It would be impossible to create a more outlandish, far-fetched and unbelievable tale; yet incredibly, it’s true. It is the story of Ned Kelly, the last of the Australian bushrangers. His short, turbulent and truly enigmatic life has resonated through the years like no other Australian story.

Over the last 130- plus years this story has influenced and inspired an almost endless parade of creative minds; authors, historians, journalists, artists, film makers and showmen. As celebrated Kelly Biographer Ian Jones has said, ‘Ned Kelly’s influence on the popular culture of Australia has been gigantic’.

The recent identification of Ned Kelly’s remains through DNA technology has again generated enormous interest world wide in Ned and has certainly put a more ‘human’ side to this iconic figure. But who was the real Ned Kelly? And where did the events that shaped his enduring legend actually take place?

Our tours aren’t about telling just one side of this story. The Kelly saga certainly has more than one viewpoint. We do not fall into the trap of making Kelly a hero or a villian. We share the story with you as best we can and in a balanced way, and leave you make up your own mind. In a recent article in Melbourne’s Age newspaper, Jo Chandler wrote:

‘Whether you regard Kelly as a bushranger, hero, terrorist, liberator, rebel, visionary, thief or murderer, be mindful that your judgement will likely betray your cultural, political and social leanings. The Outlaw remains a potent presence in the national psyche - both unifying and divisive’.

Tracing the footsteps of the Kelly Gang, their sympathisers and their police pursuers through the region of Victoria that is still known as ‘Kelly Country’, it is easy to get a ‘feel’ for the story, that no film or book could offer. In fact, to truly understand the story you must first get a geographic understanding, a sense of ‘place’.

Touring through Kelly Country gives you an appreciation of the adversities faced not only by the Kelly’s, but of country settlers (selectors) of the 1860s and 1870s.

Perhaps it’s the extraordinary distances travelled by the Kelly Gang and the police that most impresses guests on a Ned Kelly Adventure Tour. Police reports of the time stated that the gang could travel up to 70 miles in 24 hours - particularly during a full moon.

Some sites visited during our tours are remarkably intact - such as Beechworth and the magnificent 1850s timber home of Ned’s maternal grandparents, James and Mary Quinn. Sadly some sites have fallen to the ravages of time, neglect and official indifference to their preservation. A little imagination on your part and some stunning archival material from our guides help put you in the story and on the spot.