South Australia Outback Adventure 24/25

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.

It’s very important that you meet the group at 8 am this morning in the hotel lobby to begin your tour. Find more details in the ‘Joining Point Instructions’ section of your Essential Trip Information. We recommend spending a night before your tour begins in Adelaide. If so, we’ll be happy to organise additional accommodation (subject to availability). Total drive time today is approximately 4.5 hours.

Staying in:

• Motel (1 night)

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.

Total driving time today is around 6 hours. Temperatures in this part of Australia can reach extreme highs between November and March. Please bring appropriate clothing, use sun protection and drink plenty of water.

Activities:

• Woomera - Lake Hart Rest Area
• Woomera - Heritage Museum & Visitor Centre

Staying in:

• Underground Hotel (1 night)

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.

Activities:

• Coober Pedy - Josephine's Gallery & Kangaroo Orphanage
• Coober Pedy - Underground Home, Church & Historic Mine Visit

Staying in:

• Underground Hotel (1 night)

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.

Total driving time today is around 3 hours. Please note that today's drive is on an unsurfaced gravel road. Some sections are corrugated so it may be a bumpy ride.

Activities:

• Coober Pedy - Kanku-Breakaways Conservation Park & Dingo Fence

Staying in:

• Hotel (1 night)

This morning 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.

Total driving time today is around 2.5 hours. Please note that on a number of departures in 2024 you will stay an additional night in William Creek rather than in Marree. However all listed inclusions and points of interest will still be visited today.

Activities:

• Marree - Leader-led Local History Walk
• Stuarts Creek - Wabma Kadarbu Mound Spring Conservation Park
• Lake Eyre - Picnic Lunch

Staying in:

• Hotel (1 night)

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).

Please note that depending on the group size rooming in Iga Warta for the next two nights will be twin or triple share cabins or safari tents. Due to the isolated nature of Iga Warta, there is no phone service and WiFi is only available at reception, although unreliable. Tap water here is not drinkable, so we recommended bringing some with you or purchasing on-site, and insect repellent is a must to combat year-round mosquitoes. Timekeeping isn’t a top priority in these parts, so be prepared to go with the flow. Also, please note that participating in kitchen duties will be highly appreciated by your hosts and provides for some great local interaction.

Activities:

• Iga Warta - Cultural Cookout Dinner & Campfire
• Farina - Restoration Project
• Iga Warta - Aboriginal Community Stay
• Iga Warta - Adnyamathanha Cultural Activities & Bush Foods Lunch

Staying in:

• Permanent tented camp (1 night)

After breakfast at Iga Warta, join your leader for a bush walk. Stop for a picnic lunch along the way and take in the scenery before driving back to Iga Warta. After dinner, sit around the campfire for a night of storytelling, singing and a damper supper served with quandong jam and billy tea.

High temperatures can be expected in this region between November and March, meaning the walks planned over the coming days may need to be changed to adapt to the conditions.

Activities:

• Iga Warta - Adnyamathanha Cultural Activities
• Iga Warta - Aboriginal Community Stay

Staying in:

• Permanent tented camp (1 night)

After breakfast at Iga Warta, continue driving to the 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 for a guided tour learning 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.

Total driving time today is around 3 hours. Please note that today's Welcome to Country at the Resort depends on the availability of a local Adnyamathanha person to perform the ceremony and can therefore not be guaranteed.

Activities:

• Wilpena Pound - Welcome to Country by Adnyamathanha Local
• Wilpena Pound - Bushwalk
• Nilpena Ediacara National Park - Guided Tour

Staying in:

• Resort (1 night)

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 on 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.

Activities:

• Wilpena Pound - Bushwalk

Staying in:

• Resort (1 night)

After breakfast, depart for the Clare Valley wine region. Stop for a wine tasting and grab lunch from a local eatery. See the Silo Art at Farrell Flat and Owen before continuing to Adelaide where your journey will come to an end.

Total driving time today is around 5 hours. Your arrival back into Adelaide this afternoon will be at around 5 pm. Please take this into consideration when planning your onward travels.

Activities:

• Clare Valley - Wine Tasting