Australia: the Outback to the Great Ocean Road

Ayers Rock, Kata Tjuta at sunset

Ayers Rock Airport to Yulara, the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre, Walpa Gorge, then Kata Tjuta at sunset

• Repas du soir
• Nuit : Yulara
• Environ 2 h de route

Après-midi

Then we drive west to Kata Tjuta, 36 domes of conglomerate rock, for the Walpa Gorge walk, about 2.6 km return up a stream bed between two of the highest domes, in the softer afternoon light.

Soir

We watch the sunset turn the domes deep red from the Kata Tjuta viewing area, then head back to Yulara for a welcome dinner while your guide runs through the days ahead. Bring a warm layer: desert evenings cool quickly.

Compris

• Pick-up at Ayers Rock Airport (AYQ)
• Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park pass (3 days)
• Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre
• Walpa Gorge walk at Kata Tjuta
• Sunset at Kata Tjuta
• Welcome dinner in Yulara

Uluru at dawn and the Field of Light

Sunrise and the base walk at Uluru, a free afternoon in Yulara, Uluru at sunset, then the Field of Light

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Yulara
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Matin

An early start for sunrise from Talinguru Nyakunytjaku, the dune viewing area on the east side of Uluru, then we walk while the air is still cool. The full base walk is about 10.6 km on flat, sandy paths, around three and a half hours, past caves, rock art, waterholes and folds in the rock you never see from a distance. Uluru rises about 348 m above the plain. If you would rather walk less, your guide leads the Mala walk, about 2 km return, into Kantju Gorge, then the short Kuniya walk to Mutitjulu Waterhole.

Après-midi

We are back in Yulara for lunch together, and the afternoon is free while the day is at its warmest.

Soir

Late in the day we drive to the sunset viewing area to watch the rock change colour as the sun drops, have dinner, then walk among the more than 50,000 solar-powered lights of Bruce Munro's Field of Light under the desert stars.

Compris

• Sunrise at Uluru from Talinguru Nyakunytjaku
• The Uluru base walk with your guide, or the Mala and Kuniya walks
• Lunch in Yulara
• Sunset at Uluru
• Dinner, then the Field of Light

Activités en option

• Sounds of Silence dinner among the dunes, in place of the included dinner
• Camel ride at sunrise or sunset
• Helicopter flight over Uluru and Kata Tjuta
• (prices shown at booking)

Across the desert to Kings Canyon

Yulara past Mount Conner and Curtin Springs, then Kings Creek and Watarrka National Park

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Kings Canyon
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Matin

A slower morning: breakfast at leisure and away at about 9 am. We drive east on the Lasseter Highway past Mount Conner, the flat-topped mesa that many first-time visitors mistake for Uluru, with a coffee stop at a roadhouse on the way, usually Curtin Springs.

Après-midi

Then north on Luritja Road, through red dunes and stands of desert oak, to a sit-down lunch near Kings Creek, about 35 km short of the canyon, at a venue we confirm with your booking. We reach Watarrka National Park, Luritja country, by early afternoon and rest at the hotel through the heat. In the late afternoon the Kings Creek walk, about 2.6 km return on the flat, follows the shaded creek bed to a platform under the canyon walls, which rise more than 100 m above you. Your guide points out the cycads and ghost gums that survive here on permanent water.

Soir

We watch the George Gill Range turn red at sunset, then eat together at the resort.

Compris

• Coffee stop on the Lasseter Highway and a view of Mount Conner
• Sit-down lunch near Kings Creek (venue confirmed with your booking)
• NT Parks pass for Watarrka National Park
• Kings Creek walk with your guide
• Sunset over the George Gill Range
• Dinner at Kings Canyon

Activités en option

• Helicopter flight over Kings Canyon (price shown at booking)

The Kings Canyon rim, then Alice Springs

Kings Canyon Rim Walk, then Luritja Road, the Lasseter and Stuart highways to Alice Springs

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Alice Springs
• Environ 5.5 h de route

Matin

We are at the trailhead at first light for the Kings Canyon Rim Walk, a 6 km loop of three to four hours. It opens with a steep climb up rough rock steps, the hardest part of the trip, then levels out across the top: through the Lost City, a maze of weathered sandstone domes, down wooden stairs to the Garden of Eden, a permanent waterhole, and along the south rim with the sheer wall below you. On days forecast at 36 C or more the walk closes at 9 am, one reason we start early. If you would rather not climb, walk Kings Creek again in the early light. After the walk, at about 10:30 am, we start the trip's first long drive, about 480 km and five and a quarter hours on sealed roads; the shorter Mereenie Loop is mostly unsealed gravel that needs a permit and a four-wheel drive.

Après-midi

Lunch is at the roadhouse at Erldunda, where the Lasseter meets the Stuart Highway (the venue is confirmed with your booking), and we reach Alice Springs by late afternoon.

Compris

• Kings Canyon Rim Walk at first light with your guide (6 km loop, 3 to 4 hours)
• Drive to Alice Springs with a coffee stop on Luritja Road
• Lunch at the Erldunda roadhouse (to be confirmed)

Alice Springs, then fly to Adelaide

Anzac Hill and the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Alice Springs, then a flight from Alice Springs Airport to Adelaide

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Adelaide
• Environ 45 min de route

Matin

A gentle morning in Alice Springs, Mparntwe to the Arrernte people. We start with the short walk up Anzac Hill for the view over the town and the red wall of the MacDonnell Ranges, where Heavitree Gap cuts through. Then we visit the Royal Flying Doctor Service base on Stuart Terrace, whose visitor centre tells how a doctor in a plane first reached outback stations in the 1920s and 1930s, and how the service still covers distances most of us cannot picture. Your guide fills in the town's story, from the Overland Telegraph to the art movement that grew from Central Australian communities. Late in the morning we drive to Alice Springs Airport, about 15 km south, for the flight to Adelaide, about two hours, which replaces two days of the Stuart Highway. Your guide flies with you.

Soir

A local driver meets us in Adelaide, and the evening is free in a city known for its food and wine.

Compris

• Anzac Hill lookout
• Royal Flying Doctor Service visitor centre, entry included
• Flight from Alice Springs to Adelaide, economy
• Transfers at both airports

The Central Market and the Barossa

Adelaide Central Market, then the Whispering Wall, Mengler Hill, Tanunda and Seppeltsfield in the Barossa Valley

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Adelaide
• Environ 3 h de route

Après-midi

We sit down for lunch in the valley, and in the afternoon taste at a cellar door, included, with time in Tanunda and a drive down Seppeltsfield Road under its avenue of date palms.

Soir

We are back in Adelaide by about 5 pm, with the evening free.

Compris

• Adelaide Central Market walk (on market days)
• The Whispering Wall at the Barossa Reservoir
• Mengler Hill Lookout and sculpture park
• Lunch in the Barossa
• Cellar-door tasting, included
• Tanunda and Seppeltsfield Road

The Coorong, then into the Grampians

Adelaide to Tailem Bend, Meningie and the Coorong, then Keith, Bordertown and Horsham to Halls Gap

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Halls Gap
• Environ 6.5 h de route

Après-midi

Then we turn east to the Dukes Highway for a sit-down lunch near Keith or Bordertown, and a coffee stop in Horsham after we cross into Victoria, where the clocks move 30 minutes ahead. We reach Halls Gap, in the Grampians, Gariwerd to its Jardwadjali and Djab wurrung owners, by about 5:30 pm, when kangaroos come out to graze on the town's lawns.

Soir

Dinner is together.

Compris

• Walk on the Coorong in Coorong National Park, with your guide
• Sit-down lunch near Keith or Bordertown
• Coffee stop in Horsham
• Kangaroos at dusk in Halls Gap
• Dinner in Halls Gap

The Pinnacle, Tower Hill and the Twelve Apostles

Halls Gap to the Pinnacle, then Dunkeld, Tower Hill, Warrnambool, the Bay of Islands, Peterborough, the Grotto, London Arch and Port Campbell, then the Twelve Apostles

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Port Campbell
• Environ 4 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is in Warrnambool. In the afternoon we join the Great Ocean Road west of Peterborough and work east along its cliffs: first the Bay of Islands, then past Peterborough to the Grotto and London Arch, which lost its bridge to the mainland in 1990.

Soir

After checking in at Port Campbell, we drive to the Twelve Apostles for sunset over the limestone stacks.

Compris

• The Pinnacle walk at first light, or the Balconies
• Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve
• Lunch in Warrnambool
• Bay of Islands, the Grotto and London Arch
• Sunset at the Twelve Apostles

Activités en option

• Helicopter flight over the Twelve Apostles (price shown at booking)

Loch Ard Gorge, the Otways and Lorne

Port Campbell to Loch Ard Gorge and the Gibson Steps, then Lavers Hill, Cape Otway, Maits Rest, Apollo Bay, Kennett River and Lorne

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Lorne
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Après-midi

We go early, before the day-trip coaches from Melbourne arrive around midday. Loch Ard Gorge is a narrow cove inside the cliffs, named after the ship wrecked at its mouth in 1878; two people survived, washed into this gorge. Then down the 86 Gibson Steps to the beach, for the view of two limestone stacks from sea level. We climb inland through the farmland and forest of the Otway Ranges to Lavers Hill, then turn down Lighthouse Road towards Cape Otway, where koalas are often seen in the manna gums by the road. At Maits Rest a boardwalk loop of about 800 m runs through cool temperate rainforest of myrtle beech, tree ferns and tall mountain ash. Lunch is in Apollo Bay. The afternoon is the most dramatic stretch of the road, cut into the cliffs above the sea, with a stop at Kennett River for more koalas.

Soir

We reach Lorne by late afternoon, with time to walk the beach before the farewell dinner.

Compris

• Loch Ard Gorge early, before the crowds
• The Gibson Steps
• Koala spotting on Lighthouse Road near Cape Otway and at Kennett River
• Maits Rest rainforest walk in Great Otway National Park
• Lunch in Apollo Bay
• Farewell dinner in Lorne

Activités en option

• Cape Otway Lightstation, the lighthouse and its grounds (entry price shown at booking)

The surf coast to Melbourne

Lorne to the Memorial Arch, Aireys Inlet and Bells Beach, then Torquay and Melbourne, then Melbourne Airport

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Environ 2.5 h de route

Matin

Our last morning on the Great Ocean Road, the stretch where it began. The road was built between 1919 and 1932 by returned First World War soldiers, as work and as a memorial to those who did not come home, and we stop at the Memorial Arch at Eastern View that honours them. Then the red-capped Split Point Lighthouse at Aireys Inlet, and Bells Beach, where Australia's best-known surfing contest is usually held around Easter. From Torquay it is about an hour and a half to Melbourne.

Après-midi

We reach the city around midday for a guided walk through the lanes of the centre, Degraves Street with its cafes and Hosier Lane with its walls of street art, then sit down to a last lunch together. Your guide drops you at your hotel in the city or at Melbourne Airport (MEL) by about 3 pm, so book a flight leaving after about 5 pm, or stay on in Melbourne.

Compris

• Memorial Arch at Eastern View
• Split Point Lighthouse at Aireys Inlet (outside)
• Bells Beach
• Melbourne laneways walk with your guide
• Lunch in Melbourne
• Drop-off at Melbourne Airport (MEL) or a hotel in central Melbourne