Australia's East Coast: Sydney to Cairns by K'gari and the Whitsundays

1. Day 1: Arrive in Sydney

   Sydney Airport to your hotel in the city centre

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Sydney
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Sydney Airport (SYD), where a driver meets you in arrivals for the half-hour drive to a central hotel within walking distance of Circular Quay. Sydney sits on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and your guide starts the week with that story. If you land early, walk down to the harbour: the Opera House forecourt and the Royal Botanic Garden next door are free to wander, and the ferries coming and going from Circular Quay are a show of their own. Plan to land by about 3 pm to make the early-evening briefing, where your See Sight Tours guide walks the group through the two weeks ahead: the three flights, what to pack for K'gari and the reef, and how each day is paced. Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner at a restaurant near the harbour.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Sydney Airport (SYD)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Free time: Free until the early-evening briefing

2. Day 2: Sydney Harbour on foot and by ferry

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

   • By ferry
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Sydney
   Day 2 details

   We start on foot at 9 am, before the cruise-ship crowds, walking from the hotel through the city centre past Harry Seidler's round Australia Square tower and down into The Rocks, the oldest part of colonial Sydney, with its sandstone lanes and the first views of the Harbour Bridge. From Circular Quay we walk around the Opera House, listed by UNESCO in 2007, and on through the Royal Botanic Garden to Mrs Macquarie's Chair for the classic view of bridge and Opera House together. Late morning we take the public ferry from Circular Quay to Manly, about 30 minutes across the harbour past the heads. In Manly lunch is your choice, then your guide walks with anyone who wants along the shore path to Shelly Beach, a sheltered cove in the Cabbage Tree Bay aquatic reserve where you can swim or snorkel among fish close to the rocks. The afternoon and evening are free; the ferries back run all day.

   Included

   • Guided morning walk: the city centre, The Rocks, Circular Quay, the Opera House and the Royal Botanic Garden to Mrs Macquarie's Chair
   • The ferry from Circular Quay to Manly and back
   • The shore walk to Shelly Beach

   Optional experiences

   • A guided tour inside the Sydney Opera House (price shown at booking)

   Easier option: Stay in the city after the morning walk and ride the ferry to Manly later at your own pace.

   More active option: Walk the Spit Bridge to Manly track, about 10 km of harbour bushland and beaches, with the guide's directions, and meet the group in Manly.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 2 to 3 hours on foot in the morning on city pavements and garden paths.

   

3. Day 3: The Blue Mountains

   Sydney to Wentworth Falls, Katoomba and Leura, and back

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Sydney
   Day 3 details

   We leave Sydney at 8 am and drive about two hours west into the Greater Blue Mountains, listed by UNESCO in 2000, where the eucalyptus forest gives the valleys their blue haze. First stop is Wentworth Falls, where a short walk leads to the lookouts over the falls and the Jamison Valley, quieter in the morning than the main viewpoints later in the day. Then on to Echo Point at Katoomba for the Three Sisters, before the tour coaches fill the platform at midday. From there your guide leads the Prince Henry Cliff Walk along the escarpment to Leura, about 3 km of fenced cliff-edge path with lookouts and some steps, and we sit down to lunch in Leura's main street. After lunch there is time to walk Leura's gardens and shops before the drive back to Sydney, arriving late afternoon with the evening free.

   Included

   • Wentworth Falls lookouts
   • Echo Point and the Three Sisters
   • The Prince Henry Cliff Walk from Echo Point to Leura with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch in Leura

   Easier option: Skip the cliff walk: ride with the driver from Echo Point to Leura and wait at a cafe or the lookouts.

   More active option: At Wentworth Falls, walk the Charles Darwin Walk down Jamison Creek to the top of the falls before rejoining the group.

   Free time: Evening free in Sydney

   Activity: About 3 km on the cliff walk with steps; good shoes and a warm layer, since the mountains run several degrees cooler than Sydney.

4. Day 4: Fly to Byron Bay

   Sydney to Ballina Byron by air, then Cape Byron at sunset

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Byron Bay
   Day 4 details

   A slow morning, then we transfer to the domestic terminal for the flight north to Ballina Byron Gateway Airport, about an hour and a half in the air instead of the two long road days other trips spend on this stretch. A 30-minute drive brings us into Byron Bay, a surf town on the far north coast of New South Wales, in time for a late lunch of your choice. In the late afternoon we walk the Cape Byron Walking Track, a 3.7 km loop through rainforest and over the headland to the lighthouse, first lit in 1901, at the most easterly point of the Australian mainland. From June to November humpback whales pass close to the cape on their migration, and dolphins are often in the surf below the lookouts. We time the walk to reach the lighthouse for the late light, then head down into town. Dinner tonight is your choice; Byron has plenty of it.

   Included

   • Transfer to Sydney Airport and flight to Ballina Byron (BNK)
   • The Cape Byron Walking Track to the lighthouse with your guide

   Free time: Late lunch and evening free

   Activity: The Cape Byron loop is 3.7 km with steady climbs and steps; you can walk only the flat beach section to Wategos and meet the group there.

5. Day 5: Byron Bay by kayak

   A morning on the water in the Cape Byron Marine Park, then a free afternoon

   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Byron Bay
   Day 5 details

   At about 8:30 am, while the sea is usually calmest (the operator sets the exact start by the conditions), we head out on a guided sea kayak tour in the Cape Byron Marine Park with a licensed local operator. The double kayaks are stable and no experience is needed; the guides take you along the shore of the bay, where bottlenose dolphins are regularly seen and, in the migration months, whales pass further out. Back on land by late morning, the rest of the day is yours. Walk the length of Main Beach, take a beginner's surf lesson on the gentle breaks at The Pass, browse the cafes and shops of the town centre, or rest at the hotel. If you missed the lighthouse in the light you wanted yesterday, the cape is a short walk away at sunrise. Your guide stays in town and can suggest places for dinner, or gather anyone who wants company at one table.

   Included

   • Guided sea kayak tour in the Cape Byron Marine Park

   Optional experiences

   • A beginner surf lesson at The Pass (price shown at booking)

   Easier option: Skip the kayak and walk the beach to the Pass and back with your guide.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 2 to 3 hours of paddling at an easy pace in double kayaks; a life jacket is provided and you can swim off the kayak if the sea allows.

6. Day 6: North into Queensland and Noosa

   Byron Bay to Noosa on the Pacific Motorway and the Bruce Highway

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Noosa
   Day 6 details

   After breakfast we drive north across the Queensland border, about three and a half hours and 300 km on the Pacific Motorway, passing behind the Gold Coast and around Brisbane on the Gateway Motorway, with a coffee stop on the way. From October to early April New South Wales is on daylight saving and Queensland is not, so clocks go back an hour as we cross. We reach Noosa around lunchtime. Lunch is your choice on Hastings Street or by the river. In the afternoon, when the day visitors start to leave, we walk the coastal track in Noosa National Park from the headland past Tea Tree Bay and Dolphin Point towards Hell's Gates, with surfers on the point breaks below and koalas sometimes in the trees above the path. The evening is free in Noosa. Tomorrow is the longest day in the vehicle, so we keep tonight easy.

   Included

   • Drive from Byron Bay to Noosa with your guide
   • The Noosa National Park coastal walk

   Easier option: Walk as far as Tea Tree Bay and swim there, then return to town.

   Free time: Evening free in Noosa

   Activity: The coastal track is a well made path with some short climbs; about 2 hours there and back at an easy pace.

7. Day 7: Across the sand to K'gari

   Noosa to Rainbow Beach, the Inskip Point barge and up the eastern beach of K'gari

   • Drive about 5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in K'gari (Fraser Island)
   Day 7 details

   We leave Noosa at 8 am for the two-hour drive to Rainbow Beach; beach driving on K'gari is timed around low tide, so on some dates we start up to an hour earlier. At Rainbow Beach we change into a high-clearance 4WD with our local driver-guide, and a vehicle barge takes about ten minutes from Inskip Point to the southern tip of K'gari, the island the Butchulla people have always called by that name, listed by UNESCO in 1992 as Fraser Island. The eastern beach is a gazetted road, and we drive north along it. First the walk over a sand blow to Lake Wabby, green at the foot of a moving dune, then lunch. Further north we wade up the clear water of Eli Creek, see the rusting hull of the SS Maheno, beached in a cyclone in 1935, and the coloured sand cliffs of the Pinnacles just beyond, before turning back to our island lodge for dinner. Counting the island, this is about five hours in vehicles, the one day over our usual cap: the barge, the walk, lunch and three stops break it up, and no beach stretch is much over an hour.

   Included

   • Drive from Noosa to Rainbow Beach
   • 4WD tour of K'gari with a local driver-guide
   • The Inskip Point barge
   • The walk to Lake Wabby
   • Eli Creek, the Maheno wreck and the Pinnacles coloured sands
   • Lunch on the island and dinner at the lodge

   Easier option: Stay at the Lake Wabby lookout instead of walking down to the lake over the dune.

   Activity: The walk to Lake Wabby is over soft sand with a steep dune at the end; the beach and inland sand tracks are bumpy and slow, so about three of the day's five vehicle hours are on the island. Dingoes (wongari) live on the island: we walk as a group and never feed them.

8. Day 8: Lake McKenzie and fly north

   K'gari to Lake McKenzie, the ferry to River Heads, then Hervey Bay to the Whitsundays by air

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Airlie Beach
   Day 8 details

   We drive inland early to reach Lake McKenzie, Boorangoora to the Butchulla, before the day tours arrive from the mainland. It is a perched lake, fed only by rain and ringed by sand that is almost pure silica, and the water is clear enough to see your feet at chest depth. After a swim we walk the boardwalk along Wanggoolba Creek at Central Station, where tall satinay and kauri pines grow out of the sand around a creek so clear it barely shows. Lunch is on the island, then the passenger ferry takes about 50 minutes from Kingfisher Bay to River Heads, and our driver takes us to Hervey Bay Airport. The flight to the Whitsunday Coast connects through Brisbane, so this is a seated afternoon rather than a long drive or an overnight train, and we arrive in Airlie Beach in the evening. It is the tightest day of the trip, so we book the connection with room to spare and keep the evening free.

   Included

   • Lake McKenzie (Boorangoora) early, before the day tours
   • Central Station and the Wanggoolba Creek boardwalk
   • Lunch on the island
   • The ferry from Kingfisher Bay to River Heads
   • Flights from Hervey Bay (HVB) to the Whitsunday Coast (PPP), via Brisbane
   • Transfer to Airlie Beach

   Activity: A long chain: lake, ferry, two flights and a transfer. Exact flight times change with the airline schedules and we send them with your final itinerary. If the afternoon flights do not connect on your dates, we stay a night in Hervey Bay instead, fly to the Whitsundays the next morning and move the boat day to day 10, flying to Cairns that evening.

9. Day 9: Whitehaven Beach and the reef

   A full day by boat in the Whitsunday Islands

   • By boat
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Airlie Beach
   Day 9 details

   A full day on the water in the Whitsunday Islands, part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. We go with a licensed day-boat operator, leaving from the Airlie marina or Shute Harbour depending on the boat, whose route puts us at the Hill Inlet end of Whitsunday Island at a good tide: a short climb through the bush leads to the Tongue Point lookout, where the white silica sand and turquoise water swirl through the inlet below. Then down to Whitehaven Beach itself, about 7 km of white sand with no buildings on it, for time to swim and walk. Lunch is on board, and in the afternoon the boat moves to a fringing reef site where you snorkel over corals with reef fish and, often, turtles. Snorkel gear and a stinger suit are provided, and the crew briefs anyone who has never snorkelled. We are back in Airlie Beach in the late afternoon, with the evening free on the main street or by the lagoon.

   Included

   • Full-day Whitsunday Islands boat trip with lunch
   • Hill Inlet and the Tongue Point lookout
   • Whitehaven Beach
   • Snorkelling on a fringing reef, with gear and a stinger suit
   • The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park charge

   Easier option: Stay on Whitehaven Beach or aboard while others snorkel; the crew can give you a mask to look from the shallows.

   More active option: Swim further out with the crew's guided snorkel group on the reef stop.

   Free time: Evening free in Airlie Beach

   Activity: The lookout path at Hill Inlet is short but steep in places; the boat rides can be choppy when the trade winds blow.

   

10. Day 10: Airlie Beach morning, fly to Cairns

    Airlie Beach to the Whitsunday Coast Airport, then by air to Cairns

    • Drive about 45 min
    • Breakfast
    • Stay in Cairns
    Day 10 details

    The morning is free in Airlie Beach. Walk the boardwalk that follows the shore from the town towards Cannonvale, swim in the free, stinger-free public lagoon on the foreshore, or sit over a long breakfast and watch the boats. After lunch our driver takes us to the Whitsunday Coast Airport near Proserpine for the flight to Cairns, about an hour and a half on a direct flight on the days one runs, otherwise via Brisbane; we tell you which with your final itinerary. From Cairns Airport it is ten minutes into the city and a hotel near the Esplanade. Cairns is the land of the Gimuy-Walubarra Yidinji people, and the Esplanade runs along the mangrove-lined shore of Trinity Inlet with its own swimming lagoon. The evening is free: the night markets are a few streets back, and the Esplanade restaurants face the water.

    Included

    • Transfer to the Whitsunday Coast Airport (PPP)
    • Flight to Cairns (CNS)
    • Transfer to your hotel in Cairns

    Free time: Morning and evening free

    

11. Day 11: The outer Great Barrier Reef

    A full day on the outer reef from Cairns

    • By boat
    • Breakfast and lunch
    • Stay in Cairns
    Day 11 details

    This is the day the trip builds to. We board a licensed reef boat at the Reef Fleet Terminal in the morning and cross about one and a half to two hours to the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef, listed by UNESCO in 1981, where the water is clearer than on the inshore reefs. The boat visits two outer reef sites, so you snorkel twice over coral gardens with reef fish, giant clams and, often, turtles. The crew gives a reef talk on the way out and a snorkel briefing, and lunch is served on board between the two sites. Snorkel gear, a stinger suit and the reef charge are included. If you want to go deeper, an introductory dive with an instructor needs no certificate and is offered on board at a price shown when you book. We are back in Cairns in the late afternoon, and the evening is free.

    Included

    • Full-day outer reef trip from Cairns with two snorkel sites
    • Lunch on board
    • Snorkel gear, stinger suit and reef talk
    • The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park charge

    Optional experiences

    • Introductory scuba dive with an instructor, no certificate needed (price shown at booking)
    • Certified dives (price shown at booking)

    Easier option: Snorkel from the boat's platform in the shallows with a flotation noodle, or stay on deck; many boats also have a glass-bottom or semi-submersible tour.

    More active option: Join the crew's guided snorkel tour at each site, or add an introductory dive.

    Free time: Evening free in Cairns

    Activity: About 3 to 4 hours in the boat over the day; take seasickness tablets before you board if you are prone to it.

12. Day 12: Skyrail to Kuranda, on to Port Douglas

    Cairns to the Skyrail at Smithfield, Kuranda, then by Mareeba and Mount Molloy to Port Douglas

    • Drive about 2 h
    • Breakfast
    • Stay in Port Douglas
    Day 12 details

    After breakfast we drive 20 minutes north to the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway at Smithfield. The gondolas run 7.5 km over the canopy of the Wet Tropics, listed by UNESCO in 1988, with two stops on the way: Red Peak, for a boardwalk among the treetops, and Barron Falls, for the lookout over the gorge. At the top is Kuranda, a village in the rainforest with markets and cafes, and you have time to walk it and have lunch of your choice. Our driver meets us in Kuranda and we drive about an hour and three quarters across the tablelands by Mareeba and Mount Molloy, then down the range to the coast at Mossman and on to Port Douglas, where we stay two nights. Arrive in time for a late-afternoon walk on Four Mile Beach, and the evening is free in the town's restaurants along Macrossan Street.

    Included

    • The Skyrail Rainforest Cableway from Smithfield to Kuranda, with the Red Peak and Barron Falls stops
    • Time in Kuranda
    • Drive over the tablelands to Port Douglas

    Optional experiences

    • Ride the Kuranda Scenic Railway down to Cairns instead and transfer to Port Douglas separately (price shown at booking)

    Free time: Lunch in Kuranda and evening free in Port Douglas

13. Day 13: Mossman Gorge, the Daintree and Cape Tribulation

    Port Douglas to Mossman Gorge, the Daintree River and Cape Tribulation, and back

    • Drive about 3 h
    • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
    • Stay in Port Douglas
    Day 13 details

    We start early at Mossman Gorge, in the southern part of Daintree National Park, on the land of the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people. A Kuku Yalanji guide leads the Ngadiku Dreamtime Walk, about an hour and a half through the rainforest with a smoking ceremony, bush food and the stories of the place. Then north to the Daintree River for a cruise looking for saltwater crocodiles on the banks and birds in the mangroves, before the cable ferry takes us across the river into the forest beyond. We stop at the Alexandra Range lookout over the river mouth and sit down to lunch near Cape Tribulation. In the afternoon we walk the boardwalks at Cape Tribulation, where the rainforest comes down to the beach and the reef lies just offshore, and see the cape from the sand. We drive back to Port Douglas in the late afternoon for a farewell dinner together.

    Included

    • The Ngadiku Dreamtime Walk at Mossman Gorge with a Kuku Yalanji guide
    • Daintree River cruise
    • The Daintree River ferry
    • The Alexandra Range lookout
    • Sit-down lunch near Cape Tribulation
    • The Cape Tribulation boardwalks and beach
    • Farewell dinner in Port Douglas

    Easier option: Stay at the Mossman Gorge Centre or the swimming spot at the start of the gorge instead of the full guided walk.

    Activity: Do not swim in the sea, rivers or creeks unless your guide says the spot is safe: saltwater crocodiles live along this coast.

    

14. Day 14: Depart from Cairns

    Port Douglas to Cairns Airport

    • Drive about 1.5 h
    • Breakfast
    Day 14 details

    The last morning is free. Walk Four Mile Beach early while it is cool, climb to the Flagstaff Hill lookout for the view down the beach, or have a last swim in the hotel pool. Then our driver takes us about an hour and ten minutes south on the Captain Cook Highway, which follows the shore for much of the way, to Cairns Airport (CNS), which has flights to the rest of Australia and international departures. Your guide comes with you to the airport and sees you to check-in. Book a flight leaving after about 1 pm, or ask us to add nights in Cairns or Port Douglas if you want more time in the tropics. On a Sunday, the Port Douglas market in Anzac Park by the water is worth an hour before we leave.

    Included

    • Drop-off at Cairns Airport (CNS)

    Free time: Morning free in Port Douglas

    Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 1 pm.

Wildlife and weather: May to October is the dry season in the tropical north, with mild days and the clearest reef water, and humpback whales pass Byron Bay and K'gari from about June to November. Sydney and the Blue Mountains are cool in June to August. From December to April the north is hot and wet, with cyclone risk and stingers in the sea.

• Sydney3 nights
• Byron Bay2 nights
• Noosa1 night
• K'gari (Fraser Island)1 night
• Airlie Beach2 nights
• Cairns2 nights
• Port Douglas2 nights