Experience The Outback – The Tucker Bag (TOTB)

6 days, 6 nights. Broken Hill-Sydney

May-August

Another fascinating tour, starting in Broken Hill, travelling through Wentworth, Balranald, Hay, Narrandera, Cowra and Canowindra and finishing in Sydney.

What You Get

Pick up and return from central Sydney, travel by air conditioned 4WD coach, 6 nights accommodation, all meals, morning and afternoon teas, entry and admission fees, local tours and cruises, individual trip kit including personal comfort pack, use of a netbook computer for the duration of the tour, dinner and accommodation on the evening prior to tour departure.

Itinerary

Pre-tour

The Tucker Bag Tour is timed to meet you on Monday night if you choose to travel to Broken Hill on the Countrylink Explorer XPT from Sydney, or from other starting points by air with Rex Airlines. Or you may have chosen to start your tour early with local tours to Sturt National Park, Mutawintji or White Cliffs with one of the award-winning local tour operators. Talk to us about your options.

Either way, you'll be met in Broken Hill and accommodated at the Duke of Cornwall Inn on the night before your tour starts, and you're invited to join us for dinner at Broken Earth Restaurant - fine dining with magnificent views over the city (dinner and accommodation included in tour price).

Day 1

Today you travel to Menindee for a look at the Lakes system, and on to Kinchega National Park on the Darling River. There’s a locally-guided tour along the riverbanks and a chance to inspect the historic Kinchega shearing shed, before travelling on to your overnight accommodation at Bindara Station - once the centre of a million-acre Darling River sheep station.

Day 2

Travelling along the old Darling River road to the former river port of Pooncarie you then head into Wentworth, junction of the Murray and Darling Rivers and a place of considerable historic interest. You have the opportunity to tour the town before travelling to the nearby Perry Sandhills – a popular natural feature and place of great indigenous significance. Overnight at the historic Avoca Homestead on the Darling River.

Day 3

Today you’ll travel to the Willandra Lakes World Heritage region and go on a guided tour of the Walls of China in Mungo National Park, for an absorbing look into the natural and human history of these extraordinary formations. You’ll also see the famous Mungo Woolshed, other pastoral relics and nature trails, and you’ll stay in the renovated Shearers’ Quarters in the National Park.

Day 4

From Mungo you travel to historic Yanga station, once one of Australia’s largest freehold properties, before a visit to Hay’s fascinating Shear Outback Museum for an insight into outback pastoral heritage and a sheep shearing display. Then it’s on to the historic Riverina town of Narrandera and an overnight stay at the Historic Star Lodge.

Day 5

Another day filled with sights and experiences as you travel to Cowra, home of the Cowra POW Cemetery and Memorial and the Japanese Gardens, to see the site of the infamous Cowra Breakout of Japanese POWs during WWII. Tonight you’ll stay at the Old Vic Inn in the charming village of Canowindra.

Day 6

Your final day starts with the option of a sunrise hot air balloon ride in Canowindra (Australia’s ballooning capital) and a visit to the Age of Fishes Museum, before travelling to Carcoar for lunch in one of the town’s delightful cafes and a look round the museums and galleries in this historic village. After lunch you ascend the scenic Blue Mountains once more, with a stop at the Explorers’ Memorial at Mount York, before ending your journey in central Sydney.