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November 03, 2010
Update from the South Australian Outback!
Our winter has been busy, not only for our grain farming business, but also for Goin’ Off Safaris. We have had our best rain fall year for some time, so as the crops are ripening off for harvest, they are in great shape and we are expecting record yields so praying that nothing effects the crops from now on.
With all the rainfall, this has also fallen in outback South Australia as well, flooding a large part of what is normally zoned as desert country. This outback country is incredible and with the rainfall has completely transformed the landscape and also spirits of the folk who live in these ‘extreme” parts of the land. You may have heard of Australia’s inland sea, Lake Eyre. This is our largest lake covering 77km wide by 188km long and for the first time since 1974, it looked like filling. Water is still flowing in from the Cooper Creek into the lake and it is an incredible sight!
From this and our outback trips last year, we have been doing a Three Day Lake Eyre Flying Safari, which has proved to be very popular. Over 3 fantastic days, we depart from Adelaide flying over the Flinders Ranges and include places of interest such as the flooded Coongie Lakes, Goygers Lagoon, the Dig Tree, Warburton Groove, Lake Eyre, the Prominent Hill Mine site, Moomba Oil & Gas fields and the Painted Hills. We land at some of the best outback pubs in Birdsville, William Creek, Innamincka and Coober Pedy to chat and have a refreshing ale with the real characters of the outback.
Innamincka on the full & flowing Cooper Creek is awesome as we kayak this amazing river, full of bird & wild life and catch bags of massive yabbies. These are like fresh water prawns, but lots bigger and more like the size of small crayfish!
We also stay at Innamincka & then underground at the very unique opal capital of the world, Coober Pedy. Our choice of aircraft & no doubt that you are familiar with this, is the nostalgic, Beech 18. This is the same Beech that featured in classic films such as Octopussy and Casablanca, so has a bit of history in her! View additional blogs and trip information.
We have also had quite a bit of exposure of late and have featured in the Travel Editor, and major newspapers such as the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age’s travel sections through a feature on Eyre Peninsula. In a few weeks, we will be on prime time TV with a new series called No Leave, No Life on the 7 Network which will be quite exciting and I can send the link through when our segment will be on!
Apart from that, we are now gearing up for another busy summer. Our most popular trips such as the Extreme Ocean Adventure, our Fishing Safaris are all gaining a lot of attention as well as our Great Australian Bight Treks and camps. We now have a Personal Trainer Carly, on board to assist with out treks and health retreats as well as another very popular and comical driver, “Fish”, who everybody loves!
Apart from harvest just around the corner, a list of summer bookings all ready in place, baby No. 2 arriving at the start of December, its all relatively quiet around here!!
I hope that you are all well in your part of the world and hope that we can entertain you over the next few months or so!
David
Nominated as the Best Tour Operator Domestic category at the 2010 National Travel Industry Awards
David Doudle
Managing Director
Goin' Off Safaris
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