Neighbouring Regions, Towns and Attractions

Alice Springs

Surrounded by a red sand desert which stretches for hundreds of kilometres in all directions, Alice Springs is one of Australia’s most famous outback towns. It is the gateway to the iconic natural features of Uluṟu (Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjuṯa National Park.

Here, stories of Australia’s history and heritage are told through a colourful cast of characters and events that include camel races, gold-diggers and outback pioneers.

Alice Springs lies in the physical and spiritual heart of Australia’s Red Centre. It is surrounded on all sides by the jagged MacDonnell Ranges, which according to the traditional owners, the Arrernte people, was formed during the Dreamtime by giant caterpillars. The Royal Geographic Society of Australia has calculated the geographical and gravitational centre of the continent at the Lambert Centre, approximately 200 kilometres south of town.

Today, the town’s upmarket hotels, restaurants, and 20000 inhabitants, continue to uphold its vibrant history. It’s also an excellent place to pick up an authentic piece of unique Aboriginal art.

From here, you can join one of Australia’s most challenging walks, the Larapinta Trail; and it is the ideal place to connect with Australia’s rich Aboriginal traditions and awe-inspiring landscapes.

Australia’s classic outback drive, the Red Centre Way, from Alice Springs to Kings Canyon, is one of the best ways to experience the natural wonders of this vast ancient red landscape.

Alice Springs

Arkaroola

Put on your bushwalking boots and venture into Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary. Hike to mountain top ridges for spectacular views of the land below. With 610 square kilometres of wilderness to cover, see more in a short space of time by taking a four wheel drive tour (4WD).

Millions of years ago, this area was covered by a vast, inland sea. Fossils lay buried below the earth and etched into rock faces. Don’t be surprised if you stumble across them. The world’s oldest animal fossils were found in the Flinders Ranges.

Today, Arkaroola’s granite peaks, gorges and waterholes are home to over 160 species of birds and the endangered yellow-footed rock wallaby.

Arkaroola

Birdsville

Birdsville is Australia's 'must visit' Outback town. Always noted for its wild country and isolation, Birdsville also offers today's traveller a modern community with a sporting complex, gymnasium, two galleries, a bakery, air services, motel, hotel, caravan park and cabins, coffee shops and restaurants, general store, post office, medical clinic, fuel and auto services, and a police station.

Birdsville, between the sands of the Simpson Desert and the gibber plains of Sturt's Stony Desert is the starting point of the famous Birdsville Track, which stretches to the south with the Simpson Desert to the west.

Birdsville began life as 'Diamantina Crossing' in 1881 and was given its present name in 1885. It is said that one Robert Frew, a local identity, gave the name as a compliment to the birdlife of the area. Another theory on the town's name is that locals wanted to name it Burtsville after a popular settler named J. Burt. Burt declined the offer and the name Birdsville was used as a compromise. The Diamantina River, to the east of the town, was named in 1866 by explorer William Landsborough.

The town's original function was as a 'tariff wall' between Queensland and South Australia. Tolls which had provided the town's income, ceased in 1901 with the formation of the Federation and the town declined.

The town is now a starting point for many people travelling into South Australia along the Birdsville Track which was first developed in the 1880s as one of Australia's first major cattle routes. Stories of stockmen who passed through Birdsville on this famous track are part of town legend.

Birdsville is best known for its famous pub and the annual race meeting when the population grows from 120 to 6,000 in two days.

Birdsville

Broken Hill

A holiday in Broken Hill is for real. This world-renowned mining city overflows with nationally significant heritage and authentic experiences amid the iconic, accessible outback. Much more than a stunning backdrop, the Silver City is a place for complete immersion. A destination where daily discoveries are recounted every night amid an atmosphere of historic grandeur and hospitality.

Broken Hill is a living museum and since its birth as a promising little mining village in the 1880s, it has gone on to be recognised as the boldest of the Australian outback towns; its reputation pressure-cooked through decades of hardship in the desert.

The Broken Hill Proprietry (that would later become BHP), boomed in the 1880s, and the population reached 20,000 by 1891. And an outback culture took root in the very worst of conditions, with a stubborn refusal to lay down to nature, that became the bedrock of the Broken Hill psyche.

On New Year's Day, 1915, the Great War visited Broken Hill, when two camel drivers loyal to the Ottoman Empire opened fire on a picnic train, killing five men, women and children in what was the first act of terrorism committed on Australian soil. But death in Broken Hill had never needed the encouragement of international conflict, with fatalities a routine hazard of work in the mines, the local population alerted to each tragedy by a black flag hoist from on top of the Town Hall. Broken Hill soon became a global battleground for the timeless war between rich and poor, organised strikes, sometimes lasting for many months, seeing violent clashes that raged in the streets and whole families left destitute.

In the 70s and 80s, the dominant workers’ culture gave way to a local passion for the arts. Artists like Pro Hart and Jack Absalom, and films such as Mad Max 2 and Priscilla: Queen of the Desert were filmed on location in and around Broken Hill, giving the place a world-wide reputation on the silver screen. So Broken Hill’s new era emerged; as a place much more than a mere engine of blood, sweat and stone. People – both from Broken Hill and 'Away' – began to regard the town as a culture in its own right, a place with a definite outback soul.

Today Broken Hill is a living, breathing time-capsule; an artefact that survives in the desert and waits to be rediscovered. Art deco shopfronts welcome customers straight out of a bygone age, and all over town are monuments to men and women who suffered and died so the town could survive. But the machine that gave birth to Broken Hill still grinds away underneath; the mountainous slag heap, hauled from the earth for near 130 years, casting a shadow over town at the dawn of each day.

There are perhaps few places in the world where one can stand in a street at the urban boundary, some 20,000 people and all their dwellings immediately at one’s back, and view nothing but red desert in front, as far as the eye can see. This is the essential experience of Broken Hill – to be here is to discover a lost world.

Broken Hill

Clare Valley

The Clare Valley is one of Australia's most famous wine producing regions and a fascinating place for connoisseurs of both wine and history to spend some time. Settlers from England, Ireland and Poland first moved into the region during the 1840's and left a rich heritage of villages and architecture which remains largely intact. Many of these buildings are now used for the abundance of guest houses, premium restaurants and galleries in the area.

A relaxing lifestyle combined with the rich blend of attractions detailed throughout our website ensures your stay will be a rewarding one.

Clare Valley

Coober Pedy

Escape the heat at Coober Pedy and head underground. This outback town is the opal capital of the world and is also famous for its dugout homes. Due to the searing temperatures above ground, (it often averages over 40°C in summer), many homes are carved into the hillside.

Stay at one of the underground hotels. “Noodle” (fossick) for opals. Play golf at night with glowing golf balls on a desert course.

Coober Pedy

Eyre Peninsula

Swap the crowds for pristine landscapes, rich wildlife and great seafood on the Eyre Peninsula.

You can spend weeks exploring the sheltered coves and bays, fishing from the secluded beaches and spotting giant whales from the towering limestone cliffs. That’s before you even venture into the national parks, ancient caves and the barren and beautiful Nullarbor. In place of trees, this prehistoric plain has native animals and thousands of years of Aboriginal history. Close by you’ll find the 1.5 billion year old geological wonder of the Gawler Ranges and the startlingly beautiful Lake Gairdner- a dry salt lake bounded by ancient hills

Swim with playful sea lions and dolphins in the wild. Snorkel or dive next to giant cuttlefish - the chameleons of the sea - in the protected waters near Whyalla. Or get up close and personal to a Great White shark when cage diving in the waters south of Port Lincoln.

On land you’ll have close encounters with kangaroos, emus and soaring eagles. On the Eyre Peninsula, one-on-one interaction with all types of creatures is the norm, not the exception. Go on a four wheel drive safari in the Gawler Ranges and see unique and rare native species at play in their natural habitat. Or watch majestic Southern Right whales from the Nullabor Plain coastline between May and October.

If you love fishing, you’ll love the Eyre Peninsula’s abundant and varied catches. For those who prefer their fish on the end of their fork, that means some of Australia’s best seafood. You can buy whiting, snapper, garfish, prawns and lobsters fresh off the boat at the Farmer and Fishermen’s Market in Streaky Bay in April. Or follow a seafood and aquaculture trail on a scenic drive from Whyalla to Ceduna.

Embrace space and nature at its untouched best on the Eyre Peninsula, where the only thing in short supply is people.

Eyre Peninsula

Lake Eyre Status

Lake Eyre, Australias largest salt lake and the world's 13th largest lake, is located in Northern South Australia. It's drainage basin, of 1 140 000 square kilometres, covers 15% of the continent extending into the south-east of the Northern Territory and south west and central Queensland.

Lake Eyre North is 144km long North-South and 77km wide. The lowest point, in Lake Eyre North, is 15.2 metres below sea level and its deepest flood (20th century) was in 1974 at 5.7 metres. Lake Eyre South is 64km long East-West and 24km wide and has a maximum depth of 3.7 metres. The two Lakes are joined by the 15km long Goyder Channel through which water has flowed in either direction in recent history. Both lakes have a combined area of 9 690 square kilometres.

Lake Eyre YC - Current Lake Status

Nullarbor

The Nullarbor Roadhouse is the access point for adventure on the expansive Nullarbor Plain.

This roadhouse is much more than a service station, as it includes a motel, restaurant and caravan park. It is adjacent to the historic Nullarbor Homestead.

The Nullarbor Plain itself is 77,000 square miles and stretches 720km. Not surprisingly, the name comes from the Latin 'Nullus' and 'Arbor', meaning 'no trees'. The Nullarbor region is one of the largest semi arid Karst landforms in the world. There are a variety of caves across this sunburnt landscape, including Murrawijinie Caves north of the roadhouse which have been approved for public access. There's also the Koonalda Cave and Bunabie Blowhole that may be viewed from the top. Most caves however, can only be accessed in the company of National Parks and Wildlife officers, or with an accredited caving group.

Just south east of Nullabor is the magnificent Head of Bight, where Southern Right Whales can be seen on their annual migration from June to October.

Nullarbor

Yorke Peninsula

With sparkling clear waters, white sandy beaches, a fascinating history and some of the best fishing in South Australia, Yorke Peninsula is arguably South Australia’s most relaxing holiday destination.

Beginning just 90 minutes drive from Adelaide, ‘Yorke’s’ boasts over 30 caravan parksas well as camping grounds and an array of accommodation to suit everyone!

If relaxing with a fishing line is your idea of heaven, there are plenty of historic jettiesto explore and provide some of the best catches in the State.

History buffs can learn about the region’s rich mining and farming heritagethrough its many museums and historic walks. Highlights include The Farm Shed Museum and Tourism Centre, which gives an insight into the lives of the region’s pioneering families, the Bublacowie Military Museum, the Moonta Mines Museum, and the Wallaroo Heritage and Nautical Museum.

Yorke Peninsula is also a haven for nature lovers. Those looking to get away from it all can indulge in bush walking, swimming, snorkeling surfing, bird watching, diving, and sometimes even whale watching at the region’s vast sandy beaches and national parks.