The end of the first day is spent in St George at the start of the ‘real’ outback. Along the way there will have been a number of stops for birdwatching, other wildlife, and refreshments. Crops of wheat, sorghum and cotton will have been passed, but west of St George there are no crops, just open rangeland or wilderness. Walking along the riverside in town before dinner is often good for seeing and hearing outback parrots and other birds. After a night in St George a dawn walk over the bridge at the edge of town is usually very rewarding for birdwatching before heading further west.

The last big town on the journey for our basic tour, with an interesting museum and information centre, the large Cunnaulla Fella statue (designed from a bush poem) and a good lunch a local pub. Bowra is a short drive from here. Accommodation is no longer available at Bowra, so we will spend 1 to 3 nights in Cunnamulla unless guests opt for camping at Bowra.

A small country town (a sign tells us “Population: 50 people and 1500 lizards”) which often has emus, Major Mitchell Cockatoos, apostle birds and other outback birds right in therein street. A nearby lagoon is great for waterbirds and other birds doing for a drink. This is visited only on our extended tours.

A birding hotspot, including several rare species such as Hall’s Babbler and a wonderful diversity of others, Bowra is former cattle station now owned by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. It includes a number of habitats – waterholes, watercourses, rocky areas, different kinds outback woodland etc. As well as birds, kangaroos (including red kangaroos), snakes, lizards and frogs are common. Their accommodation is now closed, so the tour group now stays in the neighbouring town of Cunnamulla (17km away) and visits from soon after dawn.

Currawinya is a large outback national park with red soils and a variety of outback habitats, a meandering river, and two large Ramsar-declared lakes (salt and freshwater). Outback waterholes attract birds and kangaroos, especially at dawn and dusk, and the feeling of remoteness and the ‘wide open spaces’ is ever present. It is now only visited on extended tours.

A very small outback town sometimes included in the tour if visiting Currawinya. Remote from any other town or any tourist resort, it really gives the feeling of genuine outback, and is a very short distance from the southern end of Currawinya NP. On the last tour the population of the town was recorded as four.

A possible stop on an extended tour, to see remains of Australia’s largest dinosaur plus other fossils.

One of the larger towns in the outback, Charleville’s major attraction are the Bilby Centre (where this endangered native mammal is bred for subsequent release at Currawinya National Park, and educational tours are conducted) and the Cosmos Centre (the museum of which can be explored by day, and the telescope at night to view the moon, galaxies and planets. Two or three nights are spent here on extended tours.

This is an extensive heritage-listed plantation of outback trees and shrubs started by grazier David Morgan in the 1940’s. It has become famous amongst botanists internationally, with visits by curators of Kew Gardens and others. Extended tours only.