Discover a Land Down Under: Melbourne, Adelaide & Sydney

A day is "lost" due to crossing the International Dateline.

Welcome to Melbourne! Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, is the capital of Victoria, a state in the south-eastern corner of Australia. During the gold era Melbourne possessed great wealth and many of the city’s fine buildings were built during this period of prosperity. Its magnificent streetscapes and extensive parks and gardens provide an ideal setting for its many elegant buildings. In the past, Melbourne was a larger business centre and city than Sydney, and today the two cities continue a friendly rivalry. Both are cosmopolitan and multicultural and Melbourne has many strong ethnic communities from three major periods of migration: Chinese and German (after the gold rushes), Italian, Greek and southern European (post-World War II) and, more recently, Asian. The designated group flights will be met by our driver service and participants transferred into our hotel. At 11:30 a.m., once bags have been dropped off and we are all together, we will hop aboard Melbourne’s famous tram system and commence our exploration of Victoria's capital. We will have an orientation to parts of the city on the way to our lunch venue. Those participants who have arrived in the city earlier or who are making their own travel arrangements should ensure that they are at our Melbourne hotel by 11:00 a.m.

At a local café, we have plated meals.

After lunch, we will walk through the Royal Botanic Gardens and visit the Shrine of Remembrance, a National War Memorial of great significance to Melburnians. Our Group Leader will give us an overview, introducing us to Melbourne and the State of Victoria. We transfer to our hotel and check in with some time to freshen up before our Orientation session. Orientation. The Group Leader will greet everyone and lead introductions. We will review the up-to-date program schedule and any changes, discuss roles and responsibilities, logistics, safety guidelines, emergency procedures, and answer any questions you may have. Your Group Leader will be with you throughout your program, providing information and leading field trips. The format of meals will vary based on each venue, with some meals being buffets, others plated and served, and some ordered in advance. Beverages typically include coffee, tea and water, with other beverages available for purchase depending on location. Free time is reserved for your personal independent exploration. Evenings at leisure offer opportunities to make the program more meaningful and memorable through personal independent exploration, attending performances or other events on your own, or simply relaxing and making new friends among fellow participants. Program activities, schedules, personnel, and indicated distances or times may change due to local conditions. In the event of changes, we will alert you as quickly as possible. Thank you for your understanding. This program has been deliberately designed with full free days in both Melbourne and Sydney so as to allow participants to engage in activities on free days, without time constraints. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions although we encourage research on your own prior to departure. You may need to book your activities well in advance.

At the hotel, we will have a pre-ordered, plated, two-course meal. We will have "Welcome to Australia" wine with dinner tonight.

At leisure.

Hotel buffet.

We will begin today with a lecture on contemporary Australia, touching on areas of interest such as health, education, and the political system. With our Group Leader we will then walk from our hotel through some of Melbourne's famously funky laneways. As we wander through the back streets and laneways, we will gain an understanding of how liveable Melbourne is and how the city interacts with its river. We have some free time in the late morning and early afternoon.

At own arrangements.

We will have some time to explore on our own before returning independently to the hotel. We will then board our motorcoach bound for Phillip Island.

At a small-town bistro in San Remo near Phillip Island, we will have pre-ordered plated meals.

We will move on to Phillip Island Nature Park in time for the Penguin Parade. Here we can watch the gorgeous little penguins come ashore at dusk after their day out fishing. After viewing these wonderful creatures we will board our coach and return to our hotel and bed.

Hotel buffet.

Free time to explore Melbourne.

On your own.

Free time to explore Melbourne.

On your own allowing you to sample the dining scene Melbourne is renowned for.

At leisure. Prepare for hotel check out and transfer tomorrow.

Hotel buffet.

We check out of our hotel early this morning and leave Melbourne bound for the Great Ocean Road, renowned as one of the world's most scenic coastal drives. En route we hope to see a myriad of local wildlife, the 12 Apostles, iconic surf breaks and waterfalls. We will witness locals and visitors alike engaged in a variety of activities ranging from surfing, scuba diving and sea kayaking to visiting arts, cultural and heritage attractions. We travel to the Great Ocean Road via Torquay and Bell's Beach, famous for the world surfing titles held there each Easter. We will pause and stand under the Memorial Arch on the Great Ocean Road where we will learn about the history of the Great Ocean Road - built mainly with picks and shovels by returned soldiers from WWI and dedicated to all those who died in battle. We will have a brief stop to [hopefully] view the koalas in the gum trees by the ocean at Kennett River. We shall admire the stunning coastline as we travel to Port Campbell. As we travel along the Great Ocean Road we shall also pass townships such as Lorne and Apollo Bay, favourite weekend-away destinations for Melburnians.

We will pause in Apollo Bay for a lunch break. The cost of this lunch has been excluded from your program. Lunch is at own arrangements from your choice of the local cafes.

Our drive along the Great Ocean Road continues after lunch as we take in the stunning scenery and pause at locations of note. Time (and the vagaries of Melbourne's morning traffic) permitting, we will stop for a short walk at Maits Rest Rainforest Walk, the 12 Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge. We will also pause at the 12 Apostles Centre. Upon arrival, we will check into our accommodation. Following some time to relax in to our rooms, we can make our way down to the township of Port Campbell on foot.

On your own to enjoy what you like.

At leisure. Prepare for hotel check out and transfer tomorrow.

At accommodation, continental breakfast in rooms.

We check out and depart Port Campbell this morning. We travel first to the delightful little fishing village of Port Fairy where we will have a short walk along the coast. We reboard our motorcoach and head inland to visit Budj Bim National Park. Budj Bim, a long dormant volcano, is the source of the Tyrendarra lava flow which extends for over 50 kilometres. Budj Bim is recognised on the UNESCO World Heritage List and is currently the only Australian World Heritage property listed solely for its Aboriginal cultural values. The Budj Bim Cultural Landscape features the earliest living example of aquaculture in the world, with a history of eel farming dating back over 6,000 years. We pause for an expert-led visit to the Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre, a state-of-the-art facility designed to showcase one of the world’s most extensive and oldest aquaculture systems. Budj Bim is also significant as the state of Victoria's first co-managed national park. It is jointly managed by Gunditjmara Traditional Owners and Parks Victoria.

At Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre.

We head next to Mount Gambier, South Australia's second most populous city. Built alongside a dormant volcano of the same name, the city is know for its volcanic landscape and crater lakes. We will visit Blue Lake, the city's most well-known lake, renowned for its cobalt blue water in the summer. We continue on to Penola and check in to our motel. After some time to settle in, we join our Group Leader for a walk to explore historic Penola. On our walk we will visit the Mary MacKillop Interpretive Centre where we learn something of Australia's first Roman Catholic saint and her ties to the town. We head to a local historic hotel in the centre of town. Here we will have a guided wine tasting, introducing us to some of the product from the famous Coonawarra wine region that surrounds the town.

At the historic hotel.

We can walk back to our accommodation at leisure.

Continental breakfast at accommodation.

This morning we visit the World Heritage-listed Naracoorte Caves for an expert-led visit. We will be introduced to one of the caves in the complex, where we learn how the caves acted as pitfall traps, leading them to become one of the world's most important fossil sites. Our local expert will also take us through the Wonambi Fossil Centre. Here we understand exactly why the Caves were heritage listed. We leave Naracoorte and drive west to the coast.

At a bakery café en route.

We reach the coast and drive north towards Adelaide, passing through the Coorong National Park. The Coorong surrounds the mouth of the Murray River, Australia's longest and, arguably, most controversial river. The Coorong is recognised under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance. We pause in the seaside town of Meningie for a chance to stretch our legs and maybe grab a coffee or an ice cream. We hop back on our coach and head for Adelaide. Adelaide is a solid, elegant city with many buildings of stone constructed by early colonists. The city is bordered by the Mount Lofty Ranges to the east, and by gulf waters and long sandy beaches to the west. The Torrens River runs through the North Parkland and there are port facilities at Port Adelaide. The city was named for Queen Adelaide, at the command of her husband, King William IV and is the only freely-settled colony of Australia. Its people have embraced multiculturalism, providing a cohesive society on which to build the State. The draft of the Australian Constitution was prepared in South Australia, in the ballroom of St. Mark’s College’s Downer House. We have an orientation to Adelaide from our motorcoach en route to our hotel and check in to our hotel in time for dinner.

At our hotel we have a pre-ordered, plated meal.

At leisure.

Hotel buffet.

This morning, we transfer to the Adelaide Botanic Gardens where we will meet our local expert for this morning's field trip. Our expert will lead us on the Gardens' bush food trail, introducing us to native bush food stuffs and their importance to the Aboriginal people. We shall learn something of their harvesting and preparation. From here, we will be led to the Museum of South Australia. The Museum of South Australia is home to the world's largest collection of Aboriginal artefacts. Here, with our local expert, we will gain a further understanding of Aboriginal culture and art. We then pop next door to visit the Art Gallery of South Australia. We have time to wander through the Gallery's collection. The Gallery is home to over 45,000 pieces and holds one of Australia's most important collections of indigenous art. The remainder of the day is free for you to explore the "City of Churches" independently.

On your own.

Free time.

On your own.

At leisure. Prepare for hotel check out and transfer tomorrow.

Hotel buffet.

We check out of our hotel and transfer by motorcoach to Adelaide airport for our flight to Sydney. Sydney’s stunning natural harbour forms the centrepiece of a dynamic city that has grown dramatically since its beginnings as a prison colony. Situated in the temperate area of Australia, Sydney is surrounded by National Parks and has a beautiful range of flora and fauna. It is Australia’s largest city with over 5 million citizens thriving in a multicultural society in a congenial climate. Sydney is dominated by Sydney Harbour, of which Port Jackson is only a small part. The city covers a large area, twice the size of London with half the population, and has large parks and sparkling sandy Pacific Ocean beaches, such as the well-known and very popular Bondi and Manly. Upon our arrival in Sydney we transfer to our hotel to drop off our luggage and put it in storage. Wielding our Transport NSW "Opal Cards", we then have an orientation to Sydney on foot and by public transport.

At a local café.

After lunch, we explore historic Sydney as we take the light rail down central Sydney's main pedestrian thoroughfares and enter The Rocks, located at the southern end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The Rocks was the area of Sydney first settled by the British, and it has a fascinating history and wonderful sandstone buildings. We then stroll across Circular Quay (Sydney's main public ferry terminal) to the magnificent World Heritage-listed Sydney Opera House. Here we have an expert-led exploration of this truly wonderful, iconic building, a masterpiece of late modern architecture. There are five main performance spaces at the Sydney Opera House - the Concert Hall, the Dame Joan Sutherland Theatre (formerly the Opera Theatre), the Drama Theatre, the Playhouse and the Studio - and the availability of these spaces to visit changes from day to day. We then return to our hotel on the light rail and check in, with some down time before dinner.

At our accommodation.

At leisure.

Hotel buffet.

Free time to explore Sydney.

On your own.

Free time.

On your own.

At leisure.

Hotel buffet.

We will board our motorcoach and travel across the Sydney Harbour Bridge and carry on to the Spit Bridge crossing Sydney's Middle Harbour. After crossing Spit Bridge and Middle Harbour, we carry on to the iconic harbour- and beach-side suburb of Manly. We drive up to North Head located on the northern side of the entrance to Sydney Harbour. We disembark the coach and walk out to Fairfax Lookout giving us outstanding views of Sydney Harbour and the Tasman Sea. From here we walk down past North Fort and a historic quarantine cemetery before we drop down to one of the little beaches that dot Sydney Harbour. We walk across the back of this beach and carry on to Manly. We arrive in Manly around lunch time and have the rest of the afternoon to explore at leisure.

On our own.

Your Opal Card can be used on the Manly ferry allowing you the option to explore this beach-side suburb further at your leisure and to take the magnificent half-hour ferry ride back into Sydney at a time that suits you. The ferry runs every 30 minutes so there is ample opportunity for you to split your time between Manly and Sydney as you see fit. We regather at the hotel in the late afternoon to review our program before dinner.

We will walk around the side of Darling Harbour to a local restaurant. Here we will have a plated farewell dinner. We will have "Farewell to Australia" wine with dinner.

We will walk back to our hotel. You may wish to stay longer and explore some more of the vibrant harbourside Darling Harbour precinct as you wend your way back to the hotel independently. Prepare for hotel check out and departure tomorrow.

Hotel buffet.

Our program concludes with breakfast. After breakfast, we check out of our hotel. Those participants who have booked their flights through Road Scholar will be transferred to Sydney Airport. If you are returning home, safe travels. If you are staying on independently, have a wonderful time. If you are transferring to another Road Scholar program, detailed instructions are included in your Information Packet for that program. We hope you enjoy Road Scholar learning adventures and look forward to having you on rewarding programs in the future. Please join our Facebook page and share photos of your program. Visit us at www.facebook.com/rsadventures. Best wishes for all your journeys!