The ultimate WA adventure: small-group tours into the heart of the outback
Outback Spirit tours don't just take you to see the sights – they invite you to experience them. These carefully curated tours are designed for curious travellers looking for authentic ways to journey beyond the well-trodden attractions and discover the state's hidden gems.
Tour through the Kimberley region. Photograph: Outback Spirit
Journey through the wilderness of the Kimberley, Pilbara and Golden Outback in comfortable, purpose-built 4WD vehicles to get safe, unrivalled access to these outback regions. Handpicked lodgings – including exclusive safari camps – mean you'll end every day in comfort, surrounded by the wilderness that brought you here.
In the otherworldly Kimberley region, one of Earth's last true frontiers, ancient landscapes unfurl in vivid red and ochre hues. Outback Spirit's flagship tour of the region includes a stay at Ngauwudu Safari Camp, an eco-retreat nestled at the gateway to Mitchell Falls (Punamii-Uunpuu).
Ngauwudu Safari Camp, Mitchell Plateau. Photograph: Outback Spirit
Cruising the Horizontal Falls (Garaan-ngaddim). Photograph: Journey Beyond – Horizontal Falls (Seaplane Adventures)
You'll explore some of Australia's most astonishing terrain – the tiered pools of Mitchell Falls are a standout – and cruise the Horizontal Falls (Garaan-ngaddim) before marvelling at the surreal shapes of Purnululu National Park's Bungle Bungle Range, a World Heritage-listed site sculpted by wind and water over 350m years.
Explore Purnululu National Park's Bungle Bungle Range. Photograph. Outback Spirit
Along the way, expert guides illuminate the deep cultural significance of each site, sharing Aboriginal stories that bring these landscapes to life. Whether you're exploring on foot, or by helicopter, boat or 4WD, Outback Spirit's all-inclusive tours invite you to forge a more meaningful connection with the region.
In the Pilbara, Karijini National Park offers a striking contrast: plunging red gorges and towering, spinifex-covered plateaux stretch toward a boundless sky. You'll walk through rock chasms formed over 2bn years, swim in pristine waterholes and experience the awe and quiet grandeur of country (the area is culturally significant to the Banyjima, Kurrama and Innawonga peoples). To get there, you'll journey along the spectacular Coral Coast Highway to hang out with dolphins at Monkey Mia, snorkel at Ningaloo Reef (Nyinggulu) and cruise between the cliffs of Yardie Creek.
Fortescue Falls in the Pilbara. Photograph: Outback Spirit
Whether you're exploring the North West, or heading south into the Pilbara and Coral Coast, your journey will take you to Broome (Rubibi). If you're there between March and October, you may get to see the extraordinary Staircase to the Moon, a natural optical illusion caused by the full moon reflecting off the tidal flats of Roebuck Bay (Yawuru Nagulagun).
Outback Spirit's South Western Explorer tour reveals a very different side of Western Australia – one of vibrant wildflower displays, soaring forests and the vast expanses of the Golden Outback. You'll walk beneath towering karri and tingle trees on the Ancient Empire walk, and delight in the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk, where suspended pathways lead through the forest canopy.
In Kalgoorlie (Karlkurla), you'll delve into the gold rush past before standing in awe of Wave Rock (Katter Kich), a 2.7bn-year-old granite swell shaped like a breaking ocean wave. And in the coastal gem of Esperance (Kepa Kurl), you'll be greeted by dazzling white-sand beaches, clear turquoise waters and wild, windswept beauty.
In the Margaret River Region, gourmet indulgence takes centre stage, with lunch and tastings at a renowned local winery. To cap it off, you'll spend a night in the port city of Fremantle(Walyalup), visit the WA Maritime Museum – home to the legendary Australia II racing yacht – and cruise up the Swan River (Derbarl Yerrigan) to Perth (Boorloo).
There's a dream adventure waiting for everyone in Western Australia. Discover more at outbackspirittours.com.au.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
12 hours ago
- The Guardian
Could my power bank start a fire on board a plane? Here are the rules and the risks
Virgin Australia says it is considering changes to its rules around lithium batteries after a fire on a flight from Sydney was thought to have been caused by a power bank in a passenger's carry-on luggage. Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (Casa) has said the average passenger travels with at least four rechargeable lithium battery devices, which can be contained in smartphones, laptops and portable power banks. If you're wondering what the rules are, and why lithium-ion batteries are considered a risk on flights, here's a quick overview. Yes. But rules vary, so you should check the airline's restrictions before you fly. Generally, laptops and cameras can be packed in checked luggage as long as they are completely switched off, according to Casa. But spare batteries and power banks should only go into carry-on baggage because batteries and power banks can short circuit, overheat and catch fire during a flight. Lithium-ion batteries that exceed 160Wh are not permitted at all, unless they are used for mobility aids. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Smart bags with power banks or lithium-ion batteries are allowed as long as the battery can be removed before check-in and carried in a passenger's cabin baggage. Virgin Australia says any spare or loose batteries, including power banks, must be in carry-on baggage only and must be protected by placing them in their original retail packaging, or placing each battery in a separate plastic bag or protective pouch, or taping over exposed terminals. Qantas says passengers travelling with power banks, including Apple AirPod cases, and spare or loose batteries, must only take them in carry-on baggage. The airline says it does not recommend the use or charging of power banks onboard due to safety. Several international airlines have banned the use of power banks on board, including Thai Airways, South Korean Airlines, EVA Air, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, Singapore Airlines and its budget subsidiary, Scoot. If you're flying with an international carrier, you should check its rules before your flight. Generally, passengers are required to pack their power banks in their carry-on luggage. But whether they can be used on the plane depends on the specific airline. Not necessarily. Prof Neeraj Sharma, a battery expert at the University of New South Wales, says lithium-ion batteries can have 20 different components, some of which are liquids, making them more volatile than other, solid parts such as the electrodes or casing. Applying pressure to a lithium-ion battery can lead to 'thermal runaway' – an uncontrollable increase in temperature – but a battery exploding is incredibly rare. Sharma says airlines still instruct people to carry batteries in their hand luggage as a way to mitigate risk, because there is a minimal pressure difference in a plane cabin compared to the baggage hold. Sharma says power banks and other lithium-ion battery devices that aren't as well regulated as mobile phones or laptops – such as e-scooters and vapes – pose more of a risk and may have lower quality batteries. Prof Amanda Ellis, the head of the University of Melbourne's School of Chemical & Biomedical Engineering, says lithium battery fires aren't more likely on planes. She says airline cabin pressure wouldn't get to the batteries because they are covered by 'multiple layers of casing' but any enclosed environment makes fires particularly dangerous, especially as a plane can't be evacuated mid-air. 'They give off a very toxic gas and in a confined space that's not ideal,' she says. Ellis says lithium-ion battery fires are difficult to extinguish because often the lithium metal catches on fire, along with all the casing and the plastic – high energy materials that can burn for much longer. 'You wouldn't want to put water on a lithium fire. And that's the first thing people [on a plane] might think of doing.' The batteries contain lithium ions suspended in an electrolyte solution. The ions flow through the electrolyte, travelling back and forth between two electrodes as the battery charges and discharges. Ellis says a common cause is from people overcharging their batteries, so they overheat, which results in thermal runaway. If there's too much energy in the battery, it can crack, causing the highly flammable electrolyte inside it to burst into flames when exposed to air. She says phones and other, more sophisticated lithium battery-powered devices have an internal 'trickle system' which slowly adds current into the battery to prevent overcharging. But cheaper power banks typically don't have this safeguard, Ellis says, making them more of a risk. 'Never charge your power bank overnight,' she says. 'Never charge it more than it has to be charged. In a way you've got to watch the power bank for when the light goes from red to green, and unplug it.' Ellis says that, overall, batteries are very safe if used appropriately and in the right conditions, and people shouldn't be worried about flying because of them.
Daily Mail
14 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Savage way socialite's ex learned she was dating Australia's No.1 real estate agent - as insiders reveal details of the romance that's stunned Jewish high society: 'He's spending a fortune on her'
A European summer romance between Australia's No. 1 real estate agent and a British socialite is the talk of the eastern suburbs. Gavin Rubinstein, the founder of prestige real estate agency The Rubinstein Group, is sailing across the continent with his new girlfriend Ruby Adler.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
The huge problem with Australia's so-called First Nations Ambassador - and it's not just the massive travel bill that's raising eyebrows
By any reasonable measure, the numbers are absurd. Australia's so-called First Nations Ambassador, Justin Mohamed, has seemingly managed to spend more time airborne than in any substantive engagement likely to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians. In just two years, Mohamed has clocked up 261 travel days (an entire working year) at a cost of more than $730,000 to taxpayers. Add to that a contract worth just shy of $1million over two and a half years, and the obvious question arises: what exactly has he achieved? This isn't some isolated administrative extravagance, by the way. It's emblematic of the broader drift and performative politics that characterise the Albanese government. And they claim they want to cut spending and fix the budget! We've seen this movie before. Airbus Albo, as the Opposition dubbed him, doesn't mind taxpayer-funded travel perks, not least his well-documented preference for Qantas upgrades and photo ops abroad. So it's hardly surprising that a pet foreign policy project dressed up as First Nations engagement would follow the same globe-trotting script. But here's the problem: while Mohamed racks up hotel points and business-class miles to destinations like New York, Geneva, Paris, Dubai and Hawaii, the supposed mission to 'implement a First Nations approach to foreign policy' remains nebulous at best. Even within DFAT, the exact objectives and outcomes of the role appear to shift depending on the press release spinning a defence. First it was about supporting the Voice, until the Voice referendum failed. Then it was about regional engagement and economic diplomacy. Now, it's part of some vague effort to counter China 's influence in the Pacific. If it all sounds like policy on the run, that's because it is. And you're paying for it. Of his 46 taxpayer-funded trips, just five were to Pacific Islands. In contrast, Mohamed spent more than twice as long in the United States alone. That's not regional engagement, it's tourism with talking points. When Daily Mail Australia previously revealed that a single two-week trip to Kansas City and Washington DC cost taxpayers over $75,000, it raised eyebrows. But even that wasn't the whole picture. FOI documents showed his team has burned through nearly $400,000 on travel, separate from his own expenses. And yet there's still no public explanation (let alone evidence) of what measurable benefit this travelling roadshow has delivered for the Indigenous communities the ambassador is supposed to represent. This matters not just because the waste is galling, but because this kind of performative diplomacy erodes public confidence in the very causes it purports to champion. If you wanted to design a role that fuels scepticism about reconciliation, appoint a taxpayer-funded roving ambassador to attend international conferences with no clear mandate, no KPIs and no link to tangible outcomes for those suffering entrenched disadvantage back home. If this were a corporate role, it would be axed in the next round of budget cuts. Instead, it's being defended by the government with the often hollow rhetoric of diversity, inclusion and soft power, as though those buzzwords justify burning through public funds with no accountability. The truth is you can't close the gap from business class, and symbolic diplomacy, no matter how well-intentioned or well-funded doesn't help when it's divorced from practical policy. If the Albanese government can't see that this is wrong, they're not listening. And if the Coalition has any sense, they'll stick to their pre-election pledge to abolish this role on day one of returning to office. But God only knows how far off into the distance that day might be. The real work of reconciliation will remain stuck on the tarmac until this bloke gets the boot.
