Extraordinary Nature & Wildlife: 14-Day Australia Tour

Fantastic!  We spent 28 days in Australia, touring and spending time with family.  Our travel organizer did a super job blending the two, while making sure we experienced the best of Australia.  Our tour took us to Sydney, Canberra, Cairns, Darwin, The Ghan train journey, Adelaide and ended in Tasmania before returning to Via Sydney.  The Koala experience in Karanda village, the fairy penguins in Lowhead, Tasmania and the Quick Silver barrier reef excursion were the tops in the touring for us.  Very hard to rank with koala and penguin tying in the top spot!  Connections were made easy with  pleasant and knowledgeable drivers meeting us at each new destination.   It was truly a holiday of a lifetime.  Thank you

We were very pleased with the service we received from our Zicasso travel agent. She designed an itinerary that was perfect for us, focused on seeing wildlife and some of the beautiful, must-see places in Australia and New Zealand. The accommodations she picked exceeded our expectations and the tours were great. After my sister and I had an initial conversation with her, we knew we wanted to work with her.

We spent about eight days in Australia. We flew into Sydney, spent a night there, then on to the Port Douglas area, where we visited an excellent wildlife habitat where we were able to hold koalas and feed kangaroos. A cruise to the Great Barrier Reef was enjoyable, but unfortunately, it had rained quite a bit and the water was murky and very choppy. Next, we flew to Melbourne (a beautiful city) and had a wonderful time in that area. For tours, we went to Phillip Island and a wildlife sanctuary to see the smallest penguins emerge from the sea. The next day, we went on a two-day/one-night Great Ocean tour, which was spectacular.

We started the New Zealand part of the trip in Queenstown, a very scenic town. From there, we had a day trip to Milford Sound, which was beautiful, and a very enjoyable paradise walk. We next traveled to the Mount Cook area, but unfortunately, the stargazing was canceled due to cloudy skies. Our last excursion was to Christchurch. There we visited the Arthur’s Pass National Park, which included a TranzAlpine train trip.

My husband & I had a wonderful month-long trip to Australia!!  Our agent at this Australia travel company did an excellent job of selecting great hotels & superb tours.  Our favorite spot was Tasmania ... Hobart is a very quaint little harbor town full of very polite people ... like the US was a generation ago.  Driving on the left was a serious challenge for my husband, so we parked rental cars in the cities we visited & used very efficient public transportation.  We needed to use GPS devices & my only complaint is that GPS was not included with our rental cars in Darwin & Cairns and for the amount of money we paid for our trip, we feel that those $55. fees should have been paid or we should have known in advance so we could make other arrangements.  Overall, I would give a 4.75 star rating.

The following was sent to our Zicasso agent:

All the hotels were good so not much more to say. So were the flights.

First city was Melbourne and what a city it is. I would move there. 

Day one we first stopped at a private zoo. We saw kangaroos, wallabies and koalas and got to pet them. Pretty good.

We continued our drive and eventually got to where we would see the penguins at night. While still daylight saw many wallabies.

The penguins coming out of the sea was a lifetime event. This was the best day of the entire tour. We got to the hotel about midnight.

Next day we travelled to the 12 Apostles. Even though very far it was worth the trip. We also stopped at a national park where we

saw many kangaroos in the wild and a couple Koalas up in trees. This day was also pretty good.

Piece of advice on these two days. If it can be done reverse the order.  The way we did it we got to the hotel about midnight the first day

and by the time we took a shower it was 12:30 AM. Next morning we were picked up at 7:30 but had to be up by 6:30 to dress and have breakfast before being picked up.

All in all, Melbourne was the best part of the tour. Many good places to eat with reasonable prices.

Next we flew to Cairns. Had part of the day to walk around the hotel. It was very nice even though very warm. We walked to the street just around the hotel to eat and what a tourist trap that street was. Next couple days we walked away from the hotel several blocks and found good restaurants and reasonable prices.

First day we went to the great barrier reef and this was also a highlight of the tour. Even though the reef itself is in bad shape, the snorkeling allowed us to see many fish. Great day.

2nd day was the aborigines tour and sorry to say it was a waste of money and time. First off, the vehicle was too small for guys like us that are above 6 feet. We drove north and other that the fact that the area looks a lot like the place where we come from, Puerto Rico it was unremarkable. The man whose ancestors might have  been aborigines but he is now a civilized city dweller, stopped couple times to show us some plants. One smelled wonderful but we all know most perfumes come from plants. The second by crushing leaves he made like soap suds. That took all morning because the drive was lengthy. Maybe 100 miles each way.

We then stopped for lunch and it was a lame one. We each got 2 small wraps one of ham which was just ok and one of chicken with mostly greens and little amounts of chicken.  Perhaps that was all that could be bought in the area. If so, we could have arranged much better lunch boxes at the hotel. 

After that came the worst. We drove at length to a park where the entrance to the highlight of the day, the gorge was to be seen.

The guide took us to a place where he told us to wait. And wait we did. About 30 minutes. I finally got up and went to the counter to ask if they seen our guide. Before I got to ask, I saw a pile of printed flyers. They said that due to a big flood about a month before the road to the gorge was closed for repairs. Sorry, no gorge. I went outside to look for the guide. We was not around. However there was a man at the entrance and I asked him how long had the road been closed and he said couple weeks and that our guide should have know about it. The guide finally showed up and said sorry, no gorge which we already knew about. At that point, it looked like we were going to go back. My brother in law asked the guide if there was anything else worth doing. By the way, it was now 99 degrees Fahrenheit which is very hot. He took us to a stream where we sat in rocks with our feet in the water under some trees which allowed us to cool off somewhat.

Honestly, if he had told us what this was going to be like it turned out, we would have cancelled the day and asked for a refund.

We do not blame him. He was just doing his job. We felt that when he disappeared he might have been trying to reach his boss to get instructions of what to do. We blame the company. They should have know by the day we went that the road to the gorge was closed.

Next day we flew to Sydney and spent the rest of the afternoon touring the opera house which was great. Also one of the highlights of the tour.

Next day we went on a boat tour of Sydney harbor. That was really super. Besides the sights, there was a lady guide which gave a great narration of the sights. We did lunch on our own and then went to the zoo.

I honestly cannot figure out why. I suppose it was our fault for not paying enough attention to what was being offered.

We had seen all the Australian animals both in the private zoo and in the wild so the zoo did not offer anything new.

On top of that this zoo is old and in bad shape. We were told they are working on a $200 million rehab. Fine for the future visitors but not for us. Us being veteran travelers we all have been in great zoos in Europe and America. Because of the work that is going on there are no shows being performed. No seal shows, etc. 

Next day we went to see the Blue mountains and that was a real long drive. If you have seen the Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA and the wolf gorge in south France, then the real long drive to see the Blue mountains was not worth it.

And that was that.

As I said, parts were great, but parts were a waste of time and money.

Sorry to have to put it that way but that is how I feel. You might ask my brother in law for his opinion. Perhaps it might differ.