3 Day Scenic Outback Adventure Tour

Day 1: Gold Coast → Charleville → Birdsville

Checking into the Seair hangar at 6:45am, your adventure begins with a meet and greet with the other guests, before an early briefing and our departure sees the sun rising over the Gold Coast as you head west for a 2hr 30min flight to Charleville during which a light breakfast will be supplied.

On departure from Charleville we continue west, further into the Outback. Arriving into Birdsville at approximately 1:00pm we overfly the iconic Birdsville Racecourse just before landing and then taxi the aircraft up and park out the front of the Birdsville Hotel (just across the road).

Spend the afternoon exploring Birdsville before regrouping at 4:30pm, to climb aboard the air conditioned 4WD tour vehicle and head west into the Simpson Desert to enjoy sunset drinks on Big Red, the first major dune as you enter the desert.

After sunset, return to the Birdsville Hotel at 7:30pm for dinner and drinks at their heritage listed front bar.

Day 2: Birdsville → Lake Eyre → William Creek → Dig Tree → Innamincka

Day two starts with a cooked breakfast, before departing Birdsville at 8:30am, you’ll get an opportunity to see Big Red and the Simpson Dessert from the air. Flying south and leaving Queensland into South Australia we pick up and follow the Diamantina River at low level through the Goyder Lagoon and then along the Warrburton River into the northern tip of Lake Eyre (North). While tracking south over Lake Eyre (North) we will climb up to allow you to see the sheer size of the 9,500 square km lake from your vantage point overhead.

Heading west from Lake Eyre you’ll arrive in William Creek at 11:30am and learn how this unique town operates, generating its own power and water before sitting down to lunch and a cold beer at the only pub in town, the William Creek Hotel.

After lunch, fly back east toward Lake Eyre (South) and the infamous ‘Marree Man’ before continuing north over Lake Eyre to pick up the Cooper Creek and follow it to Innamincka. Conditions permitting, we overfly Innamincka to visit the historic Dig tree and learn about the Burke & Wills story.

The third and final flight for the afternoon is a short 10 minutes, low level back to Innamincka along the Cooper Creek.

Settle into the Innamincka Hotel and have a look around town, before heading out for an afternoon Grave Tour to see Burks final resting place along the Cooper Creek. The Cooper Creek is the other major waterway that feeds Lake Eyre in flood years and it brings life to the barren landscape. Watch wildlife come to drink from the creek as the sunsets before heading back to the hotel.

Dinner will be at the Innamincka Hotel and a few more drinks before retiring to your room for a good night’s rest.

Day 3: Innamincka → Cunnamulla → Charlotte Plains → Gold Coast

After breakfast, take to the air and head east, returning into Queensland following Cooper Creek stopping briefly in Cunnamulla to refuel and then another short hop sees you landing at Charlotte Plains Station in the late morning.

Met on arrival by Robyn Russell, our host and station manager, spend the day exploring an authentic piece of the Australian Outback. This property has been in Robyn’s family for generations and she shares its rich farming history on guided tours of the station. Visit the cattle yards and shearing sheds before sitting down to a ploughmans lunch looking out over the landscape. After lunch head out to the stations artesian water bore and relaxing in one of the bath tub’s, full of warm water you’ll gain an appreciation for station life and the culture that it has developed.

At 3:45pm it’s time to depart our final sector together as a group, flying east, heading back to the Gold Coast and returning to civilisation in the early evening. Wish your fellow travellers farewell, as the tour official concludes.