12-Nights Aboriginal Culture & Australian Highlights

12 nights from: $8,030

Aboriginal Culture & Australian Highlights
Awaken your senses discovering the world’s oldest living culture combined with iconic Australian sights on this limited edition, Indigenous focused tour. Experience down under in a new way as you immerse yourself in nature and culture on this two-week tour exploring Aboriginal Australia.


Dining Summary

• 1 Welcome Reception (WR)
• 12 Breakfast (B)
• 2 Lunch (L)
• 1 Dinner (D)
• 1 Farewell Dinner (FD)

• Explore the National Gallery of Victoria to view Indigenous and non-Indigenous art, and the Rocks District in Sydney to uncover First Nations cultural heritage with a First Nations Guide.
• Discover how Aboriginal people in Victoria once practiced their culture and how they continue to keep it alive alive, and the art of Aboriginal Dot painting with a Local Specialist Maruku artist in the Red Centre.
• Visit the Gallery of Central Australia in Uluru shining a light on emerging artists, and the Sydney Opera House.
• View Bruce Munro's Field of Light - 50,000 spheres of light illuminated in the desert in Uluru.
• Scenic Cruise on Sydney Harbour to discover this harbour city and on the Great Barrier Reef with First Nations cultural guides.

• An expert Travel Director and professional Driver
• Cherry-picked hotels, all tried and trusted
• Porterage where hotels provide this service
• Breakfast daily and up to half of your evening meals
• Must-see sightseeing and surprise extras
• Luxury air-conditioned coach with Wi-Fi in most countries or alternative transportation (such as rail journeys)
• All land transport shown. All transfers shown
• Optional Experiences and free time

Uluru Sunrise Viewing Area Travel Packages

Categories: Uluru Sunrise Viewing Area

Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre Travel Packages

Categories: Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre

The world's largest monolith, located 280 mi/450 km southwest of Alice Springs, is a truly stunning sight, especially at sunset when its burnt-orange glow seems to set the desert on fire. Called Uluru by the Aborigines, the sandstone rock is huge (1,140 ft/350 m high, 9 mi/13 km around) and reddish brown most of the time, taking its color from iron oxide, or rust. Its presence is made more powerful by the mostly barren plain that surrounds it and disappears into the horizon. In 1985, ownership of the rock was returned to its traditional owners. It is rarely referred to as Ayers Rock anymore.Free Uluru Travel
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Considered sacred by the Aborigines for thousands of years, the rock is now part of the expansive Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, one of the country's biggest tourist attractions. The park includes the Olgas/Kata Tjuta, a cluster of 36 giant domelike rock formations about 20 mi/35 km west. If you want to visit both, plan to spend at least one night. You'll want to see Uluru at both sunset and sunrise. The Olgas are equally magnificent at both times of day. (But be prepared to jockey for position at either place; tour buses disgorge hundreds of visitors laden with binoculars, cameras and video equipment.)

Start your visit to the park with a stop at the cultural center. Run by the Anangu (a local Aboriginal clan), the center is a wonderful introduction to the unusual rock formations and to the people who lived in their harsh shadows for centuries. Aboriginal artwork and artifacts are on display. You can also see re-enactments of life in the bush and watch informative videos. Most visitors explore the rock as part of a tour led by park rangers, Anangu guides or private tour companies. But you can also pick up a printed walking guide at the cultural center and set off on your own.

Only one trail leads to the top of the rock, and it's fairly steep—those with heart conditions, high blood pressure, asthma, fear of heights or the like should remain earthbound. The Anangu prefer you walk around—not on—the rock because of its spiritual importance. If you do decide to climb it, allow two to three hours and take along a snack and plenty of water. The view from the top is spectacular, but hiking around the base is more educational and less strenuous. We suggest taking one or more of the shorter walks that pass water holes and rock paintings, allowing you to observe the rock's many faces at a leisurely pace. (Walking around the entire base of the rock takes about three hours.)

Allow at least an afternoon to visit the Olgas/Kata Tjuta. A frequent debate among visitors is whether the Olgas outshine the rock. It's a close call—the Olgas are taller, reaching 1,790 ft/545 m at the highest point. Made of conglomerate (pebbles and boulders cemented together by mud and sand), they are off-limits to climbers, but you can explore some of the valleys and chasms between the rocks.

Most visitors fly to Uluru or drive from Alice Springs. About the only place to stay in the area is the Ayers Rock Resort, or Yulara, whose five hotels and a campground can accommodate visitors in all price ranges. Longitude 131 is a magnificent safari camp with 15 luxury tents. Dozens of tours leave from Ayers Rock Resort, including sunrise camel rides around the rock, sunset champagne dinners in the desert, Aboriginal culture tours and stargazing. You can also rent a car there and explore on your own.

Because of the excessive heat in summer, the best time to visit is April-November (winter in Australia). Always take along plenty of drinking water. If you are flying to the Outback, we suggest going overland one way from Alice Springs (four to five hours) but flying the other way—the desert drive is scenic, but it can be tedious the second time around. http://www.environment.gov.au/parks/uluru.