DESCRIPTION
Starting at the West Macdonald Ranges this tour takes you on the many highlights from Alice Springs to Adelaide. We’ll spend time at Ellery Creek and Glen Helen Gorge, as well as Palm Valley, home to a diverse range of native wildlife.
The next morning we have an early start as we make our way to Kings Canyon in Watarrka National park. Witness the main gorge which plunges 270 metres/885 feet to the canyon floor as well as smaller gorges, such as the Garden of Eden. The area is home to endemic plants and animals including some unique cycads. We have most of the day to explore this area before continuing on to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.
With an early start you have the opportunity to witness the majestic sunrise over Uluru before we embark on the base walk. The walk is a great opportunity to observe some of the Aboriginal rock art and cultural sites at the rock. Your guide will interpret some of these sites for you to provide an understanding of the cultural importance of this place to the Anangu people. After our walk we will take a short drive to the impressive large domed rock formation known as Kata Tjuta before finishing our day with an iconic Uluru sunset.
Over the next few days we are going to travel through very remote areas that are well worth exploring. Today we venture away from the standard tourist route and arrive in a small town called Aputula (Finke). We’ll stop at The Lambert Centre of Australia; established in 1988 this is the point geographically recognised as the centre of Australia. We continue onto Charlotte Waters to explore the ruins of the old telegraph station.
You will visit Witjira National Park and our first stop is a little oasis known as Mount Dare. There’s time for a beer in one of Australia’s most remote pubs; a true outback bar. We discover the Opussum waterhole which looks after a huge variety of birds and wildlife including the native hen, the Opossum. Dalhousie Springs is our next stop; in the middle of nowhere these thermal pools offer a great opportunity to relax and bath in the warm waters. Afterwards, we’ll explore the ruins of Dalhousie station including the Date palm pictures providing a feel of the Sahara Desert. We then pass through the arid landscape of Pedirka Desert.
As we make our way to Oodnadatta which holds the record for the hottest place in Australia. We visit the Painted Desert with impressive natural colourful escarpments before arriving in Cooper Pedy. In Cooper Pedy. we will learn about the opal mining and take a tour of a working mine. After our time in Coober Pedy we will stop at the Dingo Fence, one of the longest structures in the world, before setting up camp on station country.
Day 8 is filled with stops including Anna Creek Station, the worlds largest cattle station. You’ll have the opportunity to take a scenic flight over Lake Eyre, Strangeway Springs and some of the old Ghan sidings, before making our way further south to Blanche Cup. Here is where you can witness the extremely rare desert Goby fish. Our next stop includes a swim at Coward Springs before visiting Lake Eyre.
We stop to Marree to visit the yacht club, an unexpected treasure. Following Marree we will head to the colourful ochre cliffs, an important place for the Yandruwandha people. We then continue on to Brachina Gorge and Bunyeroo Gorge in the Flinders Ranges.
Our final day is spend exploring the Flinders Ranges to see Razorback Ridge, Wilpena Pound and making a stop at the Adnyamthanha painting and ceremonial site to learn about the Indigenous culture. After that we continue towards Adelaide to visit the historic town of Quorn where the old Ghan began. Our tour ends in the heart of Adelaide so everyone can make their way to their accommodation.
