Real Outback Add-On 8 Day RV Caravan


PhotosTour Details

 

 

 

 

Good on ya, mate!

You’ve come all that way and spent 39 incredible days in New Zealand and Australia.  Why not stay a little longer and really experience the geographical and cultural diversities Oz has to offer?

Fantasy’s 8-day optional Aboriginal Outback tour is limited to those guests who have just completed the popular New Zealand/Australia tour.  It’s an opportunity to spend a few extra days in Oz and experience the real Australian outback!

ULURUOur group leaves Sydney and flies to legendary Alice Springs – a totally different world from where we’ve been traveling on the Australia’s east coast.  ‘Alice’ is a complex mix of Aboriginal and European colonial history, offering a bustling arts scene and rich cultural life.  We begin our connection to the Aboriginal way of life learning more about their culture in a natural bush setting before dinner.

We move on for the next two nights at Ayers Rock, one of the most impressive landmarks in the world and situated in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.  The Aboriginal name for the rock is Uluru, and it rises nearly 1,150 feet from the ground.  Even more impressive is the fact that it extends even further below the surface. 

THE-OLGASAt the park, we also see the Rock’s less famous neighbors – the Olgas – 36 rock formations believed to have originated from one massive stone.  That evening, we enjoy a Sounds of Silence Dinner under the stars.  We arrive in the desert as the sun begins its gradual descent and are met with a glass of champagne and a local resident playing the didgeridoo.  Here, we see Uluru in all its glory as the sunset transforms the colors of the rock into different hues.  When the sun sets, the night is transformed by an amazing canvas of stars. 

We fly back to Alice the following day for a busy two days exploring this true Ozzie outback town.  After touring the township, we visit the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), which always provides a doctor on call who can reach a patient within two hours in 80 percent of this massive country.  The original radio network was powered by yet another Australian invention – Alfred Traeger’s pedal-powered radio.

In the past, children living in these remote areas of Australia had to either leave their families to attend boarding school elsewhere or complete their lessons by mail, and the questionable mail service often caused them to fall behind in their studies.  In 1948, the RFDS introduced the School of the Air, utilizing their radio communications to begin broadcasting lessons to outback children.  We learn more about this valuable service and the educational opportunities it’s been providing for the past 70 years.

ALICE-SPRINGS-DESERT-PARKWe see the plants and animals which make the desert come to life at the Alice Springs Desert Park, concluding our tour at the original site of the town, the historic Telegraph Station, established in 1871 to relay messages between Darwin and Adelaide.  It was also connected with an underwater cable network to London, creating the first real communications between Australia and England.

The following day, we fly back to our Sydney hotel and enjoy a farewell toast before departing for the flight back home.  The Ozzie Outback just caps off the most incredible tour Down Under!