A Great Australian Adventure - 11 Nights / 12 Days

Overview

This great Australian adventure starts in Sydney, travels overland to Melbourne via Canberra, Batemans Bay and Gippsland Lakes; overnights in Melbourne before travelling to Ayers Rock and Cairns. Prices are based on 14 - 19 persons travelling together, accompanied by a group leader.

Itinerary

Mon: Day 1 - Arrive Sydney, transfer to chosen hotel, morning FREE

Enjoy a Captain Cook luncheon cruise before joining your Eastern Suburbs Sightseeing Tour. Highlights include The Rocks, Argyle Cut, Sydney Opera House, Botanic Gardens, Conservatorium of Music, St Marys Cathedral, Parliament House, Sydney Domain, Hyde Park, Mrs Macquaries Chair, Kings Cross, The Gap and Bondi Beach with an English speaking guide (5 hrs).

Accommodation: Sydney 4* hotel
Meals: Lunch

Tue: Day 2 - Blue Mountains Day Tour with Country Style lunch

• Bush morning tea, enjoy delicious country style lunch
• Pat a koala get a photo face to face
• See Australia's own grand canyon. Visit the Three Sisters
• Back country sights and wildlife
• Scenic Sender / Sky Rail

Depart this morning, see the majestic Sydney Harbour Bridge, before enjoying a memorable wildlife park visit. See koalas, kangaroos up close plus friendly dingoes - and yes, even pat the koalas!
Explore historic Richmond before travelling deep into the Blue Mountains. Enjoy morning tea in the bush surrounded by wildlife, sample "bush Billy Tea" and hear the stories. Experience the real back country with magnificent cliffs, canyons and world heritage wilderness. Stretch your legs if you like with a short bush walk. Enjoy a country style lunch in a magnificent homestead with Australian hospitality at it's best. See the renowned Three Sisters plus Australia's Grand Canyon with an English speaking guide (9 hrs).

Accommodation: Sydney 4* hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Wed: Day 3 - Sydney to Batemans Bay via Canberra (with English speaking escort)

Depart Sydney at approx 7.00am. Travel through the Southern Highlands, noted for its stud properties and country retreats and on through the Goulburn Sheep Grazing area. Pass mysterious Lake George and enter the Australian Capital Territory. Visit the billion dollar new Parliament House, tour Canberra including the embassy circuit, visit the Australian War Memorial and take in the views from lookouts overlooking Canberra. Leaving Canberra about 4 pm, we arrive into Batemans Bay at approx 6.15 pm.

Accommodation: Batemans Bay 3.5* motel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Thu: Day 4 - Batemans Bay to Metung (Gippsland Lakes)

From Batemans Bay we then travel along the coast exploring small fishing villages and towns. Continue via the coast road past the beautiful beaches of Bermagui, Tathra and Merrimbula before stopping for lunch in Eden. A 'must see' stop is the Whale Museum at Eden where we learn of the interaction between the Killer Whales and fishermen. In the afternoon we travel into Victoria, through timber country and past Mallacoota, Cann River and Orbost on our way to Lakes Entrance and our overnight stop at Metung. Metung is a delightful village set on a thin arm of land that extends out into the Gippsland Lakes. Water laps the shores on two sides.

Accommodation: Metung, 3.5* motel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Fri: Day 5 - Metung, Phillip Island Penguins, Melbourne

Enjoy a morning cruise on the beautiful Gippsland Lakes . These lakes form the largest inland waterway in Australia. We then travel through Gippsland and the towns of Bairnsdale and Sale, where we visit the old Port of Sale. At the fishing village of San Remo, we cross onto Phillip Island, home for one of the largest colonies of Little Penguins. Witness the world phenomenon of the Penguin Parade. Each evening at Summerland Beach the Little Penguins return from the sea and make their way to their burrows. Watch as they cross the beach and walk under the elevated boardwalk. Inspect the multi - million dollar Visitor Centre and learn of the life of the Little Penguins. Arrive Melbourne approx 11 pm.

Accommodation: Melbourne 4* hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Sat: Day 6 - Melbourne - Yarra River Wineries & Puffing Billy

The Yarra Valley is one of the finest wine growing regions in Victoria and home to over 40 wineries. This beautiful part of the country offers a unique food and wine experience and the vineyards are as serious about their food as they are about their grapes. Full day tour with an English speaking guide.

Accommodation: Melbourne 4* hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Optional Tour: Melbourne's Draculas Cabaret Restaurant
Weird waiters and talented performers offer you a night of comedy, rock and puppetry. The three course dinner features the best fresh Australian produce, served with flair and madness.
Price: A$67 per adult.

Sun: Day 7 - Melbourne to Ayers Rock

Flight Melbourne to Ayers Rock (Air Ticket not included in tour fare)
Arrive Ayers Rock, shuttle bus transfer to Ayers Rock Resort. Afternoon free.

Accommodation: Ayers Rock Resort 3.5* hotel
Meals: Breakfast

Optional Tour: Sounds of Silence Dinner
Tonight perhaps dine under a million stars at the award winning Sounds of Silence restaurant. Travel out to a secluded dining setting in the middle of the desert. Sip on a glass of champagne with the sound of a lone didgeridoo filling the air as the sun slowly sets over the Olgas (Kata Tjuta) and Ayres Rock (Uluru). Dine on a gourmet BBQ of Australian delicacies such as kangaroo, barramundi and buffalo, then sit back and take in the mystery of the desert at night as an astronomer takes you on a tour of the clear Southern night skies. A$149 per adult.

Mon: Day 8 - Fraser Island to Capricorn Caves

A comprehensive tour that provides an opportunity to best understand the natural and cultural significance of Uluru. The Uluru Walk tour commences prior to sunrise and places you in the most grand and deeply moving places of Uluru. During this 9.4km (or 6 mile) amble, our guides will introduce you to the geology of Uluru and describe how plants and wildlife have adapted and survived in such a forbidding environment. But most fascinating is the relationship of the Anangu people to Uluru. This place was shelter, provided water and is a tangible link with their creation ancestors. As you walk around the base you will hear and see the creation time stories of these ancient people unfold. See where the people lived and carried out ceremonies. Here, the beliefs of the people are embodied in one of the great places of this world. From a distance Uluru is spectacular; from close up it is powerful and deeply moving. A picnic breakfast is included which we eat sitting on the rocks at the base of Uluru. Flight Ayers Rock to Cairns (Air Ticket not included in tour fare).

Accommodation: Cairns 4* hotel
Meals: Breakfast

Tue: Day 9 - Overnight Great Barrier Reef Cruise

Accommodation facilities onboard the fully air-conditioned vessel are terrific. Staterooms are modern, spacious & bright with plenty of storage space, & all have en-suite bathrooms. The hydraulic scuba dive / snorkel platform makes scuba diving & snorkelling a breeze. Reef Encounter is large enough to provide all the comforts of larger cruise ships, yet small enough to enable access to spectacular reef locations inaccessible to other vessels. Excess luggage to be stored at hotel.

Accommodation: Great Barrier Reef (Top Deck Accommodation)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Wed: Day 10 - Great Barrier Reef (on board ship)

Diving / Snorkling / Sun Baking / Swimming. Return to Cairns by tender vessel at 5.30 pm.

Accommodation: Cairns 4* Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Thu: Day 11 - Tjapukai Aboriginal Park, Skyrail and Scenic Railway

This day tour encompasses all the sights of Kuranda. Travel by the Scenic Railway to Kuranda, explore the mountain-top village, return to the coast via the Skyrail, visit the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park with return SIC (Seat in Coach) transfers and an English speaking guide.

Accommodation: Cairns 4* hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Fri: Day 12 - Depart Australia

Outward transfer to Cairns Airport. Depart Australia.

Meals: Breakfast

Further Information

What's Included

10 Nights 3.5 - 4* hotel accommodation (twin or double share), overnight Great Barrier reef snorkel / dive cruise, Meals as shown, All touring as described, 21 - 24 seat air conditioned  coach; airport transfers, sole use of coach on all days except in Ayers Rock and Cairns.

What's not included

Air Tickets are not included in tour price: Tickets for the following flights are required.
Day 7 - MEL / AYQ (own expense)
Day 8 - AYQ / CNS (own expense)