Itinerary
Day 1: Sydney, Australia
Arrive in Sydney, cosmopolitan capital of New South Wales, and transfer to our hotel in the heart of The Rocks, a district steeped in ancient Aboriginal history and site of the first European fleet landing in 1788, when ships carrying convicts arrived from England. After displacing the Gadigal First Nations people, British colonists established Australia’s first town on this rocky point, creating the colony of New South Wales. This evening, join your Expedition Leader on a short walk to your welcome dinner at a waterfront restaurant overlooking Sydney Harbor.
Day 2: North Head Sanctuary / Sydney Botanic Gardens
With your Expedition Leader, walk over to Circular Quay this morning to board the ferry across Sydney Harbor to Manly. Here, we join an expert local guide for a private walk at North Head Sanctuary, an Australian Wildlife Conservancy property that is an urban reserve of extraordinary biodiversity. Hidden on top of North Head in this oceanside suburb, the important scrub heath vegetation is a remnant of native bushland and the site of important biodiversity restoration programs, including the replanting of three locally extinct species. Numerous walking trails lace the scrubland that is home to echidna, bandicoot, pygmy possum and lizards, plus a host of birds including the wattlebird, wagtail, wren and raven.
After lunch in Manly, ferry back to Sydney and continue to the Royal Botanic Garden. On an Aboriginal bush tucker tour, hear from our Indigenous guide about native bush plants, how they were traditionally used by the Gadigal people, and how they have been adapted to modern palates. On this site, First Nations people lived off the land for centuries before European settlement, and we learn about their initial contact with those aboard the 11 boats that arrived from England in 1788. The rest of the afternoon is at leisure before dinner at The Glenmore, a 1921 heritage-listed building with one of the best views of Sydney Harbor and the city skyline from the rooftop terrace, including the iconic Sydney Opera House.
Day 3: Fly to Ayers Rock / Uluru–Kata Tjuta National Park
After breakfast, we depart to meet our flight from Sydney to Ayers Rock Airport, then continue to our hotel where a light lunch awaits. This afternoon, we have our first encounter with Uluru, the legendary red sandstone monolith that rises in striking solitude 1,142 feet above the flat grasslands where we find an abundance of springs, waterholes, rock caves and ancient paintings. Uluru, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is sacred to the Anangu, the Aboriginal people of central Australia who are the original inhabitants of this region, with a presence established for more than 60,000 years. European explorers first arrived here in 1872. A year later, a surveyor observed Uluru and named it Ayers Rock in honor of the Chief Secretary of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers. In 1993, Australia adopted a dual naming policy to recognize both the traditional Aboriginal name and the English name of landmarks, and Uluru/Ayers Rock became the first official dual-named feature in the Northern Territory.
On a guided walk to Mutijulu Waterhole, hear traditional Creation stories from the Dreamtime, then drive around the base of Uluru before returning to our desert resort hotel with time to relax. Tonight we gain another perspective on Uluru during the only evening dining experience inside Uluru–Kata Tjuta National Park. Sample traditional local foods including native apple, bush tomato and quandong flavors, and savor renowned Australian barbecued steak, kangaroo and seafood, accompanied by Australian wines. After dinner, stargaze with a local expert under some of the darkest skies on Earth.
Day 4: Traditional Uluru Heritage Tour
Accompany a traditional Uluru family to their homeland, called Patji, and spend intimate time learning about the oldest living culture in the world. A unique and exclusive experience for visitors, Patji is located just outside of Uluru–Kata Tjuta National Park. Explore this extraordinary environment by 4-wheel-drive with your Aboriginal guide, stopping to hear personal stories from our Uluru family hosts, including how they survived in this desert environment prior to the advent of tourism, and how the Uluru inhabitants fought for land rights to their Aboriginal domain. Continue to a private sand dune for a panorama over the great expanse of desert overlooking Uluru and the jumble of rock formations that comprise neighboring Kata Tjuta. Later, head to a viewpoint to see the sun set over Uluru, watching the rock mass turn a multitude of colors as the light gleams and fades.
Day 5: Uluru Sunrise / Kata Tjuta / Private Flight to Alice Springs / The Ghan Luxury Train
Rise before dawn to witness the wonder of sunrise over Uluru. We drive across the desert landscape to reach our vantage point on the mighty rock formation, watching the sun’s rays illumine Uluru’s hulk, casting a golden glow that turns the sandstone a luminous red. As the sun ascends, continue to Kata Tjuta—also known as the Olgas—for an Outback picnic breakfast. Afterward, walk with a local guide into Walpa Gorge, named for the wind (walpa) that whistles between the massive conglomerate rock walls and domes that comprise Kata Tjuta, the result of eons of weathering. Learn how the forces of nature have shaped these dramatic formations over millions of years, as well as the cultural significance of this sacred ceremonial site.
At midday, take a private chartered flight from Ayers Rock to Alice Springs, with a spectacular view of Uluru from the air. “Alice” is a remote town in the middle of Australia, located halfway between Darwin and Adelaide. It’s called the gateway to the Red Center, the arid interior desert known for its rusty sandstone geological features. On arrival, tour Alice Springs’ most notable sights, including the Royal Flying Doctors Service, bringing medical care to the most far-flung sectors of the Outback; The School of the Air, facilitating distance learning for Australia’s most remote students; and Telegraph Station, the site of the first European settlement in Alice Springs. Established in 1871 to relay messages between Darwin and Adelaide along the Overland Telegraph Line, the station connected Australia to the undersea telegraph network of the British Empire, allowing a message to reach London in as little as five hours versus the 3-4 months it took by ship. Our tour concludes with a panorama of the town and MacDonnell Ranges from Anzac Hill.
Then it’s time to embark on one of the world’s great railway adventures: board The Ghan, Australia’s historic train that inaugurated service in 1929, for the journey across the Outback. The Ghan was named for the pioneering cameleers who blazed a permanent trail into the Red Center of Australia more than 150 years ago; its full route from Adelaide in the south to Darwin in the north spans 1,850 miles. We travel nearly half of it on our northbound journey to Katherine, enjoying luxury accommodations in a comfortable sleeper cabin, Aussie beers and wines in the Outback Explorer Lounge, and fine meals in the Queen Adelaide Dining Room, whose art deco atmosphere harks back to the train’s original ambience.
Day 6: The Ghan / Nitmiluk National Park—Katherine Gorge Cruise / Kakadu National Park—Jabiru
Wake early for breakfast aboard The Ghan before arriving in Katherine, where we disembark the train. Entering Nitmiluk National Park, take a boat cruise on the Katherine River between the sheer sandstone cliffs. Learn about the region’s history and culture through interpretations of Indigenous rock art dating back 40,000 years. Hear Dreamtime stories about the Creation and the significance of the gorge in the lives of its traditional owners, the Jawoyn people. A short walk to the top of First Gorge reveals a stunning rock art site where paintings remain even after thousands of years of exposure to the elements, evidence of the Jawoyn culture in the area during the last Ice Age.
This afternoon, drive north from Katherine to Jabiru in Australia’s “Top End,” with lunch en route and a stop to look for hooded parrots. Entering Kakadu National Park, we find the tropical side of the remote Australian Outback, home to one of the world’s largest saltwater crocodile populations. On the coastal floodplains of Australia’s most northerly reaches, the Greater Kakadu region contains stunning biodiversity, including 68 mammal species, more than 120 reptile, 26 frog and 300 tidal and freshwater fish species, some 2,000 plant species, more than 10,000 insect species, and one-third of all Australian bird species, including an annual migration of over 100,000 magpie geese. Kakadu’s giant crocodiles are the world’s largest living reptiles, having thrived unchanged for nearly 200 million years. Endemic to Australia, they live in floodplains, billabongs, gorges and coastal waters, and we expect to see plenty of them.
Day 7: Rainforest Walk / Private Guluyambi Cultural Cruise / Ubirr—Rock Art & Wildlife Viewing
Take a morning walk through the monsoon rainforest of Manngarre to look for flying foxes, spectacular golden orb spiders, orange-footed scrub fowl and the exquisitely plumed rainbow pitta bird. At Cahill’s Crossing, look for giant saltwater crocodiles from viewing platforms over the East Alligator River. Then, take a private boat cruise on the river, a tidal estuary packed with crocodiles, which bounds the vast Aboriginal Arnhem Land. Our Aboriginal guide on board provides insight into local culture, mythology, the river’s rich food chain, traditional uses for many plants and animals, and bush survival skills. On the Arnhem Land side, disembark to view traditional hunting & gathering implements.
Following our cruise, discover the wonders of Ubirr on the Kakadu side of the river, where ancient people camped beneath its cool rocky shelters and used plants and animals from the nearby floodplain for food, tools and medicine. Ubirr’s rock art galleries are some of the most renowned in the world, with fine examples of X-ray painting as well as contact art from the time when Indigenous people first encountered Europeans. Much of it features fish, turtles, goanna and other important food sources. One image shows a thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, which became extinct on the mainland more than 2,000 years ago. An optional hike to the top of Ubirr Rock offers magnificent views across Kakadu, Arnhem Land and the Nadab floodplains. Ubirr is one of the few places where it is possible to view the diminutive Wilkins rock-wallaby. Special bird sightings include the blue-winged kookaburra, pheasant coucal and peaceful dove, among many others. Learn how the Kakadu Escarpment was formed millions of years ago as we scout for native species including the white bellied sea-eagle and sulphur-crested cockatoo.
Return to our hotel for dinner, followed by a night walk in hopes of a glimpse of northern brush tail possum and northern brown bandicoot.
Day 8: Private Billabong Cruise / Warradjan Cultural Center / Nourlangie Rock Art
Head out early this morning for a cruise on the Yellow Water Billabong. Exploring this serene wetland, we look for saltwater crocodiles and prolific birdlife—about one-third of Australia’s bird species are found in Kakadu National Park, with at least 60 right here, including brolga, cockatoo, gala and red-winged parrot. Other sightings might include agile wallaby and Gilbert’s dragon lizard. Then tour the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Center, an interactive museum, art exhibit and gathering place to meet the traditional owners of these lands.
After lunch at our hotel, look for agile wallabies as we head to the Nourlangie region, offering views over the magnificent Arnhem Land escarpment and its unique wildlife. Here, ancient sandstone ranges rise from the floodplains in a powerful landscape that epitomizes the Aboriginal Dreamtime. We visit the Nourlangie rock art site, which contains some of the most powerful Aboriginal paintings in Australia, including a depiction of the Lightning Man, who creates thunder by banging stone axes together. Birds here may include emerald doves and sandstone shrike-thrush, and with luck, we might spy an endemic black wallaroo. Keep an eye out, too, for water buffalo. At the end of the day, look for wildlife around Lake Jabiru as the sun sets. The wetlands are a haven for waterbirds, including brolga crane, glossy ibis, magpie goose, black-necked stork (jabiru), egrets, herons and more. We often see huge flocks of little corellas coming in to roost, and many species of finches.
Day 9: Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve / Darwin / Broome—Cable Beach
This morning, we explore one of Kakadu’s most famous wetlands and premier birding spots. Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve is part of the Adelaide River floodplain, one of several connected catchments that make up the Top End wetlands and are of international importance due to their beauty, natural systems and cultural significance. As we stroll the boardwalk through the paperbark forest, look for barn owls, comb-crested jacanas, myriad dragonflies skimming the surface of the water, and a gigantic carpet of blooming waterlilies. From the Pandanus viewing platform, survey the vast floodplains and drying billabongs, searching for dancing brolgas, black-necked storks, and thousands of egrets and herons. The reserve is also a haven for water pythons, freshwater turtles and other wildlife. After lunch, we drive approximately one hour to Darwin, scouting for dingoes along the, which we may see throughout Kakadu.
At the Darwin airport, catch a commercial flight west to Broome to arrive by late afternoon. It’s just a short distance to our luxury beachside resort, which fronts Cable Bay. We'll spend four nights at this dreamy outpost, our base for exploring the East Kimberley region of Western Australia, one of the most ancient and untouched corners of the country. The wild and remote Kimberley is known for its stunning coastal and interior scenery, comprising a massive central plateau of dissected sandstone ranges and an extensive limestone range formed from an ancient barrier reef.
Day 10: Private Flightseeing in Purnululu National Park—Exploring the Bungle Bungles
Our focus today is World Heritage-listed Purnululu National Park, which lies within Gija and Jaru Country. This area is of enormous significance to these Indigenous custodians, and we learn about their intimate connection to this astounding landscape since time immemorial. Departing Broome on a private chartered flight, survey the surreal landscape of the Bungle Bungles from the air. One of the planet’s most fascinating geological landmarks, the beehive-shaped cones consist of stacks of ancient seabed layered with dolomite in orange and gray stripes, rising a thousand feet above savanna.
When we land, join a local guide for a walking tour through the sandstone domes, viewing their dramatic stripes at eye level. Our hike takes us to Cathedral Gorge, a huge natural amphitheater where shrubs dangle from the vertical walls. Among the rock towers, observe the creek beds, gaps and crevices, evidence of wet-season waterfalls, and ponder how nature’s forces have sculpted and scoured this setting over millions of years. Along the way, learn about traditional bush medicine as we observe native plants used in human healthcare for millennia. Look for some of Purnululu’s 130 bird species, as well as unique animals including the nailtail wallaby and short-eared rock wallaby. We stop for a picnic lunch in the gorge, awed by the amazing natural acoustics. On our return flight to Broome, gain a dramatic aerial perspective over Horseshoe Valley, Windjana Gorge and the ancient Devonian Reef, as we cross the Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges. This evening, enjoy dinner at our seaside hotel. Once darkness descends, trace the stars’ movements across some of blackest night skies on the planet.
Day 11: Private Dolphin Cruise / Broome Bird Observatory
Meet Australia’s rarest dolphin—the snubfin—on a morning eco-cruise aboard a 50-foot catamaran. This charming, round-headed cetacean is native to Australia’s north coast and was identified as a distinct new species in 2005. With almost no beak, these dolphins have a sweet, cartoonish face, similar to the the beluga whale. Threatened by fishing net casualties and coastal development affecting the shallow waters and brackish estuaries they favor, the snubnose dolphin has become a focus of conservation concern. The creation of several marine parks in northern Australia is having a positive impact on efforts to preserve their declining numbers. We also look for more common bottlenose dolphins, dugongs, sea turtles and manta rays among the rich marine life of Roebuck Bay. Enjoy morning tea on board as we learn about the bay’s diverse ecosystem.
This afternoon, visit Broome Bird Observatory and explore the surrounding plains to look for wallabies as well. This research and education center was established to promote the welfare of migratory bird species that congregate in Roebuck Bay, the shorebird capital of Australia. This habitat, where the desert meets the Indian Ocean, comprises a host of ecosystems that draw varied birdlife, including mudflats, ocean, mangroves, beaches, floodplains, salt marsh, savanna, desert scrub and pindan woodlands. More than 330 bird species have been logged in Broome—a third of all that exist in Australia. Seek out yellow chat, Asian dowitcher, white-breasted whistler, red-headed honeyeater, brolga and impressive birds of prey that hunt the grasslands of the Roebuck Plains. Once the wet season floods subside, the freshwater wetlands attract a range of waterbirds. As the plains dry, waterbirds leave and the wide-open grasslands and salt flats become more accessible, drawing raptors.
Day 12: Private Flight over Buccaneer Archipelago & Horizontal Falls / Pearl Farm & Cultural Tour
A second day of private flightseeing is in store as we follow the stunning Kimberley coastline, a jumble of crenellated sandstone indented with rugged gorges and waterfalls pouring off the plateau into turquoise bays. From on high, survey the hundreds of islands that comprise the Buccaneer Archipelago. Crossing the ancient Kimbolton Ranges and King Sound, we reach Horizontal Falls, an unusual feature that David Attenborough called “one of the greatest natural wonders of the world.” In the turquoise waters of Talbot Bay, the fast-moving tidal current squeezes through two narrow gorges of the McLarty Range, pushing the water into rapid-like formations which rush through the twin gaps at a forceful rate, producing waterfalls turned on their side. The powerful tides in the Kimberley can fluctuate more than 30 feet, and the direction of the flow reverses so the water moves two different ways each day.
As our flight continues, get an exhilarating vantage over Cape Leveque, where red sandstone cliffs meet white sand and clear aqua seas, then land at Cygnet Bay to visit Australia's oldest family-owned pearl farm. Although Aboriginal peoples along the northern coast harvested and traded pearl shell more than 20,000 years ago, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, pearling was a key industry across northern Australia, and Broome became the pearling capital of the world. Australia supplied most of the world’s demand for pearl shell—called “mother of pearl,” the illustrious lining of the oyster shell—which was exported to Europe and the United States. As manufacturers turned to plastic as an inexpensive alternative to mother-of-pearl in the 1950s, the market for pearl shell collapsed, and today Australia’s pearling industry is based on cultivation. Broome remains an important center in the production of South Sea pearls.
Lunch awaits, along with a cultural experience with our local Bardi Jawi tour guide. Through rich stories and demonstrations, he shares lore about the seasons, hunting methods and various types of shelters. We’ll hear a traditional song and get to taste damper—Australia's classic rustic bread—and fresh seafood. Our return flight to Broome is just as spectacular as we fly over Pender Bay, Beagle Bay, Carnot Bay, James Price Point, Willie Creek and Cable Beach, looking down on our resort hotel from on high.
Day 13: Broome Dinosaur Coast—Private Tour / Darwin
On a final morning in Broome, walk in the footsteps of dinosaurs with a local guide as we dig into history dating back 130 million years, when giant Sauropods and carnivorous Theropods roamed this terrain during the Mesozoic Period. The Dinosaur Coast, a National Heritage-listed region that covers more than 60 miles of Dampier Peninsula coastline, includes thousands of dinosaur tracks from more than 20 different types of dinosaurs, preserved in Broome sandstone. Our guide works closely with paleontologists from the University of Queensland, but in addition to the science, we also learn about the ancient cultural connections with this region, as dinosaur tracks have strong links to Aboriginal creation stories. In one instance, a set of three-toed Megalosauropus tracks trace the journey of a Bugarrigarra (Dreamtime) creator-being called Marala. There are also fossilized cycad-like impressions associated with markings left by Marala’s tailfeathers where he rested. After lunch, we board an early afternoon flight back to Darwin.
Darwin, a former frontier outpost that is the capital of the sparsely populated Northern Territory, is located on the Timor Sea just below Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. With roots into Aboriginal Dreamtime, Darwin’s Indigenous heritage extends back tens of thousands of years. More recently, Darwin was an important transportation hub from the early days of European settlement and a strategic Allied base during World War II. Today the city blends Aboriginal, Australian and Asian cultures in a lively melange. Check in to our hotel overlooking the harbor just steps from the waterfront esplanade, then celebrate our adventures over a farewell dinner this evening.
Day 14 Darwin / Depart
Our grand Australia Outback journey concludes after breakfast this morning, with a transfer to the airport included to meet your departing flight.
Arrive in Sydney, cosmopolitan capital of New South Wales, and transfer to our hotel in the heart of The Rocks, a district steeped in ancient Aboriginal history and site of the first European fleet landing in 1788, when ships carrying convicts arrived from England. After displacing the Gadigal First Nations people, British colonists established Australia’s first town on this rocky point, creating the colony of New South Wales. This evening, join your Expedition Leader on a short walk to your welcome dinner at a waterfront restaurant overlooking Sydney Harbor.
Day 2: North Head Sanctuary / Sydney Botanic Gardens
With your Expedition Leader, walk over to Circular Quay this morning to board the ferry across Sydney Harbor to Manly. Here, we join an expert local guide for a private walk at North Head Sanctuary, an Australian Wildlife Conservancy property that is an urban reserve of extraordinary biodiversity. Hidden on top of North Head in this oceanside suburb, the important scrub heath vegetation is a remnant of native bushland and the site of important biodiversity restoration programs, including the replanting of three locally extinct species. Numerous walking trails lace the scrubland that is home to echidna, bandicoot, pygmy possum and lizards, plus a host of birds including the wattlebird, wagtail, wren and raven.
After lunch in Manly, ferry back to Sydney and continue to the Royal Botanic Garden. On an Aboriginal bush tucker tour, hear from our Indigenous guide about native bush plants, how they were traditionally used by the Gadigal people, and how they have been adapted to modern palates. On this site, First Nations people lived off the land for centuries before European settlement, and we learn about their initial contact with those aboard the 11 boats that arrived from England in 1788. The rest of the afternoon is at leisure before dinner at The Glenmore, a 1921 heritage-listed building with one of the best views of Sydney Harbor and the city skyline from the rooftop terrace, including the iconic Sydney Opera House.
Day 3: Fly to Ayers Rock / Uluru–Kata Tjuta National Park
After breakfast, we depart to meet our flight from Sydney to Ayers Rock Airport, then continue to our hotel where a light lunch awaits. This afternoon, we have our first encounter with Uluru, the legendary red sandstone monolith that rises in striking solitude 1,142 feet above the flat grasslands where we find an abundance of springs, waterholes, rock caves and ancient paintings. Uluru, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is sacred to the Anangu, the Aboriginal people of central Australia who are the original inhabitants of this region, with a presence established for more than 60,000 years. European explorers first arrived here in 1872. A year later, a surveyor observed Uluru and named it Ayers Rock in honor of the Chief Secretary of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers. In 1993, Australia adopted a dual naming policy to recognize both the traditional Aboriginal name and the English name of landmarks, and Uluru/Ayers Rock became the first official dual-named feature in the Northern Territory.
On a guided walk to Mutijulu Waterhole, hear traditional Creation stories from the Dreamtime, then drive around the base of Uluru before returning to our desert resort hotel with time to relax. Tonight we gain another perspective on Uluru during the only evening dining experience inside Uluru–Kata Tjuta National Park. Sample traditional local foods including native apple, bush tomato and quandong flavors, and savor renowned Australian barbecued steak, kangaroo and seafood, accompanied by Australian wines. After dinner, stargaze with a local expert under some of the darkest skies on Earth.
Day 4: Traditional Uluru Heritage Tour
Accompany a traditional Uluru family to their homeland, called Patji, and spend intimate time learning about the oldest living culture in the world. A unique and exclusive experience for visitors, Patji is located just outside of Uluru–Kata Tjuta National Park. Explore this extraordinary environment by 4-wheel-drive with your Aboriginal guide, stopping to hear personal stories from our Uluru family hosts, including how they survived in this desert environment prior to the advent of tourism, and how the Uluru inhabitants fought for land rights to their Aboriginal domain. Continue to a private sand dune for a panorama over the great expanse of desert overlooking Uluru and the jumble of rock formations that comprise neighboring Kata Tjuta. Later, head to a viewpoint to see the sun set over Uluru, watching the rock mass turn a multitude of colors as the light gleams and fades.
Day 5: Uluru Sunrise / Kata Tjuta / Private Flight to Alice Springs / The Ghan Luxury Train
Rise before dawn to witness the wonder of sunrise over Uluru. We drive across the desert landscape to reach our vantage point on the mighty rock formation, watching the sun’s rays illumine Uluru’s hulk, casting a golden glow that turns the sandstone a luminous red. As the sun ascends, continue to Kata Tjuta—also known as the Olgas—for an Outback picnic breakfast. Afterward, walk with a local guide into Walpa Gorge, named for the wind (walpa) that whistles between the massive conglomerate rock walls and domes that comprise Kata Tjuta, the result of eons of weathering. Learn how the forces of nature have shaped these dramatic formations over millions of years, as well as the cultural significance of this sacred ceremonial site.
At midday, take a private chartered flight from Ayers Rock to Alice Springs, with a spectacular view of Uluru from the air. “Alice” is a remote town in the middle of Australia, located halfway between Darwin and Adelaide. It’s called the gateway to the Red Center, the arid interior desert known for its rusty sandstone geological features. On arrival, tour Alice Springs’ most notable sights, including the Royal Flying Doctors Service, bringing medical care to the most far-flung sectors of the Outback; The School of the Air, facilitating distance learning for Australia’s most remote students; and Telegraph Station, the site of the first European settlement in Alice Springs. Established in 1871 to relay messages between Darwin and Adelaide along the Overland Telegraph Line, the station connected Australia to the undersea telegraph network of the British Empire, allowing a message to reach London in as little as five hours versus the 3-4 months it took by ship. Our tour concludes with a panorama of the town and MacDonnell Ranges from Anzac Hill.
Then it’s time to embark on one of the world’s great railway adventures: board The Ghan, Australia’s historic train that inaugurated service in 1929, for the journey across the Outback. The Ghan was named for the pioneering cameleers who blazed a permanent trail into the Red Center of Australia more than 150 years ago; its full route from Adelaide in the south to Darwin in the north spans 1,850 miles. We travel nearly half of it on our northbound journey to Katherine, enjoying luxury accommodations in a comfortable sleeper cabin, Aussie beers and wines in the Outback Explorer Lounge, and fine meals in the Queen Adelaide Dining Room, whose art deco atmosphere harks back to the train’s original ambience.
Day 6: The Ghan / Nitmiluk National Park—Katherine Gorge Cruise / Kakadu National Park—Jabiru
Wake early for breakfast aboard The Ghan before arriving in Katherine, where we disembark the train. Entering Nitmiluk National Park, take a boat cruise on the Katherine River between the sheer sandstone cliffs. Learn about the region’s history and culture through interpretations of Indigenous rock art dating back 40,000 years. Hear Dreamtime stories about the Creation and the significance of the gorge in the lives of its traditional owners, the Jawoyn people. A short walk to the top of First Gorge reveals a stunning rock art site where paintings remain even after thousands of years of exposure to the elements, evidence of the Jawoyn culture in the area during the last Ice Age.
This afternoon, drive north from Katherine to Jabiru in Australia’s “Top End,” with lunch en route and a stop to look for hooded parrots. Entering Kakadu National Park, we find the tropical side of the remote Australian Outback, home to one of the world’s largest saltwater crocodile populations. On the coastal floodplains of Australia’s most northerly reaches, the Greater Kakadu region contains stunning biodiversity, including 68 mammal species, more than 120 reptile, 26 frog and 300 tidal and freshwater fish species, some 2,000 plant species, more than 10,000 insect species, and one-third of all Australian bird species, including an annual migration of over 100,000 magpie geese. Kakadu’s giant crocodiles are the world’s largest living reptiles, having thrived unchanged for nearly 200 million years. Endemic to Australia, they live in floodplains, billabongs, gorges and coastal waters, and we expect to see plenty of them.
Day 7: Rainforest Walk / Private Guluyambi Cultural Cruise / Ubirr—Rock Art & Wildlife Viewing
Take a morning walk through the monsoon rainforest of Manngarre to look for flying foxes, spectacular golden orb spiders, orange-footed scrub fowl and the exquisitely plumed rainbow pitta bird. At Cahill’s Crossing, look for giant saltwater crocodiles from viewing platforms over the East Alligator River. Then, take a private boat cruise on the river, a tidal estuary packed with crocodiles, which bounds the vast Aboriginal Arnhem Land. Our Aboriginal guide on board provides insight into local culture, mythology, the river’s rich food chain, traditional uses for many plants and animals, and bush survival skills. On the Arnhem Land side, disembark to view traditional hunting & gathering implements.
Following our cruise, discover the wonders of Ubirr on the Kakadu side of the river, where ancient people camped beneath its cool rocky shelters and used plants and animals from the nearby floodplain for food, tools and medicine. Ubirr’s rock art galleries are some of the most renowned in the world, with fine examples of X-ray painting as well as contact art from the time when Indigenous people first encountered Europeans. Much of it features fish, turtles, goanna and other important food sources. One image shows a thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, which became extinct on the mainland more than 2,000 years ago. An optional hike to the top of Ubirr Rock offers magnificent views across Kakadu, Arnhem Land and the Nadab floodplains. Ubirr is one of the few places where it is possible to view the diminutive Wilkins rock-wallaby. Special bird sightings include the blue-winged kookaburra, pheasant coucal and peaceful dove, among many others. Learn how the Kakadu Escarpment was formed millions of years ago as we scout for native species including the white bellied sea-eagle and sulphur-crested cockatoo.
Return to our hotel for dinner, followed by a night walk in hopes of a glimpse of northern brush tail possum and northern brown bandicoot.
Day 8: Private Billabong Cruise / Warradjan Cultural Center / Nourlangie Rock Art
Head out early this morning for a cruise on the Yellow Water Billabong. Exploring this serene wetland, we look for saltwater crocodiles and prolific birdlife—about one-third of Australia’s bird species are found in Kakadu National Park, with at least 60 right here, including brolga, cockatoo, gala and red-winged parrot. Other sightings might include agile wallaby and Gilbert’s dragon lizard. Then tour the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Center, an interactive museum, art exhibit and gathering place to meet the traditional owners of these lands.
After lunch at our hotel, look for agile wallabies as we head to the Nourlangie region, offering views over the magnificent Arnhem Land escarpment and its unique wildlife. Here, ancient sandstone ranges rise from the floodplains in a powerful landscape that epitomizes the Aboriginal Dreamtime. We visit the Nourlangie rock art site, which contains some of the most powerful Aboriginal paintings in Australia, including a depiction of the Lightning Man, who creates thunder by banging stone axes together. Birds here may include emerald doves and sandstone shrike-thrush, and with luck, we might spy an endemic black wallaroo. Keep an eye out, too, for water buffalo. At the end of the day, look for wildlife around Lake Jabiru as the sun sets. The wetlands are a haven for waterbirds, including brolga crane, glossy ibis, magpie goose, black-necked stork (jabiru), egrets, herons and more. We often see huge flocks of little corellas coming in to roost, and many species of finches.
Day 9: Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve / Darwin / Broome—Cable Beach
This morning, we explore one of Kakadu’s most famous wetlands and premier birding spots. Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve is part of the Adelaide River floodplain, one of several connected catchments that make up the Top End wetlands and are of international importance due to their beauty, natural systems and cultural significance. As we stroll the boardwalk through the paperbark forest, look for barn owls, comb-crested jacanas, myriad dragonflies skimming the surface of the water, and a gigantic carpet of blooming waterlilies. From the Pandanus viewing platform, survey the vast floodplains and drying billabongs, searching for dancing brolgas, black-necked storks, and thousands of egrets and herons. The reserve is also a haven for water pythons, freshwater turtles and other wildlife. After lunch, we drive approximately one hour to Darwin, scouting for dingoes along the, which we may see throughout Kakadu.
At the Darwin airport, catch a commercial flight west to Broome to arrive by late afternoon. It’s just a short distance to our luxury beachside resort, which fronts Cable Bay. We'll spend four nights at this dreamy outpost, our base for exploring the East Kimberley region of Western Australia, one of the most ancient and untouched corners of the country. The wild and remote Kimberley is known for its stunning coastal and interior scenery, comprising a massive central plateau of dissected sandstone ranges and an extensive limestone range formed from an ancient barrier reef.
Day 10: Private Flightseeing in Purnululu National Park—Exploring the Bungle Bungles
Our focus today is World Heritage-listed Purnululu National Park, which lies within Gija and Jaru Country. This area is of enormous significance to these Indigenous custodians, and we learn about their intimate connection to this astounding landscape since time immemorial. Departing Broome on a private chartered flight, survey the surreal landscape of the Bungle Bungles from the air. One of the planet’s most fascinating geological landmarks, the beehive-shaped cones consist of stacks of ancient seabed layered with dolomite in orange and gray stripes, rising a thousand feet above savanna.
When we land, join a local guide for a walking tour through the sandstone domes, viewing their dramatic stripes at eye level. Our hike takes us to Cathedral Gorge, a huge natural amphitheater where shrubs dangle from the vertical walls. Among the rock towers, observe the creek beds, gaps and crevices, evidence of wet-season waterfalls, and ponder how nature’s forces have sculpted and scoured this setting over millions of years. Along the way, learn about traditional bush medicine as we observe native plants used in human healthcare for millennia. Look for some of Purnululu’s 130 bird species, as well as unique animals including the nailtail wallaby and short-eared rock wallaby. We stop for a picnic lunch in the gorge, awed by the amazing natural acoustics. On our return flight to Broome, gain a dramatic aerial perspective over Horseshoe Valley, Windjana Gorge and the ancient Devonian Reef, as we cross the Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges. This evening, enjoy dinner at our seaside hotel. Once darkness descends, trace the stars’ movements across some of blackest night skies on the planet.
Day 11: Private Dolphin Cruise / Broome Bird Observatory
Meet Australia’s rarest dolphin—the snubfin—on a morning eco-cruise aboard a 50-foot catamaran. This charming, round-headed cetacean is native to Australia’s north coast and was identified as a distinct new species in 2005. With almost no beak, these dolphins have a sweet, cartoonish face, similar to the the beluga whale. Threatened by fishing net casualties and coastal development affecting the shallow waters and brackish estuaries they favor, the snubnose dolphin has become a focus of conservation concern. The creation of several marine parks in northern Australia is having a positive impact on efforts to preserve their declining numbers. We also look for more common bottlenose dolphins, dugongs, sea turtles and manta rays among the rich marine life of Roebuck Bay. Enjoy morning tea on board as we learn about the bay’s diverse ecosystem.
This afternoon, visit Broome Bird Observatory and explore the surrounding plains to look for wallabies as well. This research and education center was established to promote the welfare of migratory bird species that congregate in Roebuck Bay, the shorebird capital of Australia. This habitat, where the desert meets the Indian Ocean, comprises a host of ecosystems that draw varied birdlife, including mudflats, ocean, mangroves, beaches, floodplains, salt marsh, savanna, desert scrub and pindan woodlands. More than 330 bird species have been logged in Broome—a third of all that exist in Australia. Seek out yellow chat, Asian dowitcher, white-breasted whistler, red-headed honeyeater, brolga and impressive birds of prey that hunt the grasslands of the Roebuck Plains. Once the wet season floods subside, the freshwater wetlands attract a range of waterbirds. As the plains dry, waterbirds leave and the wide-open grasslands and salt flats become more accessible, drawing raptors.
Day 12: Private Flight over Buccaneer Archipelago & Horizontal Falls / Pearl Farm & Cultural Tour
A second day of private flightseeing is in store as we follow the stunning Kimberley coastline, a jumble of crenellated sandstone indented with rugged gorges and waterfalls pouring off the plateau into turquoise bays. From on high, survey the hundreds of islands that comprise the Buccaneer Archipelago. Crossing the ancient Kimbolton Ranges and King Sound, we reach Horizontal Falls, an unusual feature that David Attenborough called “one of the greatest natural wonders of the world.” In the turquoise waters of Talbot Bay, the fast-moving tidal current squeezes through two narrow gorges of the McLarty Range, pushing the water into rapid-like formations which rush through the twin gaps at a forceful rate, producing waterfalls turned on their side. The powerful tides in the Kimberley can fluctuate more than 30 feet, and the direction of the flow reverses so the water moves two different ways each day.
As our flight continues, get an exhilarating vantage over Cape Leveque, where red sandstone cliffs meet white sand and clear aqua seas, then land at Cygnet Bay to visit Australia's oldest family-owned pearl farm. Although Aboriginal peoples along the northern coast harvested and traded pearl shell more than 20,000 years ago, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, pearling was a key industry across northern Australia, and Broome became the pearling capital of the world. Australia supplied most of the world’s demand for pearl shell—called “mother of pearl,” the illustrious lining of the oyster shell—which was exported to Europe and the United States. As manufacturers turned to plastic as an inexpensive alternative to mother-of-pearl in the 1950s, the market for pearl shell collapsed, and today Australia’s pearling industry is based on cultivation. Broome remains an important center in the production of South Sea pearls.
Lunch awaits, along with a cultural experience with our local Bardi Jawi tour guide. Through rich stories and demonstrations, he shares lore about the seasons, hunting methods and various types of shelters. We’ll hear a traditional song and get to taste damper—Australia's classic rustic bread—and fresh seafood. Our return flight to Broome is just as spectacular as we fly over Pender Bay, Beagle Bay, Carnot Bay, James Price Point, Willie Creek and Cable Beach, looking down on our resort hotel from on high.
Day 13: Broome Dinosaur Coast—Private Tour / Darwin
On a final morning in Broome, walk in the footsteps of dinosaurs with a local guide as we dig into history dating back 130 million years, when giant Sauropods and carnivorous Theropods roamed this terrain during the Mesozoic Period. The Dinosaur Coast, a National Heritage-listed region that covers more than 60 miles of Dampier Peninsula coastline, includes thousands of dinosaur tracks from more than 20 different types of dinosaurs, preserved in Broome sandstone. Our guide works closely with paleontologists from the University of Queensland, but in addition to the science, we also learn about the ancient cultural connections with this region, as dinosaur tracks have strong links to Aboriginal creation stories. In one instance, a set of three-toed Megalosauropus tracks trace the journey of a Bugarrigarra (Dreamtime) creator-being called Marala. There are also fossilized cycad-like impressions associated with markings left by Marala’s tailfeathers where he rested. After lunch, we board an early afternoon flight back to Darwin.
Darwin, a former frontier outpost that is the capital of the sparsely populated Northern Territory, is located on the Timor Sea just below Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. With roots into Aboriginal Dreamtime, Darwin’s Indigenous heritage extends back tens of thousands of years. More recently, Darwin was an important transportation hub from the early days of European settlement and a strategic Allied base during World War II. Today the city blends Aboriginal, Australian and Asian cultures in a lively melange. Check in to our hotel overlooking the harbor just steps from the waterfront esplanade, then celebrate our adventures over a farewell dinner this evening.
Day 14 Darwin / Depart
Our grand Australia Outback journey concludes after breakfast this morning, with a transfer to the airport included to meet your departing flight.
