13 Day - Birdsville to Marree Backtracks
Departure Date: 21st August 2009
Tour Cost: from $3495 per person twin share
This wonderful outback holiday brings to life the inimitable “down-to-earth” characters of the Australian bush. Explore the far-flung settlement of Birdsville...a distinctive town that is the furthest settlement in Queensland! But you will see this isolated town in style staying at the Birdsville Hotel. Birdsville has an array of interesting points to discover, from the famous Birdsville Pub that comes into its own once a year during the Birdsville Races, to the impenetrable Big Red sand dune on the end of the desert.
Next, travel the accessible Outback Highways following the Birdsville Track to Marree. It is here we spend time discovering Lake Eyre. Also there is the mysterious Marree Man—a giant drawing of an Aboriginal more than 4 kilometres wide that is a work of art when viewed from the air. From Marree it is on to Lyndhurst—”the beginning of nowhere” to follow the Strzelecki Track to Tibooburra in the heart of the Corner Country. Cross the desert landscape to Cameron Corner and discover the ‘Jump Up’ plains. Return home via the Back O’ Burke Highways back to Queensland. Come with Down Under Coach Tours and capture the spirit and diversity of our Outback Highways.
Click here for Lake Eyre Information
DAY 1 HERVEY BAY—BRISBANE—ROMA (D)
Fri, 21st Aug 2009: An early start for travelling companions joining between Bundaberg and Caloundra. Brisbane and Gold Coast passengers join at Brisbane Roma Street Transit Centre at 9.00am. Head west to Toowoomba to let the peaceful rural countryside work it’s magic. Continue your westward journey through Miles to Roma . Stay at Roma Explorers Inn.
DAY 2 ROMA—CHARLEVILLE (BLD)
Sat, 22nd Aug 2009: Tour the highlights of Roma including the Bottle Tree Avenue and ‘The Big Rig’. Next, travel into the heart of Queensland—the central West of the state and enter the heart of the Mulga country—the town of Charleville. On arrival in Charleville enjoy lunch and a tour of historic Corones Hotel. The rest of the afternoon is spent exploring the town including visits to the Royal Flying Doctors Base and the unique Bilby experience. Visit the Bilby Breeding Programme and learn all about these endearing endangered marsupials. Stay Mulga Country Motor Inn.
DAY 3 CHARLEVILLE—WINDORAH (BD)
Sun, 23rd Aug 2009: Today journey into the remote Channel Country along the Diamantina Development Road. Stop for lunch in the frontier opal town of Quilpie with time to view the unique ‘Opal Altar’. Continue on through stark plains and pass through the well known cattle station of Thylungra, first settled by the Durack family. Before reaching Windorah cross over the Cooper Creek main channel and the overflow flood plain. The Western Star Hotel is a great place to lean on the bar and have a yarn with the locals (single supplements not available). Stay Western Star Hotel.
DAY 4 WINDORAH—BIRDSVILLE (BLD)
Mon, 24th Aug 2009: Venture into the real Australian outback as we journey to the frontier town of Birdsville. There are not enough words to describe the scenery today—remote, lonely, vast, tranquil and awesome come to mind. Deep red sandhills, mesa, open black soil plains, gravel ridges and gibber plains stretch to infinity. The village of Betoota is the only settlement we pass through and all that remains is a defunct pub and store. Press on further west to Birdsville whose notoriety these days is based around the Birdsville races held in September. 2 Night Stay Birdsville Hotel.
DAY 5 BIRDSVILLE SIGHTSEEING (BLD)
Tues, 25th Aug 2009: Today is spent taking in the frontier atmosphere and sights of Birdsville and surrounds. Travel west of Birdsville to the eastern edge of the Simpson Desert to visit ‘big Red’, an enormous sand dune over 40 metres high, that is said to be the largest sandhill in Australia. After our desert excursion back to Birdsville township for sightseeing. Inspect the Birdsville race course and tour the Birdsville Working Museum with its excellent displays. In the afternoon there is free time to simply relax and soak up the atmosphere of a truly historic outback location.
DAY 6 BIRDSVILLE—MARREE (BD)
Wed 26th Aug 2009: Travel down the legendary Birdsville Track for nearly 500 kilometres to Marree. Soon after leaving Birdsville cross over into South Australia then into the Sturt Stony Desert, an impressive arid landscape of stones for as far as the eye can see. Halfway to Marree stop for lunch at Mungerannie Roadhouse. A little further down the track we run into Natterannie Sandhills, once a formidable object to the legendary Birdsville mailmen. Late afternoon arrive in Marree at the junction of the Birdsville and Oodnadatta Tracks. Marree is located close to the southern end of Lake Eyre. Stay Great Northern Hotel.
DAY 7 LAKE EYRE & MARREE MAN SIGHTSEEING (BLD)
Thur, 27th Aug 2009: 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 before continuing our journey to Leigh Creek. Stop at the ghost town of Farina. Farina began to decline in 1884 when the railway was extended to Marree. Near Lyndhurst time to stop at the Ochre Pits that were used by the local Aboriginals for their artwork and for trading. At Lyndhurst visit a famous local artist Talc Alf who is a sculptor of some standing. Our next port of call is Copley and on the way it is possible to view the huge Leigh creek open-cut coal mine which has been mined since early settlement.
2 Night Stay Leigh Creek Tavern.
DAY 8 WILPENA POUND SIGHTSEEING (BLD)
Fri, 28th Aug 2009: This morning make our way further south to discover the delights of Wilpena Pound. The light should be fantastic for an optional morning flight over the giant oval-shaped basin with its great serrated red walls enclosing a huge amphitheatre surrounded on all sides by tall peaks. Wear walking shoes for the short walk to an early settlers cottage. For the more energetic, climb the Wangara Lookout and be rewarded by panoramic views of the vast amphitheatre and the mystic central core of the Pound. Mid afternoon return to Leigh Creek.
DAY 9 LEIGH CREEK—TIBOOBURRA (BLD)
Sat, 29th Aug 2009: Retrace our steps a little to Lyndhurst then join the Strzelecki Track bound for Corner Country. Enjoy a picnic lunch enroute to Merty Merty. Here we divert east to Cameron Corner and the Sturt National Park. Travel the remote and desolate semi-desert country. see desert sandhills, grassy plains and ‘up jump’ country of flat topped mesas rising from gibber-stone deserts. This is truly Corner Country and the place where you can stand in three states all at once. 2 Night Stay Granites Motel.
DAY 10 TIBOOBURRA SIGHTSEEING (BLD)
Sun, 30th Aug 2009: 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, before returning to our motel.
DAY 11 TIBOOBURRA—BOURKE (BLD)
Mon, 31st Aug 2009: Up early to press on across vast station properties enroute to Reola Station halfway along the road to Wanaaring. This station features the world’s largest multi-level shearing facility called ‘The Big Shed’. Enjoy a tour with our hosts and learn about its amazing history. After a homestyle morning tea continue on the Wanaaring for lunch at the Outback Inn Hotel. After lunch traverse ‘Back O’ Bourke’ country to arrive in Bourke—a legendary city whose fortunes have been linked by the Darling River trade and the pastoral industry. Stay Major Mitchell Motel.
DAY 12 BOURKE—ST GEORGE (BLD)
Tues, 1st Sept 2009: From Bourke we head north on the Mitchell Highway to cross the border into Queensland at Barringun. Continue onto Cunnamulla, then travel east across vast open plains and open horizons toward St George. On arrival in St George we pause to inspect ‘The Unique Egg’ a world class collection of hand carved illuminated emu eggs, handcrafted by Steve Margaritis over a period of more than 40 years. Steve`s private collection has been displayed at World Expos, but is permanently housed at the Unique Egg in St George. This truly unique attraction has to be seen to be believed.
Stay Merino Motor Inn.
DAY 13 ST GEORGE—HERVEY BAY (B)
Wed, 2nd Sept 2009: Homeward bound after our colourful outback travels, so settle back and enjoy you final days touring. From St George take the Moonie Highway passing the Moonie Oilfields, on the way to Toowoomba. Farewell your holiday friends who have shared this wonderful holiday with you. All too soon we are back in familiar territory with arrival in Brisbane at 5.00pm. Passengers travelling north stay on the coach.
In February this year, persistent monsoonal rains dumped record rainfalls in western Queensland, NSW, and in the south-west of the Northern Territory. The water began a slow journey through the braided rivers of the channel country in western Queensland, through the wetlands to the north of Lake Eyre, then down a gentle gradient to the lowest point in Australia, the dry salt pan of Lake Eyre, 17 metres below sea level.
Lake Eyre is in the centre of South Australia and lies adjacent to three desserts and when dry is the surely the most inhospitable place on Earth. Lake Eyre is the largest salt lake in Australia and the largest salt pan in the world.
If Australia’s first settlers had a Dreaming, it was of water, of an inland sea that would green the land, provide abundant food, support a population. The first explorer to see the lake, Edward Eyre, reported in 1840: "With bitter feelings of disappointment I turned from the dry and cheerless scene around me". A later explorer, Major P. Egerton Warburton, returned with an account of land that was "dry, terrible in it deathlike stillness and the vast expanse of its unbroken sterility.
What they did not know was that before them lay a system that, with the arrival of water, experiences a massive explosion of life, dwarfing that of gentler, more predictable climes. Two or three times in a century enough rain falls in Lake Eyre’s 1.2 million square catchment to deliver water to the dry salt pan transforming it into "an inland sea". When it fills, as it has done in 1950 and 1974, it becomes for the duration, the biggest lake in Australia, so large it is affected by the gravitational pull of the moon and experiences tides. Marine birds - pelicans, silver gulls, banded stilts, dotterels and terns - flock to its shores.