Our wonderful journey starts in Sydney, the city where the Bush Church Aid Society started over 100 years ago. Enjoy our first Group Dinner and the opportunity to get to know your fellow travellers. Tonight, we will be joined by BCA National Director Greg Harris and his wife Karen and will learn more about the inspiring work Bush Church Aid does throughout remote and regional Australia.

Overnight: Sydney

BCA – Greg and Karen Harris

Our Outback adventure begins! Enjoy a scenic drive through the Blue Mountains, stopping in Wentworth Falls to share Sunday Worship with a local congregation at Holy Trinity Church.

We cross the Great Dividing Range and enjoy lunch at the Beekeepers Inn, a former Cobb & Co staging post. We travel onto the regional city of Dubbo, our destination for the night.

Overnight: Dubbo

This morning, we visit Dubbo’s Royal Flying Doctor Base Education Centre; founded as a “mantle of safety” in 1927 by Presbyterian Pastor Reverend John Flynn, the RFDS continues to be an essential service for people who live, work and travel in remote Australia. We depart Dubbo and travel to Nyngan on the Bogan River. It is then to Cobar, an historic mining town still drawing copper from its rich lodes. Tonight, we will host BCA Family James & Brittany Daymond.

Overnight: Cobar

BCA – James and Brittany Daymond

2 NIGHTS

From Cobar we drive to Wilcannia where we meet the Darling River; during the great river boat era of the mid-19th century this was the third largest inland port in Australia. From Wilcannia we continue west to Broken Hill, a frontier mining town set in a sprawling, desert landscape of red earth and huge skies.

Overnight: Broken Hill

Enjoy sightseeing in and around this interesting and historic town; many people know Broken Hill as the home to BHP, Australia’s first large scale mining company, but it also was Australia’s first heritage-listed city and in September 2023 the town’s Trades Hall was endorsed for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List.

The hugely prosperous silver, lead and zinc mining industries of the 19th Century left the city a legacy of grand architecture and today Broken Hill is known as a cultural hub, home to many art galleries and museums encapsulating the city’s rich history.
Enjoy the various attractions at your leisure with our own “Hop on / Hop off” bus service stopping at selected museums and galleries throughout the afternoon.

We cap off a wonderful day with a sunset tour of the dramatic Sculpture Symposium, a group of monumental sandstone sculptures, set in the Living Desert State Park.

Overnight: Broken Hill

Such varied countryside today as we travel into South Australia; we pass through the Northern Ranges that lead into the Flinders Ranges and stop in Peterborough to share morning tea with local Christians.

We travel through the delightful little township of Orroroo; said to have the widest street in Australia it is also very close to Goyder’s Line which, when surveyed in 1865, was deemed the limit of productive land in South Australia.

Our destination is Port Augusta at the head of the Gulf of St Vincent. Port Augusta has long been known as the “Crossroads of Australia” and the “Gateway to the Outback” and, by strange serendipity, the roads really do head to the primary points of the compass – north, south, east and west.

The award-winning Wadlata Outback Centre provides a wonderful introduction to this region and the lives and history of the Aboriginal desert people who, for over 40,000 years, have lived in the lands that surround this city. We are at the edge of the Outback – only one more sleep ….

Overnight: Port Augusta

Where does the Outback begin? It is safe to say that we now really are entering that elusive region, central to so much Australian folklore.

We stop for a morning break in Woomera and visit the National Aerospace and Missile Park; the rockets are a legacy of the town once being one of the most secret allied establishments in operation during the Cold War. From 1947 – 1982 Woomera Village operated as a “closed town” to support the operations of the Woomera Rocket Range during the Anglo-Australia Project. It’s hard to imagine but this tiny town in the middle of the Outback (permanent population now 136) was once home to around 7000 people!
Our destination is Roxby Downs; originally a cattle station, the town was purpose built to support the BHP Olympic Dam Mine Site which mines for copper, uranium, gold and silver.

Roxby Downs is a BCA Ministry Centre, and we will be visiting Glen & Beth McDonald who minister to a very transient population drawn from around 40 different nations. Roxby has a permanent population of around 4500 plus 1,000 fly-in fly-out (FIFO) or drive-in drive-out workers employed in the mines.

We travel out of town to visit Arid Recovery, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the restoration of Australia’s arid lands. The 123 square km fenced enclosure has 60 square km where feral cats, rabbits and foxes have been kept out allowing the regeneration of native vegetation and introduction of five locally extinct mammals (western quoll, greater bilby, burrowing bettong, stick-nest rat and western barred bandicoot). Enjoy a guided tour of unique habitats, identifying tracks, burrows, and plant species, watch a spectacular desert sunset from the viewing platform and savour a Starlight Dinner (cooked by the local Rotary Club).

Finally, we go spotlighting for some of the native species that now thrive in this location. What an experience!

Overnight: Roxby Downs

BCA – Glen and Beth McDonald

2 NIGHTS

We are travelling through true Outback scenery – marvel at the distant desert landforms called Mesas as the many salt pans / lakes and the vegetation has become stunted with low level spinifex. Our surroundings feel immeasurably vast with the road extending to the horizon – and beyond. We are heading to Coober Pedy; set in a sunbaked “lunar landscape” this is a truly unique township where most buildings are built underground creating a labyrinth of houses, hotels, shops and churches. Enjoy an incredible Outback sunset before sharing a meal and fellowship with the BCA Field staff, Dave and Margie Wood.

Overnight: Coober Pedy

Coober Pedy is a challenging place to live and work with 45 different nationalities making up its cosmopolitan population of 2500. Bush Church Aid Society has long provided much needed ministry to this remote location and in 1977 the famed Catacomb Church was built (or really dug out) from an old opal cave, with the sandstone cut in the shape of a cross.

The Catacomb Church is a truly special place to share Sunday worship, its simple décor reflecting the local mining community whilst also reminiscent of the Roman catacombs, where early Christians sought refuge from persecution.

After the service we travel out to nearby Kanku-Breakaways Conservation Park, an area of spectacular-coloured hills, flat topped mesas and gibber covered plains (locally referred to as “moon plain”). On our return we will see part of the “Dog Fence”, a 2m high wire barrier stretching over 5,300km across three States erected to protect the sheep country in the south from dingoes.

This afternoon we visit the award winning Umoona Opal Mine; first worked in the 1920s, it is now a museum. Learn how opal was formed and mined, about Australia’s ancient past and the area’s Aboriginal and European settlement before browsing the town’s largest opal showroom.

Overnight: Coober Pedy

2 NIGHTS

Great excitement and anticipation today as we travel North towards the very heart of the Red Centre and Uluru (Ayers Rock) A ritual border crossing as we drive over into the Northern Territory and the chance to stand on the Tropic of Capricorn before turning West into Yulara (Ayers Rock Resort) with its magnificent backdrop of Uluru.
Enjoy a delicious dinner and a good night’s sleep before a full day’s sightseeing.

Overnight: Yulara

What an incredible way to start the day as we rise before dawn to view the breathtaking Field of Light. Overwhelming in size, covering more than seven football fields, this exhibition invites immersion in its fantasy garden of 50,000 spindles of light, the stems breathing and swaying through a sympathetic desert spectrum of ochre, deep violet, blue and gentle white. Enjoy a hot cuppa as you watch the sunrise and soak up the changing colours of Uluru (and Kata Tjuta in the distance.

We return to our hotel for breakfast before visiting “The Rock” for a tour around the base followed by the short Kuniya Walk to see the Mutijulu Waterhole.

This afternoon our drive will take us out through the desert to Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) where there is a chance to walk into a part of this amazing geological feature. Whilst Uluru is the largest sandstone monolith in the world, Kata Tjuta (meaning “many heads”) is made up of 36 giant domes spread over more than 20km. The colour of the rocks has to be seen to be believed!

Enjoy drinks and canapes as we take in the incredible colours of an Outback sunset followed by a wonderful evening of stargazing and fellowship as we dine under the stars at the base of Uluru. Glory in God’s Creation – a day certain to live in your memory as well as your heart!

Overnight: Yulara

3 NIGHTS

We farewell Uluru and rejoin the Stuart Highway with our sights set on Alice Springs; located 1500km from both Adelaide and Darwin, ‘Alice’ was once an integral part of the Overland Telegraph Line as well as the terminus for the old Ghan train.
The entrance to Alice Springs is spectacular as we pass through the Heavitree Gap, a narrow space shared with the new Ghan Railway line. A drive around town will help you get your bearings before enjoying some time at leisure.

Tonight, we will host the BCA Family of Topher & Chica Hallyburton.

Overnight: Alice Springs

BCA – Topher & Chica Hallyburton.

A glorious day as we drive into the nearby West MacDonnell Ranges – be amazed by the beauty of the sheer walls of the Standley Chasm as they glow a rich deep pink-red from the reflected sunlight and enjoy the stunning gorge that is Simpson’s Gap.

We finish our day with a visit to the Earth Sanctuary to enjoy their Spirit of the Outback dinner & show. Soak up a spectacular sunset over the Eastern MacDonnell Ranges then listen to stories about local ecology, culture and astronomy under an awe-inspiring canopy of stars.

Overnight: Alice Springs

✈️14 Day Tour passengers fly home today.

Today we will experience the main attractions of this very special Central Australian township starting with a panoramic view of Alice Springs and the beautiful surrounding ranges from ANZAC Hill.

After a visit to the original Overland Telegraph Station our passengers who have elected the shorter holiday option will fly home.

After farewelling our newfound friends, we visit the Alice Springs Desert Park to take in the Birds of Prey Show.

Overnight: Alice Springs

We farewell “Alice” to follow the remnants of the path of the Overland Telegraph line; we pass the turn off to the Tanami Track and the Plenty Highway and through places such as Barrow Creek, before stopping in Wauchope for a lunch break. We visit Karlu Karlu , gigantic boulders also known as the Devil’s Marbles, before continuing on to Tennant Creek, a genuine Outback Australian town. Whilst it has a population of only 3080, Tennant Creek is the seventh largest town in the Northern Territory and is known for its blue skies, boundless horizons, million-acre cattle stations and gold mining heritage.

Overnight: Tennant Creek

This Sunday we will worship as the “Church of the Travelling Saints” and reflect on those hardy souls who travelled long distances to minister in the Outback. We are travelling north, passing roadhouses and tiny settlements in the middle of extremely large cattle stations.

As we journey through this vast landscape, we imagine the pioneering lives of the drovers that shifted large mobs of cattle through this area to settle the Kimberley, or to take them to markets in Queensland. We are headed to Katherine and pass through Newcastle Waters, Daly Waters and Mataranka on our way there. Tonight, we will be hosting BCA Field Staff Pat & Issy O’Keeffe.

Overnight: Katherine

BCA – Pat and Issy O’keeffe

2 NIGHTS

Katherine is famous for its dramatic Nitmiluk National Park (Katherine Gorge) and this morning we will cruise two gorges in this wonderful inland waterway. NOTE – as we walk across rocks between gorges, good shoes and light trousers are recommended.

As we head north today the distinctive change in vegetation makes it obvious, we are now in the lush “The Top End”. Entering Kakadu National Park, we will visit Bowalli Visitors’ Centre where you can collect information and maps that will add to your experience. We travel to Nourlangie Rock, famous for its ancient Aboriginal rock art – tour several “art galleries” set amongst the rocky outcrops and admire the sensational views over Arnhem Land floodplains.

Overnight: Kakadu

Covering an area of 19,800 square kilometres the World Heritage listed Kakadu is also the largest National Park in Australia and today we have a full day to further explore its beauty; learn more about the local Aboriginal culture at the Warradjan Cultural Centre and walk around the Aboriginal rock art at Ubirr Rock and take in the breathtaking views across the vast plains. We top off a fantastic day with a cruise on Yellow Water Billabong surrounded by wildlife (including the ever- present crocodile).

Overnight: Kakadu

2 NIGHTS

We travel towards Darwin, Australia’s only tropical capital city. Along the way we pass Humpty Doo, one of the earliest but failed attempts at agricultural irrigation for farming the Far North. Enjoy a scenic drive as we cross the Marrakai Plains, with its many magnetic and cathedral anthills. These plains and lagoons are a haven for grazing wild buffalo, wallabies, Jabiru, Egrets, Magpie Geese and Brolga.

In Darwin we visit Nungalinya, the BCA supported Bible Training College empowering Indigenous Christians. Later this afternoon we will travel to Fannie Bay then to East Point to enjoy beautiful views across the Timor Sea. Tonight, we will enjoy dinner watching the sun set over the water as we cruise Darwin Harbour. What a day!

Overnight: Darwin

This morning, we will enjoy sightseeing with a difference on the Darwin History & Wartime Experience Tour; we journey back through time in a genuine WW2 army truck to relive Darwin’s exciting and historic past.

Darwin has a dramatic history, from its bombing by the Japanese during WWII to the devastation of Cyclone Tracy in 1974. Today it is relaxed, modern city celebrating its cosmopolitan mix of over 50 nationalities, and tonight we are fortunate to be able to socialise with the locals rather than just interact as tourists.

BCA has long had a strong presence in Darwin with different Field Staff and those who work with Nungalinya College. On this, our final night, we celebrate a wonderful tour by sharing dinner and fellowship with some of these inspirational people who really “go the distance for God”.

Overnight: Darwin

We fly home from Darwin with full hearts and wonderful memories. Our Outback tour may have ended but it has been a fun-filled holiday of incredible scenery, wonderful experiences and fellowship shared with new friends.