Guided small group motorcycle tour of World Heritage sites in Victoria and South Australia

This afternoon you will meet with your program leader, and other members of the tour, in the lobby of our Adelaide hotel for introductions and a general briefing.

This will be followed by a Welcome Dinner in a local restaurant.

Today we spend in Adelaide, beginning this morning with a walking tour and a visit to the South Australian Museum. Here we’ll concentrate on the Aboriginal cultures gallery which celebrates the achievements of the world’s oldest continuous living culture. The gallery features over 3,000 items across two floors, with pieces of material culture from communities across the country. For over 65,000 years Australia’s first people successfully innovated and developed creative ways of living in one of the world’s harshest environments. The wealth of information in this gallery includes boomerangs, bark paintings, shields, maps, photographs and some of the only intact bark canoes known to be in existence.

The Yuendumu Doors were included in the museum’s collection in 2011 and are of considerable significance and interest. In the early 1980s in Yuendumu — a Central Australian Indigenous community on the edge of the Tanami Desert — a group of elders watching children struggle to engage with Western schooling did something remarkable. The elders painted Warlpiri dreaming stories on the doors of the school where children were receiving a Western education taught in English, rather than Warlpiri, and in classrooms, rather than out in the bush.

Our visit to the museum gives us an introduction to the Aboriginal culture which will help us to appreciate more fully many of the sites we visit later in the tour.

The afternoon will be free for you to independently explore more of what Adelaide has to offer.

This morning after breakfast we head north to Burra, stopping in Kapunda on our way.

Since 1842 Kapunda has had three definable periods of development – it was created to develop copper mining; after the copper mining period it became the base for Sir Sidney Kidman’s huge cattle and horse operations; and currently it is an important service centre for the surrounding rural area. It is still partly defined by copper mining with the huge Map Kernow (the Son of Cornwall) statue of a miner at the entrance to the town and the fascinating, and colourful, remnants of the copper mines still an attraction for visitors.

Sidney Kidman’s father died when the boy was only eighteen months old and his childhood with a drunken step-father was not an easy one. In 1870, at the age of thirteen, he left home with a one eyed horse and only a few shillings in his pockets. From these beginnings he went on to build up the world’s largest privately owned cattle empire. By 1914 he controlled station country considerably greater in area than England and nearly as great as Victoria. Eringa, a handsome house dating from 1879 with impressive ironwork, was the home of Sir Sidney Kidman and when he left Kapunda in 1921 he donated the house to the Department of Education. It became the local high school in 1923.

In Kapunda we will visit the information centre to learn more about Kidman and his story. We’ll also have time for morning coffee and a walk around some of the town’s historic buildings before continuing to Burra via Anlaby Station, home to SA’s oldest merino stud.

Burra, where we spend the next two nights, is listed as a state heritage town. The town is famous for the film Breaker Morant, copper mining and beer! It was, however, declared a state heritage town in 1994 because of its outstanding historic buildings and the opportunity it offers for visitors to understand a little of what life was like in a 19^th century Australian copper mining town.

We have a full day to explore the town’s most important sites. Burra , which calls itself “An Historic Copper Town and Merino Capital of the World”, did not become an official entity until 1940 when the tiny, separate mining communities of Aberdeen, New Aberdeen, Kooringa, Llwchwr, Redruth and Graham were drawn together under the name of Burra. Many of the most important sites, however, date back to the 19^th century when copper mining ruled the town.

Today we have a passport to explore much of what Burra has to offer including such important local sites as the Monster Mine, the Redruth Gaol, the Unicorn Brewery and the Dugouts which provided primitive living conditions for many of the miners.

Today we head north again to Broken Hill, with a stop on our way to explore the railway town of Peterborough.

Peterborough was one of those rare railway towns where, because the different states could not agree on a uniform rail gauge, three different gauges (broad, standard and narrow) met. Because of this the town became hugely important as a railway link between the mines at Broken Hill and the iron and steel processing at Port Pirie, as well as between Adelaide and Alice Springs. At its height over one hundred trains a day were passing through the town. This morning we’ll stop at the “Steam-town” Heritage Rail Centre to learn more about the town’s rail history.

We’ll also take time to visit the Town Carriage Museum. Set in a railway carriage in the main street, this museum is all about the town of Peterborough – past, present and future. It offers the chance to see what makes the town special through a collection of 18 artifacts. These have been chosen to represent events in the town’s history, people of significance and aspects of life in the town. Presented together in a simple chronology – a timeline of sorts – through to the present day, they offer a complete picture and illustrate that this town is diverse, interesting and about much more than just railways. The display occupies the main compartment of the Commonwealth Carriage, with 18 small cabinets and information panels.

We’ll have an early lunch in Peterborough before continuing to Broken Hill. After checking into our Broken Hill hotel, we’ll drive out to Silverton for a look around this once booming mining town. Silverton, located just 25 kilometres from Broken Hill, was briefly the hub of the district. It thrived back in the late 1800s with mining claims everywhere, and the population reaching a peak of 3,000. It was here that mining giant BHP was first established before there was even a town at Broken Hill. Now there are very few permanent residents, though thousands of tourists flock to the area each year to explore the town’s historic buildings.

By 1901, Silverton was declining as deposits dwindled, but Broken Hill boomed. Barely five decades later the city was producing more than 10 per cent of the entire world’s lead. Today, more than 50 million tonnes of lead and zinc, and 20,000 tonnes of silver have been extracted from northwards of 200 million tonnes of ore.

After breakfast this morning we take a guided tour through the city centre, visiting some of the most important historic buildings. Most of Broken Hill’s notable buildings are in Argent Street and the Civic Group is regarded as a particularly fine example of a concentration of public buildings. Some of the most notable buildings include the Post Office, the Town Hall, the Court House and the Palace Hotel.

Located at the corner of Argent and Chloride Streets, the red-brick Post Office (1891), was designed by Colonial Architect, James Barnet. The Heritage of Australia describes it as “the main body of the structure is subservient to its massive tower which stands on the corner of Argent and Chloride Streets and around which is wrapped a footpath veranda with corner balcony supported on paired timber columns. The square tower is capped by a decorative mansard roof and houses four clock faces.”

Next door to the Post Office, as the central part of the Civic Group, is the extraordinarily ornate Town Hall (1890-91). The Heritage of Australia describes it as “designed by Adelaide architect Whittal in the Victorian Classical Revival idiom and built of stone … it features an open veranda on two levels with projecting porch and balcony.”

The unpretentious Court House was built of stuccoed brick in 1889. It was designed by Colonial Architect James Barnet. The Heritage of Australia describes it as “typical in design of late Victorian courthouses, it combines an unadorned two-storey pedimented front with single-storey side wings, flanked with deeply recessed verandas supported on paired timber columns, and a hipped roof. The symmetrical composition is dominated by the two-storey court room, the entry to which is heralded by a fine coat of arms at window level.”

After touring the city, and taking time out for morning coffee, we’ll rejoin our coach for the drive out to the Menindee Lakes.

Following thousands of years of Aboriginal habitation, the Menindee Lakes and Darling River became a lifeline for early European explorers in one of the world’s most arid regions. Major Thomas Mitchell, Charles Sturt and Bourke and Wills all used the lakes on expeditions between 1835 and 1860.

Later, it was thought that the Darling River would be navigable and provide a suitable route to develop Australia’s interior. The township of Menindee became an important access point to the outback. The flows in the Darling River, however, proved unreliable, causing difficulties with navigation and water supply. For example, the paddle steamer Jane Eliza took 3 years (from 1883 to 1886) to complete a voyage between Morgan in South Australia and Bourke in New South Wales.

The township of Menindee was founded in the 1850s and the first business to open its doors was the Menindee Hotel, now known as the Maidens Hotel. It’s the second oldest hotel in NSW and Burke and Wills stopped here in 1860 as they made their way north, searching for a route across the continent.

Just outside of town, we’ll stop at the exact place where Burke and Wills camped beside Pamamaroo Creek and visit the Old Kinchega Homestead which tells the story of the region’s Aboriginal and European heritage. Once the heart of a vast sheep station, the station remains paint a captivating picture of life in the late 19th century. We’ll be able to almost step back in time at the Kinchega Woolshed, built in 1875 from corrugated iron and river red gum. The Woolshed is a well preserved piece of Australian pastoral heritage, with six million sheep shorn there during its 97 year history.

We return to Broken Hill in the late afternoon.

Tonight you’ll be free to find dinner in one of Broken Hill’s many restaurants.

This morning we leave Broken Hill and head south to Mildura where we’ll spend the next two nights.

Before arriving in Mildura we’ll stop on the NSW side of the border to explore historic Wentworth. Although much smaller than Mildura, Wentworth has a number of attractions for us to uncover.

Wentworth is situated at the junction of the Murray and Darling rivers. In Junction Park you’ll have the opportunity to climb the viewing platform to look down on the confluence of the two rivers. The Darling is a clay-based river and its milky appearance contrasts starkly to that of the Murray, providing a spectacle that shouldn’t be missed.

The first Europeans to travel through the region were the explorers Captain Charles Sturt and his party in 1830. Following Sturt the junction became a crossing point for settlers and overland drovers. With the arrival of river steamers in 1853 a port was established which became the third largest port in Australia and the largest in the inland. The town site was approved in 1859 and many of the buildings which followed soon after, still exist today.

We’ll take time to visit the Old Wentworth Gaol which is the oldest of all Australian designed gaols. It was built between 1879 and 1881 and operated until 1927. Inside the gaol we’ll gain some idea of what conditions were like for prisoners, as much of the gaol remains in its original condition.

We’ll have lunch in Wentworth before continuing to Mildura where you’ll have the rest of the afternoon to explore at your leisure.

This morning we have a guided walk/drive through Mildura, with particular emphasis on the role the Chaffey brothers played on the region’s development.

After the harsh drought of the 1870s the Victorian government (this was before the Federation of the Australian states in 1901) began to search for irrigation options. Canadians, George and William Chaffey were developing an irrigation scheme in California when they met Alfred Deakin, then a Victorian Cabinet Minister. Deakin, impressed with their work, encouraged them to come to Australia to work on an irrigation scheme on the Murray River. The Victorian government offered an inducement of £300,000 for the task of improving Mildura and the Mallee over the next 20 years.

Despite a number of setbacks the irrigation project prospered, resulting in many of the features notable in Mildura today. The Chaffey plans included wide streets, an agricultural college, parks and churches. Our guided tour will take us on the “Chaffey Trail” visiting places such as Rio Vista, the historic home once lived in by W B Chaffey and his family, as well as the Mildura Grand Hotel, originally the Mildura Coffee Palace. (Mildura was established as a temperance colony despite the fact that the Chaffey brothers planted grapes and established a winery!)

After a break for lunch we take to the river on a paddle vessel. We have a two hour cruise downstream which takes us through Lock 11. A commentary provides us with an insight into the local environment and the history of paddle steamers in the region.

Tonight you have the opportunity to explore the local restaurant scene on your own, or take “pot luck” with your programme leader.

This morning we have a leisurely start to our day. After breakfast you might like to explore a little more of the town, perhaps by following the Art Deco trail, or by taking a walk along the river.

Mid-morning we rejoin our coach and drive to Chateau Mildura, established by the Chaffey Brothers, and one of the local wineries for a tasting and lunch beside the river.

In the afternoon we continue to Lake Mungo World Heritage site.

Mungo National Park is a 110,967 hectare archaeological and geomorphological site of international significance. Lake Mungo is the second largest in a system of nineteen dry lakes which were once part of Willandra Creek and is now part of the Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area which was declared in 1981. The dry lake is unforgettable. The stark, eerie, desert landscape; the vastness of the flat lake bed; the sparse vegetation and the unique crinkled and fluted dunes and ridges make the place look like a strange moonscape.

Lake Mungo is important for three reasons: It has “one of the longest continual records of Aboriginal life in Australia” having been occupied for over 50,000 years; the skeletons found in the sands of the lunette are the “oldest known fully modern humans outside Africa”; and the skeleton of Mungo Woman (or Mungo I as she is officially known), has been radiocarbon dated to around 40,000 years ago and “has provided the oldest evidence of ritual cremation in the world.”

For the next two nights we stay at Mungo Lodge.

Dinner tonight will be at the Lodge.

We have the whole day to explore the National Park. There are a variety of walking tracks which can be explored and our coach will take us to a number of the most memorable sites.

This afternoon we take a guided sunset tour before returning for dinner at the Lodge.

This morning we leave Lake Mungo and drive south to Balranald, some 150 kilometres to the south over a partially sealed road.

Balranald is a small town on the Murrumbidgee River and developed because this was a place where the river could be easily forded. Balranald was first settled by Europeans in 1847 but had been home to the Mutthi Mutthi First Nation people, who called the area ‘Nap Nap’, for may thousands of years previously.

On arrival in Balranald we’ll find that, for such a small town, there is a surprising amount to see. The Discovery Centre precinct includes three historic buildings, the Malcolm Building Museum, the Old Balranald Gaol and the first school in the area. The rest of the morning will be spent exploring the town or taking one of the heritage walks.

After lunch we’ll rejoin our coach for a guided visit to Yanga National Park, including the historic homestead and woolshed. Located to the west of Balranald, Yanga National Park is one of the state’s newest national parks. Established in 2007 it covers 667,334 hectares, mostly wetlands, with 170 km of the Murrumbidgee River. The government purchased the land primarily because “It is one of the most significant wetland habitats for waterbirds in eastern Australia and has supported some of the largest waterbird breeding colonies in Australia and is home to the State’s largest known population of the endangered Southern Bell frog.^”

We return to Balranald in the late afternoon.

Today’s journey takes us across the NSW border and into Victoria at Swan Hill, before we continue south to the Grampians town of Halls Gap.

The original custodians of the lands around what is now called Swan Hill are the Latji Latji, Tati Tati, Wamba Wemba, Barapa Barapa and the Wadi Wadi Nations. Before European settlement, the Wamba-Wemba people settled in the area around the Loddon River, through to Matakupaat (Swan Hill). Major Thomas Mitchell named the area ‘Swan Hill’ when he camped here in 1836 and was kept up all night by the noisy swans roaming about.

Our first stop this morning will be at the Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement Museum. As the museum’s website explains: “The Pioneer Settlement lets you experience Australian history first hand. You will find real-life Mallee cottages, a hotel, schools and shops, plus our enormous collection of working tractors and machinery – sourced mostly from the local area. You can feel the heat in the blacksmith shop, listen to the sounds of the old Pianola or take a ride through our Mallee township on a horse and cart. As you wander the site, you can also chat to our staff and volunteers, all looking the part in costumes of the period. The Pioneer Settlement opened in 1966 after a joint community and government effort to recognise the unique history of our Murray Mallee region. By the 1970s, the Pioneer Settlement was one of the most popular tourism destinations in Victoria, if not Australia, and the concept has been emulated around the country.”

There are plenty of places for morning coffee or tea at the museum and we’ll have time to explore before heading south again (with a few detours) towards this evening’s accommodation. Our first detour will be to Sea Lake in the heart of the Mallee. Sea Lake has recently joined the Victorian Silo Art Trail and we stop to admire The Space in Between, the work of street artists Drapl and The Zookeeper, which pays homage to nearby Lake Tyrrell and the Boorong People, with their deep and rich connection to both the night sky and the 120,000 year old salt lake.

Lake Tyrrell, just seven kilometres north of Sea Lake, is Victoria’s largest salt lake covering some 20,860 hectares. The reflective surface of the shallow, ancient lake can make for some amazing photography, and there is evidence of ongoing Indigenous occupation, going back 45,000 years.

As our small group tour continues south towards Halls Gap, we’ll stop to admire more silo art at small towns such as Lascelles, Brim and Sheep Hills. Our last stop will be for art of a very different kind, the ancient rock art figure of Bunjil with his two dogs at Bunjil’s Shelter near Stawell.

Dinner tonight will be in a local restaurant.

Today we visit Budj Bim, the second of our World Heritage sites, for a guided tour of this outstanding region.

Located in the heart of Gunditjmara Country in south-western Victoria, the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape contains one of the world’s most extensive and oldest aquaculture systems. At least 6,600 years ago Gunditjmara first constructed these extensive, sophisticated aquaculture systems along the Budj Bim lava flow, and many of these systems are still in use today. Gunditjmara knowledge and practices have endured and continue to be passed down through their Elders and are recognisable across the wetlands of the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape.

The Gunditjmara people engineered the ingenious system to trap, store and harvest kooyang – short-finned eel. Weirs, holding and growing ponds, and stone channels, some of which are hundreds of metres long, were dug out of basalt lava flow from the now dormant Budj Bim volcano.

The Gunditjmara people crafted long eel baskets, made of river reeds and spear grass to regulate and trap the eels according to weight and size. Baskets were also used to carry the eels, which fed and sustained the lives of Gunditjmara for many generations. These engineered wetlands provided the economic basis to sustain large groups of people living in villages of stone huts along the lava flow and allowed them to undertake trade.

After a morning spent in the Budj Bim National Park we continue to Port Fairy. Here you’ll have some free time to explore this historic fishing town.

Many of Port Fairy’s early buildings remain from its days as a port for sealers and whalers back in the 1800s, and many of those buildings can be viewed in the town’s commercial centre along Bank Street and Sackville Street. Port Fairy is home to Victoria’s oldest licensed hotel, the Caledonian Inn, which dates back to 1844.

The main focal point of Port Fairy is the Moyne River as it approaches the coast. The Fishermans Wharf area along the river is lined with boats and fishing craft, and good views of river activity can be enjoyed from the footbridge over the Moyne. Another good viewing spot is from the historic fortifications at Battery Hill which is located the southern end of Griffiths Street.

This morning we leave Port Fairy and head west into South Australia, driving as far as Mt Gambier, just over the border. Mt Gambier, the second largest city in South Australia, is an important rural centre which is characterised by a large number of attractive, historic buildings and the major attraction of the Blue Lake. The city’s primary appeal lies in exploring the lakes and sinkholes – unique and remarkable formations – as well as admiring the impressive number of significant historic buildings. While in Mt Gambier our tour will take us to a number of the most famous sites of the region including the Blue Lake and Umpherston Sinkhole.

The Blue Lake occupies one of the craters of the extinct Mt Gambier volcano. Early each November, the lake’s sombre blue, which is in evidence during the winter months, mysteriously changes to an intense deep turquoise blue almost overnight. The colouring remains until late February, when it gradually changes. From late March, it returns to a distinct sombre blue colouring that remains until the following November. Experts attribute this phenomenon to the presence of microscopic calcite crystals which scatter the light entering the lake and change seasonally. A chemical reaction occurs in early summer when the surface is warmed, but the deeper water remains cold.

The Umpherston Sinkhole, also known, as the Sunken Garden was once a cave formed through dissolution of the limestone. The sinkhole was created when the top of the chamber collapsed downwards. Now the topsoil down on the floor forms the perfect environment for the sunken garden, originally created` by James Umpherston around 1886. We will be able to appreciate the beauty, size and depth of the Umpherston Sinkhole from the viewing platforms at the top of the sinkhole, then (for those so inclined), walk down into the sinkhole, along the terraces and behind the hanging vines.

There will be time in Mt Gambier to explore the museums, climb the Centenary Tower (if you have the energy) or visit Caves Garden in the town centre.

Mt Gambier has a number of good restaurants so you can take your pick.

We leave Mt Gambier this morning and head towards Naracoorte and our third World Heritage site.

Before reaching the caves at Naracoorte we’ll take time to stop at Bool Lagoon, one of the largest and most diverse freshwater lagoon systems in southern Australia. This seasonal wetland is home to a wide range of wildlife and provides essential drought refuge for many rare and endangered bird species. The boardwalk, extending 500 metres over the wetlands, gives you the feeling of walking on water. Brolgas, commonly associated with northern Australia, are perhaps the most spectacular of the 150 species of birds that visit this area. We’ll be able to enjoy the magnificent scenery and listen carefully for the creatures of the wetlands, especially the insects and frogs.

The Naracoorte Caves, recognised as one of the world’s most complete fossil sites, became a World Heritage site in 1994. “The caves preserve the most complete fossil record we have for this period of time, spanning several ice ages, the arrival of humans in the area and the extinction of Australia’s iconic Megafauna roughly 50,000 years ago.”

The importance of the fossil record and its relevance to science is showcased on the Victoria Fossil Cave and World Heritage guided tours and in the Wonambi Fossil Centre, where the ancient world of megafauna is brought to life.

In the Victoria Fossil Cave the remains of a staggering 130 different species of mammals, reptiles, birds and frogs have been discovered. It is a repository of near-perfect fossilised skeletons of ancient megafauna, including species such as Thylacoleo carnifex (Marsupial Lion) and the Diprotodon.

After an afternoon spent in the caves we continue to Naracoorte where we spend the night.

Dinner tonight will be in a local restaurant.

The last full day of our tour will be spent travelling back to Adelaide. There are, however, a number of interesting places for our small group tour to still experience.

Our first stop this morning will be at Kingston SE ( ie Kingston in the south-east to distinguish it from other Kingstons). Here we’ll have time to admire the Big Lobster, take a walk along the jetty or perhaps take the chance to grab a morning coffee.

From Kingston we head north along the coast to the Coorong National Park, famous for much more than just the pelicans featured in Storm Boy. Established in 1966, the Coorong National Park is a spectacular saline lagoon stretching 140km. It is separated from the Southern Ocean by sand dunes and is internationally significant under the Ramsar agreement as a migratory wader and waterfowl refuge.

On our way north we’ll stop at Salt Creek, where the creek flows into the Coorong, for the chance to walk and explore, and again at Jacks Point. Jacks Point is home to a large pelican breeding colony that can be viewed from a purpose built observatory deck just a short walk from the car park. (Binoculars may be necessary for good viewing.)

From Meningie on Lake Albert, we’ll continue via Tailem Bend and Murray Bridge to Adelaide.

Our farewell dinner tonight will be in a local restaurant.

Our tour finishes this morning after breakfast.