South Australia Outback Adventure

Your adventure begins in Adelaide (Tarntanya in the language of The Kaurna people, who are the traditional owners of the land on which Adelaide is now located). Your tour starts at 8:00 am with a group meeting at our start point hotel. Then head out of town towards Port Augusta. Stop at pretty pink Lake Bumbunga on the way to Snowtown. After a look around Fourth St and Railway Terrace, continue your journey to Port Pirie for a tour and lunch, hopefully at Solomontown Beach if the weather is good. On arrival at Port Augusta, you may like to enjoy an optional visit to the Wadlata Outback Centre or the Australian Arid Lands Botanic Gardens. This evening, enjoy a relaxing night in Port Augusta.

Enjoy breakfast at a café in town before the drive to Woomera, a town that was purpose-built for testing rockets in the 1940s. Learn about nuclear and non-nuclear rocket testing and more at the Woomera Heritage Museum & Visitor Information Centre. There is time for lunch before the short drive to Lake Hart Rest Area for views of one of the region’s salt lakes. When you arrive in Coober Pedy, perhaps stroll around town, search out some street art, find a bar or buy jewellery as a souvenir. You are in the opal capital of Australia, after all. Tonight, you may choose to join your group for dinner at a local bar that offers up incredible views of the Breakaways and Coober Pedy.

Spend your day exploring in and around Coober Pedy including a tour of an underground home, an underground church and a historic opal mine. In the late afternoon, visit Josephine’s Gallery which specialises in Aboriginal art and also doubles as a kangaroo orphanage. Here you can meet kangaroos and other native wildlife such as wombats and birds which are looked after by wildlife carers.

This morning head out to Kanku-Breakaways Conservation Park which is a registered Aboriginal heritage site and see the dog fence, also know as the dingo fence, before travelling back to Coober Pedy for optional lunch at a local café. Drive into the remote South Australian Outback proper, along a rough dirt road to William Creek where you can enjoy a cold beer and check out the "museum" of memorabilia across the street. Tonight, you may choose to join your tour group for dinner at the local pub.

This morning consider rising early for an optional flight over Lake Eyre. Then continue your drive deeper into the remote desert landscape to Lake Eyre via the legendary and famous Oodnadatta Track, with a stop at Wabma Kadarbu Mound Spring Conservation Park along the way. Stop at Lake Eyre for a picnic lunch before getting back on the road. If the group fancies it, you can stop off at Coward Springs, home to a charming museum and a natural spa – a welcome reprieve among the desert landscape. Continue to Marree, where on arrival you’ll stroll around town to see historical sites such as the old Afghan Mosque and remnants of the Historical Ghan Railway. Your leader will give you the background on local history.

Perhaps enjoy an early morning scenic flight to see the Outback from a different angle. Your leader will be able to help you book a flight if you are keen (subject to availability), but please consider the carbon emissions of choosing this activity. After breakfast, drive to Farina Town. A once booming oasis on the edge of the desert, Farina Town boasted a population of around 600 towards the end of the 19th century, but things look a little different today – the town has a year-round population of just two people. Despite its ghost town status, Farina is home to a popular underground bakery which is opened once a year by the Farina Restoration Project Group to raise funds to rebuild the town. If your visit lines up with its opening, stop by this unique bakery and take a wander around the town where stone ruins remain. Then, head to Iga Warta where you will spend the day and evening learning about Adnyamathanha culture and gaining a deeper appreciation of Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges National Park. Lunch is followed by a tour of an ancient painting site with a Traditional Owner and a cultural cookout dinner where you will enjoy a meal along with music and Adnyamathanha Yura Muda (cultural stories and language).

After breakfast at Iga Warta, head deep into the Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges National Park to Arkaroola, best known for ideal stargazing conditions. Enjoy lunch at Arkaroola before joining your leader for a bush walk, taking in the scenery of the dry ochre-coloured Outback. Back at the lodge at Arkaroola watch the sun set and prepare to look skyward for the first stars to appear.

Your next stop is famous Ikara-Wilpena Pound, the centre piece of the Flinders Ranges and home to the Adnyamathanha people for thousands of years. Along the way stop at Nilpena Ediacara National Park to learn about the fossils of the area. On arrival at Ikara (Wilpena Pound), join your leader for a walk around Old Wilpena Station. Operating between 1851 and 1985, this former pastoral settlement provides a special glimpse into what rural life once looked like within the Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park. Tonight, enjoy a relaxing evening at the resort.

After breakfast, join your leader for another bushwalk in Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park. The rest of the day is completely free for you to choose your own adventure. You may decide to hike to the Wangara Lookout, take a shorter walk to Hills Homestead or spend the day swimming in the pool or enjoying other activities around the resort.

After breakfast, depart for the Clare Valley wine region. Stop for lunch en-route and check out the silo art at Farrell Flat before arriving at a vineyard for an included wine tasting at the cellar door of a prominent local wine maker. In the afternoon continue to Adelaide where your journey will come to an end.