15 Day Corner Country, Lake Eyre & Birdsville Explorer
Departs: Thursday 3rd July 2008
TOUR COST: from $3544 pp twin share
Join us for a remarkable fully accommodated tour into country which has remained unchanged since the adventures of Sturt, Burke and Wills and McKinlay. Highlights include White Cliffs, Milparinka, Depot Glen and the isolated regions of Tibooburra, Innamincka and Marree. At Cameron Corner stand where three states meet. Visit the Dig Tree and cruise Cooper Creek. Travel the desolate Strzelecki Track to the infamous Afghan town of Marree (optional Lake Eyre flights). Up the awesome Birdsville Track to the ’frontier’ town of Birdsville. Delight your senses and refresh your mind with glorious sunsets and colourful characters. Experience the Outback - see the distance, feel the space! It's ready and waiting for anyone with a spirit of adventure!
DAY 1: HERVEY BAY—ST GEORGE (D)
Thursday 3rd July: An early start for travelling companions joining between Hervey Bay and Caloundra. Brisbane passengers join at Roma Street Transit Centre at 9:30am. Travel west to Toowoomba, and then join the Moonee Highway passing the Moonie Oilfields to St George. Stay Merino Motor Inn.
DAY 2: ST GEORGE – BOURKE (BLD)
Friday 4th July: Travel westward across vast plains and open horizons for lunch in Cunnamulla with time to browse the Information Centre or have your photo taken with the Cunnamulla Fella. On arrival in Bourke, enjoy an informative tour that includes the town’s many historic buildings, the river, wharf and the Fred Hollows memorial. Stay Major Mitchell Motel.
DAY 3: BOURKE – WHITE CLIFFS (BLD)
Saturday 5th July: This morning enjoy morning tea with Liz & Gary Murray at historic Trilby Station, a working sheep and cattle station . Farewelling Trilby we continue our journey to White Cliffs, an authentic outback town where history abounds. Once the thriving centre of Australia’s opal industry with over 5,000 inhabitants, today fewer than 300 people remain. After lunch look forward to a guided tour with Opal Wanderer Tours, visiting the opal fields, showrooms, and a 'Dugout' home. Stay Unique Underground Dug-Out Motel.
DAY 4 WHITE CLIFFS – TIBOOBURRA (BLD)
Sunday 6th July: Today cross vast station properties to Reola Station which is owned by Graham and Deirdre Brown and features the world’s largest multi-level shearing facility. After a home style morning tea enjoy a tour of the shearing shed and learn about its amazing history, its features and its shearing capacity. After lunch continue our trek to Tibooburra. The town where they say water became more valuable than gold. Two nights Stay The Granites Motel.
DAY 5 TIBOOBURRA SIGHTSEEING (BLD)
Monday 7th July: Today is steeped in the history of the inland explorers who braved isolated and arid country to ‘open up’ these forbidding lands. At the ghost town of Milparinka discover a wealth of history dating back to the 1880’s when gold was first discovered. At Depot Glen see where Sturt was ‘holed up’ for six months under horrific conditions during his 1844 expedition to locate the supposed ‘inland sea’. Travel the Jump Up loop road and stand on the mesa tops for spectacular views. Continue to the Warri Gate and the Dog Fence.
DAY 6 TIBOOBURRA – INNAMINCKA (BLD)
Tuesday 8th July: Today travelling through the Sturt National Park and enjoy morning tea at Cameron Corner, where the borders of QLD, NSW and SA meet. Crossing red dunes to Merty Merty encounter the famous Strzelecki Track, first pioneered by cattle duffer Harry Redford. Finish the day with a sunset cruise with Cooper Discovery Cruises. See the birdlife and evidence of past floods before stopping to visit the John King memorial, the only surviving member of the Burke and Wills expedition. Two nights stay Innamincka Hotel.
DAY 7 INNAMINCKA SIGHTSEEING (BLD)
Wednesday 9th July: Due to its reliable water source Innamincka once played a major role in the early explorations of Australia’s unknown interior. Today the town services the ever busy tourist industry and local pastoralists. Visit the “Dig Tree” where explorers Burke and Wills tragically perished after returning from their expedition to the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1860. Pause and reflect on the tragedy played out under the tree before returning to the hotel for lunch. Free time available this afternoon.
DAY 8 INNAMINCKA – MARREE (BLD)
Thursday 10th July: Travel the Strzelecki Track to Lyndhurst for lunch at the ‘local’. Wander through the ghost town of Farina, then on to Marree whose history is linked to the Afghan camel traders who serviced the outback with supplies from this trading post. Marree is also located close to the southern end of Lake Eyre, which is the terminal point of a great continental drainage system and is considered one of Australia’s most famous natural landmarks. Two nights stay Great Northern Hotel.
DAY 9 MARREE & LAKE EYRE SIGHTSEEING (BD)
Friday 11th July: For a truly spectacular outback experience flights may be undertaken (own expense) for those passengers who wish to see Lake Eyre, the Marree Man and the Painted Hills from the air. This provides a wonderful view of the area from a new perspective. Later tour Marree and travel the Oodnadatta Track to the salt encrusted shores of Lake Eyre South for dramatic views.
DAY 10 MARREE – BIRDSVILLE (BLD)
Saturday 12th July: Today we travel the legendary Birdsville Track. The modern graded road has shattered the reputation of the Birdsville Track as one of the roughest and most remote in the world but is still a challenge as it is unsealed. Cross the Natterannie Sandhills, once a formidable object to the legendary Birdsville mailmen. After our morning tea stop at Mungerannie Roadhouse we press on through the Sturt Stony Desert to arrive mid afternoon at the Birdsville Working Museum. Stay historic Birdsville Hotel.
DAY 11 BIRDSVILLE – BOULIA (BLD)
Sunday 13th July: Departing Birdsville we encounter the Cacoory Ruins a sign of first European settlement established in 1870. Travelling through Cuttaburra Crossing—an amazing wetland area, we arrive at Bedourie for lunch. Moving north of Eyre Creek where the channel country meets the desert we arrive into Boulia mid afternoon to experience the Min Min Encounter, learning the story surrounding the myth of the mysterious Min Min Light. Stay Desert Sands Motel.
DAY 12 BOULIA – LONGREACH (BD)
Monday 14th July: This morning travel east via the timeless landscape of the majestic mesas set amongst the open pebbly plains at Cawnpore Lookout, a landscape only found in two places on earth. Enjoy a cuppa and fresh damper at the Middleton Hotel, arriving in Winton with time to purchase your lunch before visiting the Waltzing Matilda Centre. Two night stay Longreach Motor Inn.
DAY 13 LONGREACH SIGHTSEEING (BD)
Tuesday 15th July: Tour and morning tea at the Pastoral College, then on to Qantas Founders Museum. The highlight of our day is the Stockman's Hall of Fame. The centre is a fitting dedication to the taming of our “wide brown land” and our pioneering forefathers. Late afternoon board the ‘Thomson River Belle’ for a sunset cruise followed by a Drovers beef stew and dessert, at the 'Sheraton on the Thomson'. enjoy country music and bush poetry around a blazing campfire.
DAY 14 LONGREACH – ROMA (BLD)
Wednesday 16th July: Travel to Roma today passing through Isisford, Blackall - famous for the wool scour, Tambo the town of the Teddies and on to Roma to enjoy a farewell dinner. Stay Kings Motor Inn.
DAY 15 ROMA – BRISBANE – MARYBOROUGH (B)
Thursday 17th July: Homeward bound after our colourful outback travels. Farewell new friends who have shared this wonderful holiday with you. All too soon we are back in familiar territory with arrival in Brisbane mid afternoon. Northbound passengers stay on board the coach for arrival into Maryborough and Hervey Bay early evening.