The Big Southern Convoy

The Australian outback is packed with unique attractions that are perfect for families, but the remoteness is pretty intimidating. So let’s take it on together!

We’re leading a convoy of families on an epic journey to see incredible dinosaur fossils and footprints from a stampede that happened 100 million years ago. There’s nowhere else like it on Earth.

It’s the perfect setting for kids to make new friends and parents to take a break from entertaining them and relax. You can even hire one of our camping kits and we’ll set up camp for you at every stop, pull it all down when it’s time to leave and transport it between campsites.

We take the fear and stress out of travel, so you can concentrate on making amazing memories with your kids.

How much does it cost?

The cost varies according to the type of accommodation you choose and whether you join in NSW or Victoria. We also have camping kits available for hire, complete with a set up, pack up and gear transport service.

Secure your spot now for just $150 per person. The balance is due on 1 May 2024.

  • The budget option includes mostly unpowered camp sites. It doesn’t include any tours or activities.

    This is the perfect option if you’re looking to save some money, have an off-grid camping setup, or just want to disconnect and have more of an authentic camping experience.

    The price is $1080 per vehicle if you join in Wallan, or $920 per vehicle if you join in Bathurst.

  • The mid-range option includes powered camp sites at every stop..

    It also includes the tours and activities outlined below.

    Choose this option if you want to be able to plug in a fridge, laptop or other appliances.

    The price is $2660 per vehicle if you join in Wallan, or $2255 per vehicle if you join in Bathurst.

  • The high-end option includes cabins at every camp site.

    The cabins have private bathrooms and kitchens and linen is provided.

    This option includes the tours and activities outlined below.

    The price is $5410 per vehicle if you join in Wallan, or $4505 if you join in Bathurst.

We are all staying at the same camp sites and all options include access to showers and toilets.

  • We’re heading to some real bucket list locations!

    We’ll see amazing rock art at Carnarvon Gorge and the world’s only fossil record of a dinosaur stampede at Lark Quarry.

    We’ll dig for dinosaur bones at Winton, visit a sapphire mine to search for gems, hunt for opal at Lightning Ridge, look at the sun through one of the world’s biggest hydrogen alpha sun telescopes and so much more!

  • This trip will run from 1-23 August 2024 for people joining in Wallan and 3-21 August 2024 for people joining in Bathurst.

  • If you have kids in your life and you’re keen to make amazing memories and show them the world - this is for you.

    Kids have more fun when they travel together and parents get to relax instead of worrying about them being bored.

    Most of the people who join our trips are homeschoolers, but families with school kids are very welcome too.

    Our trips are not the usual group tours.

    Everything is built around giving kids an opportunity to make friends, have amazing educational experiences and travel at their own pace.

    You’ll have all the support you need, without any rigid timeframes.

  • As with all of our trips, you’re welcome to join in as much or as little as you like.

    You can keep to yourself or hang out with the group around the campsite. It’s totally up to you. Everything is very flexible.

    We just want everyone to have an amazing holiday, feel comfortable and have a memorable experience safe in the knowledge that they’re not alone if they need support.

    Plus it’s a lot easier and less stressful to holiday with kids if they’re having a great time with friends!

  • Inclusions vary depending on the level you choose.

    Our trip coordinator will accompany you throughout the journey. They will suggest activities, help everyone get to know each other and travel at the back of the convoy to make sure you arrive safely at each camp.

    Our support vehicle will carry essential items like a first aid kit, spare water and fuel, a satellite phone, repair kits and tools.

    We will also set up a private group chat for people who are going on the trip, so everyone can get to know each other before it starts and share photos along the way.

    You will need to drive yourself between the camp sites. Transport is not available.

  • The camping kit costs $569, in addition to the ticket price.

    The price for the camping kit is per family, not per person.

    The price includes full set up/pull down service at each stop and we will transport all the gear between locations for you.

  • The camping kit includes a large tent, air mattresses, camping stove, cooking kit, folding table, folding chairs, extension cord, power board and camping fridge.

    It also includes a concierge service, so we will set the tent up for you at every camp site and pull it down when it’s time to leave.

    We will transport your whole camping kit from one camp site to the next, so you don’t have to fit it into your car.

    We have a very limited number of camping kits available.

Here’s what we have planned:

Day 1: Wallan to Albury

For the families joining the convoy in Victoria, we’ll meet up in Wallan on day one. We’ll introduce ourselves, have a quick chat about the trip and head off on the first leg. We’ll drive about three hours up the highway to Albury, where we’ll spend the first night.

After we get set up we’ll head out for a couple of rounds of laser tag and some virtual reality gaming, to help the kids get to know each other a little bit.

Day 2: Albury to Young

On day two we’ll drive about three hours up the highway to Young.

When we arrive we’ll see the first of several ‘Big Things’ on this trip - the Big Cherries! We’ll definitely get a selfie before we set up camp for the night at the local caravan park.

Day 3: Young to Bathurst

We’ll drive a couple more hours up the highway on day three to Bathurst, where families from NSW will join us.

There’s lots to do in Bathurst. You can check out the fossil museum, Mount Panorama, the National Motor Racing Museum or the Rail Museum. It’s completely up to you!

Day 4: Bathurst to Nyngan

On day four we’ll drive about four hours up to Nyngan, where we’ll spend the night at a beautiful caravan park on the banks of the Bogan River.

We might even have our first group BBQ!

Days 5 & 6: Nyngan to Cunnamulla

We’ll tackle the longest drive of the trip on day five, at almost five hours, but don’t worry, we’ll stop for breaks and we’re staying at Cunnamulla for two nights, so you’ll have time to recover.

We’ll take a minibus out to the sand dunes on day six, where we’ll learn how to surf down the area’s massive sand dunes. You can sit or stand, wind your way to the bottom slowly, or head straight down at full speed. The kids will have the best time! The tour is included in the mid-range and high-end tickets.

If sandboarding isn’t for you, you can kayak on the Warrego River, take a mineral mudbath, fossick for opals or just relax at camp.

Day 7: Cunnamulla - Charleville

On day seven we’ll drive a couple of hours up to Charleville.

There’s so much to do in Charleville. Mid-range and high-end ticket holders get free entry to the Charleville Cosmos Centre, where you can look directly at the sun through one of the biggest Hydrogen Alpha Telescopes in the world.

If you’re looking for more to do, you can visit the Bilby Experience, take a tour of the secret WWII base, or head back to the observatory at night to look through their huge telescope. These activities are not included in the price.

Day 8: Charleville to Barcaldine

On day eight we’ll drive up to Barcaldine, with plenty of stops and breaks along the way.

Barcaldine is home to the famous Tree of Knowledge, which is the birthplace of the Australian Labor Party and location of the first Australian shearer’s strike. There’s also a really cool little museum with heaps of interactive experiences for kids.

Days 9-11: Barcaldine to Winton

It’s dinosaur time! We’ll spend a couple of days in Winton checking out some seriously amazing things.

Included in the mid-range and high-end trips is a child-friendly tour of the dinosaur centre, where we’ll get our hands dirty at the museum’s dig site, visit their fossil lab and see their incredible collection of fossils. We’ll even make plaster casts of a real dinosaur claw.

Winton is close to Lark Quarry, one of the most unique and special places on Earth. It’s the only place in the world where you can see footprints from a dinosaur stampede. The stampede happened 95 million years ago, when a herd of at least 150 dinosaurs fled a large theropod, leaving behind more than 3300 footprints. The footprints are super clear and the site is absolutely mind blowing!

You can join a tour to the stampede site for $150 per person, or you can easily drive yourself.

There are lots of other things to do in Winton, especially for kids. You can visit the observatory, fossick for opals, check out the splash park or head out to the Rangelands Rifts at sunset .

Day 12: Winton to Longreach

It’s time to start the journey home on day 12, but there are still plenty of fun things ahead of us.

We’ll drive a couple of hours to Longreach, where there are so many activities to choose from. Options include a stage coach ride, the Stockman’s Hall of Fame and the Qantas museum, where you can walk on the wing of a 747!

Day 13: Longreach to Rubyvale

On day 13 we’ll head across to Rubyvale, in the heart of Queensland’s gem fields.

We’ll take a guided tour of Australia’s largest walk-in underground sapphire mine, where you’ll fossick for your own zircons and sapphires.

The mine tour is included in the ticket price for families who choose the mid-range or high-end options.

Days 14-16: Rubyvale to Carnarvon Gorge

We’ll arrive at one of the most beautiful places in Australia on day 14 - Carnarvon Gorge. We’ll spend three nights at the gorge so you’ll have plenty of time to take it all in.

The gorge has some of the best indigenous stencil art in the country, huge sandstone cliffs, a moss garden and a rock pool where you can swim with turtles. You can take a helicopter ride, go on a night safari or do a tour with traditional owners (not included).

Day 17: Carnarvon Gorge to Roma

It’s time to say goodbye to the gorge on day 17 and head to Roma.

There’s a very cute little living history museum just out of Roma and The Big Rig Tower and Tree Walk that kids love. They even put on a cool little sunset show.

Days 18 & 19: Roma to Lightning Ridge

We’ll cross the border into NSW on day 18 and drive to Lightning Ridge, where we’ll spend two nights.

There are lots of things to do in Lightning Ridge, which is famous for its opals. There are lots of opal mine tours and fossicking activities to choose from, which kids always love, or you can go underground to see the Black Hand Opal Mine, which has 900 sculptures hand carved into the walls.

Day 20: Lightning Ridge to Gilgandra

One day 20 we’ll drive about three hours down to the quiet town of Gilgandra.

This will be the last night of the trip for families from NSW, so it will be a day for taking last-minute selfies, exchanging email addresses and cooking one last packet of marshmallows over the campfire.

Day 21: Gilgandra to Bathurst

We’ll drive about three hours south to Bathurst on day 21, where we’ll check out all the things we didn’t get time to see on the way up.

Day 22: Bathurst to Wagga Wagga

Families from Victoria will continue the journey south on Day 22, heading down to Wagga Wagga for our last night together.

There’s plenty to do in Wagga Wagga, but most of the kids will probably just want to hang out around the campfire and enjoy their last night with all their new friends.

Day 23: Wagga Wagga to Wallan

We’ll say goodbye to all our new friends on the morning of day 23.

We’ll promise to share photos on the private Facebook group and look forward to telling our family and friends about all the incredible things we did!

FAQs

  • Absolutely not. Your normal, everyday car will be fine.

    We’re not going off road and most of the trip is on the highway.

  • We travel with a Starlink satellite dish to make sure that everyone can stay online at the campsites.

  • There is mobile phone coverage for most of the trip.

    We will have a satellite phone, just in case a car breaks down or anyone needs assistance.

    Satellite phones cost about $80 a week to rent, so we recommend grabbing one if you’re planning to spend time alone at some of the more remote places.

  • Dogs are allowed on this trip.

    The only issue is that Canarvon Gorge is a national park, so dogs are banned.

    There is a campground just outside the park that welcomes dogs and even has secure yards where you can leave them during the day while you explore.

    If you are bringing a dog you will need to stay at the dog-friendly campsite, instead of the one where the rest of the group is staying.

    The dog-friendly campsite has toilets but no running water and no powered sites.

    The two campsites are only a few kms away from each other.

    Please contact us if you are planning to bring a dog.

  • You don’t need to make a final decision until April 2024.

    Secure your place now with a deposit of $150 per person and decide later which option is best for your family.

  • There are lots of supermarkets and food stops along the way, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to stock up as we go.

    We will provide you with a detailed itinerary showing where you need to stock up on food and where to refuel.

    Most of the campsites have camp kitchens and a lot have bistros or are near pubs and restaurants, so you can buy meals if you don’t feel like cooking.

  • Some of the campsites have washing machines and dryers available for a small fee, usually around $4. Most have a camp kitchen, which you can use to wash your dishes.

    Our support vehicle has hot water on board and a portable sink for you to use at the camp sites where kitchens are not available.

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