The Ultimate South Australia Road Trip - From the Outback to Wine Country

Fifteen days from the Adelaide Hills into the outback and back out through wine country, and the geology is the thread running through it.

Adelaide opens it with two nights, an electric bike tour through the hills, strawberry picking at Beerenberg Farm and a stop at Hahndorf, the oldest surviving German settlement in Australia, founded in 1839 by Lutherans fleeing Prussia. Port Augusta follows via Mount Remarkable National Park.

Arkaroola then gets three nights and is the heart of the trip. It is a privately owned wildlife sanctuary in the northern Flinders Ranges sitting on rock around 1.6 billion years old, and the Ridgetop Track is driven by 4×4 out to the Freeling Heights and the Mawson Plateau. Yudnamutana Gorge drops a thousand metres, Lake Frome is a salt pan, and the sanctuary has its own observatory, which in air this dry and dark is a considerable thing.

Rawnsley Park near Wilpena Pound follows for three nights. Bunyeroo and Brachina gorges cut through seabeds laid down six hundred million years ago and hold some of the best preserved early fossils anywhere, which is why geologists come here from everywhere. Clare Valley closes the trip with two nights of riesling, shiraz and chardonnay, the Riesling Trail cycle route along a disused railway, and the villages of Clare, Auburn and Mintaro. Original Travel include the hire car, accommodation, the 4×4 and scenic flight, the tastings, local concierge access, a 24-hour helpline and carbon absorption through their own programme. International flights and most meals are separate. Prices run from 5,000 to 6,500 pounds per person depending on season, booking window and choices.