South Australia's outback covers 80% of the state yet is home to just 1% of its population. This is a land of extreme contrasts from arid cattle grazing country, to the seasonal wetlands of the Coongie Lakes and the environmentally diverse kangaroo island. In the Flinders Ranges the creek beds, lined with river red gums amongst deep red sandstone gorges, provide a quintessential Australian scene, as the galahs and rock wallabies come down to drink in the evening light.

In two of Australia's greatest wildlife spectacles great mobs of kangaroos and emus dot the grasslands of the Gawler Ranges while the great Australian bight whales, dolphins and sea lions frequent the shallow coastal waters.

The capital of the region, Adelaide, is superbly set beside the River Torrens between the Adelaide Hills and waters of Gulf St Vincent and has a classical elegant style. The city is laid out on a square mile grid of wide streets with gracious colonial architecture and is surrounded by parkland. What is now Adelaide's metropolitan coastline plays a significant role in the creation story of the Kaurna people, and is the perfect place to be introduced to the rich culture and history of the Australian Aboriginal.