Thursday 12th to Monday 16th September 2024 – 5 Days
Accommodation: Hawker Hotel, Leigh Creek Outback Hotel
Highlights of the tour:
- «Head north our first stop will be Tarlee, a small farming community on the Gilbert River, for a comfort stop and morning tea.
- «visit the restored home of Sir Hubert Wilkins and his family, who was an Australian polar explorer, ornithologist, pilot, soldier, geographer and photographer. Dick Smith was instrumental in restoring this home from “rubble and ruins”.
- «Arrive at Marree, situated at the junction of the Oodnadatta and Birdsville Track. The town was home to Australia’s first Mosque, which was made of mud brick and built by the Afghan cameleers employed at Maree’s inception.
- «Marree was also home of Tom Kruse, one of the men who drove the mail truck from Marree to Birdsville in Queensland, a distance of some 700 kilometres. A large amount of photographs and memorabilia from Kruse’s mail run are on display at the Marree Hotel, where we will also have a delicious lunch.
- «Whilst in Marree you can take an optional one hour flight with Arid Air over Lake Eyre South, Maree Man and the Willouran Ranges. OPTIONAL EXTRA TOUR: 1 hour flight from Marree $395 (fully refundable if cancelled due to weather conditions on the day).
- «Drive around Leigh Creek before travelling onto Beltana Town & Homestead, a town that began in the 1870’s with the advent of copper mining, the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line and The Ghan railway.
- «Make our way back down to Parachilna. This town was first surveyed in 1863 due to it’s closeness to a government water hole.
- «Cross into the Flinders Ranges with our first stop at Blinman, named after Robert Blinman, a local shepherd and nicknamed Peg Leg, as he only had one leg.
- «Making our way down to Wilpena Pound we stop at Stokes Hill Lookout for an amazing panoramic view of Flinders Ranges & Wilpena Pound. See the 3D model of the area.
- «We will drive into Wilpena Pound grounds, a natural amphitheatre of mountains and you will have time to wander around the “pound” area or maybe just sit back and admire the scenery, wildlife and tranquility of the Flinders Ranges. Finally, back to Hawker where we will spend the next two nights.
- «Travel to Quorn, home of the Pichi Richi Railway to be treated to a ride on the iconic railway.
- «Travel on the half -day Pichi Richi Explorer from Quorn to Woolshed Flat and return, passing by scenic landscape and stopping at Woolshed Flat whilst the train turns around. You may purchase light refreshments here, but it is cash only.
- «Return to Quorn where you will have time to wander and purchase your own lunch. Maybe check out the Quandong Café for their signature quandong waffle.
- «Visit Flinders Gin Distillery and you may wish to taste or purchase some of their excellent products.
- «On our return to Hawker we will make a stop at Kanyaka Ruins, formally a cattle & sheep station in the Flinders Ranges, established in 1852 by Hugh Proby after he emigrated to South Australia in 1851 from Lincolnshire in England.
- «Visit the amazing Jeff Morgan Gallery. See the incredible display’s housed across several large enclosure’s which include the painted panoramas, one of which is the Wilpena Panorama, 3.5m high & 33m in circumference and taking 4,000 hours to complete.
- «Say goodbye to Hawker on day 5 and start our journey home. After a comfort stop at Orroroo we will make our way to Clare where we will have our delicious two course lunch.
- «From here we travel back, passing through little country towns such as Blyth, Hoyleton & Halbury before we make a brief stop at the Devils Garden, near Balaklava. Our final comfort stop will be at Balaklava and then our last leg of the journey will have us arriving back at Mawson Lakes.
Inclusions
- « Morning tea provided on Day 1
- « Fully cooked or continental breakfast on Day 2, 3, 4 and 5
- « Lunch on Day 1, 2 and 5
- « Two course dinner on Day 1, 2, 3 and 4
- « Entrance to Museums/attractions listed
- « Fully escorted with a tour host.
- « Deluxe bus travel.