Australian Natural Adventures

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Australia Itinerary for Cliff Waldron & Friends continues.....

Day 6 – Wednesday, October 18: Cairns
Today you experience the Great Barrier Reef, a series of reefs extending for about 1,250 miles along the coast of Queensland, nearly to Papua New Guinea. You are picked up at your hotel, then on your trip today you experience two important features—a coral inner-shelf reef, and the sandy vegetated cay formed on one end. Michaelmas Reef lies about 22 miles off the coast just north of Cairns, with Michaelmas Cay on its southern tip. It is an important seabird rookery, which becomes apparent as you approach the mass of birds swirling constantly above the cay. The cay, most of which is off limits, is a National Park within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. However, the birds are very tolerant of visitors and stand thickly along the beach, allowing us to approach them within a few yards. Immediately offshore in waist-deep water, the first of the corals can be seen. For those not used to snorkelling, there is no easier introduction—just walk up to your waist, and bend over. Brilliantly colored fish, giant clams, beche de mer and coral outcrops can all be seen. Easy 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. In addition to the included snorkeling and glass-bottomed boat, there are guided snorkel tours led by a marine biologist and the opportunity to try scuba with non-certified introductory dive. On your trip out, one of the marine biologists explains the development of this and other reef systems and gives us an introduction to many of the animal species that you see. Lunch is a tropical smorgasbord. In the afternoon you return to Cairns, under sail if the winds are right. Your transport to the reef is an 85-foot motor-sailing catamaran. There is time after your return this evening to visit Cairns, or you may wish to relax poolside at the hotel, or take advantage of the hotel’s Spa.

Dinner can be taken at any one of numerous excellent restaurants within walking distance. Seafood is a natural specialty of the region, and Barramundi is the fish of choice, washed down with a sharp Western Australian Sauvignon Blanc. (B,L)

Day 7 – Thursday, October 19: Cairns
A menu of choices for today’s activities, included in the tour cost. Only one tour can be taken.

1) A visit the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park. Although designed in part as a tourist venture, the 16 year old 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. Activities here include the Aboriginal History Theatre, the Creation Theatre, the original Tjapukai Dance Theatre, a didgeridoo demonstration, spear and boomerang throwing, and descriptions of traditional foods and medicines. Although the park is a little hard to describe, I know you will enjoy it and learn a lot about Aboriginal life. Lunch and transfers are included in this long half-day tour.

2) This morning you are picked up early for a day of rafting on the Class III/IV Tully River . The Tully is considered one of Australia’s best rafted rivers, with about 28 rapids and rock gardens. This is technical rafting, in 6-person rafts with all participants paddling. You’ll learn various maneuvers, including back-paddling, overs (no, not a flip, but moving to one side of the boat to lift it up, narrowing it to fit between rocks), and others. In between the rapids are stretches of flat water, with rainforest on each side. Lunch is served along the river, with an opportunity for a swim and rope-swinging. A light snack is served at a stop on the return to Cairns, where you can also see video of your day’s rafting (these are available for purchase).

3) You are picked up this morning at 7am to travel north to the Daintree rainforest, traveling in air conditioned comfort, with an experienced rainforest guide to one of Queensland's most beautiful areas. You'll marvel at the undisturbed and magnificent World Heritage listed rainforests, cool forest canopies, breathtaking views and spectacular beaches and have a bit of fun too. Learn about some of the unusual fruits of the jungle, hear some of the Aboriginal legends of the area, and top off the experience by sharing in a Daintree River wildlife spotting cruise for crocodiles. Lunch is enjoyed away from it all, in the privacy of a rushing jungle stream, where you can go for a refreshing swim in a clear jungle waterholes if you wish.

There are other options available from hot air ballooning to reef or river fishing; some may be at additional cost (L)

Day 8 – Friday, October 20: Cairns / Melbourne
Say farewell to the tropics, transfer to the airport and take your early flight from one end of Australia to the other, to the southern city of Melbourne. Arriving around noon you are met, and head further south to Phillip Island. Here you’ll look at koalas in the Eucalyptus trees, and then dusk approaches settle down on a small boardwalk in the beach dunes. A guide tells you about tonight’s treat, watching tiny Fairy Penguins – about a foot tall – waddle ashore after feeding at sea, and making their comical way up the beach and into the dunes to their burrows. These, the world’s smallest penguins, walk by right at your feet. Any questions you may have are answered for you, and then you return to Melbourne, with a stop along the way for dinner (not included). Your hotel tonight is on Southbank, Melbourne’s smart new entertainment, shopping and restaurant district. If you are feeling lucky you can walk next door to the Casino for a late night’s fun. (*B)

Day 9 – Saturday, October 21: Melbourne
This morning you are met and enjoy a private two-hour guided introduction to Melbourne. Melbourne is very different to Sydney, and considers itself more stylish and refined. It has Australia’s best restaurants, is the center of the fashion industry, and has significant cultural institutions such as the National Gallery, home to a superb collection of Australian art. The new Gallery at Federation Square, opposite Melbourne’s much-photographed Flinders Street Station, is home to modern Australian art, a photo gallery, and other parts of the main collection. Between your guide on yesterday’s tour, and this morning’s introduction, you will have discovered plenty to fill your last day in Australian. There are several restaurants overlooking the river on Southbank, or you may wish to have your farewell dinner in Australia touring the streets of Melbourne in a turn of the 19th century tramcar, although we should arrange this prior to departure.

Day 10 – Sunday, October 15: Melbourne / Los Angeles / Home City
You are picked up after breakfast and transferred back to Melbourne International Airport, for your mid-morning flight home. Due to the International Dale Line you arrive back in Los Angeles about 7am this morning, in plenty of time for your flights back to your home city. (*L,*M,*B)

(B: breakfast; L: lunch; D: dinner; M: meal; * in flight meal)