Australian Natural Adventures

A specialist travel agency for Australia travel and Australia tours

  Tourism Australia Premier Aussie Specialist
Accredited Tassie, Northern Territory, NT Outback, NSW, Victoria & Queensland Specialists
Matai Fiji Specialist

Custom Itinerary Prepared for

Michael Brinkley & Jamie Piotti

Australia
June 27 to July 12 2008

Day 1: Friday, June 27: Phoenix/Los Angeles/ Lost In Space
Begin your South Pacific journey by flying from Phoenix to Los Angeles. On arrival at LAX exit the terminal, turn to the left and walk to the American Airlines Terminal 4, the next one along (LAX terminals). Check in early for your late evening Qantas flight to Sydney, Australia, which begins the moment you step aboard your Qantas plane. The Australian style is apparent—easy going, casually efficient and very friendly. Qantas is known for its excellent food and in flight service, so you can sit back and enjoy the hospitality, meal and a movie. We would, however, recommend having dinner at the airport – there are a wide range of options upstairs, at the end of the ticket counters – then just relaxing on the plane. A Do Not Disturb sign can be useful to get some rest, as it will be after 1am by the time meals are served.         (*D)

Day 2: Saturday, June 28: Lost In Space
Today is lost to the International Date Line, but you regain it on the return journey.

Day 3: Sunday, June 29: Lost In Space / Sydney / Darwin
Arrive in Sydney about 7am this morning. After passing through immigration and customs transfer to the domestic terminal for your mid morning flight to Darwin, arriving at about 1pm. The afternoon is free to look around this small tropical city. You should avoid the temptation to lie down and rest, as falling asleep will disturb the ease of getting into the new time zone. This evening join the locals with a meal of fish and chips while watching the sun set over the Arafura Sea. Your hotel tonight is on the Esplanade, overlooking Darwin Harbour.   (*B)

Day 4: Sunday, June 30: Darwin / Cooinda
You are picked up at 7am this morning and begin your Kakadu exploration by traveling south on the Stuart Highway. About 30 miles south of Darwin turn west onto the Arnhem Highway (a rather over-glorifying name), passing the major river systems and wetland regions into Kakadu National Park. After crossing the South Alligator River we begin to explore the World Heritage Area of Ubirr Rock where we climb up through the ancient Aboriginal rock art galleries to the lookout for the famous view over surrounding wetlands. We then visit the Bowali Centre with informative displays, and continue to Cooinda to join Kakadu’s famous Yellow Waters Wetland Cruise to experience the beauty of the Kakadu wetlands. Overnight tonight at Cooinda Lodge. (B,L)

Day 5: Monday, July 1: Cooinda / Darwin
Today’s highlights include visits to Nourlangie Rock region and Anbangbang Billabong which includes spectacular Arnhem Land Escarpment views, ancient Aboriginal occupation sites and pristine freshwater environments. We also venture off the beaten track to Maguk (Barramundi Gorge), where a 2km return walk through paperbark forest leads to a small waterfall and clear plunge pool with the opportunity to swim. This walk is graded moderate with difficult areas requiring some agility in rougher parts of the track. Late afternoon we make our way out of Kakadu National Park, viewing Jabiru Township and pausing for an evening snack (own expense) at the Bark Hut Inn. We arrive back into Darwin mid evening. (B,L)

Day 6: Tuesday, July 2: Darwin / Cairns
Fly to Cairns this morning, arriving just after 10am. You are met and transferred to Kewarra Beach Resort, on a beach just north of Cairns. At about 1.30pm you are picked up to spend the afternoon and evening in the rainforest. Early this afternoon you will be picked up for an afternoon/evening tour to the rainforest of the Atherton Tablelands. These World Heritage listed rainforests, at an elevation of about 2,500 ft, are home to some of Australia’s rarest and most unusual animals, including four kinds of very restricted possums, gliders, and the definitely weird tree kangaroo, a kangaroo which has adapted to a life in the trees, rather than on the ground. Your guide will take you to a small stream to wait for platypus, the egg-laying mammal unique to Australia, all the time describing the plants and dynamics of the surrounding rainforest. A variety of rainforest birds and other animals, perhaps including the leaf-tailed gecko - eight inches long and colored and shaped like a piece of bark - will be found and seen. After dinner out, a couple of hours will be spent spotlighting for nocturnal animals, always a highlight of the day. The return to Cairns will be late, around midnight, but the long day will remain in your memory for years to come.                       (B,D)

Day 7: Wednesday, July 3: Great Barrier Reef
Today you are introduced to one of the natural wonders of the world—Australia’s outer Great Barrier Reef, a series of reefs extending for about 1,250 miles along the coast of Queensland, nearly to Papua New Guinea. Your boat today is Passions of Paradise, a snorkel and dive catamaran, which will take you to at least two separate places on the reef, including Michaelmas cay, home to tens of thousands of swirling – and confiding - seabirds. You are picked up from your hotel at 7.20am to begin your day. Don't forget your towel (the hotel has special reef towels available), hat, sunglasses and sunscreen. Most of the Great Barrier Reef, including the parts visited today, are multiple-use Marine Park. Brilliantly colored fish, giant clams, beche de mer and coral outcrops can all be seen. You can start your reef visit with a marine biologist led tour in a glass bottomed boat; afterwards easy swimming in shallow water brings you over coral “bombies,” heads of coral with their assortment of fishes, and hard and soft corals. Parrot fish glean algae from the coral, and small and medium predators search for food. Schools of fish twist and flash between the outcrops. An occasional sea turtle may be seen. Lunch is a tropical smorgasbord aboard. There is time after your return this evening to visit Cairns downtown, for souvenirs and perhaps a meal at Ochre Restaurant, specializing in native Australian foods.  There are also many other interesting restaurants to choose from.   (L)

Day 8: Thursday, July 4: Cairns / Cooktown
Collect your 4WD rental car this morning and drive up the range to Kuranda, a scenic drive with several lookouts over Cairns and the Coral Sea. Continue west to Mareeba; you immediately notice the rainforest disappearing, and the vegetation becoming much drier. At Mareeba turn north towards Mt Molloy through the irrigated agricultural countryside. If you're hungry about now there's a small cafe on your right as you enter town that has some of the best meat pies in Queensland; their ice cream is wonderful too. Soon you notice the agriculture falling away, replaced by dry cattle raising. Near Mt Molloy the rainfall increases, and the vegetation becomes greener once again, but not for long. Turning slightly inland on the Development Road you reach the old gold mining area of the Palmer River. There's a roadhouse here to stop at for lunch, and look over the old relics of a bygone era. Continuing on over the top of the range you descend into an agricultural area, watered by irrigation on rich volcanic soils. This is still definitely the outback, with little habitation. At Lakefield turn back towards the coast, and Cooktown, the site of European man's first landing on the east coast of Australia. (B)

Day 9: Friday, July 5: Cooktown / Cape Tribulation
Discover Cooktown today. On the hill overlooking the Bay is one of Captain Cook's cannons, thrown overboard when his ship struck a reef, named by him Endeavour Reef. Cook made his way to what is now cooktown to repair his ship. About lunchtime head south to the Lion's Den Hotel, past Black Mountain, an interesting hill of what appear to be randomly piled up black boulders. Both white and Aboriginal people have legends and stories about this place. Lion's Den is the oldest wooden hotel in Australia, and a long time collection point for locals, most of whom found life near people too hard to take. It's a good place for a traditional Australian meat pie and beer for lunch. As you continue south on the small, unsealed road rainforest begins to appear again. The road passes through a couple of very small settlements, once the domain of tin miners then an early hippie movement. You are now traveling through the Cape Tribulation National Park, which like Kakadu is a World Heritage Area (as is the Great Barrier Reef). Raising several hills with lookouts over the surrounding rainforest you reach the Bloomfield River, which having no bridge must be forded (vehicles ford the river all the time, including tours to Cooktown, and there will usually be someone along to give you more confidence.) There is a very low tide a little after 2pm today, perfect for crossing this tidally influenced river. (Some roads further north on the Peninsula have river crossings like this.) Once across the Bloomfield you are at Cape Tribulation, again named by Cook. Your accommodation tonight, Cape Tribulation Resort, is in the rainforest, with a short walk to Coconut Beach. After your two days of adventure the resort's spa is certainly to be tempting.

Day 10: Saturday, July 6: Cape Tribulation / Cairns
Relax in the rainforest and beach this morning before heading south. About 35km south of cape Trib is the Daintree River, much larger than the Bloomfield but also bridgeless. However, a car ferry takes you across, and from here you can join a one-hour cruise on the river to discover its wildlife, including large saltwater crocodiles (which can often be seen closer than in Kakadu). Continue south to Mossman, timing yourself to be at Mossman Gorge a little before 3pm. Here you can take a 1.5 hour rainforest walk with the local Kuku Yulanji Aboriginal people, who will describe the rainforest and its products from an aboriginal viewpoint. After the tour you enjoy afternoon tea of damper - pit-cooked bread - and tea while listening to the didgeridoo. The last part of your Cape York Peninsula journey takes you along a very scenic coastal road with superb views over the Coral Sea, before returning to Kewarra Beach for the night.

Day 11: Sunday, July 7: Cairns / Gladstone / Heron Island
An early start this morning back to Cairns airport where you drop off your car and fly south to Brisbane, then back up to Gladstone, in southern central Queensland. On arrival you are met and transferred to the harbour, where you board your high speed catamaran (a helicopter transfer is also available) to travel to Heron Island, a small resort on a true coral atoll. You'll arrive about lunchtime, and from then until you depart your time is your won. You can beach walk, visit the research station, and walk out onto coral reefs at low tide, as they connect to the beach in places and do not require swimming. However, very easy snorkeling is a wonderful way to spend some of your time here. The resort is noted for its ambience, and excellent foods and wine choices, as well as other activities including a spa.

Day 12: Monday, July 8: Heron Island
Continue to relax and enjoy the island. In addition to guided and personal reef walking and shallow snorkeling directly off the beach you can take a semisubmersible ride among the coral, with a guide describing the marine life seen through the windows. A popular and relaxing activity is a picnic basket and enjoy a lunch on the beach. Fishing, tennis, and other activities are also available during your stay. (B)

Day 13: Tuesday, July 9: Heron / Island / Gladstone / Sydney
After lunch bid farewell to the island and take the launch back to the mainland. On arrival at 4pm you are met and transferred to the airport for your flight south to Sydney. On arrival you are met and transferred to your hotel in The Rocks, the historical heart of Sydney. As well as a good range of interesting shops, some of Sydney's oldest and most colorful pubs, and best restaurants, are found within a ten minute stroll. Australia has developed its own cuisine, a far cry from the stodgy English-based fare of earlier years. Restaurants featuring a fusion of Asian, European and even native Australian food abound, often featuring the superbly fresh fish abundantly available from Australia's long coastline.   (B)

Day 14: Wednesday, July 10: Sydney
Discover Sydney today, a wonderfully cosmopolitan city. Just a short walk from your hotel (the desk can give you directions) is the office of The Rocks Walking Tours, from where you will start your 11.30am easy 90-minute walking tour of this historic and vibrant area. Many of the buildings date from the very first years of the settlement, and are convict-built. You will get a good insight to the history of Sydney, and Australia. The rest of the day is free to explore this vibrant and friendly city. In addition to great shops to buy the needed souvenirs and gifts, just a short walk is the Botanic Gardens and the Domain, which has good views of the harbour, an abundant bird life, and a colony of huge grey fruit-bats, whose wingspans are approximately three feet. The Australian Museum, with its impressive collection of Aboriginal artifacts and art, is also close by. The Taronga Zoo is a ferry ride across the harbour, and a lunch or dinner cruise is a good way to truly appreciate this water-side city. During today or tomorrow you may wish to take a guided tour of the Opera House; tours leave on the half hour from 9.30am until 4.45pm. This can be followed by dinner and a show, or just a show, in one of the Opera House theatres, depending on your tastes. A calendar of events can be found here. Everything is within walking distance of your hotel, although the Museum is a little far and you may wish to take the bus or a train - Sydney is extremely well-serviced by buses and the underground.             (B)

Day 15 - Thursday, July 11: Sydney
Continue to get to know Sydney. Lunch can be taken on a cruise on the harbor, with views of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, as well as the boats and ferries of what is often called the most beautiful city harbor in the world. The best way to really see Sydney Harbour is on a ferry. While there are tours that utilize the ferries, usually with lunch or morning tea, the cheapest way to do this is to simply buy a return ticket to one of the up-harbour places such as Homebush (where the Olympics were held). You’ll see a map of all the places they go at Circular Quay. The ferries have a snack/meal bar, and you can just get an easy lunch or snack there, sit back, and enjoy the ride. The advantage to this, as opposed to a typical guided tour, is the lack of a person telling you about the homes of Australian television personalities, of whom you have never heard. The ferry to Manly goes in the other direction, and as it passes the Entrance, where the harbor enters the Pacific, can get interestingly rough at times. This ferry will pass the Opera House and various other landmarks, and is also a good run.   

Many people think of opals when they think of Australia, and we can recommend Altmann & Cherny and Art of Opal for interesting and quality opals, along with excellent service. There are a number of places to buy opals , but these two get consistently high marks form our clients, and have a wide range of stones at all price points, both set and loose. Altmann & Cherny has an educational section where you can learn about opals, and also displays the Aurora Australia, a huge 180 carat black opal valued at $1m million. We’ve included brochures which entitle you to a discount and a free gift. You should take your passport and airline ticket to buy tax-free.                   (B)

Day 16 - Friday, July 12: Sydney / Los Angeles / Phoenix
Taxi (or transfer) back to the airport mid-morning for your flight home. Due to the International Date Line you arrive in Los Angeles at 7am this same day, in plenty of time for you morning flight back to Phoenix.   (B,*L,*S,*B)