Inclusions

• Accommodation – Broome – Cable Beach Club Resort (2 Nights), Fitzroy Crossing – Fitzroy River Lodge (1), Halls Creek – Kimberley Hotel (1), El Questro – Emma Gorge Resort, Tented Cabin with private facilities (2), Kununurra – Kununurra Country Club Resort (2), Katherine -Paraway Motel (1), Darwin – Vibe Hotel Darwin Waterfront (1)
• Meals – 10 Full breakfasts, 2 Lunches, 7 Dinners with Wine, 1 Farewell Dinner
• US Domestic Flights – (Not included, but can be added to your quote)
• International Flights – Los Angeles to Broome, Darwin to Los Angeles (Not included, but can be added to your quote)
• Day Tours – Broome: Gantheaume Point Dinosaur Footprints; Fitzroy Crossing: Geiki Gorge Cruise, Fitzroy Crossing Aboriginal Art Gallery; Halls Creek: Indigenous Guided Argyle Diamond Mine Tour; El Questro: El Questro Wilderness Park, Chamberlain Gorge Cruise, Emma Gorge Hike & Swim; Kununurra: Hoochery Distillery, Durak Homestead, Ord River Cruise; Katherine: Katherine Outback Experience, Nitmiluk National Park, Katherine Gorge Cruise; Darwin: City Sights Tour
• Transfers – Airport to Hotel and Hotel to Airport
• All Taxes and Fuel Levies (Except where noted)

Tour Itinerary

Day 1: Welcome to Broome

You’re about to spend the next 10 days with a group of similarly minded adventure-seekers who will likely become best friends before you even leave tonight’s dinner venue. Break the ice over a few cool drinks and a suitably dazzling Broome sunset that sinks into the Indian Ocean with a sizzle.

Hotel Cable Beach Club Resort (2 Nights)

Dinner with Wine included

Day 2: Broome

Among the most multicultural cities in Australia, Broome became a base for fortune-seekers the world over during its ‘pearl rush’. Many of them never left. The pristine waters here grow great oysters, and the resulting pearls are prized by lovers of all things that gleam. The hardest thing you have to do today is decide how to spend it. We have a few ideas. Opt to go to the source and see how pearls are painstakingly grown and harvested, perhaps. Or head north to feel the full force of nature on an optional scenic flight over (and heart-starting cruise through) the magical Horizontal Falls. Only then will you begin to grasp just how mighty the tides are here, ramming through two narrow chasms and creating a waterfall that appears to have been tipped on its side. It will take your breath away, in more ways than one – those boats move fast. We wouldn’t blame you for simply enjoying Broome’s tropical climes, strolling along 22-kilometer Cable Beach, discovering colorful Chinatown then following locals to the sand, or a beachside bar, to salute the end of a spectacular day in Western Australia.

Breakfast included

Day 3: Broome – Fitzroy Crossing

Things are bigger in Broome, including the footprints. Preserved for 125 million years in the reef rock at Gantheaume Point are the imprints of long-extinct dinosaurs. Remarkably, the Broome coast has become one of the most significant paleontological sites in the world. Next stop – Fitzroy Crossing, the gateway to Danggu (Geikie) Gorge. Jump aboard a boat to discover how this part of the Kimberley was formed by the Fitzroy River carving the Napier Range, leaving behind a dramatic chasm with 30-meter walls, home to a plethora of wildlife. This all happened in Devonian times, some 350 million years ago. Keep watch for all creatures great and small, from freshwater crocs to fruit bats and wallabies. Look up to see white-bellied sea eagles and rare purple-crowned fairy wrens.

Hotel Fitzroy River Lodge

Breakfast & Dinner with Wine included

Day 4: Fitzroy Crossing – Halls Creek

Begin your deep dive into First Nations culture at a Fitzroy Crossing art gallery, a thriving venue dedicated to works by Aboriginal creatives. Pick up a piece or two to support the local community. Your connection to this culture continues as you travel toward the Great Sandy Desert, on the edge of which is the town of Halls Creek. This place is small in population, but big in personality.

Hotel Kimberley Hotel

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner with Wine included

Day 5: Halls Creek – Emma Gorge

Until recently, the Argyle Diamond Mine was the world’s largest producer of rare, and dazzling, pink diamonds. While operations have ceased, you can still visit and go behind the scenes. Your First Nations guide will not only point out where the magic once happened, but also explain the Aboriginal significance of this land – the traditional Barramundi Dreaming site – to First Nations communities. Then it’s on to the Gibb River Road, the stuff road trip legends are made of. You’ll see why, your route to El Questro Wilderness Park covering a few kilometers of the epic expanse. Now exhale – your safari-style tents for the night are backdropped by the Cockburn Range, surrounded by an oasis of pandanus and palms. When darkness falls, expect a bedazzlement of stars overhead.

Hotel Emma Gorge Resort, Tented Cabin with private facilities (2 Nights)

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner with Wine included

Day 6: El Questro Wilderness Park

The best way to wake up? With the sun streaming through your tent, wildlife all around. The Kimberley’s sounds follow you across the mighty Pentecost River, a mecca for those who love a spot of barramundi fishing. Arriving at Chamberlain Gorge, an enormous fresh waterhole, your cruise chariot awaits. Jump aboard to feel very small indeed, your boat dwarfed by soaring 60-meter escarpments, a brilliant shade of orange in the morning sun. When it’s time to cool down, take an afternoon dip, whether in the resort pool or at a waterhole within Emma Gorge. Take your pick. The latter is a challenge to reach – you will work up a sweat hiking there. But diving in at the end is worth the effort. Be back on your patio in time for sundowners.

Breakfast & Dinner with Wine included

Day 7: Emma Gorge – Kununurra

It’s not every day that you have the privilege of glimpsing the inner workings of a rum distillery with the family that owns it. Your tour will organize for you to meet the makers and discover how Hoochery Distillery prepares its lip-smacking, award-winning rums and whiskeys. Try a tasting paddle to get your heart started, or sit down to a slice of rum cake – morning tea sorted. Kununurra is the middle of nowhere, and only exists because of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme. Before it was a twinkle on the map, farming pioneers came here to establish vast cattle stations. The life of one such family is chronicled at the Durack Homestead Museum, revealing how the property was dismantled then reassembled on higher ground when much of the countryside was flooded for the dam. The project not only helped water the countryside, but created Lake Argyle. A sunset cruise here, surrounded by tens of thousands of freshwater crocs and an astounding array of birds, is something you won’t forget in a hurry.

Hotel Kununurra Country Club Resort (2 Nights)

Breakfast included

Day 8: Kununurra

How active and adventurous do you want today to be? Rise early to enjoy a bird’s-eye view of the beehive-like rock formations of the Bungle Bungles on an optional scenic flight over World Heritage-listed Purnululu National Park. Or opt to stay grounded on a 4WD tour through the ethereal landscape. Otherwise lace up your walking shoes and wander with your Travel Director through Mirima National Park, known as the ‘mini-Bungles’ for its rocky resemblance. Both destinations reveal the mind-boggling geology of this part of the world. Whatever direction you go, be sure to join the locals atop Kelly’s Knob for views over town as the sun sets.

Breakfast & Dinner with Wine included

Day 9: Kununurra – Katherine

Say goodbye to Western Australia and hello to the Northern Territory, your introduction to the state the vast pastoral lands that characterize the outback here. Locals come with plenty of country swagger, as you’ll discover when you meet the horseman and award-winning musician Tom Curtain for an afternoon of knee-slappin’ fun on a working station. Tom’s quite the entertainer, and regales visitors with songs and stories during his Katherine Outback Experience. Fun, engaging and insightful.

Hotel Paraway Motel

Breakfast & Dinner with Wine included

Day 10: Katherine – Darwin

Nature reigns supreme at Nitmiluk National Park bordering Kakadu. This is Jawoyn land, and a place where you’ll feel your spirit soar. Particularly when you’re cruising through dramatic Nitmiluk (Katherine) Gorge, your boat the only sound echoing around this enormous chasm. Remarkably, this is one of 13 gorges carved through the national park, and at every bend in the river, the sun casts soaring sandstone cliffs a different color. As you ease north, reminders of the impact of WWII line the banks of the Adelaide River. The headquarters of a military base once stood here, and there’s a cemetery nearby to remember those who lost their lives here. It’s a sobering sight. The balmy Darwin climate sets the pace for your city tour: relaxed. Meet locals (there are some characters), discover the city’s architecture and learn about the events that have shaped life in the Top End, from Cyclone Tracy to WWII when the Northern Territory capital was bombed. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve lived in Darwin, the Mindil Beach Sunset Market is an institution. Browse the food stalls before gathering to watch the day disappear and exchange email addresses with your new friends.

Hotel Vibe Hotel Darwin Waterfront

Breakfast & Farewell Dinner included

Day 11: Farewell from Darwin

Eleven days. Countless adventures. A bunch of new friends. And a renewed appreciation for the wild side of Australia. What a journey this has been!

Breakfast included