On this special Mackay departure, we leave the coast behind and head to our first destination of Longreach. You will visit the Qantas Founders’ Museum where you will have the opportunity to tour the Museum and go on an Airpark Tour. This will take the group through the history of Aviation and Qantas in Australia.

Enjoy getting up close to some classic aircraft types including the Boeing 747, 707, DC-3 and Super Constellation.

Following lunch, you will have the opportunity to visit The Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame, known as the ‘Sydney Opera House of the bush’. Learn about the hard times our forefathers had in this hostile land known as the Outback.Departing Longreach we fly even further west to Birdsville.  

Enjoy a town sights tour including the infamous Race Track, Diamantina River, Burke and Wills Tree and Geo Thermal Power Station before heading west past the Bronco Branding Yards out to Big Red for an unforgettable sunset experience.

Your local and experienced guide will provide first hand commentary about life in Birdsville, the townships history and other interesting facts and figures as you trek along. As Big Red looms your guide will prepare the vehicle for the steep ascent up the famously tallest sand dune in the region!

With spectacular views in every direction, enjoy some time to explore and take in the beauty of this distinctive environment. Enjoy 'chef prepared' cheese and nibble platters and refreshments, before returning to the Birdsville Hotel for Dinner.

Overnight - Birdsville Hotel

As we depart Birdsville we follow the Diamantina River all the way down to Lake Eyre North.

The scenery is spectacular, especially after the recent floods in Queensland. Flying on to William Creek for lunch, you will be amazed by the history of the (once) boarding house. The William Creek Hotel began its life back in 1887, providing a place to eat and sleep for the labourers on the Old Ghan Railway. 

As we continue our Lake Eyre scenic flight, we pass over the well-known Belt Bay. The southernmost part of Lake Eyre North is where an abundance of wildlife thrives in the salt-rich shores. It holds most of the lake’s annual rainfall, and its deepest part has been recorded at 15 metres below sea level.

As we leave Lake Eyre South an aerial view of the Marree Man becomes clear in the distance. This feature ‘stands’ at 4.2 kilometres tall, measures 28 kilometres around its perimeter, and depicts a hunter with a stick. To this day, there is still no credible information known about the individual responsible for creating the world’s second largest geoglyph, located just on the outer banks of Kati Thanda – Lake Eyre.Flying south to our next stop, we land in the small town of Marree. Located 57 km southeast of Lake Eyre, at the junction of the Birdsville and Oodnadatta tracks, Marree is a unique town with an incredible history. In the late 19th Century, the construction of the great Ghan Railway marked a major chapter in Australian history, connecting Adelaide’s southern coast to the far reaches of Darwin.

This would facilitate trade and transport of cattle from the surrounding areas to the markets. In 1878, the mammoth task of laying the Ghan Railway through the Australian outback began. Afghan labourers and their camels played a huge role in the construction and maintenance of the railway, forming settlements known as ‘Ghantowns’, which still exist today. The labourers, experiencing unimaginable hardships and battling the unforgiving environment of the Outback, pressed through, reaching Hawker in 1880, Beltana in 1881, Marree in 1884, and Oodnadatta in 1891.

Our last flight of the day takes us to the tiny outback town of Tibooburra.

The Tibooburra Hotel was originally built in 1882 during the Australian Gold Rush & was constructed from locally quarried sandstone.

Despite some recent challenges, the beloved Hotel still stands proudly today and offers a much-loved oasis in the harsh Australian Outback. Affectionately referred to as “The Two Storey”.

Overnight - Tibooburra Hotel

We depart and fly over the Bullo Lake and the Channel Country as we head back to Queensland.

Our visit to Thargomindah will help support the community as it recovers from the 2025 floods. Take a brief step back in time as you take a self-guided tour through the Artesian Hydro Power Plant, believed to be the oldest working unit in Australia, and possibly the world. Water was struck at a depth of 808 metres back in 1893, and this supplied the town with a much-needed essential. The bore then became a source of energy for Australia’s first hydroelectric scheme, and in 1898, Thargomindah’s streetlights were powered by generators coupled to a water turbine.

After lunch we depart and fly East, with a short stop in Blackall to refuel before flying over Alpha and Clermont.

You will witness first hand how the landscape has been transformed over the past few months from the widespread rain event.

It really is the best way to see all that Australia has to offer, by air.