ITINERARY:

Day 1: Arrive Adelaide
Welcome to Adelaide & South Australia. Transfer by taxi to your hotel for overnight stay for 2 nights. Adelaide is South Australia’s cosmopolitan coastal capital. Its ring of parkland on the River Torrens is home to renowned museums such as the Art Gallery of South Australia, displaying expansive collections including noted Indigenous art, and the South Australian Museum, devoted to natural history. The city's Adelaide Festival is an annual international arts gathering with spin-offs including fringe and film events.

Day 2: Half Day Adelaide Tour
Adelaide is a city of beautiful churches, the finest food and wine, well-manicured gardens and greenbelts, and amazing historic and modern buildings. Learn more about this city's passion for fine living on a full-morning’s coach trip and become acquainted with its festive side. Hop on the coach and explore the vibrant mix of historic and contemporary structures in Adelaide. Begin your journey at the heart of South Australia's capital, Victoria Square. Travel along the grand boulevard of King William Street and Gouger Street, and reach the Parliament House and State Library. Visit the oldest Anglican church in the city, the Trinity Church, built in 1838 and containing many surviving elements from the original construction. Continue to Greenhill Road for a stop at Haigh's chocolate factory. Refresh with a tea or coffee while you sample fine cocoa concoctions. Later, enjoy the seaside town of Glenelg and stroll around Australia's first pedestrian street mall, the Rundle Mall. On your way to the quaint suburbs of North Adelaide, visit the Adelaide Oval, the country's most notable cricket ground. Afterwards, marvel at the magnificent St. Peter's Cathedral, the dignified backdrop to the oval grounds. Conclude your sightseeing at Colonel Light's Lookout on Montefiore Hill for spectacular panoramic views of Adelaide before returning to your hotel.

Day 3: Flinders Ranges
You’ll be picked up from the YHA Adelaide at 8.30 am and head to the culinary epicentre of the State’s capital, the ‘Adelaide Central Market’. We’ll meander through the markets to collect some local produce that we can enjoy it a little later in the day. Next, visit Australia’s Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Tandanya. The First Nation precinct provides a wonderful opportunity to experience both traditional and contemporary aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. Leave South Australia’s capital behind and head north to the Clare Valley, home to some of the country’s best wines. Perhaps purchase a bottle (or two!) and pair it with your delicious lunch. After lunch enjoy expansive views of the Flinders Ranges as you drive towards Wilpena Pound, a natural amphitheatre of rocky mountains. Experience the sunset at Wilpena Pound before settling into your accommodation for the night.

Included Activities
Wilpena Pound

Meals Included
Lunch
Dinner

Special Information
The total driving time today is approximately 6 hours. You’ll be picked up from the YHA Adelaide at 8.30 am, so please arrive at least ten minutes before.

Day 4: Quorn
It’s an early (but worthwhile) start this morning as you enjoy a short and leisurely walk along one of the many tracks in Flinders National Park. Spanning a massive 450 km, you won’t be able cover it all, but your guide will choose the best trail for your group, depending on the time of year. Travel to the site of the Yourambulla Caves where you’ll have the opportunity to view some local First Nation rock art before stopping for lunch at Quorn. Spend the afternoon enjoying a couple of walks:
Warren Gorge provides stunning ochre rock faces that complement the blue skies. Keep your eyes peeled for the very well camouflaged local rock wallabies. Tonight, you’ll stay in the quintessential South Australian town of Quorn.

Meals Included
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner

Special Information
The total driving time today is approximately 3.5 hours.

Day 5: Coober Pedy
Leave Quorn in the rear-view mirror and head to Coober Pedy, the ‘Opal capital of the world’. Due to extremely hot temperatures in the area most of the town is constructed underground, with residents living in homes carved into the hillsides. Upon arrival take a guided tour of the town, an underground house and the opal mine (with opal cutting demonstration). The rest of the afternoon is free to explore. You may even like to try your hand at 'noodling' (fossicking) for opals. End the day with some rescued joeys at Josephine’s Gallery and Kangaroo Orphanage. Tonight, stay in a multi-share underground bunkhouse in Coober Pedy.

Accommodation
Underground (1 night)

Included Activities
Anna Creek Station
Coober Pedy Mine tour
Josephine’s Gallery and Kangaroo Orphanage

Meals Included
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner

Special Information
Total driving time today is approximately 6 hours.

Day 6: Coober Pedy / Yulara
We’ll be honest, there’s a fair bit of driving today. From Coober Pedy travel past the Dingo Fence and Breakaways Reserve, and into the Northern Territory. Be prepared to ‘hold-on’ as your guide hits the indicator on the vehicle for the first time, leaving the Stuart Highway and turning left onto the Lassetter Highway towards Uluru. Make sure you have your iPad fully charged and your neck cushion handy!

Accommodation
Permanent tented camp (with shared facilities) (1 night)

Included Activities
Dingo Fence

Meals Included
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner

Special Information
Today driving time will be about 8 hours.

Day 7: Yulara/Uluru
Rise early this morning and be rewarded with a glorious Uluru sunrise. While the day is still fresh, enjoy a walk around the base of this incredible sandstone formation, which is of great spiritual significance to the Anangu people. Walk to the cave paintings near Mutitjulu Waterhole at the base of Uluru where you will be in the hands of an Anangu guide who will share the stories of this unique landscape. This exclusive experience will give you an insight to the meaning behind Anangu art and traditional culture. The on-site Cultural Centre also houses an extensive collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and crafts for you to browse. Head back to camp for lunch.

Accommodation
Permanent tented camp (with shared facilities) (1 night)

Included Activities
Uluru & Kata Tjuta National Park Entrance
Uluru Base Walk
Uluru Cultural Centre
Kata Tjuta
Maruku Arts cultural experience

Meals Included
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner

Special Information
There isn't much driving today, about an hour in total between destinations. You will walk approximately 5 km.

Day 8: Uluru/Kings Canyon
Today, explore one of the Red Centre's greatest treasures, Kata Tjuta, a group of domed red rocks rising spectacularly out of the desert. Like Uluru, they’re sacred to the Anangu people and are believed to be 500 million years old. Return to camp for lunch before travelling to Watarrka National Park (Kings Canyon). Spend the night in an exclusive campsite inside the park.

Accommodation
Permanent tented camp (with shared facilities) (1 night)
Included Activities
Watarrka National Park Entry Fees

Meals Included
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner

Special Information
Driving time is about 6 hours today, and you will walk approximately 2 km.

Day 9: Kings Canyon/Alice Springs
With its 300-metre high sandstone walls, hidden waterholes, fern forests, chasms, canyons and caverns, Watarrka National Park is central Australia’s answer to an oasis. The highlight attractions here are the Garden of Eden, the Amphitheatre and the Lost City – all sites you’ll get to visit on the Rim Walk. Following lunch, it’s back on the road for the onward drive to Alice Springs, where this adventure concludes. Overnight Alice Springs for 2 nights.

Included Activities
Kings Canyon Rim Walk

Meals Included
Breakfast
Lunch

Special Information
Driving time today is approximately 5 hours back to Alice Springs, and the Rim Walk is approximately 6km.

For the Kings Canyon Rim Walk it is a requirement that you have a minimum of 3 litres of water with you. Please consider bringing your own refillable water bottles.

Day 10 Alice Springs Half Day Tour
Explore the iconic Outback town of Alice Springs in one afternoon. See its main sights and learn how it has evolved into the central hub of the Australian Outback on this comprehensive half-day tour. Start your tour with a visit to the The School of the Air, where you learn how children who cannot access schools are educated by radio. If you're lucky, you may have the opportunity to observe and listen to actual lessons in progress on air. Visit the historic Telegraph Station, established in 1872 to relay messages between Darwin and Adelaide. This also marks the original site of the first European settlement in Alice Springs. Then visit the Royal Flying Doctors Service and see how medical aid reaches those who live in the remote Outback. Make a stop at the Alice Springs Reptile Center and get close to lizards and snakes (like the perentie lizard and the thorny devil). Conclude your tour with a panoramic view of the township of Alice Springs and the MacDonnell Ranges from the top of Anzac Hill.

Day 11 Depart Alice Springs
Your tour concludes today. Please catch a taxi to Alice Springs airport for your onward flights.

Please note: The day by day descriptions published are intended as an indicative guide only. Travel by nature is unpredictable. Weather patterns, road conditions, public holidays, travel restrictions and a multitude of other factors may necessitate itinerary changes that ultimately are for the client’s benefit. It is essential that clients are flexible and open minded in this regard.