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Premium South Australia Outback Birding Holiday

South Australia Outback Birding Tour
A group of colourful parrots perched in a tree in the South Australia outback.
9 NIGHTS FROM:
$5,533
Per person sharing
Scheduled flights quoted separately
7ORA10A
• Wildlife & birdwatching holiday
•  Self-drive or optional transfers
• Arkaba Conservancy
• Jeep safaris & guided bushwalks
•  Murray River Safari
• Eco-luxe houseboat
• Dawn kayaking tour
• Native, rare & endangered wildlife
• Optional: Southern Eyre Peninsula
•  Optional: Kangaroo Island

From the ancient landscapes of Flinders Ranges to Australia’s greatest river, this immersive wildlife and birding holiday showcases South Australia’s most spectacular and biodiverse regions. Stay at the Arkaba Homestead, exploring the conservancy on open-top 4WD safaris and guided bushwalks, then board a luxury Murray River houseboat for cultural walks, kayaking tours and scenic cruises along its tranquil reaches. Experience prolific birdlife, plus iconic species like kangaroos, wallabies, and koalas, with optional extensions to the wildlife havens of the southern Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island.

Detailed itinerary ▶
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Day 1
Upon arrival at Adelaide Airport, you’ll be met and transferred to your city centre hotel. Settle in and relax after your journey.
 
If time permits, wander over to Adelaide Central Market to sample artisanal produce and boutique wines, or make your way to North Terrace to browse its excellent museums and galleries. In the evening, choose from a host of gourmet restaurants, where inventive multicultural dishes are paired with fine South Australian wines or boutique craft beers.   
Day 2
Collect your hire car and drive north into the Flinders Ranges to Arkaba Conservancy, a 60,000-acre private wildlife conservancy and former sheep station now dedicated to conservation. Check into the beautifully restored 1850s homestead, an intimate retreat with just five ensuite rooms and all-inclusive dining that showcases South Australian produce and regional wine.
 
Over the next three days, immerse yourself in this pristine outback landscape on shared open-top jeep safaris and guided bushwalks led by expert wildlife guides. As you traverse red-rock gorges, creek beds, and spinifex plains, you may encounter some of Australia’s largest macropods, including the red kangaroo, western grey kangaroo and common wallaroo along with the endangered yellow-footed rock wallaby.
  
Please note that this can be booked with transfers as an alternative to the self-drive option.
Days 3 To 4
Spend the next two days exploring the Arkaba Conservancy.
 
With nearly 300 recorded species, Arkaba is paradise for birders, its habitats supporting healthy populations of galahs, honeyeaters, parrots and emus. Wedge-tailed eagles, brown goshawks, black-shouldered kites, and spotted harriers are among the raptors soaring overhead, while bush parrots add vivid flashes of colour to the outback, including Australian Ringnecks, Mulga Parrots, Elegant Parrots and Red-rumped Parrots. If you’re lucky, you might also spot sought-after apostlebirds, purple-backed fairywrens and red-backed kingfishers.
 
There are plentiful opportunities to hone your wildlife photography, especially at the seasonal Arkaba hide, where patient birders can frame close-ups of both resident and migratory species.
Day 5
After breakfast, take a scenic 5-hour drive east to Renmark in South Australia’s Riverland.
 
On arrival, check into your accommodation, a characterful Art Deco hotel set on a sweeping bend of the Murray River, and relax after your journey.
Day 6
After a leisurely breakfast and relaxed morning, meet your guides in the hotel conference room at 1pm for a welcoming briefing before boarding High River, your eco-luxe houseboat home for the next four days. With just six ensuite bedrooms, a light-filled lounge and dining area, and a spacious, open-air top deck complete with five-person hot spa, it offers an intimate, comfortable base from which to soak up the wonders of the Murray River.
 
Set off on a gentle 25km cruise upriver, gliding past stately river red gums and striking ochre cliffs, as you settle into the unhurried rhythm of life on the water. Keep an eye on the treetops for dozing koalas, listen for the distinct call of whistling kites overhead, and scan the waterways and riverbanks for pelicans, spoonbills, egrets, and herons.
 
Following afternoon tea onboard, head ashore for a guided cultural walk to learn more about the river’s landscapes and stories. Return to High River for a relaxed evening, sharing tales with fellow travellers over a dinner showcasing regional produce paired with fine local wines, as the sun slips behind the Headings Cliffs.
 
Please note that between May and September, the Murray River Walk can be booked as a birding alternative, featuring easy days of hiking along Australia’s greatest river.
Day 7
It’s an early start today, as you rise before dawn to the sound of the morning chorus and stroll to a clifftop lookout above the Murray to watch first light spill across the river while rainbow bee-eaters hawk for insects overhead. Then slip into a kayak for a serene sunrise paddle through peaceful creeks and billabongs, watching for river wildlife such as sacred kingfishers and goannas basking on overhanging branches.
 
Back on board High River, continue upstream on a two-hour cruise towards Chowilla Creek as you tuck into lunch onboard. In the afternoon, head ashore for a guided walk through red gum forests and wetland lagoons, where you may be treated to sightings of regent parrots, a vividly coloured species native to southeastern Australia and now considered vulnerable in the wild.
 
As evening falls, settle in for another relaxed night on the river. Your guide will deliver an engaging talk on the Murray-Darling Basin and the role of its floodplains and ephemeral lakes in sustaining birdlife and local communities, setting the scene for tomorrow’s explorations.
Day 8
After an early breakfast, set out on a scenic driving tour to the great ephemeral lake system on the outer floodplain, one of the region’s most spectacular birdwatching areas. Here, migratory waders from the northern hemisphere gather in impressive numbers, including flocks of ducks, pied stilts, red-necked avocets, spoonbills, and musk ducks.
 
As you travel between the lakes, watch for native species such as blue-bonnet parrots, families of emus with their chicks, and red kangaroos grazing on the plains. The surrounding scrub and reedbeds also provide habitat for white-winged fairywrens, white-winged trillers, and swamp harriers quartering low over the wetlands.
 
Return to find High River moored in a new location opposite the striking Bunyip Reach Cliffs, a sweep of vibrant red and orange rock near Lock 6 on the Murray. Sip a sundowner on the open-air top deck as the sun sinks below the horizon, then round off the day with excellent food, regional wine, and easy conversation on board.
Day 9
After breakfast and an optional stroll along the riverbank, begin your final cruise downstream, passing through Lock 6 en route to the characterful Woolshed Brewery. Housed in the historic 100-year-old shearing shed of Wilkadene Station, this rustic riverside brewery provides a memorable setting for a relaxed farewell BBQ with your Murray River guides.
 
After lunch, board the waiting bus for the short transfer back to Renmark, where you’ll collect your hire car for the drive to Adelaide.
Day 10
Drive to Adelaide Airport and drop off your hire car ready for your onward journey.
 
If you’re not quite ready for your South Australia birding odyssey to end, why not add one of our extension packages, with further opportunities to spot endemic species on the Eyre Peninsula and/or Kangaroo Island.
 
Extension 1: Eyre Peninsula
Experience two immersive days on the southern Eyre Peninsula, exploring a mosaic of wetlands, coastal national parks, and rugged mallee scrub that supports an outstanding diversity of birdlife. In the company of a specialist bird guide, you’ll visit key wildlife hotspots in search of seabirds, shorebirds, songbirds, parrots – including the vibrant Port Lincoln parrot – and impressive raptors like osprey and white-bellied sea eagles.
The wildlife encounters don’t stop there, with regular sightings of western grey kangaroos, emus, koalas, goannas, and a fascinating cast of small mammals and reptiles. Your extension also includes a tour and tasting with a Coffin Bay oyster farmer, where you’ll learn how these famed delicacies are cultivated in pristine coastal waters before sampling them fresh from the sea.
 
Extension 2: Kangaroo Island
Spend two days discovering the nature lover’s paradise of Kangaroo Island with an expert local guide. Wander through eucalypt forest, listening to birdsong and cicadas as you watch for koalas, colourful bush birds and the island’s rare wallabies. Cross the rural interior to a private bush camp for a relaxed lunch, before ending the day at Seal Bay Conservation Park for a guided beach walk among Australian sea-lions.
The following day, head to the island’s wild western tip and Flinders Chase National Park, where the sculpted forms of Remarkable Rocks balance high above the Southern Ocean. After a picnic lunch, follow the boardwalk to Admirals Arch to watch waves crash beneath the natural rock arch and long-nosed fur seals bask on the rocks below.