Arid Areas Tours was superb. I had been meaning to write this review for quite some time. We used Wayne's company for our summer 2011 trip to Coober Pedy. It was excellent. We saw the landscape in a way that few ever get to witness. Every day was fun and exciting, with excellent commentary, and a guide who seems to truly care about the people he gives tours to.

I would highly recommend this tour to anyone looking to have quite possibly the best experience of their lifetime.

-Mike Esola

We have been so lucky to have two tours with Wayne in two consecutive years. He is an exceptional tour guide and we would use no other company to show us this spectacular part of outback South Australia.

We have just recently been on The Painted Desert Tour with Wayne, and what an exhilirating experience we had, his knowlege of the area and the courtesy which he treated us with was a pleasant surprise, if thinking of doing this tour you could not go wrong with Wayne as your guide.
Thank you Wayne for a magnificent and memorable day.

Norm and Trish

How lucky we were to pick Wayne to drive us out to William Creek. A tue "Aussie" who knows and loves this area.If you are plannig a trip to Coober Pedy, this is the man you should contact.
We thoroughly enjoyed our trip with you.
Thanks Wayne

There is a critical shotarge of informative articles like this.

Our first encounter with Wayne was when he met us at Manguri Siding as The Ghan train pulled up alongside the stretch of railroad track. We knew then that we liked this wonderful man for the kind, friendly way he greeted us when we stepped off the train. For the next three days, Wayne was our personal tour guide--------what an incredible adventure he had planned for us. We absolutely loved the tour of the town, the opal mines, and the breathtaking sunset seen at the Breakaways. We thought to ourselves------could it get any more beautiful than this.

The second day with Wayne surprised us that much more. Wayne picked us up for a tour to Lake Eyre. Stopping at William Creek, after driving across the Anna Creek Cattle Station, was a unique experience in itself. Our time at the lake was incredible, not to mention the superb cuisine that Wayne had planned for our lunch that day. We truly saw that not only is Wayne an exceedingly competent tour guide but a master chef as well. We thought to ourselves, " A true Renaissance Man out here in the middle of Outback South Australia." He not only has an innate knowledge of the land but displays his genuine love and affection for it as well. How lucky we were to have crossed paths with him.

Day Three found us back in Wayne's care and car as we were off to visit the gorgeous Painted Desert. We never imagined that it had such beauty, but Wayne's expertise truly gave us a remarkable insight into this fantastic land. Our Aussie style barbecue was superbly done, with Wayne's culinary skills surpassed by none. He is quite a remarkable fella, and we enjoyed every minute that we spent with him.

Our adventure came to a close when Wayne returned us to Manguri Siding awaiting the arrival of The Ghan train. He showed us many of the Southern Hemisphere's stars, boiled Billy Tea and made Smores as our journey with him ended. How sad to leave Wayne and this beautiful place but how fortunate to have made a wonderful new

Wayne is an excellent personal tour operator who we would thoroughly recommend. We took a Williams Creek transfer with Wayne and he showed us all the wildlife,and wildflowers and gave us a very informative commentary. Our highlight was seeing a King Brown Snake slithering along the roadside - Wayne took photos of it on our camera. The next day we took a half day Coober Pedy/ Breakaways trip with him. He showed us beautiful underground churches/home, opal mines, noodling for opal, a very welcome "cuppa" then out to view the Breakaways. Thanks Wayne for a memorable time.

Wayne transferred us from Coober Pedy to William Creek (for a Lake Eyre flight) on September 2nd 2010. I was impressed by his knowledge of the area and his enthusiasm for the flora and fauna. He was an easy conversationalist which made the trip more enjoyable. I highly recommend his services.

I would highly recommend Wayne’s tours. It was great to travel in a small group – Wayne was friendly and helpful with outstanding local knowledge of the area. The Coober Pedy Town and Breakaways Tour gave me a great insight to the area and Wayne included a lot of aspects not visited by many other tour operators. The William Creek transfer and Lake Eyre Scenic flight were fantastic. Informative commentary was provided whilst travelling to / from William Creek.

The highlight for me was the overnight tour to the Painted Desert. Wayne included several interesting stops along the way and provided extensive and interesting information as we travelled out to the Painted Desert. The sunrise and sunset were superb – with exceptional colour changes. Wayne provided a typical Australian BBQ and ensured we were well looked after.

If you intend to travel to Coober Pedy, contact Wayne. He will arrange some exceptional tours and experiences that you’ll remember for a long time.

Met Wayne at the doorstep of our accommodation and although we had a few glitches with the transferring of rooms, he waited patiently. It is indeed our highlight of our tour since we rented a car from Adelaide to be driven up to Uluru and back stopping by Coober Pedy.

Wayne gave us additional highlights regardless of the tour stated, as it provides the insights to the history of the opal town. We visited the breakaway and painted desert accompanied by lunch cooked by our master chef Wayne himself. We couldn't have enjoyed the place if we did not go for this private day tour.

His knowledge surpassed what we can find online and certainly provided us with extra knowledge of the place. It is one of the best highlights of our whole tour and i recommend strongly that if anybody is visiting Coober Pedy, and don't wish to squeeze with everyone, he should be the one you pick.

We recently had the absolute pleasure of partaking in Wayne's ground tour of Coober Pedy. He & Ken (his side kick) picked us up from the air port, drove us to our hotel & then after lunch took us on the tour. As well as all the sights we saw, we thoroughly enjoyed the company & vast knowledge of both our guides. If you do one thing in CP make it Wayne's tour!!The passion he & Ken have for their town & the surrounds is unsurpassed & they pass it on to their clients through their enthusiastic & humorous accounts. Had a ball. Thanks guys. Good luck with the venture Wayne, you certainly tick all the boxes!!

We used Wayne for out discovery of Coober Pedy and the surrounding area. He was a wonderful guide and even helped with locating a new battery for our ute. He treated us Yanks wonderfully and we enjoyed him tremendously. He was willing to see whatever we wanted to see and took us to so many great places.
We planned to leave a day early to see Uluru but decided that Wayne was such a great guide we stayed in Coober Pedy another day so he could show us more of the area.
I would highly recommend Arid Tours to anyone and will use him again when I visit Coober Pedy in the future. Wayne helped in making my trip to Australia a wonderful memory.
Thanks so much,
Linda

I have just returned from visiting Coober Pedy for a couple of days. Our group of 4 flew in from Birdsville and our pilot recommended a tour of the town with Wayne. The pilot phoned Wayne on his mobile and we ran into him on the ground at Williams Creek.
Wayne picked up our little group at the Desert Cave in his freshly washed 4WD and gave us a wonderful tour of Coober Pedy and surrounds. We visited all of the sites listed on Coober Pedy tours - the Serbian Church, the golf club, underground home, the breakaways etc, but Wayne showed us so much more.
He took us to Crocodile Harry's home (used for many of the Mad Max scenes); a few different opal mines to show the different techniques used for opal mining; and then out to the mining lease that he operates in his spare time.
Wayne has lived in Coober Pedy and provides a mountain of information on mining, local politics and the town personalities.
It was a great tour and with only 4 people in the car Wayne was very flexible in tailoring the tour to our interests.

Just got back from NT,SA,VIC& NSW. The highlight of my trip was the trips I did with Wayne, One tour cost $60 and found an Opal worth $600 not a bad investment.Wayne is a special kind of guy who loves people and has an amazing knowledge of the area. It is so nice to have a personal tourer.Wayne will pick you up from the Ghan and will take you back. He will even boil the billy while waiting.
If you not sure what to do out there and you have limited time Wayne will give you his expert advise.

An amazing tour of the surrounds of Coober Pedy incorporating the remarkable ‘Breakaways’ which should be re named to the ‘Breath aways’ as that is what your experience will be like when shown the highlights of this incredible and unique area of central Australia with Wayne Borrett as your guide you will be given the 101% tour – yes Wayne does give you that little bit extra 1% that you won’t get with another guide -extra special.
Experience the highlights of the town and outlying regions with a local and very knowledgable guide like Wayne, but remeber to take your water with you as it does get a bit warm and can be thirsy work at times.