Starlights Cruise Experience

Great Experience

We thoroughly enjoyed our river cruise. So peaceful and serene. Loved the camp fire dinner and the bush poet. All the staff were so friendly. BYO for the cruise and dinner. They provide nibbles on the cruise. Can’t wait to return to Longreach to do more of the experiences with Outback Pioneers. Very well organised.

Special sunset

We missed out on doing this last visit due to COVID so we were happy to get to do this special experience. They pick you up from your accommodation and take you to the river where you do the sunset cruise and then have a Stockmans dinner beside a fireplace. Great food and a good show beside the fire. The paddle steamer was a little smaller than we thought but made no difference to the experience. Only bad thing was some inconsiderate passengers but that was not the tour company's fault.

Excellent Outback Aussie Entertainment

We really enjoyed this experience. The pick up was nice the paddle boat and sunset was very relaxing and educational. I really enjoyed it. The meal was warm and hearty. Loved the bush poetry and Aussie humour. The movie was entertaining and I appreciated the warm blanket. Yummy Damper!

Wonderful Outback Experience.

Chilly evening but a very enjoyable cruise on the Thomson River, then back to the shore for outback dinner astound the campfire and the Sound & Light movie show. Our Stockman regaled us with insights of Captain Starlight, jokes and concluded with some outstanding bush poetry. We even got to see Pride of the Murray paddle-wheeler in drydock on the riverbank. Pick up and drop off by bus at our hotel.

Great job

Will our bus driver and lookerafterer was a delight. The oratory could have been a little louder on the river boat. Wonderful experience

Starlight Cruise

Great night out, food excellent and plenty of food.. the story teller held the attention of his audience with his quips and bush poetry. Highly recommended

A must do if you’re in Longreach

Probably the boat trip and the bush poetry but everything about our trip was Tiptop. The stew and mash was delicious!

All round excellence

All of it from the start to the end of the evening - probably the campfire dinner and entertainment was the best of it

Sunset Cruise

Bus pick up on time. Driver gr8. This is a BYO drinks tour. Sunset cruise on paddleboat includes cheese, bikkies, nibbles & gr8 commentary with fantastic river reflections & sunset photo opportunities. Dinner stew & mash delicious, a film, followed by wonderful bush poetry/stories, damper, tea. We enjoyed every minute. Highly recommended.

Thompson River cruise and Show

Excellent cruise, bush dinner, show and short film. The pick up coach driver was friendly. The boat captain kept us amused with his commentary.

Well presented river cruise & campfire dinner with entertainment

The river is beautiful & the paddle boat very interesting. the pickup bus is large & modern, the driver very informative with lots of humour. The campfire dinner very tasty & plentiful. The commentary & poetry great. Overall a must do experience in a stock mans camp which was exactly as expected & well done.

Well done Kinnon family and staff

The whole experience was wonderful. The staff were fabulous, and great characters. The boat cruise, meal and entertainment was really great. The stage coach, morning tea, entertainment, lunch and station shop are all outstanding. We have had a very memorable outback experience.

Entertaining and Relaxing

Commentary was excellent on the cruise, the views are great so be sure to take your camera. We thoroughly enjoyed the entertainment especially the poetry. From pick up to drop off this is a great experience, would recommend.

Three or four activities in one.

Everything about the tour was professionally done. They looked after my wife who was on a Wheely Walker. The cruise was very pleasant. The poetry good. The meal excellent. Keep it up.

Great night on the Thomson

We found the cruise humorously enlightening, the food was very tasty, the yarns and poetry most entertaining, and the movie a good laugh with a bit of history. All up a great night

Not to be missed!

This was a wonderful experience, starting with a sunset cruise with interesting commentary, but also time for quiet reflection. An added bonus was the send off by a group of turtles! The campfire dinner was delicious, and they happily catered for dietary requirements. The poet was great to listen to, and the movie quite entertaining. One of our group had quite limited mobility, and Lane and his team were just amazing in making provision for that and helping us out. Lane was hilarious, and the kids are still chuckling at some of his stories!

Great evening

Amazing night. Boat cruise was lovely despite BYO drinks rule. Snacks yummy. Dinner and bush poetry great, very entertaining. Movie very well done .

Excellent

Sitting around the camp fire, food, stories & great atmosphere. All our hosts for the evening where very entertaining, Thanks for a great night.

Up the river without a care.

The goose that followed the boat for food. The sunset. Then the food and show. Whole experience was well planned.

Fun night experience bush tucker and entertainment

Fun night starting with bus pickup at Apex Park, followed by leisurely sunset cruise aboard the paddleboat. The meal of hearty stew for the carnivores and a delicious vegie curry for the herbivores. Dietary preferences were well catered. The bus poetry was well done and very professional. All the staff were very friendly. Movie was interesting, although acting medicore. Good story. Fully satiated from the hearty main meal followed by apple slice and custard, I had no room for tea and damper but heard lots of positive comments that it was delicious. Great night.

Fabulous

Wonderful time, well organised, enjoyable for the whole family the staff were great very friendly and knowledgeable

Great cruise on the Thomson River

The whole show right from pickup to drop-off we had a great time and would highly recommend to to anyone to make a booking, loved the stew and billy tea.

A must do in Longreach.

The excellent planning of the whole experience and the determination of the staff ro make sure you enjoy yourself is top notch. They pick you up and drop you back to your accommodation so you can have a beer or wine from the paddlewheel cruise through to the entertainment and dinner.

Worthwhile sunset cruise and Stockman's experience.

This experience has it all. A sunset cruise on the beautiful Thomson River, followed by a Stockman's dinner and a theatre show about Captain Starlight. The evening was completed with tea and damper. The bus to the event was helpful.

Very enjoyable

Solo disabled traveller (wheelchair). I was well looked after by all. An enjoyable trip. I especially loved the poetry.

Great family night out

Our whole party thoroughly enjoyed this experience (70, 69, 36 and 3.5years). The sunset was beautiful and the campfire entertainment and dinner was excellent. The mosquitos were not too bad at all despite the warnings. Our only negative was the booking office. Some months after our tour was booked and paid for a member of their office called to cancel our tour. We were offered an alternative date but as months had passed the rest of our holiday had been booked and paid for and we were not in Longreach on the alternative date offered and they refunded our money. We ended up spending additional time in Longreach at the start of our holiday to accommodate doing this experience and when we called the booking office to ask them some questions about the new date the lady we spoke to was very unhelpful, had no cares at all, didn't answer any of our questions and told us just to go online and book the date we wanted again. The staff that were present on the night of the cruise were all excellent and provided a 5 star experience but overall due to the poor office staff I can only rate this 4 stars.

Great tour from start to finish

Really well organised from the time of booking until the dropoff afterwards. Great tour, good entertainment and a really nice meal. The experience is very professionally executed. Highly recommended by us.

Worth a visit

Weather was perfect, the paddlesteamer was great. Views spectacular and everyone was friendly. Meal was delicious. Entertainment was fun. Recommend a visit.

Tour for all ages

Great night out, lovely to be on the river with lots of knowledge from the staff, with a beautiful sunset as well. The bushman's dinner was very tasty along with bush poems etc. Finally a film on Captain Starlight...what a story, ending the night with tea and damper. Jeremy Kinnon our coach driver, what a crack-up with his jokes. Well done to all

Fabulous yrip

The scenery was amazing the commentator was brilliant and the food the stew was really delicious overall a wonderful experience the movie was great and the poetry too

Brilliant evening out with family

Took my 3 boys, and we all thoroughly enjoyed it as a family. Lovely boat trip followed by Aussie bush entertainment, loved the banter very good. The food was delicious and the tea and damper were very tasty. We would definitely do again if we visit longreach in the future.

Not to be missed while visiting Longreach.

Beautiful late afternoon cruising on the Thomson River. Absolutely picture perfect and you will love all the opportunities for taking some great photos! They really look after you on the boat with snacks and a bar for purchasing a beer. Good commentary while cruising. We pulled back to shore at just before dusk. Had a great entertainer and a delicious meal. A good afternoon all round and could not recommend it enough. Lovely night.

Awesome experience

This was a wonderful experience. We were collected and dropped off from our motel. The bus driver was friendly and full.of knowledge. The people that ran thus cruise were professional and friendly. Loved the cruise and nibbles on board. The stew , desert, Billy tea and damper was amazing. The songs, poetry and entertainment around the camp-fire was awesome. Thank you so much for a wonderful night. 😁

AGreat Night on The Thompson River

The whole night was great and I would definitely recommend it to everyone. The hosts were kind and well informed. The dinner was delicious and the bush poetry was well presented. Overall a terrific experience.

A Memorable Outback Experience

An enjoyable evening. The sunsets were lovely and the evening meal was hearty and delicious. If you went hungry then you only had yourself to blame. The entertainment was typically Australiana with lots of play on words with lots of laughs.

Cheesy Rip-Off

I’m sorry but this was the only thing we paid for in Longreach that we felt wasn’t worth it. It truly felt really cringey the whole time. Maybe it would be good if you’ve never had a campfire before? Even the film was hard to watch. Such an amazing story, not sure why it had to be told like that. River cruise was overpacked and pretty dull. Dinner was a stew and mash potato with a slice of white bread. The ‘show’ was just some poems and some jokes that fell pretty wide of the mark, to be honest. The awesome damper was the only thing that saved this from being a 1 star review. Having said this, the older folk on our trip seemed to love it so maybe we just weren’t the target crowd.

Great night out

Great commentary on cruise and coach. Beautiful scenery on river. Delicious dinner. Movie interesting.

A great night, very enjoyable

This is a BYO cruise, but soft drinks and water are for sale on the boats and there is water available with dinner. We were picked up at our accommodation and driven down to the river. The entertainment started on the bus. We booked a few months out and got the Thomson Belle paddleboat. Nibbles are provided on the boat and there was ample (dip, cheese, crackers, cold meat, vegetable sticks, grapes). Beautiful cruise up the river with commentary, pointing out bird nests etc and telling us about the boat. Boat turns in time to watch the sun setting - stunning. Then back up to the dinner area which is set up like a stockman's camp. You get a little bit of a history lesson about what happens when the stockman come into camp and then a hearty serve of beautiful stew, mash spuds and bread to mop up the juices is served, followed by apple pie and custard. We were then entertained by a talented bush poet for a while. Then a short walk to the river screen where we watch the story of Captain Starlight. Back to the campfire for some billy tea or coffee and a big slice of damper dripping in golden syrup. Dropped off home. The staff were fantastic, very friendly and the night ran like a military operation with the food service. Highly recommend.

Fantastic experience

This was really good. Great cruise on the paddle vessel, good Tucker and a great show. Definitely book in advance also book your complimentary pick up service.

Beautiful Serene Amazing Joyful

Amazing view of the sunset from the water. Delicious Bushman’s dinner and poetry of the Outback Bushman’s Tea and Damper smothered in Golden Syrup ..what more could you ask for 🤗

One tour? Do this one

A must do tour if in the Longreach area. From pickup at lodgings, transport to the river, cruise, 2 course dinner, Bush poetry, damper and Billy tea, the evening was do well organised. There are other tours through this company (visit to sheep station and Cobb & Co) but these weren't what I wanted. For my tourism $, this was the perfect tour for me.

Brilliant authentic outback show

Fantastic evening. Picked up from caravan park on time. Lovely friendly bus driver. Cruise on Thomson River was so relaxing. Nibbles were good and we brought our own wine as advised. Gorgeous sunset. Then up to the ‘camp’ area. Excellent show with superb narrative poems recitation. Loved the food- stew, mash and bread then apple pie. Great film about Captain Starlight - a bad guy but really a nice guy!- and a superbly funny introduction from the two boys. Then up for damper with golden syrup and Billy tea. Then a bus back to our accommodation. A brilliant evening. So we’ll done. Thoroughly recommend

Starlight Cruise

We did the saver pass & all the tours were great. Everything is thought of, the food is good, the entertainment was great. Highly recommend doing any of Outback Pioneers tours & the buffet breakfast is great too.

Book Early- Don’t Miss Out

From collection at your accommodation everything is top class. A fantastic hour on the Thompson River, finishing at sunset bend where nature shows her finest. Then a marvellous dinner and show where patrons of all ages enjoyed good food and fabulous entertainment and left on a high.

A wonderful outback experience - like no other!!

The cruise on the river was magic but the top experience for us was the poetry around the campfire followed by the delicious meal!

Great experience

This is a great experience, and a good chance to find out some of the history of the region. Great hosts and stockman stew to write home about.

Absolutely authentically Australian bush experience.

What a lovely experience, real authentic Aussie evening, get picked up at accomodation then taken to the beautiful paddle wheeler heading up the river and back with the sunset thrown in, so many ducks and turtles to see. Also cheese and crackers and other nibblies for the trip, we were brought back to the shore where we sat and listened to the bush poet and stories, with a lovely dinner to be had of stew and mash potato and scrumptious apple pie and custard and cream and plenty more for seconds, then a lovely show about the history of the stockmen and Captain Starlight, then back to our seats for damper with golden syrup and Billy tea, everything was cooked over the coals felt like we were put back in time. Highly recommend this experience.

AUSSIE EXPERIENCE

Sharing a camp oven meal and watching the sunset over the water. Enjoying damper and Billie tea. Listening to Aussie poetry.

Very disappointed in the...

Very disappointed in the small cramped boat that was used and the length of the cruise, everything after that was great. The organisers, the food was amazing, the setting and even our bus driver. 5 stars for after the cruise.

Great experience

The starlight cruise was a wonderful experience- sunset, dinner and outside movie-. The ‘Outback Pioneers’ know how to do a tour! The way the camp was presented you could easily imagine that you were sitting with Captain Starlight and his gang around the camp fire, listening to yarns and poetry. Thankyou it was terrific