Australian Natural Adventures

CUSTOM ITINERARY PREPARED FOR

JERRY & BARBARA WILSON

AUSTRALIA
26 November to 12 December 2007

Day 1 – Monday, November 26: Birmingham / Los Angeles / In Flight
to Los Angeles and make your way to the Tom Bradley Terminal, where you check in for your Qantas 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, meals and a movie or two. The seats have individual video screens, and a range of entertainment options. Overnight In Flight.       (*D)

Day 2 – Tuesday, November 27: Lost In Space
Lose today due to the International Dateline, but regain it on your return journey.

Day 3 – Wednesday, November 28: LIS / Brisbane / Cairns
You arrive in Brisbane this morning, where you pass through Immigration and Customs, transfer via the airport train to the domestic terminal, and fly to Cairns, in the tropical north. You arrive about lunchtime, and transfer to your accommodation at Rydges Tradewinds, right on the Esplanade and close to Cairns downtown. You can walk directly 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.      (B,*M)

Day 4 - Thursday, November 29: Great Barrier Reef
This morning you are picked up for a 30-minute drive south, through typical North Queensland countryside. Here you transfer to your boat, high up in a tropical river. As the boat makes its way towards the sea you first pass through canefields, then rainforest, and eventually the important mangrove ecosystem. Eventually you reach the sea, where a short 20-minute ride lands you at the Frankland Islands. These islands, once part of the mainland, are now isolated, and surrounded by coral reefs. On shore there is a small forest, where pigeons, doves and other rainforest birds roost and feed. The surrounding waters are alive with coral, reef fishes, giant clams and all the life forms of this rich underwater habitat. Unlike many parts of the reef, the coral starts just offshore, and can be seen by both wading, and evening walking along the exposed reef at low tide. On the other hand, world-class snorkeling and diving is just a few minutes further out, by small boat or swimming. Lunch is served under the trees, and it's not until about 3pm that you have to leave this island paradise. During the day a naturalist will lead you on a guided walk through the forest, and is available for a guided underwater snorkel as well.       (L)

Day 5 – Friday, November 30: Cairns / Kuranda / Cairns
Today learn about Aboriginal culture at the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park, 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 to Tjapukai you will be picked up for the morning scenic train ride to Kuranda, then the Skyrail cablecar 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.

Day 6– Saturday, December 1: Cairns / Reef Flight
This morning you enjoy a spectacular and informative 1.5 hour flight along the Great Barrier Reef. As Flight Crew on patrol, you not only enjoy a once in a lifetime experience, you are helping ensure this pristine wilderness remains intact for future generations. A pre flight mission briefing covers information on Marine Park preservation zones, daily flight route, expected sightings, points of interest and all safety requirements. As Crew you’ll wear specialist flight suits and caps while the radio headsets enable communication between aircrew during flight. The flight patrols 300km along the Cairns Northern Beaches to Port Douglas, out to Low Isles, then across to the Daintree River. We fly over spectacular waterfalls and mountain streams in the unspoiled World Heritage Rainforest on our way to Cape Tribulation. Here you witness an area unique to the region, as the Reef meets the Rainforest at the waters edge. Leaving the coast, we head north to the famous Endeavour Reef and over the very spot Captain Cook grounded his vessel. The flight then tracks to the true outer reef at Escape and Agincourt, then south over all the spectacular reefs and cays including St Crispin, Opal, Tongue, Norman, Saxon, Hastings, Michaelmas, Oyster and Arlington Reefs before returning to the Cairns base via Green Island. The total experience is about 2.5 hours. After lunch you are 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. 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 7 – Sunday, December 2: 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. Easy swimming in 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. You return to Cairns about 5pm.      (L)

Day 8 – Monday, December 3: Cairns / Ayers Rock
This morning taxi to the airport for your 10.10 Qantas flight to Ayers Rock, arriving at 12.35pm. This flight gives you a wonderful look at the desert landscape from the air. Here you are transferred to your accommodation, Ayers Rock 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.) After checking in you will be picked up to explore a fascinating and significant formation, Kata Tjuta, or The Olgas, located about 15 miles from Uluru. 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. You return to the resort where 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.       (D)


Day 9 – Tuesday, December 4: Ayers Rock / Sydney
This morning you are picked up at 6am to explore Uluru itself with Anangu, traditional owners of the land around Uluru and Kata Tjuta. After a breakfast witnessing sunrise on Uluru, and event not to be missed, and a picnic breakfast, you visit several parts of Uluru with your Aboriginal guide and interpreter. This walk will bring you considerable understanding of this wonderful and powerful place, viewing rock art, waterholes and the 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 stories of Uluru and the medicines and foods the desert provides. Return to the resort for lunch. Mid afternoon fly to Sydney, arriving about 5pm. Taxi to your hotel, the Harbour Rocks, located 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.      (*M)

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