9 Day Tour
"Corner Country & Oodnadatta Track"
Sydney - Alice Springs
Travel west of the Darling River to where the real outback starts. Cross vast saltbush and gibber country that remains almost unchanged since the first explorers saw it 150 years ago and stand at the post where the borders of Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia meet.
This tour will not operate in 2009, however we welcome your interest. Please contact our office to register your interest in this tour (no obligation or deposit required at this stage). Price for this tour to be advised when re-scheduled.
PRICE INCLUDES:
• Travel in air conditioned, special purpose 4WD coach
• Accommodation - 1 x night motel with en suite, 4 x nights basic rooms with shared facilities, 3 x nights “Bush Lodge”
• Most meals as shown: B-Breakfast, L-Lunch, D-Dinner
• Guided tour at White Cliffs
• Services of experienced driver/ guide and tour hostess
• GST
HIGHLIGHTS:
• White Cliffs - opal town
• Tibooburra
• Camerons Corner
• Innamincka and the Dig tree
• Strzelecki track
• Farina ghost town
• Marree and Old Ghan railway relics
• Oodnadatta track
• Painted Desert
• Alice Springs
DAY 1: TO DUBBO
Depart Milton 5:00am. with pick-ups at Nowra 6:00am, Wollongong 7:00am, Sutherland 8:30am and Strathfield Railway Station at 9:30am, then via the Blue Mountains (morning tea) and Bathurst (picnic lunch) and to Dubbo for our first night on tour in motel accommodation. (L,D)
DAY 2: DUBBO - WHITE CLIFFS
We travel overland via Nyngan, Cobar and Wilcannia to the opal mining town of White Cliffs where we are joined on board the coach by a local guide who will show us around town and take us into a “dug out” house. Tonight we stay underground in the Dug Out Motel. (B,L,D)
DAY 3: WHITE CLIFFS – TIBOOBURRA
We head northwest passing sand ridges and dry lake beds to Milparinka (centre of a former but brief gold rush) to Tibooburra - the main service centre for outback sheep stations and nearby Sturt National Park. Tibooburra is also known for it’s very high summer daytime temperatures. Hotel accommodation with shared facilities. (B,L,D)
DAY 4: TIBOOBURRA – CAMERONS CORNER – INNAMINCKA
From Tibooburra we head westward travelling through the Sturt National Park and via Fort Grey (where the explorer Sturt set up a base camp on his 1845 expedition to find the inland sea). At Camerons Corner, where the borders of Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia meet, we stop for photos and the chance to enjoy this unique and remote place. Accommodation for the next two nights is at the Innamincka Hotel (with shared facilities) near the Cooper Creek. (B,L,D)
DAY 5: COOPER CREEK AND THE DIG TREE
A full day to visit local highlights such as the famous “Dig Tree” on the Cooper Creek - the last camp of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition. (B,L,D)
DAY 6: INNAMINCKA - STRZELECKI TRACK – FARINA
We drive through desert country via the Moomba oil and gas fields along the Strzelecki track with the ghost town of Farina, our destination and overnight stop. This is where we meet up with our tour support crew for the first time. They will have the “Bush Lodge” erected ready for our use. (B,L)
DAY 7: FARINA - WILLIAM CREEK
First highlight today is a visit to Marree (the starting point of both the Birdsville and Oodnadatta Tracks) with it’s abandoned change of guage railway station (see old locos stranded when the tracks were dismantled) on the famous Ghan Railway line and the sculpture of a camel made from old railway sleepers. We start along the Oodnadatta track past the expanses of Lake Eyre and the many relics of the Ghan railway stopping at the Curdimurka siding (where the famous Outback Ball is often held), the bubbler mound springs as well as Coward Springs siding. Tonight’s “Bush Lodge” accommodation is alongside the remote William Creek Hotel. (B,L)
DAY 8: WILLIAM CREEK - MARLA BORE
Continuing along the track to Oodnadatta stopping at a huge old railway bridge on the abandoned line and on through the colourful landscape known as the Painted Desert. We join the Stuart Highway near Cadney and head northward to Marla Bore for our overnight stop. “Bush Lodge” accommodation in the tourist park with good facilities. (B,L,D)
DAY 9: MARLA BORE - ALICE SPRINGS
Northbound on the Stuart Highway and crossing the border into the Northern Territory near Kulgera. We stop at Erldunda and Stuart’s Well in the Territory arriving in Alice Springs mid afternoon where you will be dropped off at your central accommodation. (B,L)