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a UNIQUE EXPERIENCE

This tour departs from Stawell and travels over 3500km of the amazing inland river systems of the Channel Country of Queensland and Central Australia which come alive after heavy rainfall such as there has been in Northern Australia in recent months.

DAY 1-STAWELL TO NOCCUNDRA

We depart Stawell and track north over the Wimmera grain growing areas, passing Lake Tyrrel near Sea Lake and cross the Murray River at Mildura, where we stop for a short break and top up of fuel.

From Mildura we track north over the Darling River flood plain east of Menindee for a lunch and fuel stop at the opal mining town of White Cliffs. Here there may be an optional short tour around the opal fields for a $10 donation to the local State Emergency Service.

Following lunch we track north crossing the flood plains of the Paroo and Bulloo Rivers and cross the famous "Dog Fence" on the Queensland border just east of the "Adelaide Gate".

We then commence our journey across the Channel Country which will last for the next 2½ days and cover more than 2000km. We land for our overnight stop at the Noccundra Hotel on the Wilson River. This is a very remote and unique Outback Pub which provides comfortable accommodation and great home cooked meals.

DAY 2-NOCCUNDRA TO BIRDSVILLE

After a hearty breakfast, as we travel further north you will join the ranks of a very privileged few who have been fortunate enough to witness the beauty of the Cooper Floodplain from the air. This area has very recently been flooded and is now turning an amazing shade of green, between the channels, in places reaching 70 km wide. At the start of our journey we pass over the Jackson, Naccowlah and Ballera Oil and Gas Fields. We then follow the Cooper on past Durham Downs Station for 200 km to Windorah, where we land for fuel and a lunch stop at the Western Star Hotel.

The water that comes down the Cooper Creek originates many hundreds of kilometers north, flowing via the Thomson and Barcoo Rivers. This is the only place in the world where two "rivers" join to form a "creek."

After lunch we depart to track north west to the the Diamantina Floodplain where we track south west and follow the many flooded channels of the Diamantina which gives the Channel Country its name. We follow the Diamantina Floodplain on into Birdsville for our overnight stop at the famous Birdsville Pub. You have the rest of the afternoon free to visit the Working Museum which houses a vast collection of memorabilia, perhaps admire Wolfgang John's dramatic water colours of the desert at the Blue Poles Gallery.

DAY 3-BIRDSVILLE to WILLIAM CREEK

Birdsville also has one of the few low temperature geothermal power stations in the world, providing power for the town. You can view the hot artesian bore flowing at 27 litres per second which provides the energy at 98 degrees celsius from 1230 metres underground and also provides the water supply for the town.

After a bite to, possibly at the local Birdsville Bakery, which boasts a menu containing a variety of local specialties, we depart to the south west over Big Red the highest sand dune in the Simpson Desert, to Eyre Cree, a huge area that becomes inundated during flood times such as these. We follow Eyre Creek to the junction with Goyder Lagoon and track south along the Warburton before turning west to track to the Warburton Groove at the northern end of Lake Eyre. We fly south along the Groove the length of Lake Eyre, around 180km, passing the pelican breeding grounds on Hughes, and Dulhunty Ilsands, and and then track west to our overnight stop at William Creek on the Oodnadatta Track.

William Creek has a resident population of around 6 people and is the smallest town in South Australia. It is a popular stopping off point for travellers along the Oodnadatta track. It is surrounded by one of Australia's largest cattle stations, Anna Creek Station 23,800 sq km, which is almost half the size of Tasmania.

The town was originally established as a railway watering and service point on the old Ghan railway line in the 1880s. Today it is home to the legendary William Creek Hotel and is the only pub between Marree and Oodnadatta. As an original pub it provides a rare insight into outback history and is filled with unique mementos left by thousands of visitors. The pub is where we dine tonight.

You may take a walk through the Memorial Park opposite the pub which houses various remnants of rockets fired from Woomera. The Woomera Prohibited Area, former rocket testing grounds are located to the south of William Creek. Here also is a plaque commemorating an Austrian woman who lost her life in 1998 trying to walk back to William Creek after their 4WD vehicle became bogged in sand near Lake Eyre.

DAY 4-WILLIAM CREEK to stawell

Upon departure from William Creek this morning, we track over Lake Eyre South and as we leave the lake we will overfly the Marree Man, a mysterious 4.5km long outline of an aboriginal warrior on the escarpment, marked out by a plough just south of the lake. This was first noticed by a local charter pilot in 1998.

We now take up track for Broken Hill. Enroute we will cross the Strezlecki Track and the northern end of the Flinders Ranges, passing over Lake Frome and the southern end of the Strezlecki Desert, then the sheep station areas of northern South Australia. You may wish to visit the Royal Flying Doctor Base at the Broken Hill airport during our lunch stop. From Broken Hill we will track south near the Silver City Highway passing the many lakes of the Annabranch system, crossing the Darling River and on across the Sunset Country, the Mallee and eastern end of the Big Desert before descending over the Wimmera wheat growing areas on our return to Stawell.