12-day Outback 4wd Tour Of New South Wales Far West

Itinerary

Day 1: Sydney Three Sisters Portland Bathurst Parkes

Stop At: Echo Point Lookout, Katoomba, New South Wales Australia
NSW Silo Art Trail tours take us through some lovely country towns and regional areas, and our 12 day tour from Sydney to Broken Hill. marvel at the stunning views from Echo Point and the Three Sisters at Katoomba,
Duration: 45 minutes

Stop At: Portland, Portland, Lithgow, Blue Mountains, New South Wales
Portland silos at the old Cement Factory – beautiful artwork there on the cement works and symbolic of the restoration of the community in Portland exemplified by their site work and the wonderful annual art exhibition.
Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Bathurst, Bathurst, New South Wales
Moving on beyond Bathurst and the fascinating history of the gold rush and Cobb & Co coaches
Duration: 30 minutes

Stop At: Parkes Radio Telescope, Newell Hwy, Parkes, New South Wales 2870 Australia
The Dish Exhibition centre at the giant CSIRO operated radiotelescope that brought the 1st moon landing images to Earth.
Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Parkes, Parkes, New South Wales
In Parkes, and less famous is the King's Castle, Australia's very own Elvis Presley museum created by the original yellow Wiggle Greg Page. Overnight Parkes
Duration: 30 minutes

Meals included:
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Motel Parkes

Day 2: Parkes Canowindra Museum of Fishes Cowra Grenfell Wheat silos Weethalle Silos Hay

Stop At: The Age of Fishes Museum, 129 Gaskill Street, Canowindra, New South Wales 2804 Australia
Canowindra, ballooning capital of Australia and the Museum of Fishes – viewing ancient fish fossils from this area that was once an inland sea.
Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Grenfell, Grenfell, New South Wales
Then Cowra (and railway roundhouse for the keen). Onwards we travel via Weddin Mountains National Park, visiting the popular Grenfell Wheat silos completed in 2019 and then through West Wyalong to the well-known Weethalle Silos
Duration: 30 minutes

Stop At: Weethalle Silo Art, Railway Sreeet, Weethalle NSW, Weethalle, New South Wales 2671 Australia
Travel through West Wyalong to the well-known Weethalle Silos with stunning silo art. Driving West via Rankin Springs the country spreads and the sky seems to get bigger we know the perfect place to see our first Big Sky sunset with the full spectrum of colours as the sun sets over the Hay Plains.
Duration: 30 minutes

Meals included:
• Lunch
• Dinner
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Hay motel

Day 3: SHEAR OUTBACK, OUTBACK VILLAGES, WENTWORTH

Stop At: Shear Outback, Corner Cobb, Hay, New South Wales 2711 Australia
Hay was one of Australia’s major wool growing areas, and a visit to the Shear Outback centre takes to you into the rich life in the wool industry in early NSW. We’ll take the backroad through seemingly endless saltbush plains, that are home to over 50 farming families. Tiny villages are the social hub for many of the large outback stations, where life can often be lonely.
Duration: 45 minutes

Stop At: Penarie Creek, Balranald NSW 2715, Australia
We’ll have lunch at The Homebush Hotel at Penarie, true backcountry pub, complete with kangaroos wandering by. The pub opened in 1878 and is still the mainstay of the local community. The famous bar, with its huge central open fireplace, character-filled “shearing board” mural, and local artefacts has been home to many a trapper, teamster, drover, shearer, truckie, mailman, traveller and ‘local’ over the past 142 years.
Duration: 45 minutes

Stop At: Wentworth, Wentworth, New South Wales
Follow the Murray River to Trentham Estate, a family-owned winery on the banks of the Murray River. Enjoy an afternoon wine tasting by the river before we head to Wentworth. In the late 1800’s Wentworth was the largest river port in Australia with over 400 boats plying the Murray and the Darling Rivers, which meet here
Duration: 1 hour

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: MOTEL WENTWORTH

Day 4: MEETNG OF THE MURRAY AND DARLING RIVERS, MUNGO NP

Stop At: Wentworth, Wentworth, New South Wales
In April this year, the Darling River flowed all the way from its catchment in Queensland, to the Murray River for the first time in 2 years. Take a walk along the banks of the junction of the rivers – a culmination of water from Queensland, NSW and Victoria as they head for lake Alexandrina and the Southern Ocean in South Australia. Time to visit the Pioneer museum, with fossilised remains of megafauna dating back 1.8m years as well as over 3,000 local artefacts. We’ll start our drive along The Darling River Run, which we will follow its entire length to Bourke... with some detours.
Duration: 4 hours

Stop At: Mungo National Park, Mungo National Park, New South Wales
Into the desert and Mungo National Park to explore this ancient lakebed environment. Here the stories of the regions from a local guide, and learn of the oldest known ritual burial in the world. Discover the Walls of China and megafauna history of the area, explore the ancient Willandra Lakes and the historic sheep station and large and impressive shearing shed that served the area for around 100 years.
Duration: 4 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Mungo lodge

Day 5: KINCHEGA NP, MENINDEE LAKES BROKEN HILL

Stop At: Pooncarie, Pooncarie, New South Wales
Travel along the Darling River to
Pooncarie, where we’ll buy a beer from
Josh, who owns the Pooncarie Pub,
and have a chat.
Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Kinchega National Park, Woolshed Drive, Menindee, New South Wales 2879 Australia
Explore Kinchega National Park,
featuring the mesmerising Menindee
lake system with its wonderful array of
birdlife and haunting river red gums
rising from the water. Visit the historic
Kinchega Woolshed and Old Kinchega
Homestead for a taste of the area’s pastoral heritage and enjoy a billy tea
with the Barkindji Aboriginal Elders.
Visit the Burke & Wills campsite and stop
for a drink at Maidens pub where they
stopped too on their ill-fated trip.
Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Broken Hill, Broken Hill, New South Wales
Drive
to Broken Hill a dinner at Mario’s Palace
Hotel, featured in Priscilla, Queen of
the Desert, to see the famous murals for
ourselves.
Duration: 1 hour

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Broken Hill Motel

Day 6: Broken Hill - Silverton

Stop At: Silverton, Silverton, New South Wales
Broken Hill, the birthplace of BHP,
was once a stock exchange and the
first city given heritage status. It has
a unique blend of pioneering and
mining history, with a quirky culture and
many colourful characters. You can
fill days in amazing galleries, following
vast sculpture trails, dining is cool
cafes, and admiring the seemingly
endless scenery. This morning’s guided
tour takes you to the Pro Hart gallery,
outback sculptures and 20km west to
the famous town of Silverton, with one
of the most iconic pubs in Australia.
Duration: 1 hour

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Broken Hill motel

Day 7: Broken Hill Milparinka Depot Glen Tibooburra

Stop At: Milparinka, Milparinka, New South Wales
MILPARINKA, DEPOT GLEN
TIBOOBURRA
Depart Broken Hill through the Barrier
range on the Silver City Highway via
Packsaddle for Milparinka and the
Albert Hotel. Appreciate this once
thriving gold mining town at the
restored Milparinka Heritage Precinct,
and Depot Glen, where Captain
Sturts 2nd in command James Poole
died of malnutrition, and where Sturt
abandoned the full size whaleboat he
had hauled across Australia with the
intention of using it to row arcross the
continent’s ‘inland sea’.
Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Tibooburra, Tibooburra, New South Wales
A short drive
takes us to Tibooburra where you can
see a full size replica of the boat and
ponder how different it was to travel in
1845, with no maps, guides, or Google.
Here, in this most remote NSW desert
town, on the edge of the huge Sturt
National Park you really feel as though
you are in the heart of the desert.
Duration: 1 hour

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Motel Tibooburra

Day 8: STURT DESERT, CAMERON CORNER, DINGO FENCE WHITE CLIFFS

Stop At: Cameron's Corner, Junction of NSW, Queensland and South Australia, Queensland Australia
Today is a great day for scenery, photography and history as we head into the Sturt Desert, an enormous arid
landscape of space and solitude. The
rolling red-sand dunes of the Strzelecki
desert ripple through the western
section, graduating past surprising
ethereal wetlands surrounded by white
sands. Cross the Grey Range with a
stop at Fort Grey, where Charles Sturt
built his provisions stockade for his
inland expeditions. Pass through the
iconic Dingo Fence; the world’s longest
fence, stretching over 5,000km. The
fence was constructed in the 1880’s to
keep roaming Dingoes of the north and
west out of the pastoral lands of NSW.
Thanks to the protection of the fence,
there are large populations of western
grey and red kangaroos in the area.
Close the fence and drive to Cameron
Corner, where NSW, SA &
Duration: 8 hours

Stop At: White Cliffs, White Cliffs, New South Wales
Travel to White Cliffs, Australia’s oldest
commerical opal mine, famous for
its rare ‘pineapple’ opals with their
distinctive spiky shape. It is also the site
of Australia’s first solar power station.
You can explore both the opal mine,
and solar station history. Try your hand
at opal fossicking, and if that doesn’t
work, buy some ready polished ones
Duration: 2 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Motel White Cliffs

Day 9: White Cliffs Wilcannia Darling River Run Louth Tilpa Gundabooka NP Bourke

Stop At: Bourke, Bourke, New South Wales
DARLING RIVER RUN, BOURKE
Rejoin the Darling River Run via
Wilcannia, home to beautiful sandstone
architecture, and once a bustling port
for paddle steamers. Follow the river
through Louth & Tilpa, a town with 2
distinctions: the only Boer War memorial
that mentions Breaker Morant, and
the only cemetery without a grave (so
far). Call in to Dunlop sheep Station,
once covering a million acres, with
a staggering 45 stand shearing shed
that was the first in the world to use
mechanical shears. Kim, the co-owner
will give us a tour and we’ll have a
cuppa as we delve in to the history of
the region. Be some of the few visitors
to take a gentle and peaceful walk
in the isolated Gundabooka National
Park to see the unique Aboriginal rock
art. Then it’s a short drive to Bourke.
Duration: 8 hours

Stop At: Louth, Louth, New South Wales
The town was established in 1859 when Thomas Andrew Mathews, an Irish immigrant from County Louth, built a pub to serve the passing trade along the then busy Darling River. At one stage the town grew to have three hotels, a cordial factory, three bakeries, two butchers, a post office, three churches, a Chinese garden, a general store and a police station.[2] The post office still remains and has been beautifully restored and is now a privately owned bed and breakfast.
Duration: 30 minutes

Stop At: Gundabooka National Park, Kidman Way, Bourke, New South Wales 2840 Australia
The Gundabooka National Park is a protected national park in the north-west region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The 63,902-hectare national park with rare and significant Aboriginal Rock Art
Duration: 2 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: motel Bourke

Day 10: Bourke

Stop At: Bourke, Bourke, New South Wales
The impressive ‘Back O’Bourke’ centre
showcases the early days of Bourke
and beyond. Discover the ‘Outback’
life of Henry Lawson, the search for an
inland sea. Marvel at the stories of the
‘women of the west’ including Nancy
Bird, who flew an air ambulance here
in the 1930’s. Stop by the 110 year
old Morrall’s bakery for a pie or pastry,
follow the Heritage Trail through town,
or visit the grave of Fred Hollows.Cruise
along the Darling on an historic paddle
boat to recall the river boat history.
In recent years Bourke has undergone
a remarkable revitalisation and is now
a shining light in positive indigenous
opportunities. Take a cultural walk to
learn about the history of Aboriginal
people in Bourke and the personal
connection formed with the land and
it’s richness.
Tonight we’ll join a campfire dinner
under a coolabah tree, (hopefully)
under a starlit sky, with plenty of music,
poetry, and storytelling all about
outback of Australia.

Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: motel Bourke

Day 11: BREWARRINA, MACQUARIE MARSHES Coonamble Silo Art, Warrumbungles Siding Springs Coonabarabran

Stop At: Quambone NSW 2831, Australia
Continue to The Macquarie
Marshes, a UNESCO registered site of
outstanding value as one of the most
important wetland areas in the world.
It is one of the most crucial breeding
sites for waterbirds in Australia, with 77
species, along with over 150 other birds,
as well as fish, turtles, frogs, snakes and
mammals. We’ll have afternoon bird
watching and stay nearby.
Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Warrumbungle National Park, John Renshaw Parkway, Warrumbungle, Coonabarabran, New South Wales 2828 Australia
We travel on to our final art silo in Coonamble then take the scenic road to the beautiful Warrumbungles for a delightful bush walk with wonderful views of The Breadknife.
Duration: 2 hours

Stop At: Siding Spring Observatory, Observatory Road, Coonabarabran, New South Wales 2357 Australia
We have a tour of Siding Springs Observatory, home to Australia’s largest telescope. We have a guided tour of the night sky this evening.
Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Brewarrina Aboriginal Fish Traps, 18 Bathurst St, Brewarrina, New South Wales 2839 Australia
We head to the 40,000-year-old
Brewarrina Aboriginal Fish Traps, one
of the oldest man-made structures
on earth, and they still work! This
elaborate network of rock weils and
pools stretches half a kilometre and
was built to catch fish as they swam
upstream.
Duration: 30 minutes

Stop At: Brewarrina Aboriginal Cultural Museum, Cnr Bathurst and Darling St 18 Bathurst St, Brewarrina, New South Wales 2839 Australia
A unique complex located overlooking the National and State Heritage listed Fishtraps (estimated at approximately 40 000 years old) these purpose built gunyahs house a history of Aboriginal people and their traditions in this area as well as offering Aboriginal art and craft for sale.
Duration: 45 minutes

Stop At: Warrumbungle National Park, John Renshaw Parkway, Warrumbungle, Coonabarabran, New South Wales 2828 Australia
Continue to The Macquarie
Marshes, a UNESCO registered site of
outstanding value as one of the most
important wetland areas in the world.
It is one of the most crucial breeding
sites for waterbirds in Australia, with 77
species, along with over 150 other birds,
as well as fish, turtles, frogs, snakes and
mammals.
Take the scenic road to the beautiful
Warrumbungles for a delightful
bush walk with wonderful views of
The Breadknife.
Duration: 2 hours

Stop At: Siding Spring Observatory, Observatory Road, Coonabarabran, New South Wales 2357 Australia
We have a tour of
Siding Springs Observatory, home
to Australia’s largest telescope. The
Warrumbungles is Australia’s only
Dark Sky Park, meaning it is our only
Internationally recognised park with
an exceptional quality of starry nights
and an environment specifically
protected for its scientific, natural,
educational, cultural heritage, and
public enjoyment.
Duration: 1 hour

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Coonabarabran motel

Day 12: BLACK STUMP, DUNEDOO, GULGONG, MUDGEE, SYDNEY

Stop At: Dunedoo, Dunedoo, New South Wales
Drive through Dunedoo, known for its poetry, hospitality, and name or alternatively via The Black Stump and Coolah.
Duration: 20 minutes

Stop At: Gulgong Pioneers Museum, 73 Herbert St, Gulgong, New South Wales 2852 Australia
Gulgong Pioneers' Museum and Historical Society Inc.
This museum is a contribution by Gulgong's citizens to the collection, restoration, preservation and display of artefacts and documents pertaining to and used by our early pioneers and their successors.
Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: The Black Stump, Rest stop, Coolah, New South Wales Australia
Coolah is one of several towns to claim bragging rights as the home of the legendary Black Stump. It was here that the colloquial saying ‘Beyond the Black Stump’, meaning ‘beyond the limits of civilisation,’ is said to have originated.

Supporting Coolah’s claim is a document showing land boundaries declared by Governor Darling in 1826. This boundary line passes through the centre of a property known as ‘Black Stump Run’. The local Aboriginal Gamilaraay people were said to have called the area ‘Weetalibah-Wallangan’, meaning, ‘the place where the fire went out and left a burnt stump’.
In 1905, a fire engulfed the Black Stump Wine Saloon which was the said to be the location of the original black stump.
Duration: 15 minutes

Stop At: Mudgee, Mudgee, New South Wales
We are now a short drive to Mudgee where we’ll taste some local wines and have lunch in a vineyard
Drive back to Sydney via Zig Zag railway, Bell and Bells Line of Road and scenic views of Grose Valley
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
No accommodation included on this day.