Australian Natural Adventures

Custom Itinerary for Dennis, Jeanie, Courtney & Kelly Truax continues .....

Day 7 - Thursday, December 23 - Sydney
Continue to explore Sydney and environs. Bondi Beach is the iconic Australian surf beach, and now also home to many trendy restaurants, cafes and shops. As many Australians are on vacation (“holiday” in Australia), a visit will let you mix with the locals in the most traditional sense. One popular option is to climb Sydney Harbour Bridge, which costs about $120. The views from the top are quite spectacular. Again, your hotel can arrange this for you. A good place to buy opals is the National Opal Collection, in downtown Sydney, which has an adjunct of the Australian Museum at its store. The museum has excellent displays of opals, opalized fossils, and much other good information. Don't forget to take your discount brochure.

Day 8 – Friday, December 24: Kuringai Chase National Park
Today pick up your rental car and explore Kuringai Chase National Park, just 45 minutes north of Sydney. The Park is home to scenery, wildflowers, wildlife and Aboriginal engravings and history. At the Kalkiri Visitor Centre on Kuringai Chase Rd (your hotel can help you with the best directions) you can get trail maps and information about the Park, where to go and what to look for. The Centre has a theatrette with videos on aboriginal culture and Australian animals, displays on the park's wildlife, a three dimensional slide show, offers guided walks and other activities. You may want to call the Centre - 9757 9853 – to see if you can arrange a guided walk.

Day 9 - Saturday, December 25: Sydney / Melbourne
This morning fly to Melbourne on Qantas QF425 at 10.30am, take a taxi from the airport and check into your hotel, Hilton on the Park adjacent to the Fitzroy Gardens. As it is Christmas Day, most everything will be shut, so we suggest you have a typically Australian Christmas afternoon at the beach. St Kilda Beach is a pleasant tram ride away, and will be full of life, activity, and a great place to be introduced to the Melbourne culture. There are many interesting beachside cafes and restaurants where dinner can be taken al fresco.

Day 10 - Sunday, December 26: Phillip Island
Today is Boxing Day, a holiday in Australia (the origin of the holiday's name is a bit of a mystery, though there are several theories), so pick up your rental car and head south to Phillip Island, about 1½ hours away. You’ll pass through inner and outer Melbourne suburbs, and rolling agricultural land. There’s also a few interesting places, like the Giant Earthworm Museum. Gippsland, as this part of Victoria is known, is home to a giant earthworm which can get as long as 12 ft. A roadside tourist exhibit is dedicated to these huge worms, and you can see them live as you pass down a tunnel designed as a worm’s inside (we are not joking). This is definitely a local initiative, and there is probably nothing else like this in the world. It will either appeal to you for its weirdness, or you will want to drive on past! There is much to do on Phillip Island apart for the penguin parade this evening, from a nice walk down to a lighthouse overlooking the ocean and seal and seabird breeding areas, to a koala park, wetland areas, surf and bay beaches, and of course some souvenir hunting. The penguins will start rolling in about 8.30 tonight, and you are requested to be there about 60 minutes prior to arrival, so have dinner first. Seafood is naturally a specialty of the area. Rather than join the throngs watching the penguins from the bleachers, you will be with a very small group - perhaps only yourselves – with a guide, and go to a separate part of the beach to view and learn about the penguins at very close quarters. If you want to get penguiny souvenirs, be aware that the souvenir shop may be shut when you get back from the beach. Don’t forget to wear sensible shoes, as there is a little walking involved, and it could be cool.

If you wish, a route to the island can be devised that will take you past some of Victoria’s prime vineyards, where there are cellar door sales, tastings and often small restaurants. Return to Melbourne late this evening.

Day 11– Monday, December 27: Melbourne
Today is free to see Melbourne itself. The shopping is excellent here, especially along Collins St, home of many of Australia’s best fashion boutiques. Just cross the Yarra River is a newer area of shops and restaurants. The National Gallery of Victoria has a very impressive collection of European masterpieces, which toured select galleries in the US in 2003, as well as a superb collection of Australian art. In the nearby Fitzroy Gardens is the home of Captain Cook, brought from England and reconstructed here. The architecture of Melbourne is very Victorian, with many old buildings, terrace houses and other delights. The Royal Botanic Gardens are beautiful, and you could consider a picnic here by the lake, possibly with one of the bottles of wine if you dropped into any wineries yesterday. Tasmanian and Victorian cheeses are world award winners, and widely available, and Melbourne’s Italian heritage means there are many good breads to be found.

Day 12 – Tuesday, December 28: Brisbane Ranges
This morning you are picked up by Echidna Walkabout for a guided day out to the Brisbane Ranges, to see the wildlife of the area. Your guide will take you to several areas, including a koala study site where your guide has been tracking the population for many years, and know many of the koalas individually. You’ll also see parrots, kangaroos, wallabies, emus and waterfowl, and learn about the Aboriginal history of the area. Later in the afternoon you'll visit Serendip, both a wildlife research station and a reserve where native animals are free to come and go. Your guide is very familiar with your day out tomorrow along the Great Ocean Road, so be sure to ask questions about places to see, cafes and places of interest. Dinner will be taken outside tonight, watching the wild birds return home to roost in the evening, and accompanied by the native sounds of the Australian bush.
L,D

Day 13 – Wednesday, December 29: Great Ocean Road
Pick up a car again for a day out along the Great Ocean Road as it curves and winds cliff-top along the southern Victorian coast. The views are spectacular, and the day will send you past some of Australia’s best surf beaches, including Bell’s Beach, home to an international surfing championship. You’ll find many restaurants, and boutique shops in towns such as Lorne and Apollo Bay. The small Otway National Park has some delightful forest walks, with huge 20’ tree ferns as part of the scenery. About 150 miles from Melbourne near Port Campbell is Loch Ard, Sentinel Rock, and the Twelve Apostles, disconnected sandstone stacks standing at times in the surf, at times on the beach. This is your turn around point, to head back to Melbourne. You can either return the way you came, or travel north through sheep country and take a faster highway for a direct route.

Day 14 - Thursday, December 30: Melbourne
Your last full day in Australia, and once again free to finish your exploration of Melbourne. As you walk around you'll see the Flinders St Station, a classic Victorian era structure. The Queen Victoria Market is a huge, 120 year old traditional marketplace, selling everything imaginable, form tacky t-shirts to vegetables, meats, live animals and much more. The markets are a weekly outing for many Melburnians, as they buy their weekly needs. It’s worth a visit, and is a very short tram ride from your hotel. If you have already seen enough of Melbourne itself you could consider keeping the car and driving up into the Dandenong Ranges. There are small shops, art galleries, great trees - especially the drive towards Sassafras, where you pass along a road flanked by huge, 200ft Mountain Ash eucalyptus trees - and some lovely forest walks. There are also some superb wineries, including a Domain Chandon property, especially in the Yarra Glen region. Carlton and Fitzroy, inner suburbs go to by tram, have also lots of interest.

Day 15 – Friday, December 31: Melbourne / Los Angeles / Starkville
Sadly, your last day in Australia. This morning shuttle to the airport for your Qantas QF93 12.20pm flight home. Due to the International Dateline, you arrive in Los Angeles at 7.30am today, in plenty of time for your final flight.
*D,*M,*B

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