Melbourne - Ayers Rock - Perth
(or vice-versa)
This tour is heavy duty! It's a colourful 5000km mixture of Australia
highlights and exquisite off-road travel, experienced on some
of the most famous of tracks, which once opened up the Australian
Outback. The Oodnadatta Track and Gunbarrel Highway.
We start our journey in Perth, where picturesque Swan River enters
the Indian Ocean. After visiting Perth, we conclude the day with
an evening in the Port of Fremantle. This romantic old part of
town, with its pubs and restaurants, offers a grand background
to our imminent crossing of the Australian continent.
We leave coast and civilisation behind to reach the goldfields
of Kalgoorlie. The goldrush here has persevered for over 100 years.
Today, it will fascinate us just as it affected people in the
early days.
After this, a different kind of rush awaits us! One thousand
kilometres on the tracks of the Gunbarrel system, through unspoiled
nature. Here we visit two missions of indigenous Australians and
a lonely weather station, where we, as part of a guided tour,
get to appreciate the life and work of a local meteorologist.
In the heart of the Outback, at Ayers Rock, we take a break for
a day to experience this immense monolith and the Olgas.
Then, Coober Pedy. Opal capital of the world, or rather the worlds
weirdest opal field. Odd people, smutty pubs and a lot of atmosphere.
Back to the bush after this strange brush with civilisation and
out onto the Oodnadatta train track, we can sense its former importance
as a north-south connection. The track ends in the most beautiful
of all South Australian National Parks, the Flinders Ranges. We
spend the night near Wilpena Pound.
Shortly after Adelaide, we drive along the Lagoon of Coorong
National Park. Then as a final treat, the Great Ocean Road. For
250Kms it winds its way through the coastal range, passing many
picturesque bays and beaches. At Cape Otway National Park we organise
a 3 hour horse ride to view koalas in their natural habitat.
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