Australia and New Zealand: Sydney, Uluru, the Reef, Rotorua and Queenstown

Arrive in Sydney

Sydney Airport to your hotel, then an evening walk to Circular Quay

• Welcome dinner
• Nuit : Sydney
• Environ 30 min de route

Matin

Most flights from North America land in the early morning, so the day is yours to rest; if your room is not ready, leave your bags and walk.

Après-midi

Late in the afternoon your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a briefing on the eighteen days ahead: four flights, two countries and how each day is paced. Then we walk together through the business district, past Harry Seidler's round Australia Square tower, down to Circular Quay as the ferries come and go and the lights come on across the water at the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.

Soir

Dinner is a welcome meal at a restaurant near the harbour, a chance to meet the people you will travel with across the Tasman.

Compris

• Pick-up at Sydney Airport (SYD)
• Welcome briefing with your guide
• Evening walk to Circular Quay
• Welcome dinner

Sydney Harbour by foot and ferry

The Rocks, the Opera House and the Royal Botanic Garden, then the ferry to Manly

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Sydney
• En traversier

Après-midi

At Circular Quay we board the public ferry to Manly, about thirty minutes across the harbour past the heads, and sit down to lunch near the ocean beach. The afternoon is free: swim, walk the shore path to Shelly Beach, or take the ferry back early.

Compris

• Guided walk through The Rocks
• Guided tour inside the Sydney Opera House
• The Royal Botanic Garden and Mrs Macquarie's Chair
• Public ferry from Circular Quay to Manly and back
• Sit-down lunch in Manly

Activités en option

• BridgeClimb on the Sydney Harbour Bridge (booked and paid on the day)

The Blue Mountains

Sydney to Katoomba and Leura, then back to Sydney

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Sydney
• Environ 4 h de route

Matin

We leave after an early breakfast and drive about two hours west to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, part of the Greater Blue Mountains Area listed by UNESCO in 2000. The blue haze over the valleys comes from oil released by the eucalyptus forest. We reach Echo Point for the Three Sisters before the coaches from Sydney arrive, then walk a stretch of the Prince Henry Cliff Walk along the escarpment, with views down into the Jamison Valley.

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal in Leura, a village of old cottages and gardens a few minutes away. In the afternoon we stop at Wentworth Falls, where the creek drops over the cliff edge, before the drive back to Sydney, arriving in the late afternoon.

Soir

The evening is free for dinner wherever you like.

Compris

• Echo Point and the Three Sisters
• Part of the Prince Henry Cliff Walk with your guide
• Sit-down lunch in Leura
• Wentworth Falls lookout

Fly to Uluru

Sydney to Ayers Rock Airport by air, then the Cultural Centre and sunset at Uluru

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
• Nuit : Ayers Rock Resort (Yulara)
• Environ 45 min de route

Matin

A mid-morning flight takes us from Sydney to Ayers Rock Airport (AYQ), about three and a half hours across the continent, and the land below turns from green to red. Remember to set your watch back: the Northern Territory does not use daylight saving, so in our season it runs half an hour to an hour and a half behind Sydney. We check in at Ayers Rock Resort in Yulara, the only place to stay near the rock, then drive into Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, which UNESCO lists for both its landscape and its living culture.

Soir

At the Cultural Centre, Anangu, the traditional owners, explain Tjukurpa, the law and stories that hold the land together, before we go out to the sunset viewing area to watch Uluru change from orange to deep red as the sun goes down. Dinner is at the resort.

Compris

• Flight from Sydney to Ayers Rock (AYQ)
• Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park pass
• Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre
• Sunset at Uluru
• Dinner at the resort

Kata Tjuta at sunrise, Uluru with an Anangu guide

Ayers Rock Resort to Kata Tjuta, back for a rest, then the base of Uluru

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Ayers Rock Resort (Yulara)
• Environ 2 h de route

Matin

We leave in the dark to reach the Kata Tjuta dune viewing area for sunrise, when the 36 domes of Kata Tjuta, the tallest higher than Uluru itself, light up one by one. Then we walk while it is still cool: the Walpa Gorge between two of the domes, or the longer Valley of the Winds.

Après-midi

Back at the resort, lunch and the middle of the day are for shade and the pool; in summer the heat at midday is serious, and when 36°C or more is forecast the Valley of the Winds closes beyond the first lookout from 11 am, while Walpa Gorge stays open. In the late afternoon an Anangu guide walks with us at the base of Uluru, along the Kuniya walk to the Mutitjulu Waterhole, explaining the rock art and the stories tied to the marks in the rock.

Soir

We stay for sunset in the park before returning to Yulara. Climbing Uluru has been banned since 2019 at the request of Anangu.

Compris

• Sunrise at the Kata Tjuta dune viewing area
• Walpa Gorge walk with your guide
• Lunch at the resort
• Walk at the base of Uluru with an Anangu guide, to the Mutitjulu Waterhole
• Second sunset in the park

Activités en option

• Field of Light, the art installation of solar-lit stems near the resort (evening, booked and paid locally)

Uluru at dawn, then fly to Cairns

Talinguru Nyakuntjaku sunrise area, Ayers Rock Airport to Cairns by air

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Cairns
• Environ 1 h de route

Matin

After breakfast we drive the short way to Ayers Rock Airport for the flight east to Cairns, about two and a half hours, from desert to tropics. Clocks move forward again by half an hour. Direct flights on this route run only on some days of the week, so we set departure dates around them; on other days the flight connects through another airport and arrives later.

Après-midi

We land in Cairns in the afternoon and settle into a central hotel near the Esplanade, where we stay three nights. Late in the day your guide walks you through the compact grid of the town centre to the waterfront boardwalk, swim in the free Esplanade Lagoon and watch the pelicans and wading birds on the mudflats at low tide.

Soir

Dinner tonight is your choice.

Compris

• Flight from Ayers Rock (AYQ) to Cairns (CNS)
• Airport transfers at both ends

Activités en option

• Sunrise at Talinguru Nyakuntjaku with your guide (free, an optional early start)

The outer Great Barrier Reef

Cairns Marlin Marina to the outer reef by boat and back

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Cairns
• En bateau

Après-midi

Lunch is served on board between the two sites. Non-swimmers can see the coral from a glass-bottom boat or semi-submersible where the operator runs one.

Soir

We are back at the marina in the late afternoon, salty and tired, with the evening free.

Compris

• Full-day outer Great Barrier Reef trip from Cairns
• Snorkelling gear, a stinger suit and a snorkel briefing
• Reef talk by the boat's presenter
• Lunch on board
• Reef tax (Environmental Management Charge)

Activités en option

• Introductory scuba dive with an instructor, no certificate needed (booked and paid on board)

Mossman Gorge, the Daintree River and Port Douglas

Cairns to Mossman Gorge and the Daintree River, back via Port Douglas

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Cairns
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Après-midi

On the way back we stop in Port Douglas for a late sit-down lunch on Macrossan Street and a walk on Four Mile Beach, then follow the coast road back to Cairns in the late afternoon.

Compris

• Ngadiku Dreamtime Walk at Mossman Gorge with a Kuku Yalanji guide
• Daintree River cruise
• Sit-down lunch in Port Douglas
• Four Mile Beach

Across the Tasman to Auckland

Cairns to Auckland by air

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Auckland
• Environ 45 min de route

Matin

A morning flight takes us from Cairns towards Auckland. On most dates of our season the route connects in Brisbane or Sydney, about two and a half hours to Brisbane, a change of plane and about three hours across the Tasman; Air New Zealand's direct flight, about four and a half hours, runs only from about late March or early April, so only the last departures of the season can use it. You will know the routing before you pay.

Soir

New Zealand runs three hours ahead of Queensland until early April and two hours after that, so with a connection we land in Auckland in the evening, later if the connection is long. Clear New Zealand customs (declare any food: biosecurity rules are strict) and meet your driver for the drive into the city. Tonight is the only single night of the trip, in a hotel near the motorway south chosen for an easy start; we leave mid-morning, so there is time to sleep.

Compris

• Flight from Cairns (CNS) to Auckland (AKL)
• Airport transfers at both ends

Hobbiton, then Rotorua

Auckland to Hobbiton near Matamata, then on to Rotorua

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Rotorua
• Environ 3 h de route

Matin

We leave Auckland mid-morning, once the commuter traffic has cleared, and drive about two hours south through the green dairy country of the Waikato to the Hobbiton Movie Set near Matamata, built on a working sheep farm for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films. A two-hour guided walk takes you past the hobbit holes of the Shire, across the bridge by the mill and into the Green Dragon Inn for a drink.

Après-midi

Lunch is on the farm. From there it is about an hour to Rotorua, on the shore of a lake inside an old volcanic crater, where steam rises from the gardens and the air smells faintly of sulphur.

Soir

We arrive in the late afternoon with time for a walk in the Government Gardens, past the Tudor-style bathhouse, before a free evening.

Compris

• Guided tour of the Hobbiton Movie Set, with a drink at the Green Dragon Inn
• Lunch at Hobbiton
• Walk in the Government Gardens, Rotorua

Geothermal valleys and Māori culture

Rotorua to Wai-O-Tapu and back, Whakarewarewa, then a Māori cultural evening

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
• Nuit : Rotorua
• Environ 1 h de route

Matin

We drive about half an hour south to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, arriving in time for the Lady Knox Geyser, which erupts each morning at about 10:15. Then walk the boardwalks past the orange-rimmed Champagne Pool, the bright green Devil's Bath and the bubbling mud pools.

Après-midi

Back in Rotorua after a lunch of your choice, we visit Whakarewarewa, a Māori village where Tūhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao families have lived among the hot springs for generations; the people who live there guide you, show how they cook in the steam vents and bathe in the pools, and take you to the geyser terraces. The late afternoon is free: try the hot pools on the lakefront or rest.

Soir

In the evening we join a Māori cultural evening run by a local iwi, with a welcome, kapa haka performance and a hāngī dinner cooked in the earth.

Compris

• Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland and the Lady Knox Geyser
• Whakarewarewa living Māori village, guided by residents
• Māori cultural evening with a hāngī dinner

Activités en option

• Polynesian Spa hot pools on the lakefront (paid locally)

Fly to Queenstown

Rotorua to Queenstown by air, connecting in Auckland or Christchurch

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Queenstown
• Environ 30 min de route

Matin

A relaxed morning in Rotorua, then a short drive to Rotorua Airport for the flight south to Queenstown. There is no direct flight between the two, so Air New Zealand routes us through Auckland or Christchurch, about four to five hours door to door depending on the connection. The final approach into Queenstown is one of the most scenic in the country, down between the Remarkables and the hills above Lake Wakatipu, so ask for a window seat.

Après-midi

We land in the afternoon and drive the short way into town, to a central hotel where we stay two nights now and two more at the end of the trip.

Soir

Before dinner your guide walks the group along the lakefront and the steamer wharf so you know your way around. The evening is free, and Queenstown has plenty of good places to eat.

Compris

• Flights from Rotorua (ROT) to Queenstown (ZQN), one connection
• Airport transfers at both ends
• Orientation walk along the Queenstown lakefront

Lake Wakatipu by steamship

Queenstown across Lake Wakatipu to Walter Peak High Country Farm and back

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Queenstown
• En bateau

Matin

In the morning we board the TSS Earnslaw at the Queenstown wharf, a coal-fired steamship launched in 1912 that still crosses Lake Wakatipu, for the forty-five minute crossing to Walter Peak High Country Farm. Visit the engine room to watch the stokers at work, or stay on deck for the view of the mountains rising straight from the water.

Après-midi

At the farm, on the far side of the lake, there is a sheep-shearing and dog-handling demonstration, and lunch is served in the old homestead looking back over the lake. We steam back to Queenstown in the early afternoon. The rest of the day is free: ride the Skyline Gondola above town for the view, walk the Queenstown Gardens, or book a jet-boat ride on the Shotover River. If the Earnslaw is out of service for its annual maintenance, we cross on another lake boat.

Compris

• TSS Earnslaw steamship cruise to Walter Peak High Country Farm
• Farm demonstration
• Lunch at Walter Peak

Activités en option

• Skyline Gondola
• Shotover River jet boat
• Kawarau Bridge bungy

South to Te Anau

Queenstown along Lake Wakatipu to Kingston, then to Te Anau

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Te Anau
• Environ 2.5 h de route

Matin

After a late breakfast we drive south along the shore of Lake Wakatipu beneath the Remarkables, then across open farmland to Te Anau, about two and a half hours with stops. We stay two nights on the lake here rather than doing Milford Sound as a day trip from Queenstown: from Queenstown that day is about eight hours of road, and from Te Anau it is about four to four and a half with stops, which lets us reach Milford Sound in the morning before the coaches. Te Anau sits on the edge of Fiordland National Park, part of the Te Wāhipounamu area listed by UNESCO in 1990.

Soir

The afternoon is free: walk the lakeshore path to the Fiordland National Park visitor centre, visit the bird sanctuary to look for the takahē, or book the evening boat across the lake to the Te Anau glowworm caves.

Compris

• Drive to Te Anau with your guide
• Walk on the Te Anau lakeshore

Activités en option

• Te Anau glowworm caves by boat (evening, paid locally)

Milford Sound

Te Anau along the Milford Road to Milford Sound, cruise, and back to Te Anau

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Te Anau
• Environ 4.5 h de route

Après-midi

It leaves in the morning, before the coaches from Queenstown arrive around midday, and runs the length of the fiord to the Tasman Sea and back, past Mitre Peak, close to the waterfalls and the rocks where New Zealand fur seals haul out. Rain is common, and it is when the waterfalls are at their best. Lunch is on board. On the way back we walk to the Chasm, where the river has carved the rock into bowls, and reach Te Anau in the late afternoon.

Compris

• Drive along the Milford Road with stops at Mirror Lakes, the Eglinton Valley and the Homer Tunnel
• Milford Sound cruise to the Tasman Sea
• Lunch on the cruise
• The Chasm walk

Activités en option

• Kayaking on Milford Sound in place of the cruise (booked in advance)

Back to Queenstown by way of Arrowtown

Te Anau to Queenstown, then Arrowtown

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Queenstown
• Environ 3 h de route

Matin

A slow morning by the lake, then we drive back towards Queenstown, about two hours, stopping for coffee in Kingston at the south end of Lake Wakatipu.

Après-midi

After lunch on your own in Queenstown we head twenty minutes out to Arrowtown, a gold-rush town of the 1860s on the Arrow River, its main street lined with old miners' cottages and stone buildings now holding cafés and shops. Your guide walks you to the restored Chinese Settlement, where Chinese miners lived in stone huts at the edge of town, and down to the river, where you can still try your hand at panning. In autumn, from late March to April, the trees along the river turn yellow and red.

Soir

We are back at the hotel in Queenstown for the late afternoon and a free evening.

Compris

• Drive back to Queenstown with your guide
• Arrowtown and the Chinese Settlement with your guide

Activités en option

• Gibbston Valley wine tasting on the way back from Arrowtown (paid locally)

A free day in Queenstown

Queenstown, at your own pace

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
• Nuit : Queenstown

Soir

In the evening we meet for a farewell dinner together to close the trip, with a toast to the guide and the people you travelled with.

Compris

• Farewell dinner

Activités en option

• Glenorchy and the head of the lake with your guide
• Skyline Gondola
• Shotover River jet boat
• Kawarau Bridge bungy
• Milford Sound scenic flight

Depart from Queenstown

Your hotel to Queenstown Airport

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 15 min de route

Matin

A last breakfast with the lake outside, then a transfer to Queenstown Airport (ZQN), about 8 km and fifteen minutes from the town centre. Queenstown has direct flights to Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and the main cities on the east coast of Australia, so most guests flying home to North America connect in Auckland or Sydney. Book a flight from late morning onwards, or later if you prefer: hotel checkout is usually mid-morning, and your guide can store bags and help you with a late checkout request. If you want more time in New Zealand, we can add nights in Queenstown or arrange a few days in Christchurch for you as an extension, and if you want to start earlier, we can add nights in Sydney before day 1. Your guide checks everyone onto their flights before saying goodbye.

Compris

• Drop-off at Queenstown Airport (ZQN)