Illawarra Mercury

Outback tour will have you travelling again

Outback tour will have you travelling again
Outback tour will have you travelling again

This is branded content for Travelrite International.

As 2021 flies by, our overseas travel plans remain grounded. But not to be deterred from travel, many with the wanderlust have used this as an opportunity to explore the wonder and grandeur of our own country.

With this in mind Travelrite International, along with The Senior newspaper invite you to join them on an outback Australian odyssey.

The trip runs from September 16 to October 2, 2021 travelling around the Northern Territory, South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland.

Starting in Alice Springs, the tour takes in sites of historical significance such as Anzac Hill with its panoramic views of the MacDonnell Ranges, and the Old Telegraph Station Reserve. Also on the itinerary is the Alice Springs School of the Air and the Royal Flying Doctors service.

The next day visit West MacDonnell National Park, Simpsons Gap and Standley Chasm, a prominent waterhole of the region.

Heading south to opal mining town Coober Pedy, you will be fascinated by the Old Timers Mine, it's museum, machinery demonstration and opal showroom.

In the afternoon travel to the remote town of Maree and see the famous Oodnadatta Track and some Ghan Railway sidings.

On day five Port Augusta, known as the Crossroads for tourism across the Nullabor Plain and into the Flinders Ranges, Central Australia and the NT, comes into view.

On arrival in Broken Hill a sightseeing tour reveals just how intriguing this outback mining town is with a visit to The Big Picture art gallery and White's Mineral and Mining Museum.

After two days in Broken Hill the trek heads to the true outback town of Tibooburra. See where Charles Sturt and party were marooned in 1845 for six months at Depot Glen, a waterhole on Preservation Creek.

Further north is Innamincka but on the way is Cameron Corner where the borders of NSW, Queensland and SA meet and you can see Australia's famous Dingo Fence.

In Innamincka, visit Burke's grave and the beautiful Cullyamurra Waterhole and delight in the stunning scenery along Cooper Creek.

Two days in Birdsville takes in a sightseeing tour with a local guide and a climb of Big Red, a huge sand dune at the edge of the Simpson Desert.

Going even further north, the tour heads to Mt Isa. Travel through the ochre-red Selwyn Ranges to McKinlay and drop in at the Walkabout Creek Hotel where Crocodile Dundee was filmed.

In Winton check out the Waltzing Matilda Centre and learn the story behind the writing of Banjo Patterson's Waltzing Matilda, written in the area in 1895.

After dinner that night be entertained at an old-time movie night at Winton's Royal Theatre, one of the few remaining open air picture theatres still operating in Australia.

On the way to Longreach the tour will trace the 95 million year old fossilised footprints of a dinosaur stampede at the Lark Quarry Dinosaur Trackways.

Once in Longreach see the Qantas Founders Museum and marvel at a guided visit of the Boeing 707, Boeing 747, Super Constellation and DC-3 in the museum's new Airpark Enclosure.

After lunch the Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame beckons with its stories of our rural areas across 40,000 years.

The next day the trip winds up and everyone is transferred to Longreach Airport for flights home.

The price per person twin-share is $5,595 or add $1,420 for singles.

This is branded content for Travelrite International.