wetlands. 

We arrive at Emma Gorge and this after­noon, you can take the walk to the beau­ti­ful Emma Gorge and water­fall. A cool reward awaits you at the end of the walk in, where you can swim at Emma Gorge pool and the 200ft water­fall that is fed from a series of nat­ur­al springs high above the plateau of the Cock­burn Range. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion – El Que­stro Sta­tion in Sta­tion Bun­ga­lows with en-suites 

Day 6 – Thurs­day 11^th August (B,L,D)

We start today with a dip at the Zebedee Springs ther­mal pools, set amongst palm trees. 

Leav­ing El Que­stro, we now make our way south to the Bun­gle Bun­gles. Pur­nu­l­u­lu Nation­al park (the Bun­gle Bun­gles) is famous for the ancient range of unusu­al bee­hive-shaped domes, gorges and chasms over 350 mil­lion years old. The sec­tion of road into the park is quite chal­leng­ing and will give you a real sense of off-road adventure ! 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion – Cab­in with en-suite in the Bun­gle Bun­gles (2 night stay). 

Day 7 – Fri­day 12^th August (B,L,D)

We spend today in the Bun­gle Bun­gles. Our first stop in the park is Cathe­dral Gorge, a huge nat­ur­al amphithe­atre, with fan­tas­tic acoustics. We then take the walk to the Pic­cinin­ny Look­out, fol­lowed by the ​“Domes trail walk”. 

This after­noon we take a walk into Echid­na Chasm, which is a nar­row gorge of con­glom­er­ate rock. The walk in is beau­ti­ful, pass­ing endem­nic livis­to­nia palms. 

There’s time today for option­al heli­copter flights (addi­tion­al cost). 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion – Cab­in with en-suite in the Bun­gle Bungles 

Day 8 – Sat­ur­day 13^th August (B,L,D)

Today we con­tin­ue west through Halls Creek and onto Fitzroy Crossing. 

This after­noon you’ll take a ranger lead boat cruise through Geike Gorge, where flood waters of the Fitzroy Riv­er have carved the 30-metre-deep Gorge through the lime­stone at the junc­tion of the Oscar and Geike Ranges. 

In the dry sea­son, the riv­er trans­forms itself into a qui­et stream strung out beneath the tow­er­ing cliffs of the Devon­ian reef. Here, lay­ers of fos­sils and the lime­stone stra­ta of an ancient reef are exposed in cross sec­tion, show­ing glimpses of life in the Devon­ian peri­od before rep­tiles or mam­mals evolved 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion – motel rooms with en-suites at Fitzroy Riv­er Lodge 

Day 9 – Sun­day 14^th August (B,L)

Our des­ti­na­tion this morn­ing is Wind­jana Gorge, where we can take a walk into the gorge, part of an ancient Devon­ian reef sys­tem where the Lennard Riv­er has cut through the Napi­er range. We view the fos­silised reef sys­tem and fresh­wa­ter croc­o­diles can often be seen laz­ing around on the riv­er banks. 

The after­noon is spent explor­ing Tun­nel Creek, a 750m long lime­stone tun­nel in the Napi­er Range, carved into the rock over thou­sands of years. View sta­lac­tites and sta­lacmites and hear the sto­ry of Jan­damar­ra, who used the tun­nel as a hide­out in the late 1800’s. .

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion – Der­by, motel room with en-suite 

Day 10 – Mon­day 15^th August (L)

This morn­ing you have a half day tour to the Hor­i­zon­tal Falls. Bring your swim­ming cos­tumes, tow­els, sun­screen, hat, water bot­tle and your cam­era. Fly direct­ly from Der­by on a sea­plane to the Hor­i­zon­tal Falls where you’ll meet your expert skip­per for an exhil­a­rat­ing fast boat ride through the nar­row gorges. After the adren­a­lin rush, wind down with a relaxed cruise, lunch and swim in the turquoise calm of Tal­bot Bay before board­ing the sea­plane for anoth­er low lev­el scenic flight back to Derby. 

You’ll now be trans­ferred back to Broome and you will be dropped off at your accommodation 

END ITIN­ER­ARY

B= Break­fast L= Lunch D= Dinner 

Your tour starts with a flight from Ade­laide into Port Lin­coln at 3pm. So you have the choice to arrive into Ade­laide this morn­ing or arrive the day before and stay an extra night or two in Adelaide. 

If you arrive this morn­ing, there are a range of eater­ies in the air­port ter­mi­nal itself and the Atu­ra Air­port Hotel also has a cou­ple of eater­ies and bars. Lug­gage lock­ers are avail­able for hire on the ground floor of the mul­ti storey car park. 

If you arrive a day or two ear­li­er, please make your way to Ade­laide Air­port by 2pm to meet Andrew for our group check in. Your flight to Port Lin­coln lasts approx­i­mate­ly 45 min­utes and upon arrival into Port Lin­coln, you’ll be col­lect­ed by Sacred Earth Safaris. 

On the way to our hotel, we’ll take a detour to Win­ters Hill Look­out, for panoram­ic views over Port Lincoln. 

Tonight we’ll have our first group din­ner at a local restaurant. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- motel room with en-suite, Lin­coln Motel, which is sit­u­at­ed right next to the beach ! (2 night stay) 

Day 2 — Sat­ur­day 5^th March (B,L,D)

Today we head south through the city towards the entrance of the ​“Whalers Way”, a 14km unsealed track along one of the most spec­tac­u­lar stretch­es of coast­line in SA, which takes us to the very tip of Eyre Penin­su­la. The coast is inun­dat­ed with a series of nat­ur­al crevass­es, giant fis­sures in the rocky coast­line which have cre­at­ed deep bays, chasms and caves into which the sea surges back and forth. Cape Wiles is a 100 metre high cliff face above the swirling sea, with pil­lars of rock and an island offer­ing con­tin­u­ing resis­tance to the South­ern Ocean. Fur seals can often be seen here (a zoom lens is handy !). 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- motel room with en-suite, Lin­coln Motel 

Day 3 — Sun­day 6^th March (B,L,D)

Depart­ing Port Lin­coln, we now head along the Flinders Hwy on the west coast of the Eyre Penin­su­la. Our first stop along this stun­ning ocean dri­ve is at the Leo Cum­mings mon­u­ment look­out, for views of Point Drum­mond and the cliffs of Sheringa. The crag­gy pin­na­cle oppo­site the look­out is home to a fam­i­ly of osprey. 

We dri­ve past Lake New­land Con­ser­va­tion park to Talia Beach and Talia Caves. The Wool­shed is a large cav­ern carved into the gran­ite cliffs and is accessed by a walk­way and wood­en steps. The cave has a hon­ey­combed ceil­ing and dark crevices with blow­holes near­by. We also explore The Tub and enjoy the dra­mat­ic views to the south of the beach. 

Turn­ing off the main high­way, we stop at Mur­phys Haystacks. Made up of pink Hilta­ba gran­ite, the haystacks have stood on top of the earth in their present form for near­ly 34,000 years. They’re very photogenic ! 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- motel room with en-suite, Streaky Bay (2 night stay) 

Day 4 — Mon­day 7^th March (B,L,D)

This morn­ing we have a very spe­cial expe­ri­ence- a swim with sea lions and pos­si­bly dol­phins. Unfed, untrained, total­ly wild, a place where the Lions of the sea and their close friends, bot­tlenose dol­phins, will choose to inter­act with you on their own terms. 

The ​“call of the wild” echoes around you as you are lit­er­al­ly wel­comed into a water world of pure mag­ic by the very things that live in the sea. 

The expe­ri­ence takes place at Baird Bay, about an hour south of Streaky Bay and you have the option of swim­ming OR being an observ­er of the boat- hav­ing the oppor­tu­ni­ty to take pho­tos from the boat but not actu­al­ly swim­ming. If you choose to be an observ­er, rather than swim, please remove $30 from the quot­ed price. 

As an alter­na­tive for those that don’t want to swim or observe, we can vis­it the near­by Point Labatt, where a high cliff top look­out allows us to view a sea-lion colony 50m below. If you choose to do this, remove $200 from the tour price. On the way back to Streaky Bay, we take the West­all Way loop dri­ve , where we can enjoy a vari­ety of land­forms and seascapes, includ­ing rugged lime­stone cliffs, strik­ing gran­ite boul­ders cov­ered in gold­en lichens and seclud­ed gran­ite pools. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- motel room with en-suite, Streaky Bay 

Day 5 — Tues­day 8^th March (B,L,D)

This morn­ing we con­tin­ue north to Ceduna, the major region­al busi­ness cen­tre of the Far West Coast of Eyre Penin­su­la. Ceduna is also the start of the longest golf course in the world, span­ning 1,365 kms to Kal­go­or­lie, with one hole in each par­tic­i­pat­ing town or road­house along the way. 

After a short break, we con­tin­ue west along the Eyre High­way, through Penong, with dozens of wind­mills scat­tered around the town. We’re now trav­el­ling along the Nullar­bor Plain, the world’s largest semi-arid karst (cave) land­scape. Most of the park’s land­scape is flat except where the sur­face has col­lapsed into sink­holes reveal­ing large under­ground caverns. 

We reach our accom­mo­da­tion but take a slight detour, hit­ting the dirt, to the near­by Mur­raw­in­jin­nie caves – a group of three caves we can explore and photograph. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- Motel room with en-suite on the Nullarbor. 

Day 6 — Wednes­day 9^th March (B,L)

This morn­ing we vis­it Head of Bight, where we view the sheer Bun­da Cliffs, where Aus­tralia dra­mat­i­cal­ly drops into the ocean. The Bun­da Cliffs are a mag­nif­i­cent sight in them­selves and stretch in an unbro­ken line for 200 kilo­me­tres to the West­ern Aus­tralian bor­der. Con­tin­u­ing west, we stop sev­er­al times at fan­tas­tic coastal lookouts. 

We then turn off again, onto the unsealed old Eyre High­way, and dri­ve to the ruins of Koon­al­da Home­stead, one of a num­ber of impor­tant way sta­tions along the old road, years ago, pro­vid­ing a rare piece of civil­i­sa­tion, fuel and emer­gency ser­vices. After a look around the ruins, we dri­ve north to Her­itage list­ed Koon­al­da Cave, a huge sink­hole with a cave and under­ground stream sys­tem at the bot­tom. The site was impor­tant to the local Abo­rig­i­nal peo­ple and much evi­dence of their vis­i­ta­tion has been found. After view­ing the cave from the top, we dri­ve south again and re-join the main high­way. We now cross the bor­der into West­ern Aus­tralia, put our watch­es back and con­tin­ue to our accommodation. 

We check in and then fin­ish the day at the ruins of the Eucla tele­graph sta­tion, which is being swal­lowed up by the Deliss­er sand dunes. 

We can also take a walk to the beach and old jet­ty (very photogenic). 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- room with en-suite at Eucla 

Day 7- Thurs­day 10^th March (L)

Back on the road again this morn­ing, we pass through Mundra­bil­la and Madu­ra, stop­ping en-route at the Madu­ra Pass Look­out, for sweep­ing views of Madu­ra Pass and the Roe Plains. 

We pass through Cai­gu­na and enter the longest straight stretch of road in Aus­tralia, which is 146.6km.

Just out­side Cai­gu­na, we stop at the Blow­hole, formed by chem­i­cal and phys­i­cal weath­er­ing process­es that erode the lime­stone bedrock com­mon in this part of Aus­tralia. The name blow hole refers to the fact that these nat­ur­al fea­tures breathe air in and out as high and low pres­sure weath­er sys­tems pass across the Nullarbor. 

Our des­ti­na­tion this after­noon is Bal­lado­nia, a thriv­ing and pros­per­ous wool pro­duc­ing area which made world­wide head­lines in 1979 when fiery pieces of a way­ward NASA space sta­tion called Sky­lab, land­ed around the grounds of the hotel ! The hotel muse­um hous­es doc­u­ments from NASA, a recre­ation of actu­al events, pho­tos and relat­ed ephemera as well as infor­ma­tion on Bal­lado­nia’s ear­ly pio­neer­ing days, Abo­rig­i­nal her­itage and the con­struc­tion of the Eyre Highway. 

We arrive mid-after­noon so you have some time to relax and take a look at the muse­um before dinner. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- Bal­lado­nia, motel room with en-suite 

Day 8 — Fri­day 11^th March (L,D)

This morn­ing we leave the Eyre High­way and make our way south on the unsealed Par­man­go Road, to Cape Le Grand, one of WA’s best known and most spec­tac­u­lar Nation­al Parks. The scenery ranges from wild coastal scenery, stun­ning beach­es and rugged gran­ite peaks to sweep­ing heath­lands, which are home to a range of ani­mals and flowers. 

En-route we stop at the Der­alinya Home­stead ruins. 

At Cape Le Grand, we vis­it This­tle Cove, a beau­ti­ful bay with a spec­tac­u­lar coastal out­look and a ​‘whistling’ rock, and you can take an option­al, easy walk along the coast to Lucky Bay. Keep an eye out for dol­phins as you look out over the Recher­ché Arch­i­pel­ago islands. 

Lucky Bay is famed as hav­ing one of the most beau­ti­ful beach­es in Aus­tralia. Here we can swim and snorkel or take a walk. Keep an eye out for kan­ga­roos on the beach ! 

Late after­noon we dri­ve onto Esper­ance and make our way to our accommodation. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- Esper­ance, motel room with en-suite 

Day 9 — Sat­ur­day 12^th March (B,L,D)

This morn­ing we take the Esper­ance Great Ocean Dri­ve, which is a 38km scenic dri­ve fol­low­ing the coast­line and includ­ing high­lights such as Rotary Look­out, Twi­light Beach, Obser­va­to­ry Point, the Wind Farm and Pink Lake. 

Then we dri­ve to Albany which will take the rest of the day. The King George Sound at Albany was the site of WA’s first Euro­pean set­tle­ment and on the fore­shore is a full scale repli­ca of the Brig Ami­ty, which brought the first set­tlers and con­victs into Albany in 1826. 

We arrive into Albany and then up to the Anzac Memo­r­i­al, which also offers views. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- Albany, Dog Rock Motel, motel room with en-suite. 

Day 10 — Sun­day 13^th March (B,L,D)

We head fur­ther west today, dri­ving to Den­mark and a lit­tle lat­er we come to the stun­ning Greens Pool, a beach and swim­ming area at the east­ern end of William Bay Nation­al Park. It’s almost com­plete­ly shel­tered from the waves of the Great South­ern Ocean by the round­ed rock boul­ders typ­i­cal to this area and from the car park we can also take a 10 minute walk to Ele­phant Rocks, which look exact­ly like a herd of ele­phants, pad­dling in the shal­low waters. 

Fur­ther along the coastal dri­ve is the tree-cloaked Wal­pole-Nor­nalup Nation­al Park, home to tin­gle forests, which occur nowhere else in the world. Here we take The Val­ley of the Giants – Tree Top Walk, fea­tur­ing a stun­ning walk­way posi­tioned 40 metres above the ground amid the dizzy­ing heights of the tin­gle for­est canopy. Expe­ri­ence walk­ing in the Tree Top canopies of tall kar­ri trees with views over core wilder­ness and then ven­ture to the Ancient Empire of 400 year old red tin­gle trees along a board­walk that mean­ders across the for­est floor. 

The trail fol­lows the sto­ry of the lost era of Gondwana. 

Our next stop is inland, to Pem­ber­ton, the clos­est town to the Glouces­ter Nation­al Park, home of the Glouces­ter Tree. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- Pem­ber­ton, motel room with en-suite 

Day 11 — Mon­day 14^th March (B,L,D)

Today starts with a vis­it to the Glouces­ter Tree, which is one of only 3 remain­ing tall Kar­ri trees that were made into look­outs dur­ing the 1930’s and 1940’s. This was a way of spot­ting fires in the tall Kar­ri for­est and this tree was named after the then Gov­er­nor-Gen­er­al of Aus­tralia, His Roy­al High­ness the Duke of Glouces­ter, who was vis­it­ing Pem­ber­ton at the time. Today, vis­i­tors can climb up the 61m to see one of the most spec­tac­u­lar views of the Kar­ri forest. 

We con­tin­ue to near­by Greater Beedelup Nation­al Park, where we take a short walk to the beau­ti­ful Beedelup Falls. 

The final leg of our trip takes us into Bus­sel­ton, where you have some free time if you’d like to walk along the jet­ty (or take the train- addi­tion­al cost). 

Mak­ing our way into Perth now, our final din­ner tonight will be served at the hotel and this is a great chance to rem­i­nisce over our adven­tures from the past 11 days. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- Hotel room with en-suite in Perth 

Day 12 — Tues­day 15^th March (Depar­ture Day) (B)

At your leisure, please make your way to Perth air­port from your onward flight. Trans­fers can be arranged by the hotel for you. 

END ITIN­ER­ARY

B = Break­fast L= Lunch D = Dinner 

Day 1 (D)

You will be col­lect­ed from our cen­tral Ade­laide pick up at 1pm this after­noon for your 11 day 4WD Safari along the Ood­na­dat­ta, Birdsville and Strz­elec­ki tracks. This first leg of our South Aus­tralian Out­back adven­ture, takes us to Port Augus­ta, sit­u­at­ed at the head of the Spencer Gulf and known as the ​“Cross­roads of Aus­tralia” and Gate­way to the Flinders Ranges, the out­back and Spencer Gulf. After spend­ing the after­noon get­ting to know each oth­er, we’ll enjoy our first din­ner togeth­er as a group, in the hotel restau­rant. Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- motel room with en-suite, Port Augus­ta Day 2 (B,L,D)
Our des­ti­na­tion today is the opal cap­i­tal of the world, Coober Pedy and it will take us all day to get here. En-route we’ll stop for lunch and have a look at the salt lakes in the region includ­ing Lake Hart. We also take a look around the Her­itage Muse­um and Mis­sile Park at Woomera, which holds a spe­cial place in Aus­tralian Nation­al her­itage as it was the 4^th coun­try in the world to launch it’s own satel­lite- after the US, Rus­sia and France. The Woomera Rock­et Range was estab­lished in 1947 as a joint British / Aus­tralian project for devel­op­ing and test­ing exper­i­men­tal rock­ets, weapons and mis­siles. Nowa­days the Woomera Pro­hib­it­ed Area (WPA) is the largest land test­ing range in the world. Coober Pedy is as famous for it’s under­ground homes as it is for it’s opals and 50% of the pop­u­la­tion live under­ground (in homes called ​“dugouts”), as well as using under­ground shops and church­es. Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- under­ground motel room with en-suite, Coober Pedy (2 night stay) 

Day 3 (B,D)

There’s some free time this morn­ing for you to have a wan­der through the town

After lunch we take a guid­ed tour through a work­ing Opal Mine, where we get an insight of what it means to be an Opal Miner. 

Late this after­noon, we make our way out of town to the near­by Break­aways Reserve, offer­ing a strik­ing & unique exam­ple of arid scenery. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- Coober Pedy 

Day 4 (B,L,D)

This morn­ing we depart Coober Pedy and head across the Moon Plain to the Paint­ed Desert (Arckaringa Hills). 

We’ll cross the Dog Fence for the first time today.The longest fence in the world, at 5300km’s, it stretch­es across 3 states. 

The Paint­ed Desert is an ancient Inland Sea bed where the hills are the result of rain, weath­er and erosion. 

After view­ing the Paint­ed Desert from the look­out, we con­tin­ue through to Ood­na­dat­ta. Famous for it’s pink road­house, the town was orig­i­nal­ly cre­at­ed when the Over­land Tele­graph Line was laid and then became the north­ern ter­mi­nus for the Cen­tral Aus­tralia Railway. 

After lunch we join the 615km unsealed Ood­na­dat­ta Track, which is lit­tered with ruins of old town sites, sta­tion ruins, homes, cairns and rem­nants of the old rail­way line, the short-lived gold rush and the Over­land Tele­graph Line. En-route to William Creek, we stop at Alge­buck­i­na Bridge his­toric site. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion — motel room with en-suite, William Creek Pub Hotel 

Day 5 (B,L,D)

There’s time this morn­ing for option­al 1 hour scenic flights over Lake Eyre (own expense). 

Depart­ing William Creek, we make our way out to Hal­li­gan Bay at Lake Eyre North for a look at the mag­nif­i­cent lake with it’s incred­i­ble colours and pat­terns. Lake Eyre is Australia’s low­est point, the largest inland lake in Aus­tralia and the largest salt lake in the world ! 

We con­tin­ue explor­ing the Ood­na­dat­ta Track this morn­ing, head­ing south towards Mar­ree, stop­ping en-route at the nat­ur­al arte­sian springs with­in Wab­ma Kadar­bu Mound Springs Con­ser­va­tion Park and the Lake Eyre South look­out. We then reach Mar­ree, which is sit­u­at­ed at the cross­roads of the Ood­na­dat­ta and Birdsville Tracks and you have some free time to look around the town or vis­it the Tom Kruse Museum. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion – motel room with en-suite, Mar­ree Pub Hotel 

Day 6 (B,L,D)

Depart­ing Mar­ree, we now trav­el north on the famous stock route, which is the Birdsville Track. the 517km track was estab­lished in the 1860s as the main stock route to bring cat­tle from cen­tral Queens­land to the rail­way in Mar­ree. En-route, we have a look at the ruins of the Lake Har­ry Date Plan­ta­tion, stop at the Coop­er Creek Cross­ing and Munger­an­nie pub and wetlands. 

Cross­ing into Queens­land, we arrive into Birdsville and then take a local­ly run tour out to ​“Big Red”, the largest and most famous sand dune in the Simp­son Desert. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- motel room with en-suite, Birdsville Pub Hotel 

Day 7 (B,L,D)

This morn­ing we head south again, through Cat­tle Coun­try and back into South Aus­tralia to Innam­inc­ka, made famous by Vic­to­ri­an explor­ers Burke and Wills and their ill-fat­ed explo­ration across cen­tral Australia.

En-route we enjoy the view at Deon’s Look­out and vis­it The Dream­time Ser­pent – a work of art rep­re­sent­ing a series of path­ways trav­elled through Coun­try to con­nect the riv­er sys­tems in the Chan­nel Coun­try of the Dia­man­ti­na Shire. 

On arrival into Innam­inc­ka, we vis­it the famous Burke and Wills Dig Tree (camp LXV). 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- motel room with en-suite, Innam­inc­ka Pub Hotel 

Day 8 (B,L,D)

We depart Innam­inc­ka this morn­ing and head south to join the last of our leg­endary Out­back Tracks- the Strz­elec­ki Track, named after Pol­ish explor­er and geol­o­gist Paul Edmund de Strzelecki. 

Our first stop today is the view­point at the Moom­ba oil and gas­fields. Nat­ur­al gas was first dis­cov­ered in the region in 1966 and was fol­lowed by the dis­cov­ery of oil in 1970. Moom­ba is now a major sup­pli­er of both for Aus­tralian and over­seas markets. 

We con­tin­ue down the Strz­elec­ki Track and turn off towards Arka­roola Wilder­ness Sanc­tu­ary. The pri­vate­ly owned sanc­tu­ary was found­ed in 1969 by Reg Sprigg, Biol­o­gist, Oceanog­ra­ph­er, Con­ser­va­tion­ist, sci­en­tist and pio­neer of eco-tourism. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- motel room with en-suite, Arka­roola Wilder­ness Sanctuary 

Day 9 (B,L,D)

This morn­ing you’ll take Arkaroola’s famous Ridgetop tour- an unfor­get­table encounter with the time­less ter­rain and unique nat­ur­al beau­ty of Arka­roola Wilder­ness Sanc­tu­ary. Learn from your Arka­roola guides about Arka­roolas 1600 mil­lion year old geo­log­i­cal his­to­ry as they nav­i­gate the steep slopes and hair rais­ing ascents of the Ridgetop Track. Inspir­ing images of red gran­ite moun­tains and gold­en spinifex cov­ered hill­sides give way to a breath-tak­ing view across the Freel­ing Heights, Lake From and the desert beyond. Take in the 360 degree panora­ma as you enjoy morn­ing tea at Sillers Look­out- a lofty pin­na­cle at the end of the track. 

Depart­ing Arka­roola, we make our way today into the cen­tral Ikara- Flinders Ranges, known for their unique beau­ty, indige­nous his­to­ry, ancient geo­log­i­cal for­ma­tions, rich colours and tex­tures and abun­dant wildlife. The Ikara-Flinders Ranges are home to a huge array of plant species, birds, rep­tiles and mam­mals and the vibrant colours of the 800 mil­lion-year-old quartzite and lime­stone out­crop that is the Flinders, are tru­ly spectacular. 

Con­di­tions per­mit­ting, we’ll take the back road and stop en-route in the old min­ing town of Blinman. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- Wilpe­na Pound Resort- stan­dard room with en-suite (2 night stay) 

Day 10 (B,L,D)

This morn­ing you have the option of tak­ing a walk into Wilpe­na Pound or take a scenic flight (at own expense). Walk along the beau­ti­ful Wilpe­na Creek, framed by huge riv­er red gums, into Wilpe­na Pound. Walk­ing on to the Old Hills Home­stead, you can learn about the hard­ships the Hills fam­i­ly had to face at the turn of the cen­tu­ry with the option of walk­ing up to the Wan­gara look­out to see the mys­ti­cal heart of the Ikara-Flinders Ranges with stun­ning views over Wilpe­na Pound. There is a shut­tle avail­able to short­en the walk,that can take you up and back again (extra cost- approx. $5 each way). 

After lunch we depart for an after­noon of explor­ing. Our first stop is the Bun­yeroo Val­ley and Gorge, where we stop for pho­tos at the spec­tac­u­lar Razor­back Look­out. This leads us through the Hey­sen Ranges onto the Brachi­na Gorge Geo­log­i­cal Trail, a trail that pass­es through 130 mil­lion years of earth his­to­ry, includ­ing mete­orite debris, stro­ma­to­lites and fos­silized plant and ani­mal life. It offers an insight into past cli­mates, the for­ma­tion of the ranges and the evo­lu­tion of ear­ly forms of life. It’s also an impor­tant refuge for the rare and endan­gered Yel­low-foot­ed Rock-wallaby. 

To take us back to Wilpe­na Pound, we take the Moralana Scenic Dri­ve, which con­nects the Wilpe­na and Leigh Creek Roads and is known as one of the best dri­ves through the Flinders Ranges. We’ll see stun­ning scenery fea­tur­ing the south­ern wall of Wilpe­na Pound, Black Gap Look­out, red Range, Elder Range and more. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- Wilpe­na Pound Resort- stan­dard room with en-suite 

Day 11 (B,L)

Depart­ing the Ikara-Flinders Ranges, we head south towards Hawk­er, the hub of the Ikara-Flinders Ranges and a thriv­ing rail­way town until the line was relo­cat­ed west in 1956. 

After a quick look around the town, we take the RM Williams High­way for a scenic dri­ve through Orro­roo, Jamestown and Clare. In Clare, we vis­it a local cel­lar door / bak­ery for tast­ings and lunch before con­tin­u­ing to Ade­laide. We arrive at approx­i­mate­ly 6pm and you will be dropped off at your accommodation. 

END OF TOUR 

B= Break­fast L= Lunch D= Dinner

Upon arrival into Kar­ratha, please make your way to our hotel. 

This evening, we’ll meet at the hotel restau­rant for our first din­ner as a group and your dri­ver guide will run through the itin­er­ary for the next 6 days. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- Kar­ratha Inter­na­tion­al Hotel- motel room with en-suite 

Day 1 (B,L,D) Thurs­day 18^th August 

We’ll depart our Kar­ratha hotel at 7.30am this morn­ing to begin our 5 day 4WD tour through the Pilbara. 

We spend today in Mill­stream-Chich­ester Nation­al Park, which is a lush oasis of deep gorges and palm-fringed rock pools which pro­vides a stark con­trast to the sur­round­ing land­scape of rocky escarp­ments and rolling spinifex-cov­ered hills. 

We enter the park from the north and have a swim at Python Pool, a per­ma­nent fresh­wa­ter plunge pool at the base of a cliff in the Chich­ester Range escarpment. 

We also take a walk to the top of Mount Her­bert, where we are treat­ed to a splen­did view of the savan­nah lands, includ­ing Pyra­mid, Sher­lock and Waram­bie stations. 

Depart­ing the park, our des­ti­na­tion this evening is Tom Price, the high­est town in WA at 747 metres above sea level. 

Din­ner tonight is includ­ed at the hotel restaurant. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- Tom Price Hotel Motel- motel room with en-suite 

Day 2 (B,L,D) Fri­day 19^th August 

This morn­ing there’s time for you to take an option­al guid­ed tour to the Rio Tin­to Iron Ore Mine site, (own expense). At the time of putting togeth­er this Pil­bara tour, it was uncer­tain whether or not the mine tour would run in 2022, so it’s sub­ject to availability. 

We con­tin­ue into Kar­i­ji­ni Nation­al Park, in the Hamer­s­ley Range. Kar­i­ji­ni is West­ern Australia’s sec­ond largest nation­al park, encom­pass­ing some 627,442 hectares of spec­tac­u­lar, rugged scenery, ancient geo­log­i­cal for­ma­tions and a vari­ety of arid-land ecosystems. 

Mas­sive moun­tains and escarp­ments rise out of the flat val­leys. The high plateau is dis­sect­ed by breath­tak­ing gorges, and stony,tree-lined water­cours­es wind their way over the dusty plain. The slow process of ero­sion has carved the shape of the land out of rocks that are 2,000 mil­lion years old, to form this intrigu­ing land­scape and com­plex ecology. 

A vari­ety of ecosys­tems are rep­re­sent­ed in the park and these are home to a range of wildlife includ­ing a vari­ety of birds, native rodents, native mar­su­pi­al car­ni­vores (such as the Pil­bara ninguai- res­i­dent, but noc­tur­nal and shy), red kan­ga­roos, euros, Rothschild’s rock wal­la­bies, bats, din­goes, rep­tiles and amphib­ians such as frogs, geck­oes, goan­nas, drag­ons and leg­less lizards. Ter­mites and the peb­ble mound mouse also make their homes here in the form of mounds. 

Our first stop with­in the park is Hamer­s­ley gorge, where we’ll find amaz­ing coloured band­ed iron for­ma­tions. Take a dip in the nat­ur­al spa pool at the Gorge and enjoy a spa treat­ment the way nature intend­ed – sur­round­ed by amaz­ing rock for­ma­tions almost as old as the Earth itself. 

We make our way to our accom­mo­da­tion and after check­ing in, you make like to walk to near­by Jof­fre Look­out where rock steps take you down to the look­out to view this spec­tac­u­lar curved water­fall form­ing a nat­ur­al amphitheatre. 

Din­ner for the next 3 nights is includ­ed at the Eco- retreat 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- Kar­i­ji­ni Eco Retreat, in eco tents with en-suites (3 night stay) on a Din­ner, bed and break­fast basis 

Day 3 (B,L,D) Sat­ur­day 20^th August 

We trav­el to the west­ern side of the park today, to Dales Gorge, through to Fortes­cue Falls, Fern Pool and Cir­cu­lar Pool. 

Have a refresh­ing swim in the spring-fed per­ma­nent falls of Fortes­cue falls, ram­ble along the gorge floor to the love­ly fern framed Fern Pool and enjoy the hid­den gar­dens of Cir­cu­lar Pool. 

This after­noon we take a walk through Kalam­i­na Gorge, one of the most pic­turesque in Kar­i­ji­ni. A short walk takes you down a steep track to the base of the gorge to a small per­ma­ment pool, com­plete with water­fall and drap­ing ferns. There is a longer, more dif­fi­cult walk for those who feel ener­getic. If you fol­low the trail deep into Kalam­i­na Gorge, you will be reward­ed with a love­ly walk down­stream, past rock pools and beau­ti­ful rock walls, fin­ish­ing at Rock Arch Pool. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- Kar­i­ji­ni Eco Retreat, in eco tents with en-suites 

Day 4 (B,L,D) Sun­day 21^st August 

This morn­ing is spent explor­ing Handrail Pool, which is reached by walk­ing through Low­er Weano Gorge. We also enjoy the scenery at Junc­tion Pool and Oxer Look­out, locat­ed at the junc­tion of four mighty gorges and offer­ing one of the most stun­ning panora­mas in WA. 

This after­noon we explore Han­cock Gorge, where we climb down a lad­der and walk deep into the gorge, through nar­row cham­bers and to beau­ti­ful rock pools, for a swim. 

We fin­ish the day at Knox Look­out, where we’ll take the steps down to the look­out and watch the view spread out in the distance. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- Kar­i­ji­ni Eco Retreat, in eco tents with en-suites 

Day 5 (B,L,D) Mon­day 22^nd August 

We depart Kar­i­ji­ni this morn­ing and dri­ve north to the min­ing town of Port Head­land, one of the largest and busiest iron ore ports in the world. 

We’ll arrive mid- after­noon and after check­ing into the hotel, it’s time to jump on our pri­vate har­bour cruise, oper­at­ed by the Port Hed­land Sea­far­ers Cen­tre. This tour con­sists of a quick pre­sen­ta­tion at the Sea­far­ers Cen­tre, fol­lowed by a lap around the har­bour in one of the work­ing Sea­far­ers Launch Ser­vice boats. You will be accom­pa­nied by an infor­ma­tive mem­ber of the Sea­far­ers Cen­tre Staff who will pro­vide com­men­tary and answer any of your ques­tions, while pick­ing up sea­far­ers wish­ing to come back to the Sea­far­ers Centre. 

Tonight we have our final group din­ner and say farewell to our new friends. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- Port Hed­land, hotel room with en-suite 

Day 6 (B) Tues­day 23^rd August 

Your tour fin­ish­es after break­fast. Please make your way to Port Hed­land Air­port for your onward flight. 

END ITIN­ER­ARY B= Break­fast L= Lunch D= Dinner 

Upon arrival into Alice Springs Air­port, please make your way to our hotel. Taxis and an air­port shut­tle are available. 

The rest of the day is at your leisure to explore the town and set­tle into our accommodation. 

This evening we’ll have our first group din­ner at the hotel. This is a great oppor­tu­ni­ty to get to know your fel­low trav­ellers and your dri­ver guide. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- Crowne Plaza Alice Springs, Deluxe room with en-suite 

Day 1 (Break­fast, Lunch, Din­ner) — Sat­ur­day 14^th May 

We start our 6 day tour today, depart­ing Alice Springs for the Ulu­ru Kata Tju­ta Nation­al Park. The park is world her­itage list­ed for the impor­tance of its nat­ur­al phe­nom­e­na and cul­tur­al significance. 

En-route we vis­it Rain­bow Val­ley, hit­ting the dirt to reach these stun­ning sand­stone cliffs which form part of the James Range. 

We con­tin­ue towards Ulu­ru, with a cou­ple of fur­ther stops en-route. We reach Yulara resort, check into our hotel and then this evening the group will take the Sounds of Silence din­ner expe­ri­ence. The expe­ri­ence includes canapés and chilled sparkling wine served at sun­set, while a didgeri­doo plays, a tra­di­tion­al Abo­rig­i­nal dance per­for­mance under the out­back sky, a star talk and bush tuck­er inspired buf­fet that incor­po­rates native bush ingre­di­ents such as croc­o­dile, kan­ga­roo, bar­ra­mun­di and quandong. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- Motel room with en-suite at the Lost Camel Hotel (2 night stay) 

Day 2 (Break­fast, Lunch, Din­ner) — Sun­day 15^th May 

We have a lat­er start this morn­ing, so you have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to take an option­al tour such as a heli­copter flight, camel ride, dot paint­ing work­shop or Harley ride – at your own expense. Or join a free cul­tur­al expe­ri­ence at the resort such as Bush Yarns and spear and boomerang throw­ing. Or just relax at the resort. 

Late this morn­ing, we vis­it the Cul­tur­al cen­tre and then head out to Kata Tju­ta mean­ing ​“many heads”. The enor­mous domes, 36 in total, rise out of the sand and weath­ered over mil­lions of years they are now round­ed peaks. The tallest, Mt Olga, is high­er than Ulu­ru! The Wal­pa Gorge walk is a rocky track that gen­tly ris­es to a stream, pass­ing rare plants and end­ing at a grove of spear­wood. Walk with­in the sheer walls and expe­ri­ence this amaz­ing landscape. 

We have anoth­er oppor­tu­ni­ty to view the Ulu­ru sun­set this evening, this time, at the sun­set view­ing area. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- Motel room with en-suite at the Lost Camel Hotel 

Day 3 (Break­fast, Lunch, Din­ner) — Mon­day 16^th May 

We have an ear­ly start (but it’s well worth it!) today for sun­rise at Ulu­ru. The giant mono­lith emerges from the inky land­scape, chang­ing from pur­ple through to rusty browns and red in the gold­en sunlight. 

Then we take the base walk around Ulu­ru, which includes the Mala Walk and Mutitju­lu water­hole, home of a wanampi, an ances­tral water snake. 

After lunch, we head north to our accom­mo­da­tion at Kings Canyon Resort. En-route we stop to view Mt Con­nor (Arti­la), a 244m high mesa, or iso­lat­ed table-top mountain. 

We arrive at Kings Canyon Resort, check in and have some free time to relax or have a wan­der around – keep an eye out for din­goes and oth­er wildlife. Per­haps take the dune board walk for sunset. 

The flo­ra and fau­na around the Resort is unique to the Watar­rka Nation­al Park. This ancient land­scape is rich in diver­si­ty but pro­vides harsh con­di­tions with lit­tle rain and intense sum­mer heat. Some of the species who have adapt­ed over the years include camels, don­keys, din­goes, brumbies, kan­ga­roos, wal­la­bies, emus and over 100 species of colour­ful birds from the cen­tral Aus­tralian area. Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- Kings Canyon Resort, stan­dard room with en- suite (2 night stay) 

Day 4 (Break­fast, Lunch, Din­ner) — Tues­day 17^th May 

We have an ear­ly start today, dri­ving to the mag­nif­i­cent Kings Canyon in Watar­rka Nation­al Park. Con­tain­ing the west­ern end of the George Gill Range, this is a scenic land­scape of rugged ranges, rock­holes and gorges. The sheer red rock face of Kings Canyon soars over 100 metres above dense forests of palms, ferns and cycads; shel­ter­ing them from the sur­round­ing desert con­di­tions. We have plen­ty of time to explore. 

You have the option of tak­ing the Rim Walk, the South Wall Walk or the Kings Creek walk. Your guide will explain the options to you before you set off and you can choose the best option for you. 

The 6km rim walk loop starts with a dif­fi­cult climb , so you should only walk it if you are fit and healthy. The walk ascends to the top of the canyon and fol­lows the rim around before descend­ing to the car park. About halfway along is the Gar­den of Eden, a beau­ti­ful rock­hole sur­round­ed by rare plants (no swimming). 

The South Wall Walk starts with a steep climb to the south wall of Kings Canyon escarp­ments to take in mag­nif­i­cent views across the desert or into the lush val­ley below. This walk is part of the Rim Walk, and once we reach the gate, we turn around and return to the car park by the same route. 

The Kings Creek hike is a gen­tle 2.6 kilo­me­tre walk that fol­lows a trail between the two soar­ing canyon walls. As you arrive at the look­out point, you will be wel­comed by spec­tac­u­lar views of the sheer cliff face at the far end of the canyon. This hike is com­plete­ly immer­sive as you see, feel and smell the nat­ur­al won­ders and the flo­ra and fau­na of the canyon. 

Back to the resort this after­noon and you have the option of tak­ing a heli­copter flight (extra cost). 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- Kings Canyon Resort, stan­dard room with en- suite 

Day 5 (Break­fast, Lunch, Din­ner) — Wednes­day 18^th May 

Today we hit the unsealed dirt road and trav­el along the Meree­nie Loop Road to Glen Helen. En-route we stop at Tyler’s Pass Look­out for views of Gosse Bluff Mete­or Crater and the sur­round­ing landscape. 

The trip along the Meree­nie Loop road is an adven­ture in itself and is a love­ly dri­ve through some beau­ti­ful desert coun­try. Keep your eye out for wildlife too. 

Our des­ti­na­tion this after­noon is Glen Helen Bush Resort, which has a his­to­ry dat­ing back to 1905, when it was a cat­tle sta­tion. It’s sit­u­at­ed a short walk from the Finke Riv­er and Glen Helen Gorge and water­hole, where you can have a swim or climb the ridge for a mag­nif­i­cent view. The land­scape around Glen Helen is as spec­tac­u­lar as you will find any­where, with a tow­er­ing sand­stone wall greet­ing you as you arrive. The resort area and gorge are also home to an array of birds (includ­ing water­birds and birds of prey), insects and rep­tiles as well as the Black Flanked Rock Wal­la­bies and Dingoes. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- Glen Helen Bush Resort, Motel room with en- suite 

Day 6 (Break­fast, Lunch, Din­ner) — Thurs­day 19^th May 

We spend today in the West­ern Mac­Don­nell Ranges, part of an ancient land­scape sculp­tured over time by cli­mat­ic elements. 

Our first stop is Ormis­ton Gorge, where you can take a short stroll to the water­hole or take the 40 minute return Ghost Gum walk. The area also con­tains an inter­est­ing vari­ety of native fau­na and flora. 

Then onto Ellery Creek Big Hole, which is a spec­tac­u­lar water­hole in the mighty Ellery Creek which cuts through a gorge in the ranges. Thou­sands of years of mas­sive floods have carved out this beau­ti­ful water­hole and unlocked some amaz­ing geol­o­gy. It’s also a great place for a swim ! 

We have lunch at Abo­rig­i­nal owned Angk­er­le Atwatye (Stan­d­ley Chasm), gouged from tough sand­stone by the floods that, over untold mil­lions of years, have surged down a nar­row trib­u­tary of the Finke Riv­er sys­tem. The result is a deep red cleft, with slopes on either side ris­ing 80 metres​.To get to the Chasm, we fol­low a creek where spring-fed pools attract a great vari­ety of wildlife, espe­cial­ly birds and the gul­ly floor is lush with plants that range from del­i­cate ferns to tall gums. 

Our final stop today is Simp­sons Gap, one of the most promi­nent water­holes in the region and home to the Black-foot­ed Rock Wal­la­by. The area around Simp­son Gap is a major strong­hold for some of the rare and relict plants of the region, large stands of Mul­ga and ghost gums. There are a cou­ple of walks to choose from here. 

We’ll arrive back into Alice Springs at approx­i­mate­ly 6pm for our final din­ner as a group and overnight at our hotel. 

Overnight accom­mo­da­tion- Crowne Plaza Alice Springs, Deluxe room with en-suite 

Day 7 (Break­fast) — Fri­day 20^th May 

Your tour ends after break­fast this morning. 

END ITIN­ER­ARY B= Break­fast L= Lunch D= Dinner 

By making a deposit and/or full payment for a tour you will be taken to accept these terms and conditions of booking.

Cancellations must be received in writing.

COVID Cancellations :

Valid when Government enforced travel restrictions including border closures are in place preventing travel.

• Cancellations will be credited in full to use another time less any expenses we incur such as accommodation fees. These will vary between properties and will depend on how soon before the tour the client cancels

Unless otherwise advised standard (non- COVID) cancellations for 2- 5 day tours will incur the following charges:

• Cancellations outside 45 days - no charge

• Cancellations between 45 and 30 days prior to tour departure – incur 50% total tour cost

• Cancellation within 30 days prior to tour departure - no refund

• Disembarkation from tour once the tour has started- no refund

Unless otherwise advised standard (non- COVID) cancellations for extended scheduled and private charter tours over 5 days will incur the following charges:

• Cancellations between 90 and 60 days prior to tour departure – incur 50% total tour cost

• Cancellation within 60 days prior to tour departure - no refund

• Disembarkation from tour once the tour has started- no refund

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