Day 1 Brisbane, Queensland

Day 2 Archerfield, Brisbane
Transfer for the day to Archerfield to meet your plane and our crew. A CFI will be on hand to perform the check rides, sign off for your Australian licensing, and conduct the tour briefing. Afterward, enjoy a tour around the region and a “welcome” dinner with your travel companions.

Day 3 Brisbane to Coff’s Harbour
The Home of the Big Banana anticipates your arrival. It’s foremost icon is a 13 meter (36 foot long), bright yellow banana that rests outside the World of Bananas plantation, where you can almost literally find everything banana you’ve ever wanted to eat. An elevated skywalk through the Plantation provides spectacular views of the city, hinterland and Pacific coastline. The Plantation also offers a candy kitchen and the largest puzzle outlet in Australia. From May to September, the families of southern humpback whales, who migrate south to Antarctica after calving in northern waters, stop to play. Often, they can be seen from the beach.

Day 4 Coff’s Harbour to Wollongong
Enjoy a low flight over Sydney as you travel south along the coast to the steel town of Wollongong. The Symbio Wildlife Gardens, voted best wildlife experience in NSW, is a hands on zoo where you can cuddle koalas, feed kangaroos or have a close up crocodile encounter. Dolphin and whale encounter trips are also possible to arrange but are subject to weather and season.

Day 5 Wollongong to Orbost
This timber and cattle town, population 2,500, is at the edge of the Snowy River National Park. There are no fewer than 27 sawmills within the city limits and every hour the huge timber trucks rumble out of the mills on their way to become next months newspaper. The underground rivers that move through much of southern Victoria and New South Wales have created a patchwork of caves in the area. Buchan Caves, famous for it’s honeycomb limestone caves, affectionately called Fairy Cave and Royal Cave, has an impressive display of stalagmites and stalactites. While walking through the caves’ park, it is not uncommon for water dragons, kookaburras, king parrots, lyre birds and ring tailed possums to come visit if you have food in your hands.

Day 6 and 7 Orbost to Melbourne (2 days in Melbourne)
What can one say about Melbourne to do it justice? Other than being the home of the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground), Melbourne boasts the Queen Victoria Market (established 1866), the Flinders Street Railway Station, the Yarra River, the Melbourne Zoo and, of course, the Carlton Brewery, home of Fosters Lager. There is also an old penal gaol (jail), called originally enough, The Old Melbourne Gaol. This was the spot where Ned Kelly, the most famous Bushranger in Australian history, was hanged. The day is yours. Sleep in or hit the town early to take it all in. Level 55 of the Rialto Towers Observation Deck offers a view of the city as well as tours and a kiosk for souvenirs. Take a stroll along the Yarra, past the Flinders Street Railway Station and turn left onto the bridge and continue through Alexandra Gardens and into the Royal Botanical Gardens. Tours of Carlton Brewery can be arranged but require a reservation in advance. True Blue Skies would be happy to arrange any additional tours for you.

Day 8 Melbourne to Mount Gambier
Fly out of Melbourne and travel along the Great Ocean Road to the town called the most important city in southeast South Australia, Mt. Gambier. Along the way, pass by the 12 Apostles, a grouping of rock formations jutting out of the ocean like sentinels guarding the coast. Upon arrival in Mount Gambier, fly over the Blue Lake, a lake that is 246 feet in depth and fills the mouth of a long dormant volcano. The lake is brilliant blue from November to March which is the Australian Summer months. The other months of the year, the lake goes an insipid grayish color and no one knows why. Talk about a photo opportunity!!!

Day 9 Mount Gambier to Kangaroo Island
After landing in Kingscote, and transferring to the hotel, your group will leave for the National Park where the Remarkable Rocks, the Admirals Arch and the Cape Borda Lighthouse await. The Remarkable Rocks are a collection of rocks weathered by the sea which form fantastic and unusual shapes. The New Zealand fur seals tend to lie around the rocks but don’t mind sharing the area as long as you don’t try to touch them. Sea eagles, ospreys, kangaroos, wallabies and black cockatoos all inhabit the trails that wind through a variety of vegetation from gum forests to mallee scrub.

Day 10 Kangaroo Island to Adelaide
Welcome to Adelaide, South Australia, the city of churches. The organized tour for the day includes the renowned Barossa Valley, home to some of the best wines in the world. Dinner will be in the Gungellen Hotel, the pub featured in the massively popular Australian drama “McLeod’s Daughters.” Should you decide to skip the wineries, then the day is yours to enjoy. Spend the day relaxing and enjoying the sister city to Austin, Texas. Walk through Rundle Mall, the southern hemisphere’s largest outdoor pedestrian shopping mall. Stroll along the River Torrens to the unique Festival Theatre and the many parks within walking distance of the hotel. Catch the Circle Bus…it’s free. Maps are readily available onboard If you’d like to see the city from the river, take a cruise on the “Popeye”. Ride the tram down “the bay” to the seaside area of Glenelg, the town whose name is spelled the same backwards or forwards, and chat with the locals fishing along the jetty while enjoying the sea view. You are on your own for dinner and your options are limitless. . If you’re feeling really brave, a pie floater from a street “pie cart” is hard to beat. If you’re feeling lucky, the casino is located in downtown Adelaide, behind the train station. It’s easy to find, because the Adelaide city centre is only one square mile. If in Glenelg, dine at the HMS Buffalo, a fully restored floating vessel that, at one time, transported immigrants to Australia. Or try the pub by the beach; it’s always an Aussie favorite.

Day 11 Adelaide to Swan Hill
If you like fishing, champagne and history, then this city will delight you. It’s 4 hectare (10 acre) re-created 19th century pioneer settlement depicts life in a river port town when baking damper, blacksmithing, printing and saddlery were an everyday part of life. Kangaroos and peacocks wander around the complex undeterred. A quick trip out to Great Western (now owned by Seppelt’s winery) to taste some of Australia’s “champagne,” will allow plenty of time for the photo shoot of the 36 foot long giant Murray Cod statue in town.

Day 12 Swan Hill to Dubbo
The Western Plains Zoo, a 300 hectare (741 acre), open range zoo contains more than 800 native and exotic animals which are separated from its human visitors by moats and ditches instead of huge electric fences. As the zoo closes at 5pm, we have time to grab dinner and head over to the observatory for a view of the night sky through three twelve inch computerized telescopes. It is reported that over 64,000 objects are viewable at the touch of a button. Should you wish to skip the zoo, spend the day wandering around one of Australia’s fastest growing inland cities.

Day 13 Dubbo to Lightening Ridge
Welcome to the black opal capital of the world!!!!! Just to get a first hand idea of what it is like to work in an opal mine, we will spend part of the day underground. Afterwards, visit the opal shops with a better appreciation of what it takes to get those dazzling beauties out of the ground and into our jewelry boxes. Lightning Ridge has the largest collection of solid opals in Australia and many of the shops have master goldsmiths on hand. If you’d like to try your luck, the fossicking heap is there for exploration. End the day with a dip in the thermal heated Artesian Bath. It’s free and open 24 hours so no one’s going to kick you out.

Day 14 Lightening Ridge to Coolangatta
Upon landing in Coolangatta, the tour is officially over, but return transportation to the hotel will be provided. A farewell feast is planned for tonight. Enjoy the remainder of the day shopping, resting or both.