Australia: Darwin, Kakadu, Uluru and the Flinders Ranges

1. Day 1: Arrive in Darwin

   Darwin International Airport to central Darwin

   • Drive about 15 min
   • Dinner
   • Stay in Darwin
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Darwin International Airport (DRW), about 13 km from the city centre, and a driver meets you in the arrivals hall for the short run to our central hotel, a few minutes on foot from the Esplanade. Darwin is the country of the Larrakia people, and much of the city is new for a reason: Cyclone Tracy flattened it on Christmas Day 1974. The afternoon is yours to get over the flight. Walk the shaded clifftop paths of Bicentennial Park, or go down to the Waterfront, where the Recreation Lagoon is netted for safe swimming. At about 6 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the twelve days ahead: the two flights, the long road days, the crocodile rules and what to wear for a desert sunrise. Then we walk to a welcome dinner together, outdoors if the evening is warm, as it usually is in the dry season.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Darwin International Airport (DRW)
   • Briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner in Darwin

   Free time: The afternoon is free: the Esplanade, Bicentennial Park and the Waterfront are all a short walk from the hotel.

   Activity: Land by about 3 pm to settle in before the 6 pm briefing. If you arrive earlier, we can book an extra night before the trip.

2. Day 2: Into Kakadu: Mamukala and Ubirr at sunset

   Darwin to Kakadu National Park by the Arnhem Highway, Mamukala and Ubirr, then Jabiru

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Jabiru (Kakadu)
   Day 2 details

   We leave Darwin at 8 am and head east on the Arnhem Highway, across the Adelaide and Mary river floodplains, into Kakadu National Park, listed by UNESCO for both its nature and its culture and managed with its Bininj and Mungguy traditional owners. A boardwalk at Mamukala leads to a bird hide over the wetland, busy with magpie geese and whistling ducks in the dry season. After lunch near Jabiru and a rest out of the midday heat at the hotel, we drive about 40 km north to Ubirr, near the East Alligator River, the border with Arnhem Land. In the late afternoon we walk the rock-art galleries with your guide: x-ray fish and turtles, Mimi spirit figures and a painting of a thylacine, an animal gone from the mainland for thousands of years. Then a short, steep scramble up to the Nadab lookout for sunset over the floodplain, the best-known view in Kakadu. Back to Jabiru for dinner.

   Included

   • Kakadu National Park pass
   • Mamukala wetlands and bird hide
   • Ubirr rock-art galleries with your guide
   • Sunset from the Nadab lookout at Ubirr
   • Dinner in Jabiru

   Easier option: Stay at the foot of Ubirr: the galleries are on a flat loop, and the floodplain is in view from the base.

   Free time: An hour or two to rest at the hotel in Jabiru after lunch.

   Activity: About 3 hours of driving to Jabiru and 1 hour to Ubirr and back, broken by Mamukala and lunch. The climb to the Nadab lookout is short but steep on bare rock.

3. Day 3: Burrungkuy and the Yellow Water cruise

   Jabiru to Burrungkuy (Nourlangie), then Cooinda and Yellow Water

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Cooinda (Kakadu)
   Day 3 details

   We are at Burrungkuy, also called Nourlangie, when it opens at about 8 am, while the rock shelters are in shade. A loop of about 1.5 km passes the Anbangbang shelter, used by Bininj people for thousands of years, to the main gallery and its painting of Namarrgon, the Lightning Man, who brings the storms of the wet season. If a ranger talk is running, we join it. Those who want more can walk on to the Gunwarrdehwarrde lookout over the escarpment. Then we drive to Cooinda and the Warradjan Cultural Centre, which explains the six seasons Bininj people recognise and how the land is cared for through them. Lunch is at Cooinda, and the hottest part of the day is free, in the shade or the pool. In the late afternoon we board a boat on Yellow Water Billabong for the cruise of the trip: saltwater crocodiles on the banks, jabiru, sea eagles and lotus lilies in low golden light. Dinner at Cooinda.

   Included

   • Burrungkuy (Nourlangie) rock art at opening
   • Warradjan Cultural Centre
   • Yellow Water cruise in the late afternoon
   • Dinner at Cooinda

   Optional experiences

   • Scenic flight over Kakadu's escarpment and floodplains (price shown at booking)

   Easier option: The main Burrungkuy gallery only, about 1.5 km on a made path, with the vehicle at the start.

   More active option: Add the Gunwarrdehwarrde lookout climb at Burrungkuy for the view along the escarpment.

   Free time: The middle of the day is free at Cooinda, in the shade or the pool.

   Activity: About 1.5 km of walking at Burrungkuy on uneven rock and steps; the cruise is seated.

4. Day 4: Back to Darwin for a free evening

   Cooinda to Darwin by the Kakadu and Arnhem highways

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Darwin
   Day 4 details

   A slow start: breakfast at Cooinda, and anyone who likes can walk the short boardwalk by the billabong while the birds are busy. We leave at about 9 am and drive west out of Kakadu, about 300 km and three and a half hours on sealed roads, with a coffee stop near the Mary River and a sit-down lunch on the way. We arrive in Darwin by mid-afternoon, and the rest of the day is yours. It is the trip's one evening in Darwin with nothing planned, on purpose: on Thursdays and Sundays in the dry season the Mindil Beach Sunset Market sets up its food stalls on the beach, and the sun goes down over the Timor Sea. On other nights the Waterfront and the restaurants of Mitchell Street are a short walk from the hotel. Your guide will suggest places to eat and is happy to walk down with anyone who would like company. Pack tonight for the Litchfield swim and the flight south.

   Included

   • Drive from Kakadu to Darwin with a coffee stop and a sit-down lunch

   Optional experiences

   • Jumping-crocodile cruise on the Adelaide River on the way into Darwin (price shown at booking)

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Darwin: the Mindil Beach Sunset Market on Thursdays and Sundays, or the Waterfront.

   Activity: About 3.5 hours on the road, broken by coffee and lunch. Dinner is not included tonight, so you can choose.

5. Day 5: Litchfield's waterfalls, then fly to Alice Springs

   Darwin to Litchfield National Park, then Darwin Airport, a flight to Alice Springs and Simpsons Gap

   • Drive about 4.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Alice Springs
   Day 5 details

   An early start, at about 7 am, to reach Litchfield National Park ahead of the day-trip coaches. We stop first at the Magnetic Termite Mounds, flat grey slabs up to about two metres tall, all lined up north to south to keep cool. Then it is time to swim: Florence Falls drops into a deep plunge pool at the foot of some 135 steps, and Buley Rockhole is a chain of shallow rock pools just upstream. Last is Wangi Falls, two falls side by side into a wide, clear pool, open for swimming once rangers have cleared it after the wet. Lunch is a picnic in the shade, then about an hour and a half to Darwin Airport for the flight south, about two hours over the outback. If the confirmed flight leaves earlier, we skip Wangi Falls. In Alice Springs your guide takes the group, light permitting, to Simpsons Gap in the West MacDonnell Ranges, where black-footed rock-wallabies come out on the boulders at dusk, then to our central hotel.

   Included

   • NT Parks pass for Litchfield and the West MacDonnell Ranges
   • Magnetic Termite Mounds
   • Florence Falls and Buley Rockhole
   • Wangi Falls
   • Picnic lunch in Litchfield
   • Flight from Darwin to Alice Springs
   • Simpsons Gap at dusk, when the flight time allows

   Optional experiences

   • The Ghan from Darwin to Alice Springs, one night aboard, in place of the Litchfield morning and the flight, on the days it runs (quoted on request)

   Easier option: Skip the swims and the steps: the termite mounds and the Wangi Falls pool edge are a short, flat walk from the vehicle.

   More active option: The loop walk at Wangi Falls, about 1.6 km, through monsoon forest to a viewing platform above the falls.

   Free time: The evening is free in Alice Springs: the hotel is within walking distance of Todd Mall.

   Activity: About 3.5 hours of driving in the Top End and 45 minutes in Alice Springs, split by a two-hour flight. Bring a swimsuit and a towel in your day bag.

   

6. Day 6: Down the highway to Kings Canyon

   Alice Springs to Watarrka National Park by the Stuart and Lasseter highways and Luritja Road

   • Drive about 5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Kings Canyon
   Day 6 details

   Today is one of the trip's three long road days, about 470 km and five hours on sealed roads, and it is long for a reason: the only shorter link, the Mereenie Loop, needs a permit and is mostly unsealed gravel. We break it every hour or two. We leave at about 8:30 after breakfast, run south on the Stuart Highway to Erldunda for coffee, then turn west on the Lasseter Highway and north on Luritja Road through red dunes and stands of desert oak. Lunch is a sit-down meal at Kings Creek Station, a cattle station on the way in, and we reach Watarrka National Park, Luritja country, by mid-afternoon. After a rest at the hotel, 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 metres. We watch the George Gill Range turn red at sunset, then eat together.

   Included

   • Drive from Alice Springs to Kings Canyon with stops at Erldunda and Kings Creek Station
   • Sit-down lunch at Kings Creek Station
   • Kings Creek walk with your guide
   • Sunset over the George Gill Range
   • Dinner at Kings Canyon

   Free time: An hour or two to rest before the Kings Creek walk.

   Activity: About 5 hours of driving on sealed roads, broken by a coffee stop and lunch. The Kings Creek walk is about an hour on the flat.

7. Day 7: The Kings Canyon rim, then Uluru at sunset

   Kings Canyon Rim Walk, then Watarrka to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park via Curtin Springs

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Ayers Rock Resort (Yulara)
   Day 7 details

   A light breakfast before dawn, then we are at the trailhead at first light for the Kings Canyon Rim Walk, a 6 km loop of three to four hours. It starts 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 shaded by cycads, 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 more reason we start early. If you would rather not climb, walk Kings Creek again in the early light. Late in the morning we drive about 305 km south and west, past the flat-topped mesa of Mount Conner, with lunch at Curtin Springs. In the park we start at the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre, where Anangu explain Tjukurpa, the law that shapes this country, then watch the sun set on Uluru.

   Included

   • Kings Canyon Rim Walk at first light with your guide (6 km loop, 3 to 4 hours)
   • Lunch at Curtin Springs
   • Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park pass
   • Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre
   • Sunset at Uluru

   Easier option: Skip the climb: walk Kings Creek again in the early light, or rest at the hotel until we leave.

   Free time: Dinner tonight is not included, on purpose: after a pre-dawn start most guests want an early, simple meal at the resort and an early night before the Uluru sunrise.

   Activity: One steep climb at the start of the Rim Walk, then uneven rock and stairs. About 3.75 hours on the road in all, including the park roads to the Cultural Centre and the sunset area.

   

8. Day 8: Uluru at dawn and the Field of Light

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

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Ayers Rock Resort (Yulara)
   Day 8 details

   We watch sunrise from Talinguru Nyakunytjaku, the dune viewing area on the east side of Uluru, then walk while the air is 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 the folds and gullies you never see from the sunset area. Uluru rises about 348 m above the plain, and up close it is a landscape of its own. Some places along the base are sacred sites: signs ask you not to photograph them, and we ask the same. If you would rather walk less, your guide leads the Mala walk to Kantju Gorge, then the short Kuniya walk to Mutitjulu Waterhole, the rock's permanent water. Lunch is together in Yulara, then the afternoon is free. In the evening we share a dinner to close the outback half of the trip, then walk among the more than 50,000 solar-powered lights of Bruce Munro's Field of Light under the desert stars.

   Included

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

   Optional experiences

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

   Easier option: The Mala walk to Kantju Gorge and the Kuniya walk to Mutitjulu Waterhole, about 3 km in all, with the vehicle between them.

   More active option: The full 10.6 km base walk around Uluru.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Yulara: the pool, a rest or the resort's shops.

   Activity: The base walk is flat but long and has little shade after mid-morning; carry about a litre of water for every hour.

9. Day 9: Kata Tjuta at sunrise, then fly to Adelaide

   Kata Tjuta at sunrise and the Valley of the Winds, then Ayers Rock Airport and a flight to Adelaide

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Adelaide
   Day 9 details

   An early start for sunrise at Kata Tjuta, about 50 km west of Yulara, so pack a warm layer. From the dune viewing area you watch first light reach its 36 domes of conglomerate rock; the tallest, Mount Olga, stands about 546 m above the plain, some 200 m higher than Uluru. Kata Tjuta means many heads in the Pitjantjatjara language. Then we walk while it is cool: the Valley of the Winds trail to Karingana Lookout, about 5.4 km return over loose stones, looks down into a valley ringed by domes. On very hot days the trail beyond Karu Lookout closes early. For a gentler walk, Walpa Gorge is about 2.6 km return up a stream bed between two of the highest domes. Back in Yulara for a shower and check-out, then Ayers Rock Airport, ten minutes away, for the afternoon flight to Adelaide, direct or with one connection depending on the season's schedule. A driver meets us in Adelaide for the short run to our central hotel. The evening is free.

   Included

   • Sunrise at Kata Tjuta
   • Valley of the Winds walk to Karingana Lookout, or the Walpa Gorge walk
   • Flight from Ayers Rock (AYQ) to Adelaide (ADL)
   • Transfer to our hotel in Adelaide

   Easier option: Walpa Gorge, about 2.6 km return on a gentle stream bed, or the Valley of the Winds only as far as Karu Lookout (about 2.2 km return).

   More active option: The full Valley of the Winds loop, about 7.4 km, when the forecast allows.

   Free time: The evening is free in Adelaide: Rundle Street's restaurants and the riverbank are a short walk from the hotel.

   Activity: A long day with an early start, but the driving is short; the flight takes the afternoon. Dinner is not included.

10. Day 10: North through the Clare Valley to Wilpena Pound

    Adelaide to the Clare Valley, Hawker and Wilpena Pound in Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park

    • Drive about 5 h
    • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
    • Stay in Wilpena Pound (Ikara-Flinders Ranges)
    Day 10 details

    A slower morning, then we leave Adelaide at about 8:30 for the second long road day, about 430 km and five hours. There is no shorter sealed road to Wilpena and no scheduled flight, so we break the drive with stops. The first hour and a half runs north through wheat country to coffee in Auburn, at the south end of the Clare Valley, known for its Riesling. Lunch is a sit-down meal in the valley. In the afternoon the land dries out and the ranges rise ahead; we stretch our legs in Hawker, an old railway town, then drive the last hour into Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park, co-managed with the Adnyamathanha people, whose name for Wilpena Pound is Ikara, the meeting place. We arrive by about 4 pm, with time to settle in for two nights. Before dinner, your guide walks with anyone who likes to the edge of the resort grounds, where western grey kangaroos and emus come out to graze in the last light.

    Included

    • Drive from Adelaide to Wilpena Pound via the Clare Valley and Hawker
    • Sit-down lunch in the Clare Valley
    • Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park entry
    • Dusk wildlife walk at Wilpena with your guide
    • Dinner at Wilpena

    Free time: Late afternoon free to settle in at Wilpena.

    Activity: About 5 hours of driving on sealed roads, broken by coffee in Auburn, lunch in the Clare Valley and a stop in Hawker.

11. Day 11: Inside Wilpena Pound and Brachina Gorge

    Walk into Wilpena Pound to Hills Homestead and Wangarra Lookout, then Brachina Gorge and Stokes Hill

    • Drive about 1.5 h
    • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
    • Stay in Wilpena Pound (Ikara-Flinders Ranges)
    Day 11 details

    Wilpena Pound is a huge oval basin, about 17 km long and 8 km wide, ringed by ridges of tilted quartzite, and the best way to understand it is to walk in. We start after breakfast while it is cool, following Wilpena Creek under river red gums, about 3.9 km each way, to Hills Homestead, where a farming family tried and failed to make a living inside the pound in the early 1900s. From there a short, stony climb leads to the Wangarra lookouts, with views across the floor of the pound to the ranges. Lunch is back at Wilpena, and the early afternoon is free. Later we drive about 30 km north to Brachina Gorge, where the geological trail passes rocks laid down over hundreds of millions of years, and yellow-footed rock-wallabies, rare elsewhere, often sit on the ledges in late light. We finish at Stokes Hill lookout for sunset over the eastern wall of the pound, then dinner at Wilpena.

    Included

    • Guided walk into Wilpena Pound to Hills Homestead and Wangarra Lookout
    • Lunch at Wilpena
    • Brachina Gorge and its geological trail
    • Sunset at Stokes Hill lookout
    • Dinner at Wilpena

    Optional experiences

    • Scenic flight over Wilpena Pound (price shown at booking)

    Easier option: Walk only as far as Hills Homestead, about 7.8 km return on a gentle track, or take the shuttle partway when it runs.

    More active option: Climb on to the upper Wangarra lookout for the widest view across the pound.

    Free time: The early afternoon is free at Wilpena.

    Activity: About 7.8 km of walking with a short, stony climb at the end; we go at an easy pace with long stops. About 1.5 hours of driving in all.

    

12. Day 12: Arkaroo Rock, Burra and the Barossa

    Wilpena to Arkaroo Rock, then Hawker, Orroroo and Burra to the Barossa Valley

    • Drive about 4.5 h
    • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
    • Stay in Barossa Valley
    Day 12 details

    We leave Wilpena after breakfast and stop almost at once at Arkaroo Rock, about 15 km south, for a walk of about 3 km on a loop path to a rock shelter whose walls carry Adnyamathanha paintings in red and yellow ochre and charcoal; your guide tells the story the site holds of how Wilpena Pound was made. Then the last long road day, about 390 km and four and a half hours in all, half an hour over our usual limit because there is no shorter road south. We break it with coffee in Orroroo and lunch in Burra, a copper-mining town of the 1840s with stone miners' cottages and a main street that has hardly changed. By mid-afternoon we are in the Barossa Valley, among the vineyards around Tanunda, for a tasting at a family cellar door. A free hour at the hotel, then a farewell dinner together, built on Barossa produce, where your guide closes the trip.

    Included

    • Arkaroo Rock walk and rock art with your guide
    • Lunch in Burra
    • Cellar-door tasting in the Barossa Valley
    • Farewell dinner in the Barossa

    Easier option: Skip the Arkaroo Rock climb and wait at the start of the track, where the plain and the ranges are in view.

    Free time: An hour free at the hotel before the farewell dinner.

    Activity: About 4.5 hours of driving, broken by Arkaroo Rock, coffee in Orroroo and lunch in Burra. The Arkaroo loop is about 3 km with a rocky climb to the shelter. Wine is offered at the tasting, never required.

13. Day 13: Adelaide and home

    Barossa Valley to Adelaide, the Central Market and Adelaide Airport

    • Drive about 1.5 h
    • Breakfast
    Day 13 details

    A last unhurried breakfast among the vines. We leave at about 9 am for Adelaide, about an hour's drive south. On Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday the group stops at the Adelaide Central Market, more than 150 years old and one of the largest covered produce markets in the southern hemisphere, for an hour among its stalls of South Australian cheese, fruit and bakery goods, a good place to pick up lunch for the plane. From Sunday to Wednesday, when the market is closed or only partly open, your guide walks the group through the city's North Terrace instead, past the Art Gallery of South Australia and the state library. Then your guide sees you to Adelaide Airport (ADL), about 20 minutes from the city, or drops you at a central hotel if you are staying on. Book a flight leaving after about 3 pm. If you would like longer in South Australia, ask about the Kangaroo Island and Great Ocean Road trip, which starts in Adelaide.

    Included

    • Adelaide Central Market (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday), or a walk along North Terrace
    • Drop-off at Adelaide Airport (ADL) or a central Adelaide hotel

    Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 3 pm. We can book extra nights in Adelaide.

Wildlife and weather: We run from May to September, the dry season in the Top End: days around 30 to 32 C, low humidity, and the roads to Ubirr and the Litchfield pools open (some pools open only once rangers clear them after the wet, which can be later in May). In the Red Centre the days are clear and near 20 C, and nights fall near or below freezing in June to August, so the sunrises are cold. The Flinders Ranges are cool, sometimes frosty at night, with green hills and wildflowers coming in late winter. Wildlife is reliable: saltwater crocodiles, jabiru and sea eagles at Yellow Water, magpie geese on the floodplains, black-footed rock-wallabies at Simpsons Gap, yellow-footed rock-wallabies in Brachina Gorge, and red and western grey kangaroos and emus around Wilpena.

• Darwin1 night
• Jabiru (Kakadu)1 night
• Cooinda (Kakadu)1 night
• Darwin1 night
• Alice Springs1 night
• Kings Canyon1 night
• Ayers Rock Resort (Yulara)2 nights
• Adelaide1 night
• Wilpena Pound (Ikara-Flinders Ranges)2 nights
• Barossa Valley1 night