“Sometimes we have to get lost to find ourselves,” says an Aboriginal girl in the movie. “So we go walkabout.”

In 1995 I went walkabout for three months in the outback, spending most of it in places where the movie was filmed. I often traveled with Aboriginal guides, sometimes slept under the stars, and even sailed in uncharted waters. It was a life changing experience – at the age of 53.

Australia, the movie, is an epic romance set in the late 1940s. A wealthy English woman (Nicole Kidman) comes to Australia and is forced to sell a huge cattle station in the outback. She hires a drover (Hugh Jackman) to help her drive the cattle to Darwin. They arrive just as the Japanese start their first bombing raid on northern Australia in World War Two.

If you want to go walkabout and see the real Australia –the one few tourists see – you’ve just found the best place to plan your trip. To get you started, I’ve designed six unique itineraries. Each features a sheep or cattle station, Aboriginal culture, and wildlife. They can be modified to suit you. Or, add on other touring if you wish.
 

1. Australia – see the movie sites!
If you truly want to see the main movie sites, take this tour in the Kimberley, where cattle stations are over a million acres. You won’t need a movie star’s budget, but you should go with a small group. It’s safer and you’ll learn more. Start in Broome, once the pearling capitol of the world, where you’ll ride a camel at sunset on a beach along the Indian Ocean. Then depart on your 8-day small group tour. Explore magnificent gorges, sleep in safari cabins and tents, visit the station where much of the film was shot, and see the fascinating Bungle Bungles. View Aboriginal rock art and hear about the struggle between the natives and settlers. Travel the legendary Gibb River Road. This tour is for adults of all ages who are reasonably fit and adventurous. Tour ends with a relaxing day in Broome. Set departure dates, May-September only. 
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2. Historic Darwin, a Cattle Station, the Kakadu and Aboriginal Arnhem Land
Darwin is closer to southeast Asia than to Sydney, and Australia was caught off guard when the Japanese bombed it in World War Two. The movie depicts this history. You’ll have a personal guide to see the military installations and glimpse Darwin’s diverse ethnic history. Then off to the Kakadu National Park and Arnhem Land - restricted Aboriginal territory - with a small group tour. Cruise billabongs filled with birds and crocs. Visit top Aboriginal rock art sites. Then take your charter flight to a cattle station like no other! See how an outback station operates. Swim in a waterfall like the one in the movie! If it is roundup time, be a jackaroo or a jillaroo for a day! Best of all, you’ll get to know the family who runs the station. Chat with their boys about attending the School of the Air. Hear how they survive annual wet season, cut off from the rest of the world. Clients return with rave reviews, always. Mid May through mid October.
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3. Where the Outback Ends: tropical rainforests, a cattle station, and a private Aboriginal tour
This itinerary has a wide variety of environments and is conveniently located in far northern Queensland. Departing Cairns, drive to the Atherton Tablelands and stay in a villa on a former farm. The new owners are slowly restoring the original rainforest. Go birding, perhaps see a platypus, and explore on your own. Then drive north to Cooktown – where the paved road ends. Enjoy a private day with one of the best Aboriginal rock art and culture guides in Australia. Then it’s off to a cattle station where you can go horseback riding, feed the animals, or even play a round of golf. Return south on the thrilling unsealed road that goes past Bloomfield Falls, into the heart of the Daintree Rainforest. After your nature tours here, continue south and visit the Great Barrier Reef on a small boat. Best taken April through late October.
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4. Wildlife, Sheep Stations, and Aboriginal culture
Kangaroo Island has been my clients’ favorite place in Australia. With your professional guide in a small group, see koalas, kangaroos, amazing birds, echidnas, wombats, sea lions, fur seals – and amazing geology. Back on the mainland, explore the rugged Flinders Ranges. Stay on a sheep station, to learn the story of this area filled with history-making geological discoveries and dotted with the ruins of stations that failed due to the weather. Spend a few days at an award-winning Aboriginal cultural center, where you will hear about the profound spiritual and environmental relationship between the people and the land. By the campfire at night, hear their songs. Walk with the women to visit sacred sites. See unique rock art. Then continue to one of the most unusual nature preserves in the country, founded by a man who was knighted by the Crown of England for his work. See the night sky from Australia’s largest private observatory. Tour ends back in Adelaide.
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5. The Outback in Style: a luxury cattle station, a mountain lodge, & a fabulous Great Barrier Reef resort
This luxurious tour is for travelers who want the outback and their creature comforts – in ten glorious days! You’ll fly to a working cattle station just two hours from Sydney. Tour the station, canoe on billabongs filled with birds and wildlife. Let the local Aborigines teach you to play the didgeridoo and paint a boomerang. See a real Corroboree! Then transfer to an eco-lodge in the mountains of southern Queensland, where you’ll experience the wildlife of a temperate rainforest. The grand finale is a pampering stay at one of the most luxurious resorts on the Great Barrier Reef. Dine on the pier by candlelight, snorkel, dive, or take leisurely bush walks. Best taken March through late October.
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6. In the Red Heart of Australia
There’s no town like Alice Springs, sitting in the red center of Australia, isolated from the rest of the country by thousands of miles of haunting, barren landscape. Your private guide will take you to the Royal Flying Doctor Service, the School of the Air, and other historic spots. You’ll visit some of the country’s finest Aboriginal art shops. The next morning as the sun rises over the ranges, you will float in a hot air balloon to a cattle station! Join in station activities, take bush walks, go birding. At night, you’ll see the Milky Way like you’ve never seen it before. Back in Alice, ride a camel to dinner in the desert! Then depart with a small group to take the back roads to Uluru, stopping along the way to see gorges, nature preserves, a huge crater, and King’s Canyon. You’ll have a special tour of Uluru (Ayer’s Rock) and Kata Tjuta (the Olgas). The grand finale is a daytrip to one of the best Aboriginal rock art sites in Australia, the famed “seven sisters” paintings. Best taken April through November.
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