General Tour Information
Note: The information presented here is an abbreviated version of our formal General Information for Tours to Australia: The Outback. Its purpose is solely to give readers a sense of what might be involved if they take this tour. Although we do our best to make sure that what follows here is completely accurate, it should not be used as a replacement for the formal document which will be sent to all tour registrants, and whose contents supersedes any information contained here.
ENTERING AUSTRALIA: U.S. citizens may travel to Australia on a valid U.S. passport with an Australian visa or, if eligible, on a valid U.S. passport and an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA), which replaces a visa and allows a stay of up to three months. The ETA is free of charge and is available from airlines and many travel agents. More information about the ETA and entry requirements may be obtained from the Embassy of Australia at 1601 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036, telephone (202) 797-3000, via the Australian Embassy home page on the Internet at http://www.austemb.org/, or from the Australian Consulate General in Los Angeles, tel (310) 229-4840.
MAP AND COUNTRY INFORMATION: You can view a map of Australia here. You can review the U.S. State Department Background Note on Australia here.
CLIMATE: The weather in Australia varies from state to state. Most mornings and nights will be cool to cold, with temperatures frequently warming during the day. Rain is possible at any time.
PACE OF TOUR & DAILY ROUTINE: The tour will not be physically strenuous in any way. Most days we will leave our accommodation in the early morning after breakfast, and will not arrive at our next accommodation until early evening. The tour involves long drives on many days; you should be prepared to spend more time than usual in the vehicle.
Breakfast times vary depending on the location. Where the accommodation will not provide a cooked breakfast at the time we prefer, we’ll have a “continental” breakfast, usually placed in our rooms the previous evening.
On most days we’ll have a picnic lunch; occasionally we’ll stop at a small café for sandwiches and a drink. We’ll usually return to the hotel in the late afternoon/early evening, and we’ll make every effort to have a break of an hour to shower and relax before dinner. We’ll compile a checklist of the birds we’ve seen just before or just after dinner each evening.
HEALTH: No immunizations are required for visitors to Australia (unless you are visiting other countries en route). Drinking water is safe throughout Australia. As it will be difficult to obtain personal medications during the tour, be certain to bring adequate supplies with you. Bring insect repellent for protection from mosquitoes and sandflies. Please note that any health information contained here is gleaned from websites and other sources dedicated to travelers’ health. For further details on travel to Australia, consult your physician and the website of the Centers for Disease Control.
ACCOMMODATION: Our accommodations will vary from excellent lodges or hotels with private facilities in each room to more basic accommodation with shared facilities. Accommodation will normally be the best available in the area. In Noccundra, Bollard’s Lagoon (Cattle Station), Lyndhurst Station, and Willow Springs, accommodation is basic with shared facilities. Please note that as a result of the group size and the limited availability of single rooms at the cattle station, there is a chance that you will have to share for the two nights spent there; if this is the case, the single occupancy supplement for those particular nights will be refunded after the conclusion of the tour.
DRESS: Outback Australia is very informal. Flip-flops are not acceptable as footwear in some restaurants, though leather sandals are accepted. Shorts are commonly worn throughout Australia.
TRANSPORT: Transportation throughout most of the tour will be in a minibus driven by the leader. There are some unpaved roads, but on the whole road conditions are good. The leader will organize a seating rotation, so each participant must be able to ride in any seat in the vehicle.
SMOKING: Smoking is not allowed in the vehicles or when the group is gathered for meals, checklists etc. If you are sharing a room with a non-smoker, please do not smoke in the room. If you smoke in the field, we ask that you do so well away and downwind from the group. If any location or facility where the group is gathered has a stricter policy, that stricter policy will prevail.
GENERAL INFORMATION & CONDITIONS: Please take a moment to read the WINGS General Information & Conditions. This section contains important information about how we conduct tours, e.g., what is included in the tour price, refund and cancellation policies, pace of the tours, and other information that will help you prepare for the tour.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: A more complete General Information for Tours to Outback Australia will be sent to each registrant on receipt of their booking. Final information with instructions for meeting the group, hotel addresses, etc., will be mailed about three weeks before trip departure. Other news will be communicated as necessary. If you have any questions, please contact us.
Updated: June 2008