165 years ago an intrepid exploration team set off from Melbourne Victoria tasked with the mission of uncovering “Terra Incognita”.
165 years ago an intrepid exploration team set off from Melbourne Victoria tasked with the mission of uncovering “Terra Incognita”.
This is a remarkable expedition that the legend of lives on through the ages and tells stories of explorers past.
The tale of Burke & Wills stretches back to 1860.
165 years ago an intrepid exploration team set off from Melbourne Victoria tasked with the mission of uncovering “Terra Incognita”.
In 1860 much of Australia’s interior north of Menindee, New South Wales was unknown and many people harboured great hope of riches that lay waiting to be exploited in Australia’s vast continent. With funding from the Royal Society of Victoria, Robert Burke and William Wills were selected to lead the ill-fated expedition. 15,000 people cheered the team off from Royal Park in Melbourne.
Maschine will to lead you on the same trek, to follow the same path, to give a taste what our early explorers endured. Retrace this famous expedition with the support of maschine and our exploration ready support crew.
Expedition Overview
We will assemble in Melbourne Victoria for rider sign in and briefing at the Royal Society of Victoria.
Following riders briefing a welcome dinner will be held at Windsor Hotel Melbourne where you will be treated to a celebratory send off meal worthy of such a grand exploration.
The next morning, we will depart Royal Park with much fanfare, just like the original expedition. Once we leave the confines of the City Of Melbourne ahead of you is 10 days of riding through Australia’s wide open spaces.
Throughout this ride we will delve into the details of the original expedition. A narrator will tell the Burke & Wills story each night around the campfire and we’ll be guided by his stories as we ride searching for the clues, landmarks and remnants of the original trek.
After moving northward across an entire continent, our ride will finish at Karumba, Queensland in the Gulf of Carpentaria. One of the few places on the Australian east coast where you can watch the sun set into the water.
Of course, for the original expedition their journey home was less than successful with all but one member of the exploration party perishing. We aim to get you all home safely with incredible tales to tell!
Melbourne, Victoria
Karumba, Queensland
Wednesday 13 August 2025
Saturday 23 August 2025
Arrive in Melbourne by midday for our expedition to begin.
We will kick official proceedings off with our rider sign on & briefing at the Royal Society Of Victoria – the funders of the original expedition. Welcome dinner will be at the grand Windsor Hotel in the heart of Melbourne.
We will depart Royal Park with much fanfare, just like the original expedition. Once we leave the confines of the City Of Melbourne, ahead of you is 10 days of riding through Australia’s wide open spaces.
The riding will begin with rolling hills thick with trees that will open out more on flatter ground as we approach the Murray River.
The Murray River won’t pose such an obstacle for our party as we cross at Swan Hill. Once across the river the terrain changes markedly. You will gobsmacked by the flat wide open expanses of the salt bush country north of Balranald. Mungo National Park will engage your senses with the stark landscape that is loaded with history.
Kinchega Woolsheds near the shores of Lake Menindee are likely some of the largest woolsheds you have ever seen. Menindee was a key stopping point of the expedition because from here they were entering into “terra incognita” – everything beyond was unknown.
We will overnight just out of Broken Hill on the doorstep of the outback.
The country changes again as we travel over red sandy soils making a home for stark white gums around Mutawintji National Park. Depending on permission being granted we will faithfully follow the original expedition route through private property that gives us a taste of forging new ground away from the formed roads. Running north to Tibooburra takes us through some interesting outback landscapes.
Overnight in Tibooburra with outback hospitality.
We have a choice of routes here which is splitting hairs from the original route. Our main goal for today is clear though and that is to visit the infamous Dig Tree on the banks of the Cooper Creek. This outpost was pivotal in the Burke & Wills story so we will pay our respects here before completing the day at Innamincka.
A big stretch today across land that at first glimpse is supremely inhospitable. Reality is some have managed to make a living off the land here as evidenced by the woolshed at Cordillo Downs. Maybe Burke & Wills did succeed by some measure in finding arable land?
We will stop the next 2 x nights at Birdsville to rest our weary travellers bones but also to savour the atmosphere of the Birdsville Hotel.
We call it a “rest day” but reality is we have a mission we want to accomplish early in the morning and that is to summit Bid Red sand dune on the astern fringe of Simpson Desert. To see the sun rise from atop the dune will put life in perspective for you. You will feel small but somehow empowered by the might of the landscape around you.
A short ride back to town to relax for the day and ready yourself and your bike for the final push north.
A big day no doubt but reality is you will find little in your way to slow your progress. The country out here is so incredibly flat and barren you could be mistaken for thinking you are standing on sheets of rusted steel as you stare across the treeless gibber plains. To stand there and imagine walking across this barren landscape without a clue what lays ahead is an awe inspiring point.
Boulia will welcome us for the evening. It may not be much but it is welcome civilisation after today.
This has to be one of our favourite days of the ride in terms of terrain. The landscape changes dramatically again as we approach the Selwyn Ranges with large cattle stations occupying the landscape. Stark white eucalypts and spinifex grass make for some stunning country that is a distinct contrast.
Cloncurry will be mark the greatest civilisation for several days.
Another big push for the final day but again it is wide open country as we move into the tropics. We will examine the most northern campsite of the expedition and marvel in the courage and tenacity it took to walk from Melbourne all this way. A true feat of exploration.
After moving northward across an entire continent, our ride will finish at Karumba, Queensland on the Gulf of Carpentaria. One of the few places on the Australian east coast where you can watch the sun set into the water.
From Karumba you are free to make your way home whether that be by heading back inland direct for home or perhaps opt to travel back to civilisation with our support crew or freight your bike.
After breakfast you are free to check out and make your way home, whether that be riding home by yourself or perhaps tag along with our support crew as we head back to civilisation.
Or, better still, saddle up and continue the expedition ride in a homewards direction.
This ride is classed as – Grade 3 – 4: Medium – Difficult
Key elements that give this grading are:
See our Track Grading System for more detailed information to help you decide if this ride is right for you.
We like to make our tours suitable for “an average rider on a big-bore adventure bike”.
So we expect riders to have at least some off-road riding experience – ideally two years.
The main Adventure routes are usually suitable for big adventure bikes, like a Ducati Multistrada or BMW R1250GS with off-road knobby tyres fitted.
For sure less experienced riders can, and have, joined our tours and they find them to be an incredible learning experience. You can learn so much just being around other riders. We suggest this is not the ride for you if you are just starting out.
If you have any questions or concerns just give us a call and we are happy to have a chat about your personal situation.
This ride is capped at 50 riders.
If this sounds like a lot to you then bear in mind that we have experience in managing motorcycle tour events with over 250 riders! We have the systems and knowledgable staff in place to effectively manage these larger group sizes.
A group size of 50 is great because it means we can get beds for most everyone most nights of the ride. The group makes you feel part of a big event but then you get a chance to meet and talk to everyone during the ride and make some new friends.
Yes absolutely, we always recommend riders have knobby tyres on their bikes to maximise your safety and enjoyment.
Our recommended tyres in most situations are Motoz Tractionator Adventure or Motoz Tractionator Rallz (Nick’s favourite!) for their predictable off-road grip and outstanding durability.
For sure other tyres like Continental TKC80 or Pirelli Scorpion Rally are OK too.
We don’t advise riders to use 80/20 tyres like Hidenau K60 Scout or Continental TKC70. These styles of tyre just simply don’t offer enough traction in many off-road situations, particularly when conditions get wet.
No, typically rental bikes are not available for our Australian tours. That said we may have some options we can look into for you on this tour. Please email us with your enquiry.
Yes. This ride is primarily for riders on their own adventure bikes.
For those of you that have the luxury of more than one adventure bike to choose to ride we would give this information:
Yes, this ride is suitable for Enduro bikes providing you have a minimum fuel range of 300km
We provide the pre-planned routes as a .GPX file you can load into your GPS or Smartphone navigation app. This will allow you to follow our planned route at your own pace and arrive safely at the overnight stop.
For each event we also provide printed daily route sheets which include an overview map and address details of fuel, food, overnight accommodation stops etc.
At some events we will also have route marking arrow stickers that are put up by our lead riders on trees, posts etc. as a physical marker.
No, for our off-road adventure tours we provide a luggage support van. You will drop your bag at the van each morning and the van will carry your bag to the overnight stop where it will be waiting for you to collect at the end of the day.
For our international road tours we typically don’t provide a luggage support vehicle so you will have to carry your own luggage. Usually our rental bikes come equipped with panniers and/or top box. Please confirm your required luggage options at time of booking.
Read our Adventure Riders Prep Guide for tips on what and how to pack.
No. Large gear bags, wheelie suitcases are not permitted in our luggage van. We have strict capacity limits.
Hard pannier cases are not recommended as your luggage because we can’t guarantee they won’t get scratched or damaged in transit therefore we recommend soft bags only.
Read our Adventure Riders Prep Guide for tips on what and how to pack.
No, for safety reasons we do not allow riders to ride with hard (aluminium or plastic) panniers or top box on their bikes for our off-road adventure tours. We have seen too many injuries caused by hard boxes hitting riders.
Read our Adventure Riders Prep Guide for tips on what and how to pack.
Read our Adventure Riders Prep Guide for tips on what and how to pack.
If you are an Australian resident you should not require a visa for the countries we are visiting. Please check the Smart Traveller website for travel requirements based on your situation.
You can read our full booking Terms & Conditions here.
