Tours

We have a range of Private Tours organised by the Sheep, Camelid and Goat Committee. Please contact the organiser as you can not book these as part of the registration.

Sheepvets of the Desert - 12 Day Tour - Leaves Melbourne

Rural Tour - 8 day Tour - Leaves Wollongong

Pre-Conference Tour: 'Sheepvets of The Desert'
	Accommodation Location	Day Key Events
Day 1	Melbourne	Indigenous walk, Great Ocean Road
Day 2	Warrnambool	Grampians National Park
Day 3	Echuca	Murray River boat cruise
Day 4	Mungo NP	Mungo National park
Day 5	Broken Hill	Heritage walk and mine tour
Day 6	Cobar	Heritage Walk and mine tour
Day 7	Dubbo	Dubbo Zoo
Day 8	Wagga Wagga	Murrumbidgee River walk
Day 9	Arthursleigh	Wagga saleyards, Arthursleigh farm stay and bush dance
Day 10	Katoomba	Katoomba town walk
Day 11	Sydney	Ferry in Sydney Harbour
Day 12	Novotel Wollongong	The Rocks walk
Costs	TBC

Please note: This is a private tour organised by Dr. Peter Windsor, those that are interested in attending should express their interest to peter.windsor57@gmail.com before 5 January 2025.

All participants will need to find their own way to Melbourne for the start of the tour. The tour will conclude at the conference venue the day prior to the commencement of the conference with scientific presentations starting the following day.

Places for this tour will likely be limited to 30 people. In the event of higher demand (>30) for this tour a second bus may be organised.

Tours

Day 2 Grampians National Park

Day 4 Mungo National Park

Day 5 Broken Hill

Day 7 Toronga Zoo Dubbo

Day 11 Sydney Harbour

Post conference tour: Shearers quarters tour of regional NSW - Not organised by the conference organising committee

Day 2 Mt Kosciuszko

Day 4 Hay

Day 5 Riverina Sheep Station

Day 7 Jenolan Caves

Day 8 Sydney Harbour

Further information

Acknowledgement of Country

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This one week tour, with your guide Dr Andrew Whale, is for those on a budget or just wanting to experience the outdoors and are willing to camp and stay in rustic shearers’ quarters. The tour will show off the famous NSW south coast, the Monaro, the Riverina, the Blue Mountains and finish in Sydney, to experience some of its sights and delights! The tour will be led by Australian vets in four wheel drive vehicles. We will mostly stay on sheep properties in accommodation that is maintained for shearers. Catering will include campsite cooking and require input from all participants on the tour to make this a success. It is likely to be a small tour of 10-15 people in total, with local vets acting as guides in each vehicle carrying international guests. The tour concludes in Sydney, where participants can continue to explore Australia, or head homewards.
Post conference tour: Shearers quarters tour of regional NSW - Not organised by the conference organising committee
	Accommodation Location	Day Key Events
Day 1	Tathra	Will see us leaving Wollongong, the day after the conference conclusion. We will head to the scenic town of Kiama and do a section of the Kiama Coast Walk, have lunch at one of the pubs along the coast, swim at 1 or 2 beaches and stay in Tathra, a small coastal town on the NSW Sapphire Coast.
Day 2	Jindabyne	Monaro and NSW high country, walk at Mt Kosciusko, fly fishing for trout
Day 3	Holbrook	We will have the opportunity to tour a couple of large scale properties, one in the Monaro and one in the softer country at Jingellic. We will visit some iconic mountain pubs along the way and visit a cool climate winery and be well looked after near Holbrook, again staying on a sheep property in the shearers’ huts.
Day 4	Corowa	We embrace the rural social scene with a day at the races to enjoy the way rural Australia celebrates "the race that stops the nation", our Melbourne Cup. We will dress up and enjoy ourselves trackside and get amongst the locals in rural Australia.
Day 5	Pooginook	Will see us head west to the edge of the Riverina with its red soils and harsher climate. We will have the opportunity to tour a 12,000 hectare sheep station and learn about the challenges of farming livestock on a large scale.
Day 6	Wagga Wagga	We visit Australia's largest sheep selling complex in action in Wagga Wagga. They routinely sell 50,000 sheep and lambs every Thursday over a 4-5 hour period and it is an experience to see this market in action. We then head to Oberon past the iconic Big Merino.
Day 7	Sydney	We will visit the Jenolan caves in the morning before heading to Sydney to see the Sydney Harbour and enjoy Sydney's sights.
Day 8	Sydney	The tour finishes on Day 8 after breakfast in Sydney, allowing people to head home or continue touring in Australia.
Costs	TBC