Senior Outback Australia Tour

Day 1 Longreach
Today group members arrive in Longreach (own arrangements). This evening we enjoy an included Welcome Dinner. Please ask about airfares for flights to join the tour.

Day 2 Longreach
This morning we will visit the Qantas Founders Museum. The museum tells the story of Australia’s national airline, from its early days in Outback Queensland to the present day. Characters of the early Qantas days, their pioneering spirit and the impact the airline had for all Australians, is brought to life through life size exhibits, historical artefacts and interactive displays including the National Heritage Listed Qantas Hangar. We will also enjoy informative guided tours of the Boeing 707, Boeing 747, Super Constellation and DC-3 in the Museum’s new Airpark Enclosure. After lunch, we visit The Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame. It tells the story of the rural areas from the arrival of the Aborigines more than 40,000 years ago, settlement by the British, exploration, the establishment of grazing, agriculture, mining, forestry and other industries in country Australia. It also follows the story of the many kinds of technologies which are playing a role in farming, business and communications to the present day.

Day 3 Winton
This morning we travel to Winton. On arrival we visit the Lark Quarry Dinosaur Trackways for a guided tour. We’ll see amazing fossilized footprints from a dinosaur stampede 95 million years ago. We continue with a visit to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Display in Winton’s Corfield and Fitzmaurice building. One of Australia’s largest dinosaur fossils (‘Elliot’) was discovered near Winton in 2002. After dinner, enjoy an Old-time Movie Night, a special one hour movie show at Winton’s Royal Theatre, one of the few remaining open air picture theatres still operating in Australia, complete with original projection equipment and canvas seats! Show includes old cinema newsreels, old movie ads, ‘The 3 Stooges’, ‘Popeye’, etc. Enjoy tea and bikkies after the show!

Day 4 Mt Isa
This morning we visit the outstanding Waltzing Matilda Centre, which tells the intriguing story behind the writing of Waltzing Matilda, written by ‘Banjo’ Paterson in the Winton area in 1895. We then travel to Mount Isa, via Combo Waterhole, a famous billabong that has important links with the Waltzing Matilda story. ‘Banjo’ Paterson visited Combo Waterhole for a picnic before writing the song. Did his visit provide inspiration for the song? We will then drop into the Blue Heeler Hotel, in the town of Kynuna. This pub is full of character and has links to the Waltzing Matilda story. Then continue on to the town of McKinlay. Stop at the Walkabout Creek Hotel, location for the pub scenes in the movie Crocodile Dundee. Continue on to Mount Isa, travelling through the beautiful ochre-red Selwyn Ranges (hilly and dramatic scenery, similar to the MacDonnell Ranges in central Australia). Mount Isa is outback Queensland’s largest town, built around a vast silver, copper, zinc and lead mine.

Day 5 Birdsville
Today we travel 685km south to Birdsville. Deep in the heart of wild and isolated country, Birdsville is situated between the eastern edge of the Simpson Desert, the vast gibber plains of Sturt’s Stony Desert to the south and rich Channel Country to the north.

Day 6 Birdsville
This morning we will enjoy a sightseeing tour of Birdsville with local guide. Travel a short distance west of Birdsville to see (and climb) Big Red, a huge sand dune at the edge of the Simpson Desert. We will also travel a short distance north of Birdsville, to see a small stand of Australia’s rarest tree – the Waddy Tree. A member of the local aboriginal community will accompany us on this morning’s tour (if available), and talk to us about Birdsville and his working life as a drover. The afternoon will be free.

Day 7 Innamincka
Today we travel south-west to Innamincka. The town of Innamincka is situated on Cooper Creek close to where the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition of 1860-61 came to its tragic end.

Day 8 Innamincka
This morning we visit Burke’s grave and the beautiful Cullyamurra Waterhole, both a few kilometres east of our hotel. The scenery along Cooper Creek, in the vicinity of Innamincka, is stunning. Beautiful water holes, fabulous gum trees, and lots of colourful Australian birds. Then visit the famous Dig Tree, where on April 22nd 1861 Burke, Wills and King probably realized they were doomed. In the afternoon, we will visit the former Australian Inland Mission Hospital building, now a National Parks office and museum, located right next to our hotel.

Day 9 Tibooburra
Today we continue our journey south to Tibooburra, a true outback town in the ‘corner country’ of far western New South Wales. Along the way, we visit Cameron Corner, where the borders of NSW, Queensland and SA meet and see Australia’s famous Dingo Fence. We then visit Fort Grey, where Sturt established his last base camp in 1845 before pushing on to the Cooper. On arrival into Tibooburra, you will have time to explore the town, including the two pubs. The interior walls of the Family Hotel boast a mural of artwork by famous Australian artists, including Clifton Pugh and Russell Drysdale.

Day 10 Broken Hill
Today we travel to Broken Hill. On the way, we stop at Milparinka, virtually a ghost town these days with a population of just 77. We will visit Depot Glen, a shaded waterhole on Preservation Creek – one of the most famous exploration sites in Australia. It was here that explorer Charles Sturt and his party were marooned for 6 months, in 1845, on their epic search for an inland sea. Second in command James Poole perished here; we visit his grave. On arrival in Broken Hill, we will have a sightseeing tour of this fascinating outback mining town including a visit The Big Picture art gallery before checking into our hotel.

Day 11 Broken Hill
This morning we will continue our sightseeing of Broken Hill with a visit to White’s Mineral and Mining Museum, where you meet colourful proprietor Kevin ‘Bushy’ White. We will see The Broken Hill Sculptures & Living Desert Sanctuary with its amazing sculptures in the desert. We then visit the Pro Hart gallaery and museum to learn about this amazing artist. We will travel to the fascinating old mining town of Silverton, now virtually a ghost town. A colourful local guide/ raconteur will accompany us on this trip where we will visit the famous Silverton Hotel, which has featured in various movies and TV commercials.

Day 12 Port Augusta
Today we travel west to Port Augusta. Lying at the top of the Spencer Gulf, Port Augusta was vital to all the properties in the Flinders Ranges and beyond. Nowadays it‘s known as the Crossroads as it has become the starting point for tourism for the Nullarbor Plain, the Flinders Ranges and all journeys north to Central Australia and the Northern Territory. On arrival, we enjoy an orientation tour of the city, including the Wadlata Outback Centre to see the Tunnel of Time.

Day 13 Coober Pedy
Today we travel to Coober Pedy. On arrival we check into our underground desert hotel.

Day 14 Coober Pedy
Today we will enjoy a sightseeing tour of Coober Pedy. We visit the historic Old Timers Mine – hand-dug in 1916, features a walk through tour of display galleries, two underground homes and precious seams of opal, and the Umoona Mine & Museum contains an underground house, Aboriginal interpretive centre, panoramic theatre, historic displays, opal retailing shop and showroom plus Aboriginal arts and crafts. We also see an underground church and have a chance to search for opals. There will also be a chance to purchase opals and other souvenirs.

Day 15 Alice Springs
Today will be spent travelling along the Stuart Highway to Alice Springs. Alice Springs nestles in a valley in the beautiful MacDonnell Ranges, on the banks of the often-dry Todd River. The vibrant town, which acts as the business centre of a vast area of Central Australia, has modern facilities and has a particularly good selection of cafés and restaurants. On arrival, we check into our hotel.

Day 16 Alice Springs
This morning we enjoy a sightseeing tour of Alice Springs, we will see numerous sites of historical significance such as Anzac Hill, which features panoramic views of the MacDonnell Ranges, and also the Old Telegraph Station Reserve, which marks the town’s important role as the mid-point of the 19th-century telegraph line running from Adelaide to Darwin. After lunch, we explore the spectacular region to the west of Alice Springs, including West MacDonnell National Park. Visit Simpsons Gap, one of the most prominent waterholes in the region, the Flying Doctor’s Memorial, Standley Chasm and the Hermannsburg Historic Precinct, where famous aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira was born & raised.

Day 17 Departure
This morning after breakfast, we are transferred to Alice Springs Airport for flights back home.