The outback roads of Australia have gone digital for the first time with the launch of Do It Yourself Tourguide, offering audio sightseeing tours for the self-drive traveller on CD and MP3 downloads.

The first two tours include the popular driving routes from Alice Springs to Uluru, and the West MacDonnell Ranges, along the Red Centre Way in Central Australia.

“For many travellers the outback highways in Australia are seen as lonely, straight stretches of bitumen,” says Director, Laurelle Halford.

“DIY Tourguide gives travellers a new experience by bringing the stories of our early pioneers, aboriginal culture, flora, fauna and natural history alive.”

“The tours feature stories from local characters and field experts on topics such as life on a cattle station, how Aboriginal people read animal tracks, frogs that live in the Desert and a performance by Dinky the singing and piano playing dingo.”

“Add to the mix some music and live bird calls, and you have a rich and entertaining journey that will keep even the kids quiet.”

Ms Halford says that the idea for the audio tours came from spending many years on the road travelling around Australia as a tour guide with a large coach touring company.

“You could say that the idea was born one quiet afternoon, on a lonely stretch of a road, with 50 passengers behind me!” Ms Halford said.

“The Outback has a wider story to tell than people realise.”

All tours are loosely timed to coincide with landmarks along the journey, providing travellers drive within the speed limit.

Ms Halford adds that Australia offers a lot of outback roads to cover and a lot of stories just waiting to be told.

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For more information visit contact Laurelle Halford on 0417 222 211 Images and Mp3 audio samples are available on request.

Launch of DIY Tourguide 28 May.pdf (Download PDF)