Glimpses Of Australia: Melbourne, Tasmania & Kangaroo Island Tour

Glimpses Of Australia: Melbourne, Tasmania & Kangaroo Island Tour Itinerary

• Day 1 - Arrival at Sydney and transfer to Hobart

  On arrival at Sydney International Airport, join your flight to Hobart, Tasmania. Fly Sydney to Hobart (airfare not included in tour cost). On arrival at Hobart Airport you will meet a representative and transfer to your hotel.

• Day 2 - Mount Field National Park Tour

  Today, you will join a small group to the magnificent Mount Field National Park, the oldest National Park in the state. On the way into the National Park, we will stop off to try and spot some Platypus, before starting our interpretative rainforest walk, to Russell Falls, Horseshoe Falls and the Tall Trees. This enchanting trail in Tasmania’s wilderness is accompanied by a delightful Tasmanian picnic lunch. Other highlights include the Pandani Grove walk around Lake Dobson and the vivid Autumn colours of Fagus tree, Australia's only cold climate, deciduous tree. You will also enjoy encounters with Tasmanian Pademelons, Bennett's Wallabies and the abundant birdlife. In the afternoon visit a sanctuary for injured marsupials, where we learn more about Tasmanian Devils, wombats, wallabies, quolls and other Australian animals first hand. This dedicated team of wildlife carers provides an invaluable service to the research and protection of native wildlife in Tasmania.

• Day 3 - Southern Shores of Hobart Tour

  Today you will traverse the beautiful southern shores of Hobart to the seaside township of Kettering. Departing via vehicular ferry, your private tour will spend the full day on magnificent Bruny Island. Indulge and sample a variety of local produce and take in the fascinating scenery. Embark on the award-winning Bruny Island Cruise for the opportunity to spot a variety of Southern Ocean marine wildlife and impressive coastal geology and some of the most spectacular dolorite cliffs in Australia. There are many mammals found close to Tasmania’s coastline including albino red-necked Wallabies, echidnas, pademelons and all of Tasmania's endemic birds.

• Day 4 - Hobart to Melbourne

  This morning, transfer from your hotel to Hobart Airport where you will check in for your flight to Melbourne. The rest of the day is free for activities around the city centre.

• Day 5 - Great Ocean Road Tour

  Today, commence your 3-day Great Ocean Road Tour with Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours. Stroll through a national park looking for wild Koalas, cockatoos and kookaburras. Your Wildlife Guide and Koala Researcher will explain the behaviour and individuality of each of the Koalas you meet. Help create habitat for a wild koala by joining our “Make a Home for Clancy” conservation project. Walk quietly up to a wild mob of Kangaroos and look out for parrots, fairy-wrens, emus, honeyeaters, wallabies and reptiles. Dinner tonight is at the local Pub for a real Aussie experience.

• Day 6 - National Parks

  See some of the world’s most spectacular coastal scenery as we follow the Great Ocean Road along surging surf coast, and walk in the magnificent rainforests of the Otway National Park. Your Wildlife Guide will explain the formation of these mighty forests and help you find parrots, kookaburras, koalas and wallabies. Travel through Port Campbell National Park, looking out for echidnas, wallabies, lizards and colourful birds which make their home in the coastal heathlands. Linger a while to take in some of nature’s handiwork at the Twelve Apostles and the Loch Ard Gorge.

• Day 7 - Western Plains

  This morning we have one last look at the coast in the dramatic morning light before returning to Melbourne across the vast grasslands of the Western Plains. Created by intense volcanic activity over the past 2 million years, the 7,000 volcanoes of the Western Plains are now extinct but the resultant savannah is pasture to a rich wool growing area. We stop en route to drive to the top of an extinct volcano with spectacular views across the plains. This is a great place to view raptors – birds of prey – including Wedge-tailed Eagles, Nankeen Kestrels and Brown Falcons. We pass Lake Corangamite, the largest permanent lake in Australia, often covered with prolific birdlife, before returning to Melbourne in the late afternoon.

• Day 8 - Melbourne to Adelaide

  After breakfast, you will be transferred to Melbourne Airport where you will check in for your flight to Adelaide connecting to Kingscote. On arrival at Kingscote Airport, you will be transferred to your accommodation where you will check in and enjoy dinner (included).

• Day 9 - Kangaroo Island Tour

  You will be collected from your hotel by your Exceptional Kangaroo Island guide, to start your exploration of the central Cygnet Valley, traversing through picturesque redgum forests, narrow-leaved mallee and mixed farmland, then up to the north coast to Stokes Bay to a sheltered beach into the sheoak woodland. After breaking for lunch (grilled fish, haloumi and salad with local wines) in the upper Cygnet Valley, you will explore a blue gum/sugar gum forest before travelling south to Seal Bay where coastal mallee transitions through coastal heath into dunes. This is the opportunity to encounter the third largest colony of Australian Sea-lions. Other regular wildlife encounters include Koalas, Tammar Wallabies and Kangaroo Island Kangaroos, with Short-beaked Echidnas, Glossy Black Cockatoos, Rosenberg's Goanna (warmer months) and a range of bush and shore-birds sighted often.

• Day 10 - Flinders Chase National Park Tour

  Iconic coastlines across the southwestern region of the Flinders Chase National Park is the focus of this full day tour. You will be left breathless at the sight of Remarkable Rocks, where winds have carved out a natural sculpture park from massive solid granite tors. Nearby at Admirals Arch, a boisterous fur-seal colony awaits, followed by visits to Cape du Couedic lighthouse, a heritage farm in Kelly Hill Conservation Park and an elegant alfresco lunch. Key wildlife species sought are Cape Barren Geese, Long-nosed Fur-seals, Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters, Tammar Wallabies, Kangaroo Island Kangaroos, plus opportunistic bird and reptile encounters. Good wines and local produce features highly in our picnic lunch which we can enjoy on clifftop or in the bush. At the end of today’s tour you will be taken to Kingscote Airport where you will check in for your flight to Adelaide.

• Day 11 - Departure

  After breakfast at your hotel, check out from you room. You will then be transferred to Adelaide Airport to check in for your departure flight.