Outback Icons

Adelaide sets the tone with its elegant blend of culture, cuisine and creativity. Meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers over a drink before heading out to discover the city’s highlights. At the legendary Adelaide Central Market, join a local gourmand for a behind-the-scenes exploration, tasting your way from stall to stall as you uncover the flavours that make this city such a favourite for food lovers.

Leave the city behind and travel into South Australia’s celebrated wine country. In the Clare Valley, visit Knappstein Enterprise Winery, where rolling vineyards and crisp country air frame a tasting of fragrant Rieslings and rich red wines. Continue north to Hawker, where Jeff Morgan’s larger-than-life artworks capture the scale and spirit of the Outback. Later, arrive at Wilpena Pound Resort for a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience, set beneath the dramatic natural amphitheatre of the Flinders Ranges. It is a striking introduction to a region of ancient landscapes and untamed beauty.

The scenery around Wilpena Pound reveals a world shaped by time, from towering river red gums to rocky ridgelines and peaceful creeks. Walk along Wilpena Creek to Wangarra Hill Lookout, where sweeping views reveal the curves and peaks of this extraordinary natural basin. Continue through the rugged beauty of Pichi Richi Pass to Quorn, a town with deep ANZAC ties. With a Local Guide, uncover Quorn’s role in the Gallipoli campaign before travelling on to Port Augusta.

Trace the edge of the Outback to Woomera, once a major rocket-testing site and now home to a fascinating aerospace park that reflects Australia’s spirit of innovation. The landscapes grow more surreal as you continue north, with sunbaked plains and lunar-like scenery leading the way to Coober Pedy, the opal capital of the world. With a Local Guide, delve into the town’s underground life, exploring subterranean homes, churches and mines where precious opals are still unearthed today.

Leave Coober Pedy behind as you cross into the Northern Territory and journey towards one of Australia’s most iconic landmarks. Uluru rises from the desert with a presence that is impossible to forget. As the sun begins to set, watch the colours of the monolith shift and deepen beneath the vast Red Centre sky. Raise a glass and enjoy delicious bites as you take in this remarkable moment with your fellow travellers. This evening, you may also choose to pre-book the Uluru Barbecue Dinner as an Optional Experience.

The Red Centre reveals a different kind of magic at dawn. Watch the first light spread across the desert as Uluru glows with changing colour and quiet majesty. On a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience, discover more about this sacred landscape and the traditions of the Anangu people. Walk to Mutitjulu Waterhole, an important and deeply spiritual site, before continuing to Kata Tjuta. Here, giant domes rise from the earth as you explore the paths of Walpa Gorge. The rest of the day is yours to relax or continue experiencing Uluru at your own pace.

Before sunrise, you may choose to see the acclaimed Field of Light installation, where 50,000 glowing stems illuminate the desert in a mesmerising display. Later, continue through the Outback, passing the striking form of Atila (Mt. Conner), its flat-topped silhouette standing proudly above the plains. Stop at Kings Creek Station for a unique outback lunch and the chance to try a camel burger before arriving at Kings Canyon. Here, lace up for the Rim Walk, where soaring sandstone walls, weathered domes and hidden rock pools reveal one of the region’s most dramatic natural wonders.