• 3 Dinner (D)
• 8 Breakfast (B)
• 2 Lunch (L)

• Low level of fitness required.

• Comfortable walking shoes Warm layers in cooler months Sunglasses, sunscreen and hat Water bottle Camera

• Day 1: Flights to arrive prior to 12 noon into Melbourne AirportDay 9: Flights to depart anytime from Sydney Airport Airport to Hotel transfers are available to purchase on request. Flights to and from your tour are not included in the tour price.   Internal-holiday flights IncludedPlease note that prices include land and internal-holiday airfares, which AAT Kings will book in order to fulfil the holiday itinerary: Day 3: Melbourne to CairnsDay 6: Cairns to Sydney

Glide over tropical rainforest on the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway to Kuranda, explore the village, and ride the historic Kuranda Scenic Railway through the mountain landscape. This optional outing pairs two contrasting views of the rainforest near Cairns.

The cableway reveals the canopy of Queensland’s World Heritage-listed Wet Tropics, while the railway traces a route through rugged terrain shaped by nineteenth-century engineering. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; ask your Travel Director about arrangements and availability.

Climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge on an optional adventure high above the harbour. Crossing the bridge’s great steel arch offers an active way to experience one of Sydney’s defining landmarks and look out across the water and surrounding city.

Opened in 1932, the bridge remains both a vital transport link and an emblem of Sydney’s engineering history. The climb offers a perspective quite different from viewing its span below. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; ask your Travel Director about arrangements and availability.

Cruise Sydney Harbour for water-level views of the Sydney Opera House, Circular Quay and the shoreline’s beaches, parks and waterfront homes. The route also passes Shark Island and takes you beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

From the water, the scale and setting of Sydney’s best-known landmarks become especially clear. The cruise offers a different perspective on the harbour that has shaped the city’s daily life, connecting its celebrated architecture with the coves and neighbourhoods around it.

AAT Kings

Meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers over a welcome dinner at a restaurant in Melbourne’s South Wharf precinct. A short hosted walk brings the group to this riverside neighbourhood, where conversation begins over a shared meal.

Set beside the Yarra River, South Wharf pairs historic maritime surroundings with Melbourne’s contemporary dining scene. The gathering offers a relaxed introduction to the people you’ll travel with and to the city’s sociable waterfront atmosphere.

Walk Melbourne’s laneways and arcades with your Travel Director, discovering the small streets and café culture that give the city its character. Look for street art and Victorian facades as narrow lanes open onto grand boulevards.

Melbourne’s covered shopping arcades and nineteenth-century buildings recall its gold-rush prosperity, while its changing murals express a more contemporary creative spirit. The guided walk brings those contrasting layers into focus at street level, amid the scent of coffee from local cafés.

Cruise by high-speed catamaran to the Great Barrier Reef for a full-day exploration of its tropical waters. Use the provided mask and fins to snorkel among coral and reef fish, or remain dry aboard an air-conditioned semi-submersible craft with underwater viewing.

A local guide shares insights into the life of this UNESCO World Heritage-listed reef system, the largest of its kind. A buffet lunch and afternoon tea are served aboard, leaving time to take in the colours above and below the water.

Watch the Penguin Parade on Phillip Island, where little penguins come ashore at dusk and make their way across the beach toward their burrows. This optional experience takes you beyond Melbourne for a close look at a distinctive Australian wildlife spectacle.

The island’s protected coastal habitat provides a setting for observing the penguins’ nightly return while respecting their natural behaviour. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; ask your Travel Director about arrangements and availability.

Visit the Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains on an optional excursion from Sydney. Take in the sandstone formations and expansive mountain scenery, a marked contrast to the city’s harbour and beaches.

The Blue Mountains are known for eucalyptus-covered valleys, escarpments and the blue haze associated with their vast forests. The Three Sisters are among the region’s most recognisable natural landmarks. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; ask your Travel Director about arrangements and availability.

Explore the Koorie Heritage Trust through a guided gallery tour and walk in Melbourne. Learn about Koorie peoples, cultures and communities through an experience centred on First Peoples’ perspectives rather than the city’s colonial landmarks.

The Trust is an Aboriginal-owned and managed cultural organisation that shares art, stories and knowledge from Aboriginal communities of southeastern Australia. This MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience offers a deeper understanding of living cultures and their enduring connection to the place now known as Melbourne.

Board a wildlife river cruise at Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures in Tropical North Queensland and watch for crocodiles from the water. The visit also offers opportunities to discover other Australian animals, including koalas and wallabies.

Hartley’s introduces the wildlife of a region where tropical habitats support remarkably varied species. Seeing crocodiles in a wetland setting gives a vivid sense of these powerful reptiles and the importance of observing them safely, with knowledgeable local interpretation.

Help plant native trees as part of a Rainforest Rescue restoration project near Cairns. Working alongside the project team, take part in practical conservation intended to help restore a wildlife corridor for native birds.

The work supports protection of the region’s rare Notophyll Vine Forest, a form of dry rainforest threatened by development. This MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience turns a visit to Tropical North Queensland into a hands-on contribution to its natural heritage, while revealing what rainforest restoration involves.

Step inside the Sydney Opera House on a private guided tour of Australia’s best-known performing arts landmark. Learn about its architecture and the artists who have appeared here while exploring the building with a guide.

Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, the Opera House is celebrated for its sculptural roof forms beside Sydney Harbour. Its story connects an ambitious twentieth-century design with a working performance venue, offering more to discover than its familiar exterior reveals.

Go behind the scenes at Bondi Surf Life Saving Club on an exclusive guided visit. Hear about the club’s history and lifesaving operations from a Surf Life Saving guide, gaining insight into the people who help keep Bondi’s busy beach safe.

The guide also hosts a Be My Guest lunch at Bondi RSL Club, with views across the sand and out to the Pacific Ocean. Together, the visit and meal reveal a community tradition that is central to Australian beach culture.