Melissa Allen
Sample Itinerary
Day 1
ARRIVE MELBOURNE
Welcome to Melbourne! You’ll be met at the airport by a representative who will drive you into the city.
Join a historian for your own private walk through the heart of ‘Marvelous Melbourne’. Your journey starts with a ride on one of Melbourne’s iconic and much loved trams (trolley cars). Your guide will lead you through the city’s fascinating labyrinth of atmospheric arcades and alleyways – you will discover lanes filled with trendy cafes and eclectic boutiques not to mention some ‘out there’ graffiti street art and landmark buildings. The Arcades and Alleyways tour is a wonderful way to discover Melbourne’s architectural and cultural heritage.
The Rendezvous Grand Hotel Melbourne is a meticulously restored hotel that retains the elegant style of the early 1900s while providing you with all the convenience of 21st century technology and amenities. Melbourne is yours to discover with major offices at your doorstep and many of the city’s top attractions within walking distance. From stylish fashion boutiques, laneway cafes and trendy bars to botanic gardens, sports stadiums and elegant architecture, Melbourne has something for everyone.
Overnight Rendezvous Grand Hotel Melbourne
Day 2
MELBOURNE
After breakfast this morning you will be met by your driver and transferred out of the city to rural Victoria. Today is a real treat where you are welcomed into the home of the Barber family, to learn a little of what it is like to be an Aussie family ‘living off the land’. This is a genuine operating sheep property, which has been in the Barber Family name since 1917. Meet Duncan Barber, a fourth-generation farmer of this land and enjoy an exclusive visit to his sheep farm.
After morning tea, it is time for you to watch as Duncan shears a sheep. The finer details of preparing and classing a fleece and the process a fleece goes through will be detailed, and this beautiful product that ends up as fabric made into Italy’s finest men’s suits (Zegna) is sure to impress and enthrall. This is also a chance to watch Duncan work his Australian Sheep Dogs and to plant an Australian Native Tree to commemorate your visit to the property before returning to the homestead for a three course lunch with the Barber family. Your lunch will include Australian wine, beer, and water.
To conclude your day, Duncan will take you for a drive around the property to spot kangaroos in their natural environment before you re-join the vehicle and journey back to Melbourne. You will return to the city in the late afternoon with a sense of having broken through the tourist crust and seen the real Australia.
Overnight Rendezvous Grand Hotel Melbourne
Day 3
MELBOURNE – AYERS ROCK
Meet your chauffeur in the hotel lobby and transfer by private vehicle to Melbourne airport to connect with your onward flight.
Fly from Melbourne to Ayers Rock (via Alice Springs)
On arrival into Ayers Rock, meet your chauffeur and transfer by private vehicle to your accommodation.
Magnificent ghost gums and flowering native shrubs are the setting for the stylish Desert Gardens Hotel. Stroll down shaded walkways to spacious poolside rooms or through desert gardens to deluxe rooms, many offering stunning views of Uluru.
Overnight Desert Gardens Hotel
Day 4
AYERS ROCK
Early this morning meet your representative and depart on a Kata Tjuta Sunrise scheduled/shared tour.
Revel in the early morning serenity of a truly spiritual place as the sunrise colours change on Kata Tjuta. The tour will travel through the landscape to the entrance of Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park. On arrival at the viewing area you walk to the best vantage point to see the 36 domes that comprise this spiritual place while watching the sun’s morning glow as the desert comes alive. We make our way to the western side of Kata Tjuta where you will have the opportunity to relax and enjoy an outback picnic breakfast.
Later this afternoon meet your representative for an Uluru Sunset scheduled/shared tour. Explore the most profound and culturally significant monolith in Australia.
Overnight Desert Gardens Hotel
Day 5
AYERS ROCK – CAIRNS – PORT DOUGLAS
This morning discover the importance of traditional bush food to the people of Central Australia with your Aboriginal host. You will walk through country and learn how the local people live in such a hot desert climate surviving on a variety of bush plants and animals. Taste a selection of the bush foods, grind native seeds and have the opportunity to talk with your Aboriginal host about desert life.
This afternoon fly from Ayers Rock to Cairns.
On arrival into Cairns you will be met by your driver and transferred along the coastal Pacific Highway – catching glimpses at the spectacular Coral Sea along the way.
The picturesque seaside village of Port Douglas, hub of the reef and rainforest coast, is just a short scenic coastal drive north of Cairns. It has become an international holiday mecca sharing the same tropical latitude as Tahiti! From the amazing 4 Mile Beach to the wilderness, it has a distinctive “laid back” low rise, tropical, old world charm, with world class restaurants, shopping and accommodation.
Overnight Peppers Beach Club
Day 6
PORT DOUGLAS
This morning you will be collected and transferred by courtesy shuttle to Marina Mirage in Port Douglas for your full day exploration of the Great Barrier Reef. Your vessel is purpose built for those that want to snorkel or dive the reef. You will be fitted out with your snorkeling equipment before relaxing with a cup of tea or coffee as you journey to the first site on the outer reef. After snorkeling/diving at the first site morning tea is served. Travel on to a second breathtaking site where a guided snorkeling tour is available before a tropical buffet lunch is served. During the course of the day on the water there is a reef interpretive chat by one of the friendly crew, before returning to the mainland in the late afternoon.
Overnight Peppers Beach Club
Day 7
PORT DOUGLAS
Juan Walker, member of the Kuku Yalanji people, takes guests through his ancestral country around Daintree, up to Bloomfield, and down to Port Douglas. He shares the stories, history, culture and traditions of the people, the way of the land, and visits many culturally significant sites as well as tourist attractions.
Learn about the environment, different foods and medicines utilized from nature, sample some bush tucker, collect shellfish and try traditional Aboriginal hunting practices, have a go at spear throwing and if you are lucky, catch a mud crab. Visit the rainforest to complete the adventure and cool off in a pristine freshwater stream.
Overnight Peppers Beach Club
Day 8
PORT DOUGLAS – CAIRNS – SYDNEY
This morning meet your chauffeur, and transfer by private vehicle to Cairns airport.
Fly from Cairns to Sydney.
On arrival into Sydney’s domestic airport you will be met and transferred to your hotel.
The Grace Hotel is an elegantly restored 11-story heritage-listed art deco hotel built in 1930. Guests will enjoy the sensational location only a few minutes walk from all the attractions of Darling Harbour, Cockle Bay, and King St. Wharf. Also within walking distance, you’ll find the best shopping at the Queen Victoria Building (QVB), David Jones city stores, Pitt St. Mall plus Myers in the Sydney Central Plaza. And nearby, you’ll be delighted to find The Rocks, Circular Quay, Harbour Bridge, and Sydney Opera House.
Overnight The Grace Hotel
Day 9
SYDNEY
There is no better way to get up close and personal with the story of Sydney than on foot! On your private tour, be entertained with lively tales of The Rocks colorful past and fascinating present! Take a leisurely 90 minute stroll with one of our friendly specialist guides through this unique heritage precinct of beautifully restored buildings situated in its picturesque, harbourside setting.
Your Rocks Walking Tour will conclude at Circular Quay where you will board a scheduled/shared two-hour lunch cruise of Sydney Harbour. Dine on board in contemporary and air-conditioned surroundings, sip a cool drink from the bar, and enjoy the harbour scenery from the extensive outer decks.
Enjoy an afternoon at leisure in Sydney.
Overnight The Grace Hotel
Day 10
Sydney
This morning you will be met and transferred to the famous Bondi Beach to experience Bondi the way the locals do! On your half day scheduled/shared tour, meet a ‘true blue’ Aussie surf lifesaver and learn to be one! Arriving at Bondi, you will be fitted out with a wetsuit or UV rash vest appropriate to the season, sunscreen and a soft, lightweight Malibu board – perfect for beginners. Your Aussie surf lifesaver will fill you in on surf awareness and safety and teach to read the ‘rips, tides, and sets.’ After warm-ups and stretches on the sand you’ll learn correct paddling techniques and how to get up into the standing position. Once you are comfortable with these basics it’s time to hit the water! After some great laughs and a lot of fun in the sun it’s back to the base for an outdoor shower and change rooms.
Enjoy a tour of the surf lifesaving club, and a casual beachside lunch.
Your tour will conclude at your accommodation, and the afternoon is at your leisure in Sydney.
Overnight The Grace Hotel
Day 11
Sydney
This morning, depart for your spit to the Manly Coastal Walk (scheduled/shared tour). Meet your representative at Circular Quay, and take a water taxi to Spit Bridge. Explore one of Sydney Harbour’s most beautiful walks from Spit Bridge to Manly. Loved by locals, this walk takes you past some of Sydney’s most desirable harbourside real estate, hidden beaches, and an Aboriginal rock engraving site, with variable terrain from urban pathway to tracts of wild coastal heath and dry eucalyptus forest. Enjoy a delicious, fresh, and healthy lunch.
Depart Manly onboard a scheduled ferry back to Circular Quay and make your way back to your accommodation.
Overnight The Grace Hotel
Day 12
DEPART SYDNEY
Meet your chauffeur in the lobby for your transport to the airport for your return flight home.
