Highlights of Australia

Day 1: Arrive in Melbourne, Australia

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

Day 3: Melbourne & Free Time

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.  Meals included: Breakfast

Day 4: Melbourne 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.
Meals included: Breakfast

Day 5: Uluru (Ayers Rock) & 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.  Meals included: Breakfast

Day 6: 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. Meals included: Breakfast

Day 7: Cairns Free Time

If you’re in the habit of getting up early now, you may wish to begin your day with an optional 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 a wetlands cruise?
Meals included: Breakfast

Day 8: 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. Tonight, celebrate the end of an incredible day at dinner on Cairns’ waterfront at Salt House for regional seafood plucked straight from the ocean, highlighting fresh, local ingredients, and prepared on their custom-built Argentinian wood fired grill.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Day 9: Cairns to Sydney

Touch down in Sydney, Australia’s largest city, with a harbour you could gaze at all day. Freshen up and join your Travel Director and travel mates for a dinner cruise around Sydney Harbour against the backdrop of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House.
Meals included: Breakfast and Dinner

Day 10: Sydney Sightseeing

Bring your stamina: today is one of innumerable highlights. Go behind the scenes at the Sydney Opera House, discovering its architectural and performance secrets. From one icon to another: The world’s most famous beach beckons this morning, with your chance to walk along the sand at Bondi with Sydney’s beautiful people. A local Surf Life Saver will take you into the members-only Bondi Surf Bathers’ Life Saving Club. Learn about this historic club and gain an understanding of the important work that is done here saving lives on this famous beach. Next, enjoy lunch with views over the Pacific Ocean.
Meals included: Breakfast and Lunch

Day 11: Sydney Free Time

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. Meals included: Breakfast

Day 12: Sydney Free Time

Now you’ve found your bearings in Sydney, why not linger around the harbour – perhaps it’s time to glimpse it from above on a Sydney BridgeClimb? This bird’s-eye view certainly puts things in perspective. Back at ground level, you’re in the heart of the Rocks, the city’s original colonial settlement and a place of cobbled alleys and private galleries. This evening, celebrate your holiday at a Farewell Dinner at Portside Restaurant at the Sydney Opera House. Talk about ending on a high.
Meals included: Breakfast and Dinner

Day 12: 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 (airfare additional expense).
Meals included: Breakfast

Australia Touring Highlights:

• Melbourne Laneways Walking Tour
• Uluru Sunset Experience with Sparkling wine
• 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

Australia Guided Tour Inclusions:

• Specialist team of two highly experienced travel enthusiasts – a Travel Director and Driver Guide
• Local Specialist Guides
• 12 nights Hotel Accommodation
• Many meals: 12 Full Breakfasts, 2 Lunches, 4 Dinners

Important flight information for your Australia tour:

Note: All flights within Australia are included in the tour price, international flights from Canada are not included.  There are specific flights that are required to be booked in order to travel on this tour.  Please ask your Downunder Travel Destination Specialist to assist with adding flights to your tour.

• Day 1: Flights to arrive prior to 12:00pm into Melbourne Airport
• Day 4: Melbourne – Uluru
• Day 6: Ayers Rock – Cairns
• Day 9: Cairns – Sydney
• Day 13: Flights to depart from Sydney Airport