Leichhardt's Savannah Expedition (Reverse)

Today you will be greeted by our friendly and professional Tour Directors. We then head into the city and check into our overnight accommodation.

Our first dinner together will be aboard the Charles Darwin for a delicious Territory-style sunset dinner cruise.

We depart Darwin and journey south along the Stuart Highway, through Adelaide River and Pine Creek enroute to Katherine. Along the way we'll visit Edith Falls, where you can swim in the paperbark-fringed pool at the base of the waterfall.

Later this afternoon we arrive in Katherine for the first of two nights.

This morning, we enjoy Tom Curtain's award-winning Katherine Outback Experience, a show that celebrates the Northern Territory's unique pastoral history and culture through real horse-training and working dog demonstrations. Later, we take a two-hour boat cruise on the ancient waterway that is Katherine River Gorge in Nitmiluk National Park.

The NitNit Dreaming cruise is one of the most popular tours in the region and will take you to the end of the first gorge, where you will experience the beauty of the large boulders, rock pools and sands that make up the crossover to the second gorge. Be awed by the ageless beauty of the towering sandstone walls of this stunning natural landscape. We return to Knotts Crossing Resort for our second night.

Passing through Mataranka, we continue east along the Roper Highway towards Roper Bar. Our travels take us along one of the most remote sections of the Savannah Way. Used extensively by drovers in the 1870s, thousands of cattle have walked this route on their way from Queensland to the Northern Territory and the Kimberley.

We pass through the dramatic scenery of the Limmen National Park before arriving into Lorella Springs late afternoon where we settle in for our three-night stay in this extraordinary location.

Over the next two days we explore all the wonders of Lorella Springs Wilderness Park.

Lorella Springs Station is a privately owned, 4,000-square- kilometre (1 million acres) working cattle property that offers an unforgettable mix of rugged beauty and natural serenity. It's a haven for adventurers, with thermal springs, hidden waterfalls and crystal-clear billabongs tucked among sandstone escarpments. The landscape is alive with wildlife – wallabies, birds and freshwater crocodiles – and the sense of isolation makes every moment feel like a true escape into the wild heart of Australia. Be as active or restful as the mood takes you.

As part of our time here, we'll take part in an exhilarating helicopter flight over the southern ‘Lost City' and also take a drive out to the area to explore ancient sandstone structures where a ground tour with your guides will educate on the local geology, vegetation and birdlife.

At the end of each day's adventures, join your station hosts at the bar for happy hour and mingle with other like- minded explorers journeying across the Gulf.

Please Note: A weight limit of 135kg applies to the scenic flight. All passengers must be weighed prior to boarding the aircraft.

This morning we farewell the lovely team at Lorella Springs and make our way back out to the Savannah Way bound for Borroloola. Visit the Borroloola Museum, located in the original 1887 Borroloola Police Station, and learn about the Gulf Territory's rich Indigenous, droving and WWII history. We continue our journey southeast towards Australian Wildlife Conservancy's Pungalina-Seven Emu Wildlife Sanctuary.

Together the two properties cover a combined area of around 305,000 hectares and include coastal monsoon rainforest, tall paperbark forests, palm-fringed wetlands, deep gorges and coastal flood plains. The sanctuary is home to over 40 species of mammals, 190 species of birds and 95 species of frogs and reptiles.

We arrive at the sanctuary late afternoon and check in to our safari camp. Built by Outback Spirit in 2019, the camp features unique safari tents with ensuite bathrooms and covered decks, the perfect spot for a two-night stay to discover the area.

Please Note: Seven Emu is owned by Mr Frank Shadforth with 110,000 hectares of the property leased to the Australian Wildlife Conservancy for conservation. Pungalina is wholly owned by AWC.

Step into the untouched wilderness of Pungalina-Seven Emu Sanctuary, a haven of ecological significance in northern Australia. Explore the pristine landscapes on a guided cruise along the Calvert River, where towering sandstone cliffs and lush riverbanks reveal a side of the outback rarely seen. Gain fascinating insights during an ecology tour led by trained AWC staff, showcasing the vital conservation efforts that protect this extraordinary sanctuary.

We bid farewell to Pungalina-Seven Emu Wildlife Sanctuary and continue east along the Savannah Way through some of the most remote and striking scenery in northern Australia. The road stretches across endless savannah plains and sandstone escarpments. We pass Wollogorang, a 700,000-hectare cattle station straddling the border between Queensland and the Northern Territory, before crossing over the NT/QLD border and onto Hell's Gate. Here, we stay in new and modern accommodation with ensuite bathrooms for the next two nights.

Located on Cliffdale Station, Hell's Gate takes its name from a gap in the escarpment one kilometre south. Today's activities will include a tour of the station and a scenic helicopter flight to the coastline of the Gulf of Carpentaria via Eight Mile Creek where you may see native birds, wild pigs, wild brumbies, wild bulls and cattle, crocodiles and native fish life all viewable from the air.

Enjoy some free time this afternoon on this unique outback station.

Please Note: Weight restrictions apply for legal and safety reasons on all helicopter flights. All passengers must be weighed prior to boarding the aircraft.

This morning we depart Hell's Gate and continue travelling along the Great Top Road to Doomadgee and onto Burketown. We visit Leichhardt's Falls (no swimming) before re-joining the Savannah Way across the gulf to Camp 119.

This was the northernmost camp of the Burke and Wills Expedition of 1860/61. The exhausted party of Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills set up camp close to the seasonal Little Blynoe River, in the hinterland of the Gulf of Carpentaria, in their attempt to cross Australia from south to north. It was the northernmost point of their ill- fated expedition.

After lunch we make our way north towards Normanton and onto Karumba. Located on the banks of the Norman River, Karumba came to importance in the 1930's when it became a stopover point for flying boats on the run from London to Australia.

This morning we join one of the last great characters of rail travel - The Gulflander. This historic little train takes us on a journey from Normanton to Critters Camp.

From here we head back to Karumba and discover the amazing secrets of the mighty barramundi at The Les Wilson Barramundi Discovery Centre, the only hatchery in the world to breed the Southern Gulf strain of this iconic fish! The brand new interactive and state-of-the-art Interpretive Centre provides the history, stories, lifecycle, and habits of these sought-after fish.

For our dinner this evening we enjoy a special Sand Island sunset dinner cruise in the Gulf. Dine on local seafood while watching a sensational gulf sunset. (Includes wine and beer. Alternative meals are available).

From Karumba we head east to Mt. Surprise and then on to Undara Volcanic National Park, which protects the longest lava tube cave system in the world.

This afternoon we check in to for our overnight stay in unique accommodation, consisting of restored railway carriages. The lodge has recently been fully renovated and upgraded, with all rooms now featuring private ensuite bathrooms. Tonight, enjoy dinner in the open-air style restaurant as the outback sun fades into a clear starlit night.

This morning a local Savannah Guide will take us on a tour through the lava tube cave system. Created when the Undara Volcano erupted over 190,000 years ago, the lava that poured out was enough to fill Sydney Harbour three times over. The lava flows lasted a long time, which allowed the outer edge to cool while the interior kept flowing, creating the tubes seen today.

Departing Undara, we join the Kennedy Highway and travel east to the beautiful Millaa Millaa Falls. Continuing through the scenic Atherton Tablelands, we arrive in Cairns, where we check in to our hotel located on the Marina, just minutes from the Esplanade.

Tonight, our final dinner together and a celebration of our adventure through some of the most remote country in Australia.

After breakfast, enjoy a leisurely morning before being transferred to the airport, or to your Cairns city hotel accommodation if staying on.

Please Note: Every effort will be made by your crew to ensure that the above itinerary is followed. However, Outback Spirit reserves the right to alter the itinerary once on tour as required due to weather and track conditions or other operational considerations