Rail Tour of South Australia

DAY 1 Adelaide
This afternoon we check into our central Adelaide hotel. This evening we will host a welcome dinner to mark the start of the tour.

DAY 2 Adelaide/Moonta
This morning we will visit the Adelaide Tramway Museum. The Museum now has 26 trams, a horse box, 5 trolley buses, two horse trams that preceded and a diesel bus that replaced the electric trams, as well as interruptive displays. The museum may be one of the few in the world that can boast holding at least one representative example of every principle tram type to have been in service on a city street system for the life of the system. After time for lunch we travel north to Moonta located on the coast of Spencer Gulf.

DAY 3 Moonta/Port Augusta
This morning we take the Moonta Mines Tourist Railway. It is a guided tour of the historic Moonta Mines State Heritage Area. Featuring extensive commentary from local drivers, we are taken past many historic landmarks of the former mining operations, including the reservoir, ore sorting floors, and through a tunnel in Ryans Tailings Heap. It visits the former Precipitation Works, which was set up in 1900 to recover additional copper from the tailings heaps, a process which continued until 1943. There will be time to explore the Moonta Railway Station and museum before we travel to Port Augusta this afternoon.

DAY 4 Port Augusta
A highlight of the trip! Today we take the full-day Afghan Express return trip from Port Augusta Railway Station to the historic outback town of Quorn on the Pichi Richi Railway. The Afghan Express is the ame railwaymen gave to the passenger train that ran from Terowie to Oodnadatta, through Quorn, in 1923. In time, this was abbreviated to the Ghan. The railway was ultimately extended to Alice Springs by 1929. The Ghan used the Pichi Richi Railway route until 1956 when a new standard-gauge railway from Stirling North to Brachina bypassed the narrow gauge railway through the Pichi Richi Pass. Travelling the old Ghan route over red earth and bluebush plains from Port Augusta, you’ll watch the ranges creep ever-closer before entering the Pichi Richi Pass with its rocky outcrops, dry riverbeds and beautiful hilly scenery.

DAY 5 Port Augusta
Today we enjoy a unique heritage rail experience aboard the authentic Steam Motor Coach No 1. Also known as the “Coffee Pot”, this unique railcar is the last operating example of its type worldwide. Over 100 years old, this ornate Edwardian-era steam railcar has been lovingly restored by volunteers. The Coffee Pot Heritage Rail Experience takes 22 people on a journey through the heart of the Pichi Richi Pass, stopping to take in the scenery along the way. A great experience!

DAY 6 Peterborough
This morning we travel to Peterborough. On arrival we visit Steamtown, the Peterborough Rail Heritage Centre. We will tour the sheds and the extraordinary heritage-listed ‘Roundhouse’ before getting hands-on with heroic locos and luxury carriages. This evening we will thrill to the award-winning ‘Sound and Light Show’, when this powerful story plays out on a stage like no other.

DAY 7 Adelaide
This morning we depart Peterborough and travel to Adelaide. On arrival we will visit the National Motor Museum. Discover how motor vehicles have opened up our country, linking some of the most isolated communities in the world. From the stately to the absurd, from the hand-built to the mass-produced, see the vehicles people loved and loathed, thrashed and pampered, in the pursuit of their motoring dreams!

DAY 8 Adelaide
This morning we visit the National Railway Museum. We see the collection of locomotives and carriages including the historic and luxurious Vice- Regal carriages. We learn about this history and contribution of railways to Australia and see the impressive collection of Australian railway heritage items. We then visit the South Australian Maritime Museum which preserves, explores and celebrates the human history of our oceans and rivers. Renowned for its innovative approach to maritime history and education, the Museum incorporates the historic Bond Store with three floors of exhibitions, the Port Adelaide Lighthouse from South Neptune Island, and the much-loved steam tug, Yelta.

DAY 9 Victor Harbor
A highlight of the trip! Today we take The Southern Encounter from Mt Barker just outside of Adelaide to the holiday town of Victor Harbor where we will stay for the next three nights. Leaving Mt Barker, the train first climbs up to the crest of the line and then winds down the eastern escarpment of the southern Mt Lofty Ranges, passing through several long-abandoned station sites which bear testimony to the importance of this branch line a century ago. Crossing the Angas River you then enter the historic township of Strathalbyn where many Scottish migrants settled in the early 1800s, influencing the early architecture which is still evident today. The journey then continues southwards across the plains, well away from the main road. Native bushland unfolds from your carriage window and kangaroos and other animals might be seen trying to keep pace with the locomotive! Then it’s across the towering Currency Creek viaduct and on to Goolwa. At Goolwa, the train draws alongside the river wharf. Beyond Goolwa the train then meanders westwards to the picturesque holiday settlement of Port Elliot before cresting the cliffs where passengers can experience some of the most picturesque coastal scenery in the South Australia, with nothing separating you from the beach below and a perfect view of the Southern Ocean – in winter the home of Southern Right Whale before arriving into Victor Harbor. This afternoon we visit the South Australia Whale Centre that was once a railway shed. The centre offers an incredible interactive journey through 3 floors of whaling history where you will discover new information at every turn.

DAY 10 Victor Harbor
This morning we take the historic Horse Drawn Tram across the Heritage listed Causeway to Granite Island. The Tramway commenced operation in 1894 and is one of two remaining in the world that operate a daily service. We will have time to explore Granite Island known for its marine life and unusual granite formations. We then take a boat trip to see whales in season, seals, sea lions and dolphins at Seal Island and Wright Island.

DAY 11 Victor Harbor
This morning we travel to visit the Port Milang Historic Railway Museum. It tells the story of the Lakes Railways, displays a collection of South Australian rolling stock and equipment. It also hosts the South Australia Light Railways Centre. We then return to Victor Harbor. We travel on the Cockle Train to the nearby town Goolwa which is sited at the mouth of the Murray River by Heritage 400 class Redhen Railcar. We then visit the Murray Riverboat Centre that houses a museum of the riverboats that used to ply the Murray. We take a cruise on the historic paddle steamer the Oscar W up the Murray River. This evening we have a final night dinner to celebrate our tour.

DAY 12 Departure
This morning we return to Adelaide city and airport where tour concludes.