Joe

I am going to be in Australia (Sydney) May 5th to the 13th. I will have from the 8th on to take a tour of the Outback. I'm looking into getting up to Broken Hill and taking an Outback tour from there. I have been told by an acquaintance that I would be better off going up to Cairns and finding a tour up there. I have a limited time and I want to see the best of the Outback. Anyone have any suggestions?

Steven

Perhaps you could start with telling us "what" exactly you "want" to see in the outback and then we can make a few suggestions. As our Outback is the size of many countries it is important to try and get an idea of what you are interested in. <BR>I am not sure that there would be many tours out from Broken Hill either.

aussie

The Outback.<BR>Take a flight from Sydney to Alice Springs. Then either day tours cultural tours, even the Aboriginal mail run plane for a day.. this will be the Outback Experiance......or do you want horse ride, mountains, head to the Snowy Mountains.<BR>Cairns although some would say remote is not the outback.<BR>Good Luck

Joe

Steve, I am interested in seeing the "real" Outback. The wildlife, scenerery, etc. Alice Springs looks to be the type of area I would like to see. I would like to get as deep into the Outback as possible without spending a huge amount of time travelling to get there. That's why I was looking into Broken Hill. From what I read in travel books, I will be into the outback without spending a lot of time travelling from Sydney.

Steve

You could also get to Lightening Ridge which is in the NW of NSW where they mine for black Opals. It is the Outback and it has some really colourful folk. I spent a few days there and I loved it and to boot you get to see the production and discovery of some really lovely stones. <BR>I don't think that there is much in B.H. Although Whitecliffs which is quite a way from B.H. would be interesting too. <BR>Alice Springs and Ayres Rock would be the best of the Outback with the exception of further into the Northern Territory - which is my pick actually. <BR>Hope this helps but I am sure you will get more ideas from others too

Joe

Steve, thanks for the help. Lightening Ridge sound like a possibility. I'll take a look into it. Thanks again.

Alan

Hi, Joe!<BR><BR>I would endorse Steve's suggestion to fly out to Alice Springs, as it's easily accessible by air and you would find some interesting road tours based there. Uluru is, of course, the "big" sight in Central Australia, but you might be happier with a less-popular destination where you won't run into thousands of tourists.<BR>Broken Hill is an interesting area too, and if you decide to go with your first thought, here is a suggestion to see a bit of the country without spending a fortune. Hazelton Airlines has regular flights between Sydney and Broken Hill, (check www.hazelton.com.au)and if you went one way by air, you could do the return by fast train; either the Indian Pacific or the Ghan would whisk you between Sydney and Broken Hill in an afternoon and a night. The website for these trains is www.railaustralia.com.au. If you want to see the Blue Mountains, another beautiful area a few hours west of Sydney, you could always board these trains at an intermediate stop -- perhaps Penrith -- and combine two trips.<BR>Have a great time! It's a nice time of year to visit the east coast, and you'll find the outback has cooled down from the heat of the summer and might be quite hospitable.

Joe

Wow, I'm regretting even asking the question in the first place!!! I know that no matter how hard I try I am going to be missing alot. Thanks for all of the suggestions, they're giving me alot of new things to look into. I visited the site for the fast train service. It looks interesting. Thanks .