MELBOURNE TO GRIFFITH

Welcome to our tour to Lightning Ridge. With chauffeured pickup from home, we are transferred to meet our O’Shannessy’s Quality Tours luxury coach and crew. From Melbourne we make our way north to The Big Strawberry where we stop for lunch. This afternoon we cross into New South Wales and through to Griffith. Row upon row, farm upon farm of oranges, grapes, peaches and other delights boldly announce we have entered one of Australia’s most magnificent food and wine producing areas.

OVERNIGHT:  Kidman Wayside Inn, GRIFFITH

GRIFFITH TO COBAR

This morning we visit the Griffith Visitors Centre where we collect our local expert. Their tour will give us a good introduction to the area and what occurs over a 12 month period, as well as the history of the Griffith area. On the road again, we follow the famous Kidman Way. We travel through quite a few little outback towns like Goolgowi - the “Crossroads to the Outback”. It’s a relatively new town with settlement occurring in the 1920’s when the Mid-Western Highway and the railway encouraged development. Today the town provides a welcome, restful stop for travellers. We continue on to Hillston; situated on the banks of the Lachlan River, the town provides a wealth of water orientated activities. The next stop is Mount Hope and this is where we enjoy our lunch. Copper Ore was discovered here in 1873 on Coan Downs by a shepherd named MacDowall. This discovery led to the opening of the Grade Central, Mount Allen and Mount Solitary Mines. Gold was also mined here.  Mount Hope now has a population of about 20, whereas in its heyday it boasted 3,000.  Mid-afternoon we arrive in Cobar and visit the Great Cobar Outback Heritage Centre incorporating the Regional Museum. The Great Cobar Heritage Centre is the former Administration Building of the Great Cobar Copper Mine. The centre captures the essence of Cobar, with an amazing collection of artefacts revealing the extraordinary and diverse range of local heritage. We then finish our days touring and check into our motel. Dinner is at the Empire Hotel this evening.  

OVERNIGHT:  Copper City Motel, COBAR

COBAR TO LIGHTNING RIDGE

We farewell our hosts and head to Bourke, situated on the banks of the Darling River. There are some wonderful historic buildings here including the Carriers Arms Inn, frequented by Henry Lawson in the early 1890s and mentioned in some of his stories.  While we are here, we visit the Back of Bourke Exhibition Centre that will bring to life the story of Outback New South Wales and of course the Back O’ Bourke. In true country style, we enjoy lunch at the pub – The Port of Bourke Hotel to be exact. Lightning Ridge is our destination and we aim to get there late afternoon. This is a three night stop so unpack and get comfortable. 

OVERNIGHT:  Wallangulla Motel, LIGHTNING RIDGE

LIGHTNING RIDGE

This morning we are in for an intriguing experience. Visit the Chambers of the Black Hand, an underground gallery with works carved and painted into the walls by the artist, Ron Canlin. There is no subject off limits here as Ron constantly carves his new works. Next, we experience the atmosphere of an underground mine at Opal Mine Adventures. Here we’ll learn about opal mining through a video presentation and visit the showroom to view the opals that came from the mine in this area. Then popping into the Cactus Farm, you’ll be captivated by the beautifully displayed and numerous varieties of cacti. We are then joined by a local guide who will lead us on a sightseeing tour of this fascinating outback town before uncovering Amigos Castle, a huge Italian Style Castle built by one man. Later, we’ll return to our hotel and refresh before dinner.

OVERNIGHT:  Wallangulla Motel, LIGHTNING RIDGE

THE GRAWIN

With our local expert joining us again we head out to The Grawin, a group of Opal Fields where the largest opal ‘Light of the World’ was found. Be treated as a local at the welcoming Glengarry Hilton, a unique place for our lunch and no doubt a great place for the Australian larrikin. After our tucker, we head back to ‘The Ridge’ with enough time to take a look at the John Murray Art Gallery. Here John’s kept busy adding to his outside mural, affectionately named ‘Billygoat Lane’. 

OVERNIGHT:  Wallangulla Motel, LIGHTNING RIDGE

LIGHTNING RIDGE TO DUBBO

Farewell to Lightning Ridge as we travel south through Coonamble and Gilgandra to Dubbo. We arrive late morning and have some free time to stretch our legs and have some lunch. Dubbo is one of Australia’s largest cities - in population terms it is ranked in the top 40. Unlike many other rural centers throughout Australia, Dubbo has experienced quite dramatic growth over the past decade and now offers all the sophistication of a capital city, without sacrificing the benefits of country life. It is situated in the geographical heart of NSW and has a history that goes back more than 180 years. Dubbo is also home to the Taronga Western Plains Zoo. The zoo is one of the largest in the world, covering some 300 hectares, where animals live in large natural areas behaving very much as they would in the wild. We are joined by a local guide who will board our coach and provide us with an insight into the animals and zoo (with plenty of stops for explanations and photos). After our tour, we have some free time to revisit the animals. We then check into our accommodation.

OVERNIGHT: Quality Inn Dubbo International, DUBBO

DUBBO TO WAGGA WAGGA

We have a slightly earlier start this morning; from Dubbo we take the Newell Highway through Peake Hill.  Just north of Parkes, we visit the CSIRO Radio Telescope, also called “The Dish”. The visitors centre features many hands on displays and exhibits and our visit also includes an audio-visual experience. Our lunch venue today is in Grenfell and our afternoon journey takes us through Young and Cootamundra. We stop in Junee for a tour of the Junee Licorice and Chocolate Factory before the last leg of today’s journey which takes us to Wagga Wagga. 

OVERNIGHT:  Mercure Wagga Wagga, WAGGA WAGGA

WAGGA WAGGA TO MELBOURNE

Unfortunately, our holiday is coming to an end and today is mostly a travel day so sit back and enjoy the ride! We stop in Albury for our morning break then drive to Benalla. Here, we’ll take a drive to see some of the Street Art – artists from around the world were brought together to paint murals on bare walls, some over three stories high. After lunch, we continue on to Melbourne. As always, our chauffeurs await our arrival to transfer us safely home with memories of a sensational Lightning Ridge tour –  all part of the O’Shannessy’s Quality Tours superior service.