2026 FEATURE TOUR

Centre to the Sea (and back!). 25 Nights. Starts & Ends in Alice Springs.

WHAT'S INCLUDED?

• First night's accommodation at The Desert Palms Villas, Alice Springs 
• First night's dinner at Lasseters Hotel
• StarLink Wifi - internet when we're camped in remote areas 5 - 8 pm
• Pre-tour help and advice on vehicle and gear setup.
• All the arrangements and bookings for the tour (just get yourself, your gear and vehicle to Alice Springs for the first night's included accommodation and dinner).
• Full-time, professional tour guide/4WD instructor with a Cert IV qualification in 4WD training and current remote area first aid certificate.
• Mechanical assistance and tyre changing.
• Reliable Toyota Land Cruiser lead vehicle with all safety, recovery, communications and emergency equipment - Starlink and Garmin inReach (tracker, emergency beacon & satellite texting), winch, snatch straps, Max Trax etc (meaning you only need to carry minimal recovery gear).
• All camping fees; all National Park access fees and all Aboriginal Land entry/transit permits.
• "On-tour" training over the 2-way radio. You will be given help and advice throughout the entire trip and warned of oncoming traffic and hazards. 
• Night spotlighting sessions for animals; bird/animal ID books and apps 
• Powered site at 80 Mile Beach Campground - 2 nights
• Unpowered campsite at Warakurna Roadhouse
• Weather balloon launch at Giles Meteorological Station
• Final night's accommodation at The Desert Palms Villas, Alice Springs
• Final night's dinner at Lasseters Hotel

WHAT'S NOT INCLUDED?

• 4WD Vehicle, fuel, food (other than stated above), camping gear, insurance
• Optional accommodation upgrades

WHAT ARE THE 4X4 VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS?

• This tour is suitable for camper trailers (conditions apply).
• A high clearance 4X4 vehicle with low range.
• Upgraded, heavy duty suspension - even on a new vehicle. Standard suspension will not cope on the corrugations and dune moguls.
• One spare front shock (or shock in spring assembly) and one spare rear shock as appropriate. These can be the originals. We just need something that will fit your vehicle to get us out of trouble.
•  Six Light Truck construction (LT) tyres with over 60% tread remaining.
• Fuel range of 1,000 km. 
• 60 - 80 litre water storage.
• Good quality UHF radio base set (Uniden, GME or Oricom recommended) fitted into your vehicle by a UHF specialist installer, and a substantial aerial - 6.6dbi, 1 metre in length, with large 30mm base - not the slim springy ones. 
• Good quality sand flag with lynch pin base. Not a hose fitting type, and not the spring base type. Bushranger flag from ARB recommended.
• Tyre pressure gauge.
• Tyre pressure monitors.
• Good quality air compressor.
• Some spares are required to be carried. A full list is provided on booking.
• A mechanical checklist is to be completed and returned by a qualified mechanic at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the tour.
• An medical form is to be completed and submitted at least 2 weeks before departure.
• A tent, roof tent, or camp set up that is EASY TO PUT UP AND TAKE DOWN. This should take no longer than 15 mins each time (this will make or break your trip - i.e. not an awning tent connected to your vehicle).
• Vehicle Insurance - make sure your insurance company covers your vehicle for off-road driving. NRMA/RACQ etc will not recover your vehicle from remote tracks. Only Club 4X4 Insurance will cover your vehicle recovery costs in remote situations. There is an option with Club 4X4 to get up to $30,000 for remote recoveries. (Our vehicle is insured with Club 4X4 but we are NOT sponsored by them).
• Travel Insurance - as with any holiday, you should get travel insurance in case of unforeseen circumstances.

FUEL CONSUMPTION

Fuel consumption is as follows (NB. indicative only):
- Diesel utes eg. Hilux, D-Max, Ranger, BT-50 use about 14 L/100km,
- Landrover Discovery 4 uses about 15L diesel/100km
- Diesel V8 200 Series Landcruiser uses 18L/100km
- Diesel 70 Series Landcruisers use about 16L/100km 
 
WHERE CAN I GET SUPPLIES AND FUEL?

Fuel is available along our route, however, you will need to have a fuel range of 1,000 km for the longest stretch with no fuel stops (this takes into account emergencies and altered itineraries due to weather etc). All care will be taken to check in advance whether fuel is available where we are going. Water and food is also available in these locations but fresh food is not always available and variety is limited.

CAN I HIRE A 4WD VEHICLE & CAMPING GEAR?

Yes you can. Click Here if you're thinking about hiring a vehicle (and all the gear) from Darwin. Priced from about $390/day.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THERE IS FLOODING OR ROAD CLOSURES IN AND AROUND THE DESERT AT THE TIME OF OUR TOUR?
We have alternative itineraries in the event of flooding or track closures, so unless all access roads are closed, the tour will go ahead. It is not always possible to run tours as planned in the Outback and desert. This is all part of travel in these remote areas.

WHEN CAN I SEE THE FULL ITINERARY?

An itinerary for this tour is not yet available.

This tour is still in its development phase, so we don't have an Info Pack for it just yet. However, the vehicle requirements for the tour will be similar to our Canning Stock Route Tour (see Vehicle Requirements above), except you can bring your full off-road camper trailer if you wish (conditions apply). Tony is doing a recce trip for this tour in September 2025, so we'll know a lot more then. 


WHERE CAN I LEAVE MY CARAVAN OR CAMPER TRAILER?

You can store your van or camper trailer at any of the Caravan Parks in Alice Springs for a fee. We recommend "Wintersun Caravan Park" on the North side of town.