Beadell Tours South Australia Australia

Connie Beadell and Mick Hutton guide passengers and four wheel drive vehicles along roads Len Beadell surveyed during the 1950s and 1960s. Beadell Tours focus on history, flora and fauna of Australia’s most unique environments. Relax and enjoy Australia’s western deserts.

Touring Options

Rockholes and Ranges 5 Day Off-Road Tour

This tour focuses on the Aboriginal culture of the Rawlinson and Tomkinson Ranges. Well away from the busy tourist areas of Uluru and Kata Tjuta it is an opportunity to see Aboriginal culture and country up close. Highlights include Bungabiddy Rockhole, Warakurna, Walyina Rockhole, Kalka Aboriginal community – paintings and bush tucker.

From Kata Tjuta we head west following the Petermann Ranges to Kaltukatjara, a great place to camp among the red sandhills and desert oaks. From there we turn north along the Sandy Blight Junction Road to Bungabiddy Rockhole, secreted in the James Range. Giles and Warakurna in the Rawlinson Ranges are next. It is here that modern science interacts with ancient Aboriginal culture. Moving to the south east we follow the Gunbarrel Highway to Walyina Rockhole. Continuing south we swing into the Tomkinson Ranges and South Australia. We camp at Kalka community, while there we see traditional paintings and experience Australian bush tucker. Making our way back to Yulara at a relaxed pace we have time to see why this central Australian country is so special.

. Operates:
. Departs Yulara Resort, Yulara on Saturday 8 July 2006, returns Yulara Resort, Yulara on Wednesday 12 July 2006.

Rockets, Atoms, Mallee and Mulga 14 Day Off-Road Tour

See some extraordinary changes in landscape, sandhills, claypans and sweeping plains of saltbush. marble gums, black oaks, mallees, spinifex and mulga the best the Great Victoria Desert and the Nullarbor have to offer. Highlights include Woomera, Anne Beadell, Emu, Vokes Hill Corner, Cook, Nullabor, Ceduna, Googs Track, Tarcoola and Glendambo.

Exploring Woomera where Len Beadell started the Rocket Range project, we head north to Coober Pedy. Swinging west along the famous Anne Beadell Highway we enter the Great Victoria Desert, visiting Tallaringa Well, Emu atomic sites, Anne’s Corner and Vokes Hill Corner. Turning south we meander through the Mallee and sandhills finally petering out into the Nullarbor Plain. The laid back village of Cook and the Transcontinental railway line are next on our list. Returning to the Eyre Highway we travel east to Ceduna and civilisation. Getting away again we go north and follow Googs Track through the sandhills of the Yellabinna Regional Reserve back to the Transcontinental railway. Getting into Glendambo, its an easy wander back down the Stuart Highway to Woomera.

Our relaxed pace is a great opportunity to learn more about the plants, animals and early explorers. Connie Beadell adds greatly to the experience detailing her father’s participation in the projects that shaped the western deserts of Australia.

. Operates:
. Departs Woomera on Monday 10 April 2006, returns Woomera on Monday 24 April 2006.

Great Victorian Desert 22 Day Off-Road Tour

Tour is timed to see the wildflowers and the warmer weather of early spring each year. Connie Beadell and Mick Hutton will be visiting areas not normally on other tour itineraries. Highlights include Anne Beadell Highway, Lake Rason, Plumridge Lakes, Queen Victoria Spring, Neale Junction, Ilkulka Roadhouse, Serpentine Lakes, Emu Claypan and atomic site.

The Great Victoria Desert is full of features both natural and manmade, from the abandoned mines of Laverton to the Sandalwood harvesting areas of the 18 and 19 centuries. Large lakes, springs and breakaways dot the landscape, eucalypts, mallee and acacias turn the desert into a forest unlike any other. Explorers such as Giles, Carnegie, Lindsay and Hann travelled through this region, it has changed little from their time. Travelling further east we visit Emu, site of the first atomic tests on Australian soil. This is an intriguing area and anyone who has read Len Beadell’s books will find it a fascinating place. We complete the Anne Beadell Highway after passing Mabel Creek Homestead and finish the tour in Coober Pedy, where all facilities are available.

. Operates:
. Departs Laverton, Western Australia on Friday 25 August 2006, arrives Coober Pedy, South Australia on Friday 15 September 2006.

Website: www.beadell.com.au