A travel agency for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands

Tourism Australia Premier Aussie Specialist.
Accredited Tasmania Specialist

Your Australia itinerary continues.....

Day 9 - 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, Sails in the Desert 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.) Your accommodation is at the 5 star Sails in the Desert. 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.             Overnight Sails in the Desert, Yulara Resort Ayers Rock     B,D           

Day 10 – 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. You return to the resort in time for dinner.    Overnight Sails in the Desert, Yulara Resort Ayers Rock        B

Day 11 -Ayers Rock / Cairns / Palm Cove
After perhaps taking a short walk to a viewing area in the dunes near the resort to once again view sunrise on Uluru, then enjoying a relaxing morning or visiting the nearby Cultural Centre return to the airport for your flight to Cairns, arriving at 3.30pm, where you are met and transferred to Sanctuary Cove or the Sebel Reef House at Palm Cove. The rest of the afternoon is free to enjoy the delights of Palm Cove; you can relax, and enjoy the beach and the tropics. Although restaurants range from upscale to simple cafes, the traditional Aussie fast food is a pie and sauce - a small meat pie with ketchup. These are now available in a range of fillings, and you must try at least one at some stage during your trip. Be warned – they can’t be eaten elegantly; the normal way is just to hold them like a burger, eat away, and clean up if necessary afterwards. Another prized aussie food is the fish Barramundi, considered one of the best in the world.       Overnight Sanctuary Cove or Sebel Reef House      B*M

Day 12 -Cairns
This morning take a taxi to 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. On arrival the reception desk can best arrange your day, and make sure you don't miss any of the events. If you didn't vist the National Opal Gallery in Sydney, during your stay in Cairns you may wish to visit 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. The Mine will come and pick you up at your hotel and return you, at no cost, and with no obligation to make a purchase. We've included a brochure that gives you a small free opal gift.

At 2pm afternoon you will be picked up from Tjapukai 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

click here to continue your Australia itinerary >>>