Lightning Ridge, Blue Mountains & Hunter Valley Outback Tour – 3 Days
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Lightning Ridge Blue Mountains Hunter Valley Outback NSW Tour
This 3 day Lightning Ridge Blue Mountains Hunter Valley Outback NSW Tour from Sydney gives you the real outback and country NSW experience plus Blue Mountains with Katoomba, Echo Point and Govetts Leap, wine tasting in Hunter Valley, and Mudgee wine and gold country.
Lightning Ridge Opals Tour
Sydney to Outback New South Wales ( NSW ) tour via Blue Mountains, Mudgee wines, Wollomi National Park, Warrumbungle Mountains, Lightning Ridge opals, hot springs, Mt Kaputar, Hunter Valley
- Wildlife in the wild. See emus, kangaroos, reptiles, wallabies, stunning native birds and much more
- Buy opal at traders prices from the source at Lightning Ridge
- Meet real Australian’s and local Aboriginal people in communities
- Silo Art Trail art includes Dunedoo, Gulargambone, Coonamble, Walgett, Gunnedah, Quirindi
- John Murray Art Gallery at Lightning Ridge
- Other tour options include Broken Hill, Lake Mungo NP, Gundabooka National Park, Bourke
3 day Lightning Ridge Blue Mountains Hunter Valley Outback NSW Tour
– itinerary
Day 1 – Depart your Sydney hotel or accommodation at 730 am and enjoy the fresh early light and air of the spectacular Blue Mountains. Visit Katoomba, Leura, Echo Point, Three Sisters, Jamieson Valley (Grand Canyon) and Cliff Drive over Megalong Valley before a morning tea at Govett’s Leap near Blackheath, overlooking the Grosse Valley and spectacular Blue Gum Forest in the Blue Mountains.
Descent the 1500 metres of the Great Dividing Range and from Pearson’s Lookout view the Blue Mountains region and Wollomi National Park in this World Heritage area. Enjoy a tasty lunch at a Winery in Mudgee and enjoy wine tasting. Travel on through old gold mining towns, and historic Gulgong – the town on the $10 note. Travel via Dunedoo to Coonabarabran for overnight.. Dine at own expense in town (numerous options) and consider a visit to the Sky Watch Observatory to view the night sky through their giant telescope. This area experiences some of the clearest skies in the world, hence the nearby Siding Springs Observatory. Enjoy motel style accommodation this evening.
Day 2: After a healthy breakfast see wild kangaroos and emus as we travel through Warrumbungle National Park. We take a short bushwalk to see the spectacular view of the Breadknife and surrounding mountains in this unique volcanic region. Consider a close-up visit to the large 3.9-metre diameter optical telescope at the Anglo-Australian Telescope facility at Siding Springs in the Warrumbungles. Siding Spring Observatory houses over 60 telescopes from institutions across the world including, Korea, America, the UK, Poland, Hungary, Germany and Russia. Travel through rural grain producing towns, and see the innovative and large water tower and silo artworks Arrive Lightning Ridge, home to Australia’s beautiful black opal. Visit an underground mine and see how the mining community lives. Buy your opals direct from the Opal Cutters and Wholesalers at huge discounts to City prices.
Day 3: Depart Lightning Ridge for the 800 km return journey to Sydney via huge sheep stations and some of the largest fields of wheat and cotton in the world. Witness the majestic 1520 m high Mt Kaputar dominating this ancient volcanic landscape. Lunch in a “Country Pub”. Travel on through the Liverpool Ranges, and Scone, the heart of horse breeding country in Australia. Time permitting enjoy some wine tasting in the Hunter Valley before arrival in Sydney approximately 7:00 pm
Inclusions –
- Motel style en-suite accommodation
- All meals except 2 dinners own cost in restaurants
- Silo Art Trail art includes Dunedoo, Gulargambone, Coonamble, Walgett, Gunnedah, Quirindi
- John Murray Art Gallery at Lightning Ridge
- Wine tastings
- Wild wildlife!!
- Discount opal buying
- Aboriginal art and real Aussie county folk
- National Parks entry fees.
- Tour price supports Outback Kids Fund & Nature Care projects.
For full itinerary details, images and travel information, visit the Spirit Safaris tour page HERE > View details & images
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Or Call 0417 244 600 or 1300 763 188
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They were knowledgeable, extremely helpful and friendly.
In particular, Lyn made a huge effort to share her wealth of information and satisfy any of our requests.
Such an amazing experience to see Kati Thanda in flood highly recommend this tour company.
Lyn and Richard are very relaxed and extremely proficient in every aspect. I would certainly recommend Spirit Safaris if you want a comfortable and engaging trip in the outback.
To use the original track across Coppers Creek to get to the Dig Tree instead of taking the long way around was a great memory. There is no doubt that we thoroughly enjoyed our experience and cannot thank both Spirit Safaris and Adrian foe a great experience.
Thank you. Maureen and David
For our first 3 days we travelled with Richard's partner, Lyn, and her group before hiving off to Innamincka, Birdsville and Marree with many stops in between. Nothing was too much trouble for Richard and he kept us well informed of what we were doing each day. He even made a detour to Betoota at our request! Every day was full and there was no room for the slightest boredom even on long drive days as Richard and our other passenger, Janelle, were the excellent conversationalists with great senses of humour too boot.
If you're looking for a 4 - 5 star luxury holiday then this is not for you but if good, clean, comfortable accommodation and regular meals suffice then this holiday is well worth undertaking. Once you've driven on the Stuart Desert, the Strzlecki and the Oodnadatta Tracks you can really appreciate the logistics and costs associated with getting goods and services to these and surrounding areas. Having said that, we had some lovely stays and meals and a holiday we haven't stopped talking about but which will remain a favourite for sure. Our thanks to Richard and Lyn.
Dalhousie Springs was also a great attaction, showing the diversity of such a remote area of Australia
Comfortable travel in the four-wheel drive vehicles and in camp with good sized tents and a stretcher being provided to give a good night's sleep.
Comfortable travel in the four-wheel drive vehicles and in camp with good sized tents and a stretcher being provided to give a good night's sleep.
Comfortable travel, good food, excellent accommodation for the locations (don't expect 5 star at Cameron's Corner) and all with a knowledgeable and careful driver.
We ticked off all of the items we wished to see in the area.
Highly Recommended
The accommodation is ok and suited our needs.
That night we ate at the Oasis cafe (which is the service station, post office and local store). The food was great - lots of it and delicious. The owner is a great guy (cant remember his name) and easy going. Wine and beer etc available but limited selections - but not an issue from my perspective as we all had enough options to drink that night.
The following morning Oasis cafe was helpful in providing a good breakfast and coffee and we were off on a 3hr drive to Williams Creek to catch our flight over Lake Eyre.
Excellent flight over Lake Eyre for 2 hours - great colours, black ducks etc
Lunch at William Creek and then our return drive stopping in at the Bubbler plus some other spots.
Sunset in Maree with amazing colours across the land. Strong orange moon rise.
Dinner at the Pub in Maree and good selection of food, a few drinks and a few more at our accommodation with the other members of the tour group.
Breakfast the following morning at Oasis cafe and we were off back to Adelaide.
Passing through Leigh Creek and the dam that supports Leigh Creek - stunning.
Stopping in at Farina and Kanyaka homestead. Back to Quorn for lunch, to the final drive back to Adelaide.
Great weekend!
Lyn and Grant the tour drivers were fantastic easy going and accommodating.
Just some notes to perspective visitors -
1. There is a lot of ground to cover to get to Maree so depart times are important.
2. Do some research on temperatures and drive duration
3. If there are specific areas you would like to visit advise the tour operators prior to the trip/ booking
4. Of course the tour operators can provide specific information
Thanks to Spirit Safaris for a great weekend.
My only criticism is that the price is the very upper end of what I think a lot of people would pay.





























