Australia Family Vacations

Our agent did a terrific job of suggesting places to go and things to see. With her planning, we were able to forget about the logistic hassles and were met at each airport by our limo (usually a Mercedes and one Rolls Royce!)..

Our accommodations were top notch (except for Kangaroo Island where there weren't as many choices). I especially liked reclining on our bed in Sydney and looking out at the harbor traffic under the bridge. Also, the apartment in Port Douglas was timed just right so we could have a free afternoon to relax and do laundry. And the service at our Hobart hotel was outstanding.

The small tour groups - from just us in the Daintree & Melbourne to just four and a guide in Kangaroo Island - were terrific. Larger groups weren't bad, though our van driver in Sydney kept stalling the vehicle.

I'm not sure it matters how much time you spend in Australia, it won't be enough. Certainly our 14 days weren't.  We decided to try to 'do it all'. Sydney with the Blue Mountain, Kangaroo Island, Melbourne with the Great Ocean Road and Phillip Island, Ayers Rock (Uluru), Cairns (Port Douglas) with the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest. This meant 5 separate flights in-country with 5 travel days in addition to our arrival and departure. After gently warning us that this was a lot, our travel agency did everything they could to make our trip as memorable as they possibly could. This involved multiple email exchanges, discussions of possible tour sites, several changes of itinerary and all done with good humor and efficiency. Their hotel recommendations were uniformly excellent - or as good as the area allowed. The tours they arranged were equally excellent. While not providing dining recommendations they did suggest contacting hotel concierges, well before our departure, which allowed us to make several restaurant reservations at the begining of the trip, making our lives much easier. They arranged transport to and from airports which was uniformly good other than one episode of being forgotten. The taxi cost was subsequently covered.  They had a harder time getting the transport company to spell our name correctly. Fortunately they were only one letter off so easily recognizable. We were provided thorough lists of contacts with phone numbers which did occasionally come in handy. Our travel agency made all of our in country flight reservations. We were suprised at our first flight that seats had not been chosen. While we understood the reasoning, some prefer an aisle versus a window it was an unnecessary worry.  We were pleased that this was rectified for the remainig flights after we contacted them. Overall, we felt that our agency did an excellent job for us. If we were to return to Australia or New Zealand we would certainly contact this company again.

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.