Australia - Unique Adventures

Australia – Unique Adventures

I have been to most parts of Australia and was asked to do an article on something unusual and I had some time to spare after attending a conference in Sydney so took the train to Broken Hill in New South Wales and joined up with Tri State Safaris, Outback Tours. www.tristate.com.au after a night at the historic 1888 Miners Arms hotel.

This company has won many awards, and I was interested in going with them to a part of the outback I hadn’t been to. Based in Broken Hill the company has been in operation since 1992 by husband and wife team, Michael and Joanne McCulkin. They have a choice of several tours, and I selected the 4 day Corner County Adventure because I liked the sound of it and a town named Tibooburra tickled my fancy. You can go on a 1 day tour, or up to 18 days to some wonderful areas such as the Flinders Range, the Red Centre, Simpson Desert and Cape York, Queensland, which are all off the beaten path.

In the past, I have done an outback adventure thru the Red Center, and enjoyed seeing Alice Springs which is a very historic area in the Northern Territory. I took a camel tour and have never been so dirty in my life. The ground is red sand, and you are coated in it. In 1840 when this area by explored by Europeans, all they travelled on were camels. They even carried a piano to Alice Springs from Adelaide by camel. The wife of the Overland Telegraph Station manager refused to go without her piano. The arid zone of Australia is up to 60% of the continent’s land mass. Up until 1960, even the police used camels in this area. Camping overnight after riding on a camel is definitely not like staying at the Four Seasons.

The outback is full of interesting characters, history and culture, and tiny hamlets with funny names. You stop in the middle of nowhere to have a bush tucker meal, and learn about local plants, animals and birds. If you are seeking an indigenous experience then tours to a number of local National Parks are ideal with an Aboriginal as your guide. Mutawintji is the jewel in the crown, and accompanying one of the expert guides will give you a greater understanding of a culture that dates back many thousands of years. Kinchega and Mungo are also highlights of the country.

In a small group of eight people from all over the world with three drivers and guides, in a convoy of four vehicles, we set off from Broken Hill to the historic township of Milparinka, virtually a ghost town which used to be a thriving gold mining settlement. One sign made me grin. The local dentist also did tattoo’s and pierced ears. Stayed overnight in a small motel, I would give it a one star rating, the Rest Your Bones Inn was fun, and set off for the corner area, where three states meet. A lot of history in this area, with the Dingo Fence which was built to keep kangaroos from coming into sheep farms. Sturt National Park is home of the Big Red Kangaroo and this is definitely off the beaten path. I went for a walk early one morning and saw a young chap in shorts and t-shirt getting out of a jeep at a home. I stopped to chat and it turned out he was a policeman, who came to “town” all 10 houses of it – once every six weeks. Tibooburra doesn’t have any crime apparently.

We had lunch at a beautiful historic house stead of Mt. Wood, and we stayed there that night. We had red dirt roads for some 1800 miles, and no traffic. This was not a place to run out of petrol. The opal mining town of White Cliffs was fascinating and of course, it was full of characters. Opals were discovered in the late 1880’s and been in operation since. We stayed in an underground motel, since the weather can get up to 120 degrees in the summer. I was rooming with a lady from Bangkok, and she was too scared to find the bathroom down a long tunnel so we wandered around underground together. Interesting underground museum and collection of opal jewellery. Every time I wear my opal pendant I think of how dirty I was when I bought it and grin. A place of genuine hard working people who have experienced hard ship and many difficult times living in such a harsh environment. Many foreigners, who emigrated after World War 11 for a new life.

Mutawintji National Park has very dramatic scenery and prolific birdlife. This is one of the most culturally significant Aboriginal art sites in Australia.

If you want to experience something unusual, and meet people from many walks of life, then try an outback tour.

Maureen Jones

All Horizons Travel/Frosch

825 Santa Cruz Ave

Menlo Park, CA

650-961-2340 Direct

Maureen.Jones@Frosch.com