Qantas Holidays launches new "Reef-Rocks-Reef" itinerary

Following the recent discovery by scientists of a 650 million year old reef three hours from Adelaide in South Australia’s Flinders Ranges, Qantas Holidays has created a new three-centre tour that spotlights this region within a complementary itinerary featuring Kangaroo Island, home to the Remarkable Rocks and Hamilton Island located in the heart of the Whitsundays.

In travel terms the Flinders Ranges, gateway to the Outback and Australia’s largest mountain range, is already well known for its rugged natural beauty and its impressive accommodation options that include working stations, heritage-listed homesteads and luxury eco-villas. Now the region can boast the added interest of an ancient reef thought to hold evidence of the earliest examples of primitive animal life. It is also believed that this reef will be able to unlock secrets of the world’s history of climate change as it existed in a humid, tropical period between two major ice ages.

The section of the reef showing at ground level is around 20 km wide.

The next couple of months (Australian springtime) are an ideal time to visit as the region bursts into a flourish of colourful wildflowers that cover the normally arid sections of this spectacular landscape. In fact nearly half of South Australia’s plant species can be found in this rugged terrain, including the State’s floral emblem, Sturt’s Desert Pea.

Qantas Holidays suggests the best way of complementing the Flinders Ranges is by combining it with Kangaroo Island and Hamilton Island, thereby experiencing the ingredients essential to any trip to Australia: wildlife, Outback and reef.

Kangaroo Island, renowned as Australia’s Galapagos, not only boasts Remarkable Rocks, but is also home to the greatest selection of free roaming native Australian wildlife - kangaroos, koalas, sea lions, wallabies, penguins and seals to name a few.

Hamilton Island is a year round resort allowing easy access to the Great Barrier Reef and is the ideal place to either relax and be pampered or to enjoy the aquatic delights of the area with some sailing, snorkelling, diving or windsurfing.

A 10-night, three-centre trip featuring the Flinders Ranges, Kangaroo Island and Hamilton Island costs from £2,740 per person. This price includes return international flights from Heathrow with Qantas Airways, all domestic flights, accommodation in Adelaide, the Flinders Ranges, Kangaroo Island and Hamilton Island. This price is based on two adults sharing, valid for travel 1 February 09 - 31 March 09.

For more information, log on to qantas.co.uk/holidays.