Australia: Sydney, Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef for three generations

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Sydney

   Sydney Airport to the hotel, then Circular Quay and the Opera House

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Repas du soir
   • Nuit : Sydney
   Détail du jour 1

   Your trip starts at Sydney Airport (SYD), about 10 km south of the city centre. We meet your family in the arrivals hall and drive you to a central hotel near Circular Quay, your base for four nights, with the rooms you asked for together on one floor wherever the hotel can. The rest of the day is for sleeping off the flight, a swim if the hotel has a pool, or a short walk. At about 4:30 pm your guide meets everyone in the lobby for a flat, unhurried walk of about 1.5 km along Circular Quay, where the green and yellow harbour ferries come and go under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, to the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House, on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 2007. The children can count ferries and spot the climbers on the bridge arch. Then we sit down early, at about 6 pm, for a welcome dinner close to the hotel, where your guide runs through the twelve days and who sits where in the van.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Sydney Airport (SYD) and transfer to the hotel
   • Evening walk along Circular Quay to the Sydney Opera House forecourt
   • Welcome dinner at about 6 pm

   Option plus facile : Stay at the hotel and join the group at dinner.

   Temps libre : Afternoon free to rest after the flight

   Activité : About 1.5 km on flat harbourside paths. Arrive whenever your flight lands; the walk is at about 4:30 pm.

   

2. Jour 2 : Taronga Zoo by ferry

   Circular Quay to Taronga Zoo by harbour ferry, and back

   • En traversier
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Sydney
   Détail du jour 2

   A gentle first full day on the water. At about 9 am we take the public ferry from Circular Quay across the harbour to the Taronga Zoo wharf, a ride of about 12 minutes with the Opera House on one side and the bridge behind. The zoo sits on a steep hillside, so from the wharf we ride up to the main entrance at the top by the bus or shuttle that meets the ferries (the old Sky Safari cable car is closed while it is rebuilt), and spend the morning walking gently downhill past koalas, kangaroos and wallabies, platypus, echidnas and Tasmanian devils, with harbour views between the enclosures. We aim to be seated for one of the daily animal presentations; your guide checks the times on the day. Lunch is wherever the family likes in the zoo. We take the ferry back at about 1 pm, so the afternoon is free: the hotel pool, the Royal Botanic Garden next to the Opera House, with wide lawns and a children's garden, or an ice cream in The Rocks. Dinner tonight is on your own; your guide suggests places that serve early and welcome children.

   Compris

   • Return harbour ferry from Circular Quay to Taronga Zoo
   • The ride from the zoo wharf up to the main entrance
   • Taronga Zoo entry
   • A morning at the zoo with your guide

   Option plus facile : Rest on the benches by the koala walk while the others see the far enclosures, and meet at the wharf gate.

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

   Activité : About 3 km on paved paths, mostly downhill from the top gate. Benches and shade throughout. Back at the hotel by about 1:30 pm.

3. Jour 3 : The Blue Mountains

   Sydney to Katoomba and Leura, and back

   • Environ 3 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Sydney
   Détail du jour 3

   We leave at about 8:30, after the morning traffic has eased, and drive west about an hour and a half into the Blue Mountains, part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, listed in 2000 for its eucalypt forests and sandstone valleys. The blue haze comes from fine droplets of oil given off by the eucalyptus trees. At Echo Point in Katoomba a short level path leads to the lookout over the Jamison Valley and the Three Sisters, three sandstone pillars in the stories of the Gundungurra and Darug peoples. Next door at Scenic World our pass covers all four rides: the Railway, a very steep ride down the cliff that children love and that the less keen can skip; the Walkway, a flat boardwalk through rainforest under tree ferns; the Cableway back up; and the glass-floored Skyway across the gorge. Lunch is together in Leura, a village of cafes and gardens. We are back at the hotel by about 4:30, with an early dinner together at about 6.

   Compris

   • Echo Point lookout and the Three Sisters
   • Scenic World pass: Railway, Walkway, Cableway and Skyway
   • Lunch in Leura
   • Dinner in Sydney at about 6 pm

   Option plus facile : Take the Cableway down instead of the steep Railway, and sit by the Walkway's first lookout.

   Option plus active : Walk the Prince Henry Cliff Walk from Echo Point toward Leura Cascades with your guide while the others take the rides again.

   Temps libre : Evening after dinner free

   Activité : About 1 hour 30 minutes each way on the road. About 2 to 3 km on foot, on boardwalks and paved paths. The Railway is steep (a 52-degree incline) but you sit throughout.

   

4. Jour 4 : Bondi Beach morning

   Sydney to Bondi and Bronte, and back

   • Environ 45 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Sydney
   Détail du jour 4

   A morning on Sydney's best-known beach, then the rest of the day as you like it. Our van takes us about 20 minutes to Bondi, where the long curve of sand faces the Pacific. Children can dig, paddle and watch the surf lifesavers set the flags; on a warm day you can swim between them, though in winter the sea is about 18 C and bracing. Your guide points out the Bondi Icebergs ocean pool at the south end, where waves break over the wall. For those who want a walk, we follow the clifftop coastal path about 2.5 km to Bronte, past the sandstone of Tamarama, and meet the others at Bronte's park, which has a playground, shade, barbecues and its own sea pool. From May to November humpback whales migrate along this coast, so keep an eye on the sea. We are back at the hotel by about 12:30. The afternoon and evening are free: the ferry to Manly for a second beach, the hotel pool, or a quiet afternoon before tomorrow's flight.

   Compris

   • A guided morning at Bondi Beach
   • Bondi to Bronte clifftop walk, or the van to Bronte
   • Transfers to Bondi and back

   Activités en option

   • The ferry to Manly in the afternoon (on your own, with your guide's directions)

   Option plus facile : Stay on the sand at Bondi and ride the van round to Bronte to meet the walkers.

   Option plus active : Walk the full coastal path on from Bronte to Coogee, about 6 km in all, with your guide.

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

   Activité : The walk is about 2.5 km with some stairs; the van meets everyone at Bronte.

   

5. Jour 5 : Fly to Uluru

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

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Ayers Rock Resort (Yulara)
   Détail du jour 5

   After breakfast we drive to the airport for the non-stop flight to Ayers Rock (AYQ), about three and a half hours; from the window the green coast gives way to red sand and dry salt lakes. Set your watch back: Northern Territory time is half an hour behind Sydney in winter and an hour and a half behind once Sydney's daylight saving begins in October. We check in at Ayers Rock Resort in Yulara, the only place to stay near the rock, for three nights, and there is time for the pool before we head out. At about 4 pm we drive into Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, owned by its Anangu traditional owners and listed by UNESCO for both its nature and its living culture. At the Cultural Centre the Anangu tell the park's stories in their own words, and then the Kuniya walk, about 1 km return on a flat path, leads to the Mutitjulu Waterhole at the foot of the rock. We watch the sunset from the viewing area, then dinner at the resort.

   Compris

   • Flight from Sydney (SYD) to Ayers Rock (AYQ), with transfers
   • Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park pass (3 days)
   • Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre
   • Kuniya walk to Mutitjulu Waterhole
   • Sunset at Uluru
   • Dinner at the resort

   Option plus facile : Stay at the Cultural Centre and its shaded seats while the others walk to the waterhole.

   Temps libre : Time at the resort pool after check-in

   Activité : About 1 km on a flat path; the sunset viewing is from the vehicle park. Some parts of Uluru are sacred sites; signs ask you not to photograph them.

6. Jour 6 : Kata Tjuta and the Field of Light

   Sunrise at Kata Tjuta and Walpa Gorge, then the resort and the Field of Light

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Ayers Rock Resort (Yulara)
   Détail du jour 6

   Today has the trip's one early start. We leave about 45 minutes before sunrise, which is about 7:20 to 7:30 am in June and July and about 6 am in October, with a warm layer and a packed breakfast, for the dune viewing area at Kata Tjuta, about 50 km west of the resort. First light reaches its 36 domes of conglomerate rock, the tallest about 200 metres higher than Uluru. Kata Tjuta means many heads in the Pitjantjatjara language, and like Uluru it is sacred under Anangu law. While the air is cool we walk into Walpa Gorge, about 2.6 km return on a rocky but gently rising path between two of the highest domes; everyone turns back at their own pace. We are at the resort by late morning, and the afternoon is for the pool and a rest. At about 3 pm, an Anangu artist teaches the family dot painting at a workshop in the town square. After an early dinner on your own at the resort, we walk among the more than 50,000 softly lit stems of the Field of Light.

   Compris

   • Sunrise at the Kata Tjuta dune viewing area, with a packed breakfast
   • Walpa Gorge walk
   • Dot painting workshop with an Anangu artist at the resort
   • Field of Light at Uluru

   Activités en option

   • Sounds of Silence dinner among the dunes, instead of an early dinner on your own

   Option plus facile : Watch the sunrise and wait at the Walpa Gorge car park, which has shade and seats, while the others walk.

   Option plus active : Walk the Valley of the Winds to Karu Lookout, about 2.2 km return over loose stones, with your guide.

   Temps libre : Afternoon free at the resort

   Activité : About 2.6 km on a rocky path, then about 1 km on a flat sand path at the Field of Light. On very hot days the Valley of the Winds beyond Karu Lookout closes at 11 am, one reason we come at dawn.

7. Jour 7 : Around the base of Uluru

   The Mala walk and the base of Uluru, then a free afternoon

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Ayers Rock Resort (Yulara)
   Détail du jour 7

   A later start, at about 8:30 after breakfast. We drive to the Mala car park and walk the Mala walk, about 2 km return on flat ground, along the base of Uluru past rock art in shallow caves to the quiet of Kantju Gorge; your guide tells the Mala story as the Anangu share it with visitors. Park rangers lead a free Mala walk on some mornings, and when the time suits we join it. Then the family chooses how to see the rest of the rock. The active can hire bicycles and ride the flat base track, about 10.6 km, with your guide; the rest of us ride the van around the ring road, stopping at viewpoints where the walls are close enough to see the honeycomb caves. We are back at the resort by about 1 pm for lunch on your own and a free afternoon by the pool. Before sunset, ride a camel through the dunes if you like, then we gather for dinner at about 6:30, our last night in the desert.

   Compris

   • Mala walk at the base of Uluru with your guide
   • Drive around the base of Uluru with viewpoint stops
   • Dinner at the resort

   Activités en option

   • Bicycle hire to ride the Uluru base track
   • A sunset camel ride in the dunes

   Option plus facile : Ride round the rock in the van and walk only the first section of the Mala walk.

   Option plus active : Cycle the 10.6 km base track with your guide.

   Temps libre : Afternoon free

   Activité : About 2 km on flat ground. The bicycle ride is about 10.6 km on a flat sand and gravel track; children's bikes are available from the hire company (confirmed at booking).

8. Jour 8 : Fly to the tropics

   Ayers Rock to Cairns by air, the coast road to Port Douglas

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Port Douglas
   Détail du jour 8

   Breakfast, then a short transfer to the airport for the mid-morning flight to Cairns, about two and a half hours and the only non-stop link between the Red Centre and the tropical north. Clocks go forward half an hour into Queensland time, and below the wing the desert gives way to green ranges and the blue of the Coral Sea. From Cairns Airport we drive north about an hour on the Captain Cook Highway, between rainforested hills and the sea, with a stop at Rex Lookout if the light is good. Port Douglas is a small, easygoing town at the end of a sandy peninsula and your base for four nights. We check in by mid-afternoon, and then there is nothing to do but swim in the hotel pool or walk down to Four Mile Beach, where the children can build sandcastles while the sun drops behind the ranges. We meet at about 6 pm for an early dinner together near Macrossan Street, the main street.

   Compris

   • Flight from Ayers Rock (AYQ) to Cairns (CNS), with transfers
   • Captain Cook Highway drive to Port Douglas
   • Dinner in Port Douglas at about 6 pm

   Temps libre : Afternoon free at the pool or the beach

   Activité : About 1 hour on the road. Swim between the red and yellow flags on patrolled beaches.

   

9. Jour 9 : The Great Barrier Reef

   A day on the outer reef from Port Douglas, on a large boat to a reef pontoon

   • En bateau
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Port Douglas
   Détail du jour 9

   The Great Barrier Reef stretches more than 2,300 km along the Queensland coast and has been a World Heritage site since 1981. For three generations we use a large, stable boat from Port Douglas to a pontoon moored on the outer reef, about 90 minutes out, rather than a small snorkel boat: it means everyone, swimmers or not, sees the reef. At the pontoon the children and the confident snorkellers go in from a platform with steps, in stinger suits and buoyancy vests, with the crew watching from the water and a lookout. Grandparents can stay dry and still see the coral and fish from the underwater observatory and on a semi-submarine ride, which glides over giant clams and parrotfish. Lunch is a buffet on board. A marine biologist on the crew explains the reef, and a guided snorkel tour is offered for those who want one. We are back at the marina by about 5 pm, tired and salty; the evening is free, with an early meal near the hotel.

   Compris

   • Full day on the outer reef to a reef pontoon from Port Douglas, with the reef charge
   • Snorkel gear, stinger suits and buoyancy vests
   • Underwater observatory and a semi-submarine ride
   • Buffet lunch on board

   Activités en option

   • A guided snorkel tour or an introductory dive at the pontoon
   • A scenic helicopter flight over the reef

   Option plus facile : Stay dry: the observatory, the semi-submarine and the shaded deck.

   Option plus active : Join the guided snorkel tour with the marine biologist.

   Temps libre : Evening free

   Activité : About 90 minutes each way on the boat; sea-sickness tablets are worth taking. Children 6 and up can snorkel in a vest with an adult; the operator's age and swimming rules apply.

   

10. Jour 10 : Kuranda by rail and cableway

    Port Douglas to Freshwater, the Kuranda Scenic Railway up, the Skyrail down, and back

    • Environ 2 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
    • Nuit : Port Douglas
    Détail du jour 10

    A day with two rides through the rainforest that every age enjoys. We leave Port Douglas at about 8:15 and drive an hour to Freshwater station on the edge of Cairns for the Kuranda Scenic Railway, a heritage train that climbs about 330 metres through the Barron Gorge in about an hour and a half, past waterfalls and through hand-dug tunnels, built between 1886 and 1891. Kuranda is a small village in the rainforest. After lunch together, we split as the family likes between the Kuranda Koala Gardens, to see koalas, wombats and wallabies up close, and the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, where blue Ulysses butterflies sometimes land on bright clothes. In the early afternoon we ride the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway down, about 7.5 km over the canopy in six-person gondolas, stepping off at Red Peak and Barron Falls for short boardwalks. Our van meets us at the Smithfield terminal, and we are back in Port Douglas by about 5 pm, with the evening free.

    Compris

    • Kuranda Scenic Railway from Freshwater to Kuranda
    • Skyrail Rainforest Cableway from Kuranda to Smithfield, with the Red Peak and Barron Falls stops
    • Kuranda Koala Gardens or the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary
    • Lunch in Kuranda

    Option plus facile : Stay in the gondola past the mid-stations, and rest at a cafe in Kuranda while the others visit the animals.

    Option plus active : Walk the Jumrum Creek Conservation Park track in Kuranda with your guide.

    Temps libre : Evening free

    Activité : About 2 hours on the road in two legs. About 2 km on foot, on boardwalks and village streets. Train and Skyrail times are booked ahead and confirmed at booking.

11. Jour 11 : Mossman Gorge and the Daintree River

    Mossman Gorge, the Daintree River, then a free afternoon in Port Douglas

    • Environ 1.5 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
    • Nuit : Port Douglas
    Détail du jour 11

    A morning in the Wet Tropics of Queensland, a World Heritage area since 1988 and home to some of the oldest rainforest on Earth. We drive about 30 minutes north to Mossman Gorge, where a Kuku Yalanji guide leads the Ngadiku Dreamtime Walk, about an hour and a half on level rainforest paths. It begins with a smoking ceremony, and your guide shows the family plants used for food, medicine and tools, and how to make paint from rock and ochre, with the Mossman River running clear over granite boulders below. Then we continue north to the Daintree River for a one-hour cruise in a covered boat, looking for saltwater crocodiles sunning on the mudbanks, and for kingfishers and herons in the mangroves. Lunch is together on the way back. We are in Port Douglas by about 2:30, for a last swim at the pool or on Four Mile Beach. At about 6 pm we meet for a farewell dinner, and the children can read out their favourite animal of the trip.

    Compris

    • Ngadiku Dreamtime Walk at Mossman Gorge with a Kuku Yalanji guide
    • One-hour Daintree River crocodile cruise
    • Lunch on the way back
    • Farewell dinner at about 6 pm

    Option plus facile : The Ngadiku walk is level and slow, with places to sit; the cruise is seated throughout.

    Option plus active : Walk the Rex Creek and rainforest circuit at Mossman Gorge, about 2.4 km, with your guide before lunch.

    Temps libre : Afternoon free

    Activité : About 1.5 km on level paths at Mossman Gorge. Never swim in creeks or rivers in the north, where saltwater crocodiles live.

12. Jour 12 : Wildlife Habitat and depart from Cairns

    Port Douglas to Wildlife Habitat, then Cairns Airport

    • Environ 1.5 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner
    Détail du jour 12

    A last breakfast in Port Douglas, then we load the suitcases into the van at about 8:15 and drive a few minutes to Wildlife Habitat at the edge of town, where walk-through enclosures recreate the wetlands, rainforest and grasslands of tropical Queensland. This is where we keep our promise on cassowaries: wild ones are possible in the Daintree but rare, and here the children see these tall, helmeted birds up close, along with koalas, wallabies and kangaroos, estuarine crocodiles behind glass and a lagoon full of wetland birds. After about two hours we drive south down the Captain Cook Highway to Cairns Airport (CNS), about an hour, arriving at about 11:45, so please book flights home or onward that leave after about 1:30 pm. Cairns has direct flights to Australia's main cities and several destinations in Asia and the Pacific. If you would like more time in the tropics, stay on in Cairns or Palm Cove and we can book the extra nights. Your guide sees you off at the terminal.

    Compris

    • Wildlife Habitat Port Douglas
    • Drop-off at Cairns Airport (CNS)

    Option plus facile : Wildlife Habitat's paths are flat and shaded, with seats throughout.

    Activité : Book flights that leave Cairns after about 1:30 pm.

    

Faune et météo : We run from June to October. Sydney is mild, about 17 to 23 C by day, and humpback whales pass its headlands from May to November. Uluru is dry and sunny, warm by day and cold before dawn in midwinter, warming toward hot by October. Port Douglas is in its dry season, about 26 to 29 C, and the sea is calm more often than not. Marine stinger season runs from about November to May, so our dates miss most of it, but everyone wears a stinger suit to snorkel. Kangaroos and wallabies are likely at dusk, reef fish are certain on a calm day, and crocodiles on the Daintree are likely. Wild cassowaries are rare, so we see them for sure at Wildlife Habitat. Australian school holidays (early July and late September) fill hotels at Uluru, so we book early.

• Sydney4 nuits
• Ayers Rock Resort (Yulara)3 nuits
• Port Douglas4 nuits