The three-day Channel Country Wildflower Tour departs Brisbane for Birdsville on a private charter flight. Accommodation is provided at the Birdsville Caravan Park on the banks of the Diamantina River.
The group travels by coach down the Birdsville Track where they are collected by helicopter and flown to an exclusive location north of Goyder's Lagoon for a day amongst the wildflowers on the 3500 square kilometre Alton Downs Station.
The return trip to Brisbane includes a stop at Charleville to check out the Cosmos Centre before flying on to Brisbane. Tours depart 30 August and 13 September and cost $2850 per person twin share. Groups of 10 can arrange further tours from mid-September. For more details visit www.reefnoutbacktours.com.au
If you can't make this tour but are interested in other Queensland Outback wildflower/garden experiences check out the Aussie Outback Tours' Outback Gardens tour which showcases some amazing Outback gardens. Tours for 2009 are now completed but watch www.oat.net.au for details of tours in 2010.
Another little botanical gem is the Myall Park Botanic Garden near Condamine, around four hours' drive west of Brisbane. Created in the 1940s, the garden is home to one of Australia's oldest collections of arid and semi-arid native plants and the web site also has a "what's flowering" guide for the year so you can see beforehand what to expect. www.myallparkbotanicgarden.org.au
If you are making the journey to Myall Park in September or just happen to be passing through the region, make sure you check out the country around nearby Miles on the Warrego Highway. This is the centre of a native wildflower region extending north to the Great Divide and if there has been rain the showing is truly spectacular. Visit www.westerndownsholidays.info
For more information about Queensland's Outback visit www.adventureoutback.com.au
