Discover the Coast, Rainforests, and Outback of Australia in 18 Days

Pre-wedding Honeymoon: Hamilton Island. Silky Oaks Lodge. Daintree Rainforest. Port Douglas. Cairns. Kuranda. Uluru and Kata Tjuta. Blue Mountains. Sydney.Our pre-wedding honeymoon was absolutely amazing! It was very enjoyable and flawless. Zicasso's travel plan for us was perfect. Our agent's knowledge of the country and her suggestions made in the planning of this trip made the transition to each place easy. She was so helpful and accommodating. One of the days during our trip, it was suppose to rain and we had an outdoor tour schedule that day. Less than 24 hours before a scheduled tour, at our request, she switched our tour with one of our free days. As a result, we were able to enjoy our tour, rain free. She was absolutely amazing, I feel as if she were with us throughout the entire trip.

A LONG OVER DUE REVIEW.

A year ago the trip planner was finalizing the final touches on my trip to Australia for New Years Eve.  The trip was organized for my father and I to visit various regions of the country.  Because of my father's age, and it being summer, the trip planner provided some amazing ideas for the trip.  Plans actually changed twice, once due to a cyclone hitting Hobart Island and the other just due to logistics.  In any event, the trip was absolutely amazing and was exactly what my father wanted for his "bucket list" trip.

The trip planner's knowledge of the region was imperative to us building the right agenda.  We were able to spend New Years in Sydney for the most amazing fireworks display in the world.  Then we visited Hamilton Island which in Whitsundays to visit the Great Barrier Reef.  The privacy and scenery of this island was breathtaking and not to mention, this is one of the few places where you can actually hold a koala, which I did.  

After departing Hamilton Island, we spent a night in Cairns for a stopover on our way to Uluru (Ayers Rock) which is in the desert region....and yes, its hot.  Although it was extremely hot, the experiences were totally worth it.

If you are looking for a knowledgable guide to build out a custom trip, look no further.  I can assure you that your questions and concerns will be noted and addressed by the trip planner.  We (my father and I) spent hours communicating with the trip planner before actually booking and the attention to detail was obvious during the trip.  I would totally recommend the trip planner to anyone and he created the greatest experience for my father and I. 

I will always be grateful.  

Eddie G

This was a trip of a lifetime.  In a matter of hours, a simple inquiry through an internet search, got me in touch with our agent from this travel company.  She contacted me immediately and after briefly speaking to me had a preliminary itinerary emailed out.  It was an incredible itinerary and set in motion preparing an adventure tour.  We started in Sydney and had four nights in the Rocks area.  The hotel was perfect with a kitchen and proximity to everything.  Four nights gave us enough time to get our bodies into the time zone and begin us on our adventure in Australia.  Our agent set us up with the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb and a day out at the Blue Mountains.  The tour company was great.  Driver was informative and kept the tour moving along.  Wifi on the bus was great for sending pictures on Facebook and Instagram Our flights and hotels were coordinated perfectly for optimum time at each destination.  We travelled to Cairns and dived on the Great Barrier Reef and travelled above the treetops to Kuranda.  Our hotel was on the Esplanade and great central location.  We had laundry facilities just in time to start fresh at our next destination. Next on to Uluru for a sunset tour of Ayers Rock and dinner.  The meal was fabulous and we met some great people.   The next morning we were picked up for a sunrise tour which was “sunsational”.  Again, our tour guide was informative and made it a very memorable day.    Unfortunately due to a severe thunderstorm evening camel ride to Ayers Rock and Field of Lights was cancelled.  We contacted our agent and she responded immediately and advised that we would be credited for the cancellation. We flew on to Alice Springs and stayed at a beautiful hotel.  The concierge went above and beyond the call of duty for us.  When my daughter explained how the camel ride the night before had been cancelled and how we were all a little disappointed, he immediately called the guide who runs camel rides at sunset and made it happen for us.  He even picked us up and delivered us to the farm as we wouldn’t have made it in time after the tour of a “Town Called Alice” was finished.   As it turned out the guide said that our agent had called him as well!! Wow, what service. Our concierge drove us to the airport the next morning and we headed to Kangaroo Island.  I have to say that I loved Kangaroo Island.  It is a must see if you love wildlife and nature.  Both days were so exciting and beautiful.  The landscape along the coast, Seal Bay, Emu Ridge, Remarkable Rocks, Admiral’s Bridge, koalas and kangaroos. Stunning!!   We flew back to Adelaide.  We were in a hotel in the city, but ended up taking the tram to a beach resort.  We spent a well-deserved day at the beach relaxing and swimming.  The sunset was fabulous.  We ended up in Perth to get my daughter settled at her residence for university.  Another great location and we enjoyed two days at the beach there as well. 

Our travel planner did a very good job.  We were very satisfied.  I asked for more outdoor activities as opposed to city tours and that is what we got.  The activities were well organized and first class.  The one or two activities that stick out were the restaurant tour of Melbourne and the sailboat tour of Sydney harbour which were more city oriented.  We also really enjoyed the aboriginal tour of the mangrove swamp at Port Douglas.  The accommodations were very good with special mention going to the lodge out of Mossman.  We booked on short notice and our travel planner could not get us into the hotel he wanted at Ayers Rock.  Other than that, the rooms were very good.  

If we had a problem, our travel planner really tried to help us and got something organized for us.  We were trapped by a flooded creek at our Mossman lodge and he helped to get us extracted as quickly as possible.  Anyway the overall experience was awesome and people that I describe it to describe it as the trip of a lifetime.  I have often mentioned Zicasso, as well, as providing exceptional value.  We have been on numerous tours, both personal and corporate, and in my opinion what we were provided was comparable in quality and at a very good price.  We were really taken with the rooms in the hotel in Melbourne however the food was very pricey and of a quality that did not match the accommodations.  Fortunately we had the restaurant tour of the city the next day and had a choice of too many good eateries after that.  Certainly enjoyed everything and will look back fondly on the experience.

I certainly would recommended this travel company, this travel planner, and Zicasso to anyone wanting to travel.  I felt our travel planner was very conscious of costs and tried to provide us with a very good time at a reasonable cost. 

Our travel agent was excellent. We booked a 23 day trip during the Christmas and New Years holidays only a few short months before we were leaving so the logistics were difficult to say the least.   Our travel company did a wonderful job in planning dozens of activities throughout Australia and New Zealand and it was all very well organized.  We like adventure and we had some of the best adventures ever thanks to the recommendations of our travel agent.  A dream trip that exceeded our expectations.    Thanks so much!

Sydney was great!  The Harbor Bridge Climb was so much fun as well as the tour of the opera house.

Our Uluru resort was the jewel of the trip.  Very unexpectedly spectacular.  The accommodations were unbelievable – wonderful spot and tremendous views.  We enjoyed all the activities.  A grand slam home run.  The amount of time there was perfect and we were ready to move on when our time was up.   The kids skydived in Uluru and loved it.  Highly recommend it as it only took 45 minutes from start to finish and they land right next to the resort, so super convenient.

Port Douglas was fun.  The private boat trip to Barrier Reef was awesome and we highly recommend.  The snorkeling was fun.   The spear fishing was also an adventure.

Hamilton Island was great.  The Whitsundays were spectacular and Whitehaven beach was a treat.   The hotel was a bit large and busy for our taste, but we understand that we didn’t have a lot of options given we booked so close to the trip.  The Beach Club Christmas brunch was spectacular!!  What a view!!  The Koala visit was a huge hit with all.  We hiked on many of the trails and really enjoyed Hamilton Island.

New Zealand was super fun as well.  We loved the Franz Josef heli hike – definitely a highlight of the tour and we all thought worth the travel time to get there.  The resort was very nice. We explored on our own and walked to the mining tunnel and hiked through it and saw glow worms.

Queenstown was also so much fun.  Wine tasting was a wonderful afternoon.  Kids Bunge jumped off the bridge near Arrow Town and had a blast.  Arrow Town is also a cute spot to have lunch.  The Shotover boat ride was so much fun.  The flight to Milford Sound and cruise was spectacular.

We had pouring rain in Auckland, but still got out.  Th hotel was nice and in a great location to get around.  It would have been nice to have a pool, which we had not really considered until in rained for 3 days!

Our travel agent saved our vacation! About 5 months ago I started planning an epic once in a life time trip to Australia. We were going to vacation across the country, first in Melbourne, then Hamilton Island, and finally Sydney. Our agent worked directly with me to set up an itinerary that suited my family's needs and budget. He thought of everything, even making sure there were car seats in our rides to and from the airport and that we scored basinet seating on the airplane so I didn't have to hold my 9 month old the whole time. He also had people waiting for us at each city with signs waiting for our arrival, which is awesome when you don't know where you are going.  Here is where our agent became a super hero to my family. We were on Hamilton Island when Cyclone Debbie hit the Gold Coast (CAT 4). All air and sea traffic was stopped so we were basically stranded on the island waiting for Debbie to arrive. Our agent rescheduled our flights to Sydney and then back home without any need for me to even pick up the phone (except to call him). In a twist of fate we were emergency evacuated from the Island and dropped off in Brisbane, which was an unscheduled stop. With a very bad phone connection our agent was able to book us a hotel in Brisbane and reroute our air tickets to Sydney the next day. He took care of all the rebooking of the hotels in Sydney and changed all the tickets for our outings, as we were 3 days late arriving because of Debbie. A cyclone wasn't a pleasant surprise on my vacation but our agent and his wife definitely were. I can not sing his praises enough! I will never travel without a travel agent again (and trip insurance). He saved our vacation and after we got off Hamilton Island we really enjoyed ourselves.