Highlights of Australia

Australia Touring Highlights:

• Melbourne Laneways Walking Tour
• Uluru Sunset Experience
• Uluru Field of Light Sunrise
• Uluru Sunrise and guided walk
• Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) guided walk
• Aboriginal Dot Art Painting Experience
• Great Barrier Reef Cruise
• Harbour cruise in Sydney
• Sydney Opera House Tour

Day 1: Arrive in Melbourne, Australia

Welcome to Australia.  Arrive into vibrant Melbourne early before meeting your fellow adventure-seekers in the evening.

Day 3: Melbourne

If you’re still getting your Melbourne bearings, linger in town to explore boutiques, galleries, and eclectic suburbs. But if it’s time to venture further afield, you might want to sign up to discover the Great Ocean Road, a stretch of coastline that deserves its reputation as one of the most scenic touring routes in the world. Wherever you wander, be sure to take in a show at one of the city’s glorious theatres.

Day 4: Melbourne to Alice Springs

Some parts of Australia are so remote that the only way kids can get an education is remotely via the School of the Air. Your next stop is the birthplace of the Alice Springs township, the historic  Telegraph Station. Being this remote also means there’s no light pollution from cars or skyscrapers and can enjoy unrivalled stargazing (and a BBQ feast) with the Falzon family at their eco-oriented Earth Sanctuary World Nature Centre.

Day 5: Alice Springs to Uluru (Ayers Rock)

Spiritual, sacred and spectacular, the world’s largest rock monolith will give you goosebumps. In Australia’s Red Centre, Uluru has been home to the Anangu people for millennia. Their connection is palpable, as you’ll discover when you arrive at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, at sunset watching the shifting colours transform the desert with every last ray.

Day 6: Uluru to Kata Tjuta (The Olgas)

If there’s one thing worth getting out of bed early for, it’s sunrise over Uluru. Incredibly, the rock’s base caves are home to First Nations art that dates back tens of thousands of years. What an honour to glimpse it. The ochres and silvery greens of the NT outback follow you to Kata Tjuta, where Walpa Gorge humbles with its soaring cliffs. Wander through the tallest domes before yet another sparkling sunset.

Day 7: Uluru to Cairns

Another excellent reason to rise early is to experience artist Bruce Munro’s installation Field of Light at dawn – 50,000 glowing spindles of light blanketing the Australian desert. Climb to the top of a sand dune to marvel at the morning unfolding over this very special part of the world. An Anangu artist will explain just what makes it so spiritual over an introduction to Western Desert art, introducing totems and symbols important to the region and represented in paintings and installations. Head to Australia’s east coast to your next stop in sunny Cairns.

Day 8: Cairns

Today is free time in Cairns.  You may choose to add an option excursion (additional expense). f you’re in the habit of getting up early now, you may wish to begin your day with an optional horizon-bending hot-air balloon ride over the Atherton Tablelands. Prefer to stay grounded? Sign up for a guided walk through the Daintree Rainforest, or surround yourself with nature riding the Scenic Railway to Kuranda returning on the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway – perhaps with a side visit to Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures for wetlands cruise? Tonight, celebrate the end of an incredible day at dinner on the Cairns waterfront.

Day 9: The Great Barrier Reef

The world’s largest living organism, the Great Barrier Reef, never fails to dazzle. Set out on a catamaran to explore a kaleidoscope of colour: over 1,500 species of fish, 215 different birds, 3,000 molluscs, six of the world’s seven marine turtle species, and 30 species of dolphins and whales are residents. Strap on a snorkel or visit an underwater observatory and semi-submersible craft to take in the menagerie without getting your hair wet.

Day 10: Cairns to Sydney

Touch down in Sydney, Australia’s largest city, with a harbour you could gaze at all day. Spend time at leisure in the buzzing metropolis of Sydney. Take a stroll along the iconic harbour, visit one of the city’s many restaurants, or simply while away the day at the beach. You decide how best to enjoy this bustling city of delights.

Day 11: Sydney

Bring your stamina: today is one of innumerable highlights. Go behind the scenes at the Sydney Opera House, discovering its architectural and performance secrets. Then see the city from the water on a Sydney Harbour lunch cruise enjoying a menu focusing on local food and wine. See Circular Quay and Shark Island as well as magnificent waterfront homes, beaches, parklands, the Opera House’s grand sails and the Harbour Bridge. One icon to another: The world’s most famous beach beckons this afternoon, with your chance to pad along the sand at Bondi with Sydney’s beautiful people.

Day 12: Sydney

Today is at leisure to explore and perhaps take one of the great optional excursions (additional expense). The hardest decision you have to make today: explore more of Sydney, or head to the Blue Mountains, 11,400 square kilometres of World Heritage listed wilderness, a place where sandstone escarpments appear to cleave off the edge of the Earth and waterfall-cooled valleys of rainforest slip dreamily from the pages of a fairytale.

Day 13: Farewell Sydney, Australia

After your epic Australian journey exploring so many iconic places in less than two weeks, now you just have to sort through the photos! Transfer to Sydney Airport for your onward flight (international airfare additional expense).

Important flight booking information for your tour:

Note: Flights referred to in the itinerary are not included in the tour price.  Please ask your Destination Specialist if you would like us to add your flights. Please be aware there are specific flights required to be booked to take this tour, ask our team for details and to book these for you (additional cost).