In RM’s Footsteps – visiting the Outback landscapes that shaped RM Williams’ life and work

This morning you will meet your guide at a centrally located city hotel. You will then board a private coach for the short drive to the R.M.Williams Workshop. On arrival you will receive a personal welcome by a senior company employee who will then escort you through the workshop, explaining the technicalities involved in making each pair of RMs  boots.

Morning tea is served. You are encouraged to ask questions as your expert guide leads you along the production line. Although each pair of boots is made from a single piece of leather, they undergo eighty separate processes, all done by hand, before becoming
the finished product.

At the end of the tour, you will be transferred to Percy Street, Prospect, where R.M.Williams first advertised handcrafted elastic sided boots for sale to the public in the 1930s. Here you will have the chance to visit the R.M.Williams museum, tour the retail outlet and choose your own pair of expertly fitted Craftsman boots.

You will then be transferred to the General Aviation terminal at Adelaide Airport to board your aircraft. You will be handed a gourmet boxed lunch to enjoy on board as you travel. 

Please note that there is a maximum luggage allowance of 10kgs per person and soft-sided baggage is essential. 

Depart Adelaide bound for The Flinders Ranges, flying via Wilpena Pound for aerial views of this natural amphitheatre of sedimentary rock.

On arrival at Hawker airstrip you will be met by Ross Fargher, who with local guide Dean Rasheed, will guide you to Parachilna. The journey will include the spectacular and rugged scenery of Wilpena Pound onto Brachina Gorge where you will enjoy views of towering cliffs and photogenic River Red gums with the possible sighting of the elusive Yellow Footed Rock Wallaby.

Brachina Gorge provides a window through 130 million years of the Earth’s history and offers insight into past climates, the formation of the ranges and the evolution of early life forms.  Your guides will share with you their local knowledge of this amazing geological region. The gorge is also an important refuge for the endangered Yellow Footed Rock Wallaby, as well as many species of birds and reptiles.

After touring through Brachina Gorge onto the western desert plains continue onto Parachilna, home of Australia’s most awarded Outback gourmet pub. The Prairie Hotel offers guests an authentic taste of Outback life without sacrificing the comforts of modern living.  Following check-in meet for a welcome drink in the one of a kind Prairie Hotel bar which offers guests the opportunity to meet outback characters and travellers from all over the world – you never know who you might meet.  Enjoy a 3 course a la carte dinner in The Prairie Hotel’s private dining room.

Enjoy an early hearty breakfast at the Prairie Hotel, before transferring to Leigh Creek to board your aircraft.

Taking off in a north westerly direction pass the dry salt Lake Torrens, desert plains, magnificent land forms and meandering ancient creek beds.

Fly over Lake Eyre, Australia’s largest inland lake and the lowest point in Australia. Usually dry, Lake Eyre occasionally experiences dramatic floods, with complete fillings experienced three times in the past 160 years.

Continue flying over Coongie Lakes, the wet lands of the Cooper and significant breeding grounds for water birds. This amazing channel country will astound you with its beauty. Land near the Burke and Wills Dig Tree, located a short distance over the eastern South Australia and Queensland border. The story surrounding the Dig Tree is an enduring reminder of the pioneering spirit and extreme harshness of the Outback which your guide will explain in more detail.

Reboard the aircraft for the next stop, outback post Innamincka, home of the renowned Innamincka Hotel. Your pilot will ‘buzz the pub’ to alert them of your arrival. Lunch in the Outamincka Bar before a private charter Cooper Creek cruise (season permitting). The dry season alternative to the cruise will be a tour of the Innamincka township, including a visit to the Australian Inland Mission Museum and the Cooper Creek Waterholes.

After leaving Innamincka, your flight path follows the Strezlecki Track with Lake Callobona and Lake Frome in the distance. Traverse across the Northern Flinders Ranges on route to Leigh Creek. Upon landing you will be transferred to the Prairie Hotel in time to enjoy sundowners of evening drinks and bush canapes on the hotel verandah as you watch the sunset over the western plain. Toast your good fortune with a Sparkling or Fargher Lager, the Prairie’s own brew before savouring the signature Tastings Banquet in the private Prairie Gallery Restaurant. Renowned for its ‘feral food experiences’ dining at the Prairie has been voted ‘1 of 20 unmissable Outback experiences’.

At leisure enjoy a ‘cooked to order’ breakfast at the Prairie Hotel, before departing by road to Nilpena Station, a working cattle station situated approximately 38 kilometres Northwest of Parachilna.

555 million years ago the desert backdrop of the Flinders Ranges was submerged below shallow tropical seas, and ocean floors were inhabited by Earth’s first animals. Discovered in the 1980s the National Heritage Listed Nilpena Ediacara Fossil Site is regarded as one of the most important Ediacaran fossil fields in the world and is a core component in the development of a World Heritage nomination for the Flinders Ranges. Ediacaran fossils are crucial to understanding the early evolution of life on earth and have been a subject of Sir David Attenborough’s ‘Life on Earth’. Learn about their origins from your local guide, Ross Fargher.

Valuable relics of early European settlement, the substantial stone station buildings are well known to the Film Industry and have been used in many productions including Rabbit Proof Fence. Enjoy lunch in the magnificent Stone Woolshed, boasting an historic slate floor featuring slabs from the ancient Ediacaran Seafloor.

Following lunch depart for a 4WD tour through the diverse desert landscapes to Nilpena’s most unique outback airstrip, a natural red desert claypan. Here you will board your aircraft, taking off with the magnificence of the changing colours of the panoramic Flinders Ranges and Lake Torrens in the distance.

You will arrive at Adelaide General Aviation Terminal at approximately 5:00pm. If you are booking an onward flight from Adelaide, we strongly recommend booking your flight to leave no earlier than 6.30pm. (Times are indicative only)

Inclusions

Accommodation

2 night stay in a Deluxe Room at the Prairie Hotel on a twin/single basis.

Meals

Day 1 – Boxed lunch on board the aircraft. Dinner at the Prairie Hotel.

Day 2 – Breakfast at the Prairie Hotel. Lunch at Innamincka Pub. Dinner at the Prairie Hotel.

Day 3 – Breakfast at the Prairie Hotel. Lunch at Nilpena Station woolshed.

Travel

Road transfers from Mayfair Hotel to R.M.Williams Workshop, onto R.M.Williams shop and museum, onto the General Aviation Terminal, Adelaide Airport.

Private air charter from Adelaide Airport to Leigh Creek, fly over Lake Eyre and Coongie Lakes to Burke and Wills Dig Tree, to Innamincka, to Leigh Creek, and from Nilpena Claypan to Adelaide Airport.

Road transfers between Hawker or Leigh Creek and the Prairie Hotel. Guided touring of the Northern Flinders Ranges, Parachilna and Brachina Gorges, Burke and Wills Dig Tree, Innamincka and Nilpena Station.

Cruise on Cooper Creek or the dry season alternative to the cruise will be a tour of the Innamincka township, including a visit to the Australian Inland Mission Museum and the Cooper Creek Waterholes.

Other Inclusions

Tea, coffee, bottled water.

One pair of R.M.Williams craftsman boots are included to the value of $545.00 AUD which will be collected at the Percy Street store during the trip.

 Exclusions

Alcoholic beverages
Extra activities
International and Domestic airfares
Items of a personal nature
Gratuities
Travel Insurance**

**Travel Insurance is highly recommended to ensure that you are covered in the unlikely event that your arrangements are disrupted.

Conditions apply – Minimum passenger requirements of 6 people for a trip to operate.