Outback Adventure

Hello, adventurers! Kick off your 15-day Outback adventure in Adelaide (flights to arrive prior to 12.30pm). This beautiful city is known for its festivals, sporting events, colonial churches and architecture, amazing food, and as the gateway to renowned wine regions in the Clare Valley and McLaren Vale. Meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers for a Welcome Drink before exploring the city sights, passing the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide Botanic Garden, Parliament House, and Adelaide Oval. Once you’ve worked up an appetite, enjoy a guided tour of Adelaide Central Market with a Local Specialist. Lucky you, you’ll visit your guide’s favourite stalls in this massive fresh produce market of more than 80 traders - browsing right where the chefs and locals shop. Try Artisan cheeses, quirky Australian native foods, and fresh fruits and nuts with a focus on what’s in season. Tonight is yours to enjoy!

Rise and shine for a big day of art, culture, and wine. You’ll begin travelling to the Clare Valley, one of Australia’s oldest and undiscovered wine regions, to join a Local Specialist at Knappstein Enterprise Winery. Sip on the award-winning wines like the area’s celebrated Rieslings and world-class reds and tour the heritage-listed property. Then it's time for an exclusive look at the world-renowned panoramic landscapes at the Jeff Morgan Gallery. Jeff himself will greet you for a tour of his panoramic paintings of the Flinders Ranges, one measuring 33 metres long. Be amazed at the dramatic scenery of the rugged Australian outback before exploring it for yourself. You’re headed into the heart of the Flinders Ranges for your stay at Wilpena Pound Resort - tucked in South Australia’s largest mountain range and owned by the Aboriginal people who have lived here for thousands of years. You’ll be welcomed by an Aboriginal Elder or member of the local community, learn about the area, and, with your MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience, contributes to the future of the adnyamathanha people, the original owners of this land.

Start a full day of history with epic views of Wilpena Pound at Wangara Lookout. Enjoy a walk along a creek through bush and pines arriving at Hills Homestead - eyes peeled for kangaroos along the way. At the cottage, learn about the original settlers who struggled to survive in this harsh environment. Then head through Pichi Richi Pass, part of the first stage of the Great Northern Railway in 1879 linking Port Augusta and Darwin, to Quorn. Soak in Quorn's history as a vital railway junction during WWII on a guided walking tour before arriving in Spencer Gulf’s Port Augusta. Here you’ll visit the Wadlata Outback Centre, travelling through their 'Tunnel of Time' to the days of the dinosaurs learning how the Flinders Ranges and Outback evolved, the people who once owned the land, and those who live there today. Well acquainted with stories of this rugged and history-rich landscape, end the day relaxing over dinner at a local Aussie pub.

Continue your deep dive into the history of the land with a visit to Woomera, an isolated, former rocket-testing site of the 1960s. Hear its storied history at the Woomera Heritage Centre and Missile Park. Then its “mining time” as you journey through salt-lake country to the opal capital of the world in Coober Pedy, founded in 1920. A fascinating stop, you’ll be amazed to learn that over half the population of this town live underground in opal mining caves to escape the heat. Meet a Local Specialist who will explain different types of opals and their quality and take you down and through a labyrinth of the town’s head-scratching subterranean facilities. showcasing the different types of early and modern dugout homes. Pop into the shop to browse opal jewellery before your unforgettable Stays With Stories accommodation with a chance to experience ‘dugout’ living. Explore their underground shopping arcade, underground bar, and historic display on mining, opals and what it’s really like to live in Outback Australia.

Journey to the heart of the Red Centre today to World Heritage listed Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. You’ll experience the true beauty of mesmerizing Uluru over a classic sundowner of appetizers and sparkling wine. Sit back as the surrounding grasses blow and the sky lights up in red and orange illuminating Uluru rising 348 metres. Gazing up at its massive structure, you’ll feel a deep appreciation for and connection to this vast land. After an unforgettable sunset, head to your Stays With Stories experience and home for the next two nights at the Desert Gardens Hotel, surrounded by the red dirt and desert trees you’ve explored and the perfect spot to immerse yourself in nature. Stay in or join an optional Uluru Barbecue Dinner complete with a stargazing tour of the vast Southern sky (please pre-book).

Rise and shine early today to witness a once in a lifetime sunrise in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Hot cocoa in hand, sit back as the sun lights up Uluru and its desert surroundings. Get more acquainted with the park on a drive with your Travel Director before putting boots to the ground on a guided walk to Mutitjulu Waterhole. At the base of Uluru, learn from your Travel Director about its ancient rock art that has been preserved for hundreds of years, putting history in the words and pictures of those who’ve lived it. You have some free time to sit by the pool or visit the art galleries and Town Square shopping village before capping off the day with a guided walk through Kata Tjuta’s red-hued sedimentary rock through Walpa (“wind”) Gorge to a lookout. You're fortunate to experience another magnificent Red Centre sunset paired with sparkling wine and light refreshments in this more secluded spot. Cheers to grandeur and grand history of Uluru and cheers to adventure.

If you loved yesterday's sunrise, you could take it to another level with a private Optional Experience at the Field of Light installation of artist Bruce Munro. Against the desert backdrop, you’ll watch 50,000 glass spheres light up Uluru in violet, blue, and white like a field of flowers. It’s a unique and dazzling start to your morning that will make you see this land you’ve come to love in a whole new way. You’ll continue your desert adventure on an epic drive from Uluru to Watarrka National Park (named for an Indigenous word meaning “umbrella bush”) exploring the ancient walls of Kings Canyon that rise 100 metres above Kings Creek. Now, lace up your hiking boots and, accompanied by your Travel Director, climb to top of the canyon for a walk around its semi-circular edge. After your ascent, leave the sandstone formations behind to drop into the Garden of Eden’s shaded, lush oasis of greenery. Or take it easier on the creek bed walk. After a day in the desert, your home for the night is Kings Canyon Resort, where you’ll enjoy a dinner surrounded by desert-scapes and a sunset over Carmichael Crag.