South Australia's Outback

A 9 day itinerary featuring the highlights of the South Australian Outback, Stranraer on Kangaroo Island, Arkaba Station & Gawler Ranges Safaris

8 NIGHTS / 9 DAYS

FOR TRAVEL

1 APRIL 2010 - 31 MARCH 2011

  

Summary Itinerary

Day 1

Flight: Adelaide/Kingscote, morning flight

Met by your guide and join a small group tour of "Island Life" including a delicious BBQ lunch, transport in a luxury 4WD vehicle, entrance fees and services of an expert local guide.  In the evening your guide will deliver you to Stranraer.

2 nights Stranraer Homestead, guest room accommodation with dinner & breakfast included

Day 2

Morning collection to join a small group tour "Flinders Focus" including a delicious picnic lunch, transport in a luxury 4WD vehicle, entrance fees and services of an expert local guide.  Evening return to Stranraer.

After dinner Graeme, your host, will take you on a Nocturnal Penguins & Peneshaw Tour

Overnight Stranraer Homestead
Day 3

Private departure transfer to Kingscote Airport

Flight:  Kingscote/Adelaide, morning flight

Collection by Malcolm Booth, your host this evening and spend a few hours touring the Barossa Valley, enjoy a lunch stop (included) and then continue on to North Bundaleer.

1 night North Bundaleer with accommodation in the Red Room, and inclusive of dinner, breakfast, open bar, tea & coffee, home-made cakes and biscuits and pre-dinner drinks and canapes
Day 4

Private departure transfer from North Bundaleer to Arkaba Station

2 nights Arkaba Station, Homestead Guestroom, inclusive of meals beverages (based on select open bar), round trip transfers by road from Port Augusta or Hawker and scheduled activities (4WD safaris, mountain biking, wildlife viewing, daily guiding)
Day 5

A full day of exploring Arkaba and the Flinders Ranges, including a 30 minute scenic flight in a Cessna Aircraft (single engine) over Wilpena pound

Overnight Arkaba Station
Day 6

Private transfer by road from Arkaba to Port Augusta

Meet Geoff Scholz, your guide on a 3 night / 4 day 'Outback to the Sea Gawler Ranges Wilderness Safari' - inclusive of 3 nights accommodation at Kangaluna Camp, all meals, access fees & ground transport and boating activities at Baird Bay.  This is a private safari and can be tailored to suite your particular interests.

Day 7 & 8

Outback wildlife encounters of the marine & the terrestrial variety

Gawler Ranges Wilderness Safaris
Day 9

Private departure transfer to Ceduna Airport

Flight:  Ceduna/Adelaide

 

Itinerary Costing

AU $8,175 per person based on two people travelling in twin or double accommodation

 

Inclusions

  • Accommodation on twin/double share basis
  • Flights Adelaide / Kangaroo Island / Adelaide
  • Flight Ceduna / Adelaide
  • 30 minute scenic flight from Arkaba Station over Wilpena Pound
  • Touring, trasfers, and meals as detailed in above itinerary summary
  • Includes 10% GST

 

 Exclusions

  • Scheduled domestic & international flights and taxes
  • Comprehensive travel insurance
  • Meals & bar unless specified
  • Laundry, gratuities & items of a personal nature

 

Detailed Itinerary

 

 Day 1, Kangaroo Island

 Day's Outline

  •  Met by your guide and join a small group tour of "Island Life" including a delicious BBQ lunch, transport in a luxury 4WD vehicle, entrance fees and services of an expert local guide.
  • In the evening your guide will deliver you to Stranraer for your 2 night stay inclusive of dinner, breakfast and a nocturnal tour

The day of touring is planned to suit the seasons but usually begins with a scenic drive in search for koalas feeding high in the eucalyptus trees.  Eventually stop for a cuppa with some home-made cakes for morning tea and then take a walk down a country track in search of koalas snoozing or feeding overhead.

Travel through some of the Island's best farming country to the North Coast and Lathami Conservation Park.  Walk quietly through the bush with your guide - stopping to look at tracks and listening for birds.  There are a huge number of Tamar Wallabies here, they are almost extinct on the mainland, and there is a species of kangaroo endemic to Kangaroo Island.

Break for lunch and enjoy a delicious meal featuring local seafood, fresh salads and fine South Australian wines at a private bush location.  At Seal Bay Conservation Park your guide will take you to walk amongst Australian sea lions on a beautiful sandy beach.  Watch pups nursing, or playing in the surf, see old bulls bearing the scars of territorial disputes and learn about their unique breeding biology.  The remainder of the afternoon is spent exploring more of the south east region of the Island with destinations and experiences chosen to reflect seasonal opportunities. 

 

In the evening your guide will deliver you to Stranraer.

During your stay at Stranraer, a beautiful 3,000 acre rural property, you will be hosted by Graham & Lyn Wheaton.  Just 30 kilometres from Kingscote, towards the South Coast of the island, the property has been in the Wheaton family since 1911 and the homestead was built in the early 1920's.  Guest accommodation is in three bedrooms, each with a private bathroom.  There is a friendly sitting room with fire place and a welcoming dining room where guests come together to share Lynn's excellent cuisine.  The wide verandah is the perfect place to sit and enjoy the early morning sun. 

Today the farm produces lamb, wool and grain.  There are two natural lagoons on the property and they support a big variety of water birds including Cape Barren geese, Musk duck and Banded stilits (season).  

 

Day 2, Kangaroo Island

 Day's Outline

  • Morning collection to join a small group tour "Flinders Focus" including a delicious picnic lunch, transport in a luxury 4WD vehicle, entrance fees and services of an expert local guide.
  • Evening return to Stranraer
  • After dinner, Graham will take enthusiastic wildlife viewers on a drive - to look for kangaroos, wallabies, and other nocturnal animals and also to see the colony of Australian Fairy Penguins in the eastern corner of the island.

Flinders Chase National Park is a vast wilderness covering the entire west end of the island and is home to kangaroos, wallabies, possums, goannas, echidnas, koalas, platypus and many birds including rare Cape Barren Geese.  First stop will be at Rocky River, the site of an impressive visitor centre interpreting many facets of the park and its history. 

At Cape du Couedic visit a fur seal colony where numbers are now over 20,000 - they were decimated by hunting in the early 1800's.  These animals can be observed at rest on the rocks or playing in the surf under Admirals Arch - a spectacular coastal grotto.  On the headland above is a beautiful stone lighthouse where three light keepers and their families lived, maintaining a warning for ships.  With no road access until 1940 life was tough -supplies came by sea only every 3 months.  

Another impressive stone structure had a different architect.  The Remarkable Rocks, huge natural granite sculptures, have been carved by relentless winds, rain and salt from the Southern Ocean.  The end result looks like a meeting of the minds of Henri Moore and Salvador Dali!

Day 3, Kangaroo Island, North Bundaleer

 Day's Outline

  • Private departure transfer from Stranraer to Kingscote for your flight to Adelaide
  • Collection by Malcolm Booth, your host this evening and spend a few hours touring the Barossa Valley, enjoy a lunch stop (included) and then continue on to North Bundaleer
  • 1 night accommodation in a Red room inclusive of a four course dinner, a full cooked breakfast, open bar, tea & coffee, home-made cakes and biscuits and pre-dinner drinks and canapes. 

"One of the finest in the north" was how North Bundaleer was described when the house was completed in 1901, reflecting the wealth and optimism in the pastoral industry at the time.  Situated north of the Clare Valley, the country around Bundaleer has been farmed since 1841.   The property at Bundaleer was the first land settled in the area, known now for its sheep and the nearby wine country of the Clare Valley.

As guests of Malcolm and Marianne Booth, your stay at North Bundaleer takes you back to an era of wealth and luxury no longer seen in rural Australia.  Malcolm and Marianne have restored the house to its former glory and with an attention to detail and history that has earned them widespread recognition.  From the ballroom (no longer in regular use) to the library and the original William Morris decor in one of the four guest bedrooms, North Bundaleer is one of the very few federation homesteads in Australia to survive in its original style.

Day 4, Flinders Ranges

 Day's Outline

  • Private transfer by road, from North Bundaleer to Arkaba Station
  • Your 2 night stay at Arkaba Station includes:  All meals, selected drinks from the bar, round trip transfers by road from Port Augusta or Hawker and scheduled station activities such as 4WD safaris, mountain biking, wildlife viewing and guided walks

Arkaba Station, at the foot of the Elder Range, is possibly the most beautiful outback property in the country!  Its spectacular panoramas are best enjoyed, with a chilled glass of wine in hand, as the sun sets over the craggy sandstone bluffs.  In a quintessential Australian scene the wildlife will emerge to drink at waterholes along the dry creek beds that are lined with river red gums.  Over 300 species of bird and unique mammal species are abound in the Flinders Ranges but it is the region's geology that makes it so special.  The Flinders are an insight into the depth of Australia's geological history, extending back more than a billion years, with the evidence of long-disappeared mountain ranges, beaches, tidal flats, reefs and glacial moraines still visible in the rocks to this day.

 At Arkaba Homestead Pat & Sally Kent invite guests to share in station life.  Built in 1851 the homestead and garden grounds have five traditional en suite guest rooms, each opening onto a verandah.  The rooms are air conditioned and have been designed with the homestead's heritage in mind.  A comfortable library provides some seclusion for enjoying a quiet drink and a good book, while dinner is often hosted on the terrace overlooking the ranges.

A wet edge pool and relaxing areas overlook the Arkaba Creek.  A self-service bar with a selection of beverages is available to guests and the resident chef provides traditional station cuisine with some contemporary and native elements to jazz it up.  Before dinner, guests can choose their wines from a predominantly South Australian cellar.

Day 5, Flinders Ranges

 Day's Outline

  • Learn about life in the Outback and take a 30 minute scenic flight in a Cessna Aircraft (or a similar single engine aircraft) over Wilpena Pound

During your stay learn about the activities of an outback station and visit the old woolshed, the focus of the station's annual shearing since 1856.  On bush walks, picnics and 4WD safaris explore the gorges and valleys of the Flinders Ranges and keep an eye out for wildlife - Red Kangaroos, Emus, Euros, Yellow-footed Rock Wallabies.   Arkaba Station also offers walking safaris, these must be pre-arranged.  At the end of the day enjoy a sundowner drink along with the sun's last rays reflecting on the western ramparts of Wilpena Pound. 

 

Day 6, Gawler Ranges Safari 

 Day's Outline

  • Private arrival transfer to Port Augusta
  • Your 3 night Gawler Ranges Safari includes Safari Tent accommodation, all meals, beverages and guided activities including swimming with sea lions at Baird Bay
  • This is a private safari and can be tailored to suit your particular interests

The Gawler Ranges are home to a profusion of wildlife, in numbers rarely seen elsewhere in Australia.  With gorges, weathered rocky outcrops and seasonal waterfalls, the area has an extraordinary range of wildly beautiful outback country.  The contrasting colours of the red sands, clear blue skies and the glistening white of Lake Gairdner's massive salt pan is one of the great but rarely visited sights of the Australian outback.  It is also one of the few places in the country where you can expect to see the three largest macropods (Red kangaroo, Grey kangaroo and Euro or Common Wallaroo) in the one area, and you may well see them in their hundreds.  Emus too are abundant and they scatter beside your vehicle as you travel through mile upon mile of mallee and eucalypt woodland, an area where the sheep farmers failed and the wildlife has survived. 

Your private guide and host, Geoff Scholz, was born and brought up in the area and has an intimate knowledge of the local bush.  His camp on a private concession at the edge of the Gawler Ranges National Park is built and run on ecological principles, using natural air flows for ventilation and capturing rainwater naturally.  Three large en suite safari tents have been designed in tune with the local environment and with comfort in mind.  Designed by a well-known wildlife artist, the furnishings have been built from local mallee wood and feature native mammals and birds.  In the evening settle in to a BBQ dinner and a glass of wine with the sounds of the bush all around you and the stories of your guide for entertainment. 

  

The Gawler Ranges is situated on a significant ecological line, which divides the fauna of eastern and western Australia; there are species of bird that are not found only a few kilometres to the west.  The geology of the ranges dates back as much as 1,500 million years and was the site of a massive meteor impact hundreds of million years back.

 Day 7 & 8, Gawler Ranges Safari 

Day's Outline

Geoff operates each safari to take into account seasonal varatiations, your stay will usually include:  

  • Wildlife viewing: it is possible to see hundreds of kangaroos on a day safari; such is the profusion of wildlife.  This includes Red and Western Grey Kangaroos and Euros (Common Wallaroo) and in the more remote parts of the ranges, Yellow-footed Rock Wallabies.  The area also has a large population of emus and Hairy-nosed Wombats
  • Bird watching: parrots, finches, eagles are just some of the 146 bird species that have been recorded in the area
  • A day trip to Lake Gairdner, one of the largest salt pans in Australia which stretches for over 100 kilometres northwards
  • Visit the Organ Pipes, a dramatic geological formation from a long gone age of volcanic activity in the area
  • The Sturt Lakes are close by the camp and provide fabulous evening vistas and wildlife viewing
  • Stop at natural ochre pits for face painting the Aboriginal way
  • The area is rich in Aboriginal heritage and sites, your guide will explain the local lore
  • In September/October, a carpet of wildflowers stretches across the grasslands

 

 Day 9, Adelaide 

Day's Outline

  • Transfer to Ceduna
  • Flight:  Ceduna/Adelaide, arriving in the evening where services end