Down The Darling Tour

Day 1 | Dubbo - Callubri Station

Sat Sept 26, 2026

The start of this tour is designed to link with the passenger train or flights to Dubbo from Sydney. Guests will be collected from the train station or airport and taken to Callubri Station (an agri-tourism farm stay).

Dubbo to Callubri = 160km or 2 hours Welcome drinks. Followed by a 3 course chef prepared dinner included.

Included: D (note that alcohol is not included unless specified).

Day 2 | Calubri Station

Sun Sept 27, 2026

Callubri Station is a luxury outback station stay in the heart of red dirt country in the western plains of NSW. Four generations of Armstrong family have owned this 28,000- acre Merino Sheep Station. After breakfast, Callubri owner Mike will take us on a tour of the cropping fields and machinery used to sow and harvest grain. Depending on the time of the year, we can also watch some of the sheep work. Our tour finishes with a hearty ploughman’s picnic lunch before heading back to our accommodation to relax for the afternoon, have a quick dip, or do self-contained activities such as walks and bird watching. We farewell the day with sundowners watching the setting sun from the ridge before returning to the farm for a farm-totable dining experience showcasing seasonal ingredients from the homestead gardens and farm-raised lamb. With 15 years of catering experience and an unsurpassed culinary passion, the dining experience is one you won’t forget. Included: B/L/D and activities. Evening drinks are also included today.

Included: B/L/D and activities.
Evening drinks are also included today.

Day 3 | Callubri Station - Brewarrina - Lower Lilia Retreat via Bourke

Mon Sept 28, 2026

Once an important inter-tribal meeting place for generations of Aboriginal people, Brewarrina is now home to the Brewarrina Aboriginal Cultural Centre. The World Heritage-listed purpose-built rock fish traps are estimated to be more than 40,000 years old and are believed to be the oldest man-made structures in the world. We will take an Aboriginal guided tour of the fish traps with the Cultural Centre guide before heading on to Bourke 100 km west. En route to Bourke, we visit Mt Oxley (we also pass the start of the Darling River between Brewarrina and Bourke at the confluence of the Culgoa and Barwon Rivers). Mt Oxley is on the property of Bill and Denise and is a remarkable peak rising from a perfectly flat landscape. Mt Oxley has outstanding 360-degree views and showcases an abundance of wildlife including wedge-tailed eagles and euros. It also has an interesting geology with natural piles of rocks, as if they have been delivered there by some alien force. We will have a picnic lunch with incredible views on top of the mountain.

Next stop Bourke, once an important paddle steamer port and now etched into Australia’s cultural identity. We don’t promise this as it seems to be more often cancelled, but if the timing is right, time is available, the river is not too high or not too low, and the boat Capitan turns up for work, we take a short ride on the Darling on the replica paddle steamer Jandra. And if the conditions were not able to come together for us, we visit the Bourke Exhibition Centre.

We stay at Lower Lila Retreat.

Included: B/L/D and activities.

Day 4 | Bourke - Trilby Station

Tues 29 Sept, 2026

In the morning before the heat of the day, we join Lower Lila Retreat owner Heather in a relaxation and meditation session.

Departing Bourke, we head to Gundabooka National Park for a short nature walk to visit the Aboriginal rock paintings. On to Trilby Station on the banks of the Darling River. We stay with Liz and Garry Murray on their historic 6th generation, 320,000-acre sheep and goat station. Liz and Garry are passionate about their outback way of life and enjoy sharing their experiences and lifestyle with visitors to the station. We will eat a home-cooked meal that Liz will prepare and eat around the campfire.

Included: B/L/D and activities.

Day 5 | Trilby Station

Wed Sept 30, 2026

After breakfast we will walk with Liz on a farm tour. Liz is a good storyteller and you will be engrossed by her stories of floods schooling, and emergency medicine in the bush. Liz is an amazing outback woman. She came to the district as a governess and has now planted roots in the district and has become integral to running many aspects of the property and family.

Next, we visit Dunlop Station for morning tea and a guided tour of this historic property built in 1886 from local red sandstone. Entering Dunlop is like being drawn into a time warp. In its heyday a century ago, Dunlop sprawled over nearly 400,000 hectares (one million acres). First used in 1888 to shear 184,000 sheep, the shearing shed was last used in 1993 and stands today as a rich historical relic of the boom years of pastoralism. Lunch will be at Louth, a classic country pub. We return to Trilby mid-afternoon for a swim and to rest before an alfresco dinner on the banks of the Darling River.

Included: B/L/D and activities.

Day 6 | Broken Hill

Thurs Oct 1, 2026

In the morning we will head downstream 100 km to the small town of Tilpa. Famous for its classic outback pub, it was originally a busy port servicing the river trade. It served as a ‘cross-road’ in the outback as it functioned as a stock crossing and port for the wool clip being transported down to Adelaide. Quirky? Tilpa has the shortest heritage trail in Australia, comprising just two signs on either side of the main road, and the Tilpa cemetery is the only one in Australia with no one in it! We will get to Broken Hill in the early afternoon. We’ll grab lunch on the road. The entire city of Broken Hill, also known as the Silver City, was National Heritage listed in 2015. Today and tomorrow are for visiting the quite remarkable collection of Broken Hill museums and galleries, including The Royal Flying Doctor Centre, the fabulous Regional Gallery, and the Geo Centre. We will have an afternoon tour of the Silver City, including a late afternoon trip to the Sculpture Symposium in the Living Desert reserve on the western outskirts of the city.

For dinner we’re off to the Palace Hotel where parts of Priscilla Queen of the Desert were filmed.

Included: B/L/D and activities.

Day 7 | Broken Hill

Fri Oct 2, 2026

After finding your own breakfast we visit Silverton. Silverton is almost a ghost town but it predates Broken Hill as a thriving silver mining town. When the silver was almost mined out, new deposits were found in Broken Hill. There are pictures in the Silverton Gaol museum of houses from Silverton being hauled on carts to Broken Hill by camels. Silverton was more recently made famous by the Mad Max movies and just about every beer commercial that features an outback pub. We take a 2 km hike up the heritage trail to the Monks Lookout. The view from the Monks is as broad as the horizon (in fact, you can see the curvature of the Earth from here). From the lookout, you can see across the Mundi Mundi Plains to the Flinders Ranges. We return to Broken Hill for lunch and the continuation of the Broken Hill tour.

Dinner at the Old Saltbush restaurant

Included: L/D and activities.

Day 8 | Broken Hill - Menindee Lakes - Bindara Station

Sat Oct 3, 2026

This morning we are heading to the Menindee Lakes for an Aboriginal guided walk alongside the lakes with Dave. The vast Menindee Lakes is a natural flood lake system and was augmented in the 1950s with weirs and channels from the Darling River to form permanent lakes which would secure Broken Hill’s water supply. Water is pumped from here to Broken Hill over 100 km away. There is plenty of birdlife to spot while on the water. After a picnic lunch by the lakes, we head to Bindara Station on the banks of the Darling River owned and run by Barb.

Included: L/D and activities.

DAY 9 | Bindara

Sun Oct 4, 2026

DAY 10 | Bindara - Mildura via Mungo National Park

Mon Oct 5, 2026

DAY 11 | Mildura - Burraburoon Farm Stay

Tues Oct 6, 2026

DAY 12 | Burraburoon

Wed Oct 7, 2026

DAY 13 | Griffith

DAY 14 | Griffith

DAY 15 | Tour ends

Sat Oct 10, 2026

Our tour ends after breakfast. You will be transferred to the airport or train station.

A direct train to Sydney departs Saturday.