Day 1 - Los Angeles / Lost In Space
Begin your South Pacific journey flying to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles
collect your bag, then you may wish to take the airport terminal
shuttle to the Tom
Bradley Terminal, which is at the head of the horseshoe of LAX
terminals. However, as you have plenty of time, and you will
be sitting down for over 14 hours, you can also walk. 
Check in for your flight to 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 sit back and enjoy the hospitality,
meal and a movie. I 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.
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Day 2 - Lost In Space
Lose today due to the International Dateline, but regain it on your
return journey.
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Day 3 - Sydney / Cairns
You arrive in Sydney this morning, pass through customs and immigration
then transfer to your flight to Cairns, arriving at lunchtime. This
flight departs from the domestic terminal, 
and
you will take the terminal shuttle
bus to that terminal – directions are clear in the international
terminal for this. On arrival in Cairns you will be met and transferred
to your hotel, Tradewinds
Esplanade. You can walk out of the rear of the hotel to the
Esplanade, which runs along the bayfront. It is a very short and
pleasant walk through the new Esplanade
Fogarty Park to the main downtown area, past cafes, shops and
restaurants. Probably
the best eating fish in Australia, and one of the best in the world,
is Barramundi, and you should make sure this is a feature of one
of your meals here. Start with an appetizer of Mud crab or Moreton
Bay Bugs (both far better than they sound), followed by Barramundi
done as simply as possible. A dry white Australian Sauvignon Blanc,
perhaps from the Margaret River area of Western Australia, or a
crisp Victorian white, will be a perfect accompaniment.
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Day 4 - Cairns
Today is free to relax and look around Cairns. A suggested recommendation
is to learn about coastal Aboriginal culture at the Tjapukai
Aboriginal Cultural Park, and perhaps enjoy a scenic train ride
up the range behind Cairns, and brush the top of the rainforest
trees by cablecar. Although designed as a tourist venture, the 16
year old Tjapukai concept began and remains today a means of
introducing non-aboriginal people to the world’s oldest living
culture, while at the same time showing by example to the Aboriginal
people themselves that their culture, often ignored and looked down
upon by its own people, is of great value and interest to others
throughout Australia and the world. Through dance and 
theatre,
and traditional activities including spear and boomerang throwing,
food and medicinal plants identification, and shelter construction,
there is much to learn here about Aboriginal life. Prior t
o
Tjapukai you will be picked up for the morning scenic
train ride to Kuranda,
then the Skyrail Cable
ride down, an interesting way to see the rainforest from the canopy.
Skyrail's terminus is adjacent to Tjapukai, and at the end of the
day you will be returned to your hotel. A suggestion for dinner
is the Red
Ochre Grill, where native Australian foods are cooked and presented
in gourmet style. This unique concept has introduced a whole new
range of tastes to the Australian palate.
Day 5 - Great Barrier Reef
Today you are introduced to one of the natural wonders of the world—Australia’s
G
reat
Barrier Reef, a series of reefs extending for about 1,250 miles
along the coast of Queensland, nearly to Papua New Guinea. 
Brilliantly
colored fish, giant clams, beche de mer and coral outcrops can
all be seen in the prdominantly shallow - less than 60ft - water.
Surface swimming in shallow water brings us 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. Your are transferred
to the outer reef for two dives, and snorkeling, then you board
your boat for an overnight. Another afternoon dive can be made,
and a night dive/snorkeling. 
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Day 6 - Great Barrier Reef / Cairns
Your second day on the Great Barrier Reef. Continue snorkeling,
and make a further two dives. Return to Cairns at 4.30pm, and then
you are invited to share the evening at a restaurant with new found
friends and crew.
Day 7 - Cairns / Atherton Tablelands / Cairns
This morning is free to look around Cairns. A suggestion is a visit
to the Outback
Opal Mine, where as well as buying opals
you can learn from a educational film and display how and where
they are mined. A call to this interesting store and museum will
have them coming to collect you, and drop you off later, at no obligation.
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. D
Day 8 – Cairns / Ayers Rock
This morning taxi to the airport for your 9.15am Qantas flight to
Ayers Rock, arriving at 11.35am. This flight gives you a wonderful
look at the desert landscape from the air. Here you are transferred
to your accommodation, Yulara Resort, a few miles from the base
of Uluru, as Ayers Rock is known to the local Aboriginal people
(although there is a little controversy as to what Uluru really
is referring to, and by which group.) You will have a couple of
hours to relax, perhaps visiting the nearby cultural and display
center, then about one hour before sunset you will be picked up
and transferred to a sand dune a little way from Uluru. Hear a didgeridoo’s
sounds greet you, and you watch the sun set on Uluru, one of the
most inspiring sights possible. As the colors change, you will be
sipping on canapés and champagne. Afterwards sit down,
under the southern stars, for a truly memorable dinner. Once dinner
is over you have the opportunity to observe the constellations and
stars through a telescope, while your guide explains which is which.
Don’t forget to ask how to find south, and tell the time,
by the stars.
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Day 9 – Ayers Rock
This morning you are picked up at 7am to explore Uluru itself. After
witnessing sunrise on Uluru, and event not to be missed, and a picnic
breakfast, you will combine a drive and walk around the base, about
6 miles. Short walks will bring you to this wonderful and powerful
place, viewing rock 
art,
waterholes and appreciating the unique flora and fauna of Uluru.
A special feature is the appreciation of the exquisite as well as
the dramatic sculpturing of Uluru. There is time to amble, to absorb
images and to gain an insight into Uluru's remarkable presence,
while your guide will introduce you to the geology of Uluru and
describe how plants and wildlife have adapted and survived in such
a forbidding environment. The fascinating relationship of the Anangu
people to Uluru is also described. After lunch 
you
will explore another fascination and significant formation, Kata
Tjuta, or The Olgas. Kata Tjuta is a series of huge rounded rocks
hills, and once again an important Aboriginal area. Your guide will
show you the area, and describe stories of the Dreamtime relevant
to Kata Tjuta (not in full as the stories are only fully available
to tribal members), as well as geology and history. The day ends
with a sunset some say equal to that on Uluru itself. You return
to the resort in time for dinner.
Day 10 - Ayers Rock / Sydney
After a free morning - perhaps you'll take a short walk to a viewing
area in the dunes 
near
the resort to once again view sunrise on Uluru, return to the airport
for your flight to Sydney, arriving about 5pm. Your hotel taxi or
shuttle to your hotel, the Harbour
Rocks, located in the Rocks
,
the historical heart of Sydney. As well as a good range of interestings
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.
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Zealand
and the Pacific Islands
