Darwin to Perth Overland Package

19-DAY DARWIN - Perth 4x4 TOUR WITH 4 UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES

Embark on an unforgettable 19-day adventure from Darwin to Perth, exploring some of Australia’s most iconic landscapes and cultural treasures. This 4x4 tour includes visits to four UNESCO World Heritage Sites and provides a thrilling mix of off-road experiences, breathtaking natural beauty, and cultural encounters.

Tour Highlights:

• 4 UNESCO World Heritage Sites
• Pinnacles Desert in Nambung National Park
• Scenic flight to the Abrolhos Islands
• Kalbarri National Park’s dramatic coastlines
• Shark Bay World Heritage Area, including Shell Beach and Stromatolites
• Dolphin encounter at Monkey Mia
• Glass-bottom boat tour at Coral Bay / Ningaloo Reef
• Karijini National Park’s ancient gorges and rock formations
• Stay at Cable Beach Club Resort in Broome
• Horizontal Falls optional flight tour
• Bungles Bungles scenic flight/4WD hike
• Ord River cruise
• Katherine Gorge and Kakadu National Park with Yellow Waters and Aboriginal Rock Art

Detailed Itinerary:

Day 1: Darwin – Cooinda (Kakadu National Park)
We leave Darwin towards Kakadu National Park, a fantastic World Heritage Protected area of UNESCO.  A stop in the Mamukala Wetlands will allow us to observe thousands of magpie-geese. At Ubirr Rock – in the heart of the Kakadu National Park – you will find enough time today to wonder and gaze in caves and at rocks of Aboriginal rock art (the world’s oldest art gallery), and also to enjoy a wonderful panoramic view over Kakadu Park. Nourlangie Rock, a site of impressive Aboriginal galleries, presents a mix of up to 20,000-year old rock art.
Overnight: Gagudju Lodge Cooinda, Yellow Water

Day 2: Cooinda (Kakadu National Park) – Katherine

An impressive boat cruise in Yellow Waters will give you the rare opportunity of viewing the many varieties of wildlife in their natural habitat. As this area is a beloved resting ground during the dry season, you will be both amazed and delighted to see such an abundance of bird types and observe crocodiles within such a close range. After this highlight we continue our drive south on the Kakadu Highway to the historic town of Pine Creek before arriving in Katherine in the early hours of the evening.

Overnight: Knotts Crossing Resort, Katherine

Day 3: Katherine – Kununurra
After breakfast, we start today’s touring day with a 2-hour cruise through the spectacular Katherine Gorge. A wonderful experience with beautiful views and the opportunity to admire Aboriginal rock art. Leisurely drive along Victoria Highway towards Kununurra. Later today we say goodbye to the Northern Territory and we will pass the border to Western Australia.
Overnight: Kununurra Country Club Resort

Day 4: Kununurra – Ord River
Today we will be collected from our accommodation just before noon and taken by coach through Durack country to Lake Argyle.  We will take a short break at the historic Durack Homestead Museum. This Museum was constructed as a replica of the original family Homestead and uses the original Homestead stone. We are viewing the enormous Lake Argyle from a scenic look-out. On our 55km boat ride back to Kununurra we experience spectacular landscapes as well as a rich flora and fauna. After admiring a colourful sunset at the end of the boat trip, we are brought back to the hotel.
Overnight: Kununurra Country Club Resort, Kununurra

Day 5: Kununurra – Bungle Bungle – Kununurra
Today’s trip into the Bungle Bungle National Park is a highlight at its best. It gives you the great opportunity to experience a breath-taking view on unique rock formations from the air and on foot. From a small airplane you enjoy gorgeous bird’s eye views on Lake Argyle, the Carr Boyd Range and enormous cattle farms. While approaching the airstrip amidst the Bungle Bungle National Park the wonder world of these amazing limestone rocks opens up. By 4WD and on foot you reach Cathedral Gorge. Enjoy a picnic surrounded by fantastic rock sculptures reminding of bee-hives and let this unique atmosphere sink in. On the flight back to Kununurra you get great views of the Argyle Diamante Mine and the rough embankments of the Osmand Range. This day will provide you with unforgettable memories that you will keep all your life.
Overnight: Kununurra Country Club Resort, Kununurra

Day 6: Kununurra – Wyndham – Halls Creek
Along the Great Northern Highway, between the Durack Range and the Carr Boyd Range, we continue southward. Molly Springs is a beautiful small spring fed pool with a waterfall. It is a great and shady place to sit in the water and watch the fish, goannas and birds. The Grotto is the name of an idyllic swimming pool located at the beginning of a short but pitoresque gorge. The pool, enclosed by steep rock walls, is fed by a 15-meter waterfall during the rainy season. Telegraph Hill is located in the Parry Lagoons Nature Reserve. Here we enjoy breathtaking panoramic views of the dramatic and rugged landscape of Wyndham and the surrounding area, as well as Marglu Billabong, which is a bird sanctuary for over 20,000 birds. Five Rivers Lookout in Wyndham, the northernmost town in Western Australia, offers spectacular views of the Ord, Forrest, King, Durack and Pentecost Rivers, the Gulf of Cambridge, and surrounding mangrove swamps and tidal flats. Drive to Halls Creek. Here we take a short detour to the so-called China Wall. The vertical, up to 5 m high wall of bright quartz is the result of erosion and looks like being built by humans.
Overnight: Kimberley Hotel, Halls Creek

Day 7: Halls Creek – Derby
The journey continues along the Great Northern Highway toward Fitzroy Crossing. Here we cross the mighty Fitzroy River on its way to the ocean. We have a very special surprise for you waiting in Tunnel Creek National Park: We will not walk across the creek but we will wade through it. The track follows the streambed of Tunnel Creek along a 750 m long cave system – the oldest in Western Australia – below Napier Range. The approach to Windjana Gorge National Park is very impressive. The vertical rock faces of the Napier Range look like an insuperable wall. Dating back approximately 350 million years ago a shallow tropical sea covered a large proportion of this area and formed a coral reef over 1,000 km in length. Fossils can still be found embedded in the walls of Windjana Gorge. The last section on the Gibb River Road which for many people is the ultimate thrill of all of Australia’s off-road roads. It is one of the most famous tracks in Australia’s northwest region. This legendary cattle track, the so-called “Beef Road”, was originally constructed to enable the farmers of the isolated north-western part of Western Australia to drive their cattle to the ports of Derby and Wyndham.
Overnight: Spinifex Motel, Derby

Day 8: Derby – Broome
This morning we visit Derby’s main attraction with a dark past, the Prison Tree. Aboriginal convicts used to be locked up the hollow trunk of the old Boab Tree. Nowadays, the bulbous giant is protected and should no longer be entered out of respect for this place and history. In the pristine and warm water of the Indian Ocean around Broome you’ll find pearls which are among the most sought worldwide. Up until 1930 this small fishing town has met three quarters of the world’s pearling supplies and has become Australia’s pearling metropolis. By visiting the only pearl farm open to tourists in the Kimberley, you are given an insight into the pearling industry and its history. We reach Broome – Australia’s pearling capital – in the early evening.
Overnight: Cable Beach Club Resort, Broome

Having a population of about 15,000 people, Broome is the commercial and touristic centre of the Kimberley. Chinatown, the rather small downtown area with its Asian touch is the focus of all urban activities. Sun Picture, the world’s oldest picture garden is surrounded by lots of cafés, restaurants, galleries, souvenir shops, jewellery shops and pearl jewellery shops. Ultimately Broome was and still is a world known pearling centre. Whereas in the past, mother of pearl was the main reason and big business, it is cultured pearl in modern days. Pearl diving has always been considered one of the most dangerous occupations, and one that has cost many lives. Evidence of this fact can be seen at the historic gravesites of the Chinese Cemetery and Japanese Cemetery. At Gantheaume Point, where red coloured sandstone rocks meet the deep blue ocean, a 130-million-year-old dinosaur’s footprint can be seen at a very low tide. The tour ends at about 11 o’clock back at the hotel, the rest of the day is leisure time.

(optional: Horizontal Falls Tour following the Broome City Tour)

Optional ½ day: Australia is different in many ways. Here you’ll even find horizontal waterfalls! The Horizontal Falls, described as one of the greatest natural wonders of the world, are located deep within the pristine environment of Talbot Bay. And that is exactly what you are going to experience today! From Broome, you fly to the Horizontal Falls. Experience a spectacular seaplane landing on the calm waters of Talbot Bay. Board „Jet Stream“, the fastest boat in the Kimberley. Experience an exhilarating thrill ride through the Horizontal Waterfalls. Now it is time to sit back and relax as you cruise through the spectacular untouched surrounding bays and creeks. You take off from Talbot Bay flying low level across the Buccaneer Archipelago, Cape Leveque, Beagle Bay, Willie Creek Pearl Farm and Cable Beach. You will be transferred back to your hotel.

The Horizontal Falls are a natural phenomenon, which is influenced by daily changing tides. Tours therefore only take place when the predicted tidal movements are not equal to zero.

Overnight: Cable Beach Club Resort, Broome

Day 10: Broome – Port Hedland

On our journey towards Port Hedland we travel along the edge of The Great Sandy Desert with its small and meagre vegetation Most of Australia’s northern coastline is bordered by extensive mangrove forest. One important exemption is Eighty Mile Beach. Enjoy the beauty of this white sandy beach and turquoise water of the Indian Ocean, renowned for fishing and shell collecting. Stingrays, stonefish and sharks are in abundance and good reasons to stay ashore. We reach Port Hedland in the early evening.
Overnight: Cable Beach Club Resort, Broome

Day 11: Port Hedland – Karijini National Park
After breakfast we depart Port Hedland, Australia’s busiest iron-ore shipping port. We might – if lucky – sight an endless iron-ore train wheeling into or out of the port. Driving in a southerly direction across the Pilbara region. The traditional owners called their land „bilypara“, which could be translated with “dry”. No wonder: This area, which is twice as large as Germany, half of it consisting of desert and red coloured crests. Today’s accommodation is to be found in the heart of Karijini National Park. What a fantastic atmosphere and a guaranteed good night sleep!
Overnight: Karijini Eco Retreat, Karijini National Park

Day 12: Karijini National Park
The rock formations of Western Australia’s second biggest National Park belong to the oldest ones in the world, the landscape most impressive and colourful. The plateau which is rich in iron ore and therefore colored intensively red brown, offers spectacular lookouts and many gorges with permanent water pools. We walk down through the changing vegetation of the iron-rich gorge walls to the park’s only permanent waterfall. Just a short distance from Fortescue Falls, you can swim in the refreshing, spring fed Fern Pool. Finally, we visit the spectacular vantage point of the Oxer Lookout with its fantastic view on four gorges joining each other.
Overnight: Karijini Eco Retreat, Karijini National Park

Day 13: Karijini National Park – Exmouth
Today we leave the irone ore area of Tom Price towards the coast. Its gorges cut deep into the rock layers as well as colorful rock formations make up the magic of this rugged landscape. In the evening we arrive in Exmouth, the northern end of the Ningaloo Reef. Experts claim that the marine lifeof this ref is more abundant than that found at the Great Barrier Reef.
Overnight: Mantarays Ningaloo Beach Resort

Day 14: Exmouth (Ningaloo Reef)
Breathtaking views from Vlaming Head Lighthouse across North West Cape, beautiful Ningaloo Reef and gigantic antennas of the Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt. During our short stroll in Mandu Mandu Gorge we are looking out for some rare inhabitants, Black Footed Rock Wallabies. Turquoise Bay creates the perfect scenes for some relaxation, contemplation on the many impressions of the past days, and the temptation of the effervescent Indian Ocean for a refreshing swim. Late afternoon we return to our accommodation in Exmouth.
Overnight: Mantarays Ningaloo Beach Resort, Exmouth

Day 15: Exmouth (Ningaloo Reef) – Coral Bay – Carnarvon

After enjoying breakfast leisurely drive to Coral Bay. Here, we will encounter the 260 km long natural wonder of the Ningaloo Reef. As the reef is not far from shore it can be readily available to discover with the aid of snorkel and flippers on an outing in a glass-bottom- boat. The shallow water of the reef is the homeland to various sea creatures, such as corals, unusual sea stars, crustaceans and over 500 species of different fishes. In the afternoon leisurely drive from the southern end of Ningaloo Reef to Carnarvon.

Overnight: Hospitality Motel, Carnarvon

Day 16: Carnarvon – Monkey Mia (Shark Bay)
Typical “Outback Australian impressions” will accompany you on the drive to Monkey Mia today. First Stop at Hamelin Pool where the world best known colony of stromatolites can be admired. After our next stop at Shell Beach we pay homage to this World Natural Heritage area with visit to the Shark Bay Interpretive Centre in Denham. In the afternoon we arrive in Monkey Mia, home of the well-known dolphins. Nearly every day of the year they come to the shore to give you a unique experience that will never be forgotten. After dinner a local Aborigine will introduce us on a walk into the indigenous culture. Enjoy the dreamtime stories and the sound of the didgeridoo under the clear and bright night sky of Australia’s Outback Coast.
Overnight: Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort, Shark Bay

Day 17: Monkey Mia (Shark Bay) – Kalbarri
In the morning you have the opportunity to come face to face with these famous dolphins. Depending upon the season, our drive from the World Heritage area of Shark Bay to Kalbarri National Park will be escorted by the famous wildflowers. We will visit Kalbarri National Park where we enjoy the breathtaking view into the Murchison Gorge. In the evening we will arrive in the “laid back village” of Kalbarri.
Overnight: Kalbarri Palm Resort, Kalbarri

Day 18: Kalbarri – Geraldton
After breakfast we drive again to the Kalbarri National Park. The rugged coastal formations here are of impressive beauty. Via coastal road we travel via Port Gregory to Geraldton and experience some of the most picturesque grazing land. A beautiful aerial scenic flight includes overflying the fascinating islands in the Pelsaert Group, the Easter Group and the Wallabi Group. In 1629, this was the scene of the famous mutiny of the Batavia.
Overnight: Hospitality Motel, Geraldton

Day 19: Geraldton – Perth
A visit to Mount Scott gives you the opportunity of an outlook over the town of Geraldton and Grey’s Bay. Here is also the memorial for the victims of the sunken warship HMAS Sydney II. Our sightseeing tour concludes by visiting the architecturally interesting St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in the town centre. We are leaving Geraldton, the sunniest town in W.A. , south along the coast via Leeman and Jurien Bay towards Cervantes, the entrance to Nambung National Park. The Pinnacles are among the most visited natural wonders of the state. Thousands of limestone pillars rise out of a stark landscape of yellow sand. There is ample time to explore the area and to take some colourful photos from these amazing formations. These impressions of lights and colours will stay with you for many years to come. The journey continues south via Lancelin to Perth, where this extraordinary journey ends at your hotel.
End of tour.

Inclusions:

• Transport in a comfortable, air-conditioned 4WD vehicle (maximum 12 passengers)
• 18 nights’ accommodation in hotels, motels, and safari-style lodges
• English, German or French-speaking tour guide
• Entrance fees to national parks, UNESCO World Heritage areas, flights to Abrolhos Islands, didgeridoo tour, and boat excursions
• Meals (18x Breakfast, 3x Lunch)
• Complimentary water
• Information package and onboard infokit
• 24-hour emergency contact in English, German and French
• Safety provisions (satellite phone, radio, first aid kit with defibrillator)