Australian Natural Adventures

The Feeley's Australia Itinerary continues...

Day 9 - Melbourne / Adelaide
This morning get a taste of typical Melbourne life. At at the 120 year-old Queen Victoria Market (you need to have your pop-up blocker turned off to access this site) there's not much from clothing to the weekly meat supply that can't be bought, and everthing in between, and a lot of characters to serve and entertain you. The market is open from 6am until about noon. The wine bars, restaurants and small shops of Carlton, adjacent to Melbourne University and known as Little Italy, or the bookstores, including some specializing in wildlife and Australiana, of Prahran may also be of interest, and are to discover the real Melbourne, away from the usual tourist areas. Melbourne Zoo in nearby Royal Park has a fine collection of both exotic and native animals, in mostly naturalistic settings. Your hotel desk can assist you in getting to these places, just a few minutes away by the ubiquitous Melbourne trams. Late afternoon taxi to the airport for your one hour flight west to Adelaide.

Day 10 - Adelaide / Kangaroo Island
This morning return to the airport for your 9.25am Rex Airlines flight ZL4753, which arrives on Kangaroo Island at 9.55am. You are met to begin your exploration of this wonderful island. You’ll first visit the redgum forest along the Cygnet River valley to seek out koalas sleeping in the forks of the trees, then travel through some of the best wool-producing areas on the island to a conservation park on the north coast. Here we walk through the habitat of Kangaroo Island Kangaroos, Tammar Wallabies and the endangered Glossy Black Cockatoo. For lunch enjoy a delicious seafood barbeque served with fine South Australian wines before heading to a colony of Australian Sealions. At Seal Bay Conservation Park a walk among Sealions on a beautiful sandy beach may reveal watching pups nursing or playing in the surf. Old bulls bear the scars of territorial disputes, as your guide explains when he tells us about their unique breeding biology. In the afternoon we visit Cape Gantheaume Conservation Park including D'Estrees Bay - where ospreys nest, and kangaroos come out late in the day to feed. After this you are dropped off at your accommodation. This evening you'll enjoy a guided Fariy Penguin walk, to see these, the world's smallest penguins, return to their burrows after a day at sea.                          B,L,D

Day 11 - Kangaroo Island / Adelaide
Flinders Chase National Park is a 74,000 hectare (190,000 acre) wilderness which covers the entire west end of the Island. We’ll visit Rocky River Homestead - originally a small farm and now the Park headquarters. This area is home to kangaroos, wallabies, possums, goannas, echidnas, koalas, platypus and many birds including the rare Cape Barren Goose. At Cape du Couedic on the south-west tip is a New Zealand furseal colony which is rapidly expanding. These animals can be observed at rest on the rocks or frolicking in the surf under Admirals Arch - a spectacular coastal grotto. On the headland above is Cape du Couedic Lighthouse which plays an important role in navigation. Further down the coast are the Remarkable Rocks, huge natural granite sculptures on the cliff top. Lunch today is a picnic in the bush before exploring more of the Island. Depending upon the day you might take a walk to a secluded cove, or watch for a platypus by a quiet pool. You return to the eastern end of the island via Vivonne Bay, one of the few protected bays on the south coast At the end of your exciting day you will be taken to the airport, for your 6.35pm Rex flight 4772 back to Adelaide, to overnight.           B,L

Day 12 - Adelaide / Portee
This morning you picked up your rental car to begin your days in the Outback. First enjoy a scenic and leisurely drive northeast to the Barossa Valley, Australia’s oldest and best known wine producing area. The region is home to many wines available in the US. Lunch is on the way at one of the wineries, then you will arrive at Portee Station (in Australia, a station is a livestock ranch.) Portee is an environmentally sensitive, sustainable use working sheep station which is also a haven for native wildlife. As well as being in the Outback, you’ll meet genuine, traditional Australians, and experience the real bush. Once there you can take a canoe or boat trip on the lagoon, see the endangered Hairy-nosed Wombat, walk the river trail for wildlife, or perhaps spend a little time on the shady verandah.  Portee is a family operated, and you will feel completely at home here. You may even get an opprotunity to drive out for some daily tasks if you wish, or just take this opportunity to experience the real Australia.                L,D

Day 13– Portee Station
This morning rise to the sound of birds, sheep, and the outback. After a hearty breakfast explore the billabong, look at the workings of the farm, and yarn with the locals. There is as much, or as little, to do here as you wish. Meals are taken where Margaret decides, inside or out depending on the weather and how she and her guests feel. Local produce is the order of the day, and meals are for relaxing, not rushing. Arelaxing pace will be in order for your entire stay. Perhaps a boat ride under the gum trees, watching the parrots roost, or a lunchtime picnic will take your fancy. As the sun sets this evening, the sounds and views that surround you will remain with you for years to come. Continue your stay in the Outback at Portee. Look for the canoe tree, where you can see how the Aboriginal people carved their canoe directly from the trunk of a living tree.                B,L,D

Day 14– Portee Station / Adelaide
After a final morning at Portee this afternoon you again enjoy a drive back to Adelaide and your hotel, arriving late afternoon.                            B,L

Day 15 - Adelaide / Ayers Rock
This morning transfer to the airport for your 9.15am Qantas flight to Ayers Rock, via Alice Springs, arriving at 1.35pm. This flight gives you a wonderful look at the desert landscape from the air. Here you are transferred to your accommodation, Desert Gardens at 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.                  (B,D)           

Day 16 – 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, with short walks, around the base, about 6 miles. The 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 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.

your Australian adventure continues>>>>