Southern Outback

Rugged ranges, marine & terrestrial wildlife, wine country

From the wild coast of the Southern Ocean and the Great Australian Bight to the rugged beauty of the Flinders Ranges and the arid north, South Australia’s outback covers 80% of the state and is home to just 1% of its population.

The Flinders Ranges, noted for rugged beauty and fascinating geology, provide some of the most accessible and spectacular outback scenery in Australia.  Estimated to be 1.8 billion years old there are sites where fossil remains of dinosaurs and the earliest life forms can be found. A long Aboriginal history combines with the region’s more recent pioneering heritage and the experience of listening to the dreamtime stories of an Aboriginal guide while staying as guests on a large outback sheep station will highlight the contrasts that underlie Australia’s history.

The Gawler Ranges is an ancient and spectacular wilderness area of vast volcanic rock domes displaying a vivid array of colour against the pure white of many salt lakes.  The Ranges are also the setting for one of Australia’s unsung wildlife spectacles with mobs of kangaroos and emus emerging to graze in the evening, while spring time brings a profusion of wild flowers to the region.

Fringed by the Southern Ocean, the Eyre Peninsula boasts 2,000 kms of wild and unpopulated coastline and wildlife as unique and varied as the landscape.  Pods of dolphins, sometimes over a hundred strong, are visible from the cliff tops while the shallows of Baird Bay provide for a remarkable wildlife experience when guest have the chance to join wild sealions and dolphins in the water.

Close to Adelaide the wine country of the Barossa and Clare Valleys and McLaren Vale offer wine styles and gourmet experiences that have evolved out the European traditions of the early settlers. To the East dry saltbush plains surround the Murray, Australia’s greatest river.  The graceful river red gums that line its banks are a quintessential Australian scene and they harbour a diverse bird life and provide beautiful settings for some fine heritage homesteads.

Access

• Scenic drives and short flights from Adelaide will get you to most corners of the Southern Outback

Seasons

• October to May will be dry and hot.  Summer daytime temperatures can exceed 37C (100F)
• June to September expect dry and warm days with cold nights 

Travel Tips

• Experience outback station hospitality – this is the real Australia
• Superbly restored homesteads in the wine country feature local produce in delicious meals
• Self-drive enthusiasts will find the wine country and the Flinders Ranges are comfortably combined on a week long journey
• Our local wildlife guide offers a comfortable camp and both marine & terrestrial encounters
• Stay overnight in a traditional outback pub and enjoy a beer with passers by who appear, seemingly, from nowhere
• Join a local guide for a walk through time in the gorges and rock strata of the Flinders Ranges
• Search for one of Australia's most beautiful mammals, the Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby, as they come out to drink at dusk
• Walk out across a glistening white salt pan stretching 100kms over the horizon
• Watch the sheepdogs at work on a working sheep station
• Cruise the Murray River, Australia's greatest river, by luxury houseboat
• Join a local station owner as he checks his water troughs, by light aircraft