The New South Wales Outback

This morning after breakfast and check out, our coach will be on hand to provide a ‘hop on hop off’ service to enable you to visit the various museums at the Henry Parkes Centre, including one dedicated to Elvis, check out the iconic Dish and the associated small museum there, and have a quick lunch at leisure (or buy snacks for the train) before delivering you all to the railway station where we’ll board the ‘Explorer’ train to Broken Hill.

Spectacular scenery, classic red soil and deep blue skies are a constant companion as we roll across the plains past towns like Condobolin, Ivanhoe and across the Darling River at Menindee Lakes and on to Broken Hill, arriving around 7pm and transferring directly to our centrally located hotel to check in.  

Dinner tonight is at leisure. There are numerous pubs and restaurants just a short walk away and a cleansing ale may be just the ticket to settle the dust.

Overnight: Red Earth Motel, Broken Hill (B)

Today is a full day of sightseeing in and around Broken Hill. We start by heading out to Mundi Mundi Plains and Silverton, billed as Australia’s liveliest ghost town. After the arrival of gold prospectors in the 1860’s, a lode of silver was discovered in 1875, and Silverton was recognised as a town in 1880.  Once a vibrant centre servicing these industries and the pastoralists of the region, Silverton is best known in modern times as a movie set, being seen in several productions, including Razorback, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, The Flying Doctors, Dirty Deeds, and the iconic Australian blockbuster Mad Max films.  From a railway perspective, the area is well remembered for the historic Silverton Tramway, a 58-kilometre-long narrow gauge railway line constructed in the late 1880’s to connect Broken Hill to South Australia.  One of only two privately owned railways in the state, it served the Broken Hill mines and Silverton area until 1970, when it was closed. 

Lunch today will be at the historic Silverton Pub, where you can check out photos of the many films, TV shows and advertisements it has featured in – you might spy some famous faces!  

Back in Broken Hill we continue our tour covering the main sights of the city starting with the moving Line of Lode Miners Memorial, where we hear about the enormous impact the ‘Silver City’ had on the development of our great country. We’ll stop in at the Sulphide Street Railway and Heritage Museum, and then take in the array of heritage buildings, churches, hotels, miner’s cottages and modern homes, enroute out to one of Broken Hill’s most popular sights, the Sculpture Symposium, where some of the world’s leading sculptures are on show in a magical outback setting. 

Dinner tonight will be at the iconic Palace Hotel, made famous by the movie “ Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”.

Overnight: Red Earth Motel, Broken Hill (B, L, D) 

This morning is at leisure – sleep in and relax at the hotel or head out and visit a couple of the excellent art galleries dotted around the town centre. Early lunch will be at leisure before we reunite with our coach and go off the beaten track to Menindee Lakes and Kinchega National Park located on the banks of the Darling River. 

Upon arrival in Menindee, we’ll check in to our hotel before we head out for a sunset Wetlands cruise on the incredible ‘Menindee lakes’, a spectacular lake system more than three times the size of Sydney Harbour. Our boat, the  River Lady, is a purpose built vessel designed with a shallow draft to allow us to access all parts of the lakes to maximise your enjoyment of the abundant bird life and other natural wonders of this extraordinary part of the world.  

Upon our return to town, we’ll all head across the road to the Maidens Hotel for dinner, ordered directly from their good old pub menu.

Overnight: Burke and Wills Menindee Motel (B, D)

After breakfast at a local cafe we’ll depart Menindee and head south, following the course of the Darling River to Pooncarie and on to Lake Mungo, famously home to Mungo Woman and Mungo Man, the world’s oldest human cremations. Upon arrival, we’ll enjoy lunch in the restaurant at Lake Mungo Lodge while we wait for our rooms to be ready. After checking in, we’ll meet our guide and embark on an exploration of this World Heritage area, including  sunset at the captivating Walls of China, a unique feature on the southeastern edge of the Lake Mungo lunette and one of Australia’s most unforgettable sights.

Back at the lodge we’ll enjoy a hearty dinner and a relaxing evening in the heart of the isolated NSW Outback.

Overnight: Lake Mungo Lodge (B, L, D)

This morning after breakfast and check out, we leave Lake Mungo and travel south to the border of Victoria and the vibrant city of Mildura. We arrive in time for you to have some lunch at leisure before checking into our hotel and enjoying some free time to relax. 

We’ll then head out to explore some of the sights of the city on a town tour, before boarding a relaxing cruise on the mighty Murray River, followed by dinner. 

Overnight: Quality Hotel Mildura Grand, Mildura (B, D)

We’ll be off early this morning on our journey to Griffith, stopping first in Balranald for a morning coffee break and a look at the Murrumbidgee River, before getting to Hay in time for lunch, and a bit of an exploration of this important colonial city, significant first as a transport hub for the river trade and later in the nineteenth century, the railway. Hay was significant for another reason too. In May and June 1940, Winston Churchill’s government detained thousands of ‘enemy or dangerous aliens,’ previously determined not to be a risk, in the belief that this would stop any spies among them from forming a ‘fifth column’ in the event of an invasion by Germany.  Most were German or Austrian, and most were Jewish, having fled to Britain in the 1930s to escape Hitler’s Reich. They were to be interned in Britain or deported to Canada or Australia, where they would be held for the duration of the war. 1,984 of these poor souls were interned at the Hay Internment & Prisoner of War Camp.  While many of these men survived the camp and went on to become valuable members of the Australian community, Churchill later described the arrest and internment of these men, now commonly known as the ‘Dunera boys’, as ‘a deplorable mistake’.  

Further along, after leaving Hay, we come to Darlington Point, a quiet little historic town on the Murrumbidgee. Like many destinations in the Riverina, ‘The Point’ began its life as a river-crossing town before being developed into an agricultural hub, producing fruit, vegetables, grains and rice.

Upon our arrival in Griffith we’ll take a short city tour before checking into our hotel for some time to relax.

We’ll then take a short walk to a popular Italian restaurant for our special farewell dinner. 

Overnight: Gem Hotel, Griffith (B, D)