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Our participants are not herded around on a rigid schedule eating banquet food and sleeping in Americanized hotels, interacting only with each other. Australia is like our other trips in The original citizens of Australia were the Aborigines, the oldest human civilization in the world today. The arrival of convicts and free settlers that succeeded Cook's European discovery of this magical land changed life for its indigenous citizens. We will have opportunity to meet Aboriginal people, explore their art, dance and music and develop awareness of the issues facing all the citizens of Australia today. We fly into Brisbane in Queensland and immediately head off to the most beautiful of the islands off the coast of Australia. While all the tourists are over on crowded Frazer Island, our group will be sleeping beachside in luxurious accommodations on a different island. Emphasis is on natural and authentic beauty. |
As you approach the ships, the water is just slightly too deep to see the bottom, so really all you can see is a vastness of light green water. But when you reach the ships, everything changes. Not only do the ships themselves look ethereal sitting on the seafloor in thirty feet of water, but the water itself is absolutely alive with fish! Everywhere you look there are hundreds of fish swimming around. Of course, if snorkeling is not for you there are other fun choices, like relaxing on the beach, hiking, wading out into the shallow, warm water and beach volleyball. There is also sand tobogganing. The Sand Hills are awe inspiring mountains of pure white sand dunes, which provide the slopes for an exhilarating toboggan ride.
From this island paradise we head into the outback for several days on a cattle ranch. 'The Outback' is larger than the entire State of Texas. It has to be this big so that the emus (flightless birds standing 6-feet tall in their bare feet) and equally tall red kangaroos, can roam about. Individual cattle stations (ranches) are measured in hundreds of square miles.
Our 3 night stay will be spent sleeping in the homestead accommodation and connecting with the true lifestyle of the Outback, not the romanticized version. Bushdancing has historically been the social outlet, so we will learn it (similar to line dancing) and we will learn to cook our food over the campfire.
We switch gears in a major way and head to Brisbane to Steve Erwin's Zoo Australia, then into Cairns, party central for this part of Australia. Boat to the Great Barrier Reef to experience this unimaginably exotic and magical place. You can scuba dive or snorkel and you will understand why it is so important to join the campaign to save it. |
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We go to the rainforest station, learn the important role rainforests play in the world, chow down on a traditional Aussie BBQ and take a river rainforest cruise on an Army Duck that rolls over land and then splashes into the water to finish the trip. Catch a scenic train back to the hotel. We witness the feeding of the Cassoaries (huge birds big enough to kill a person) and handle the baby crocs.
There is ample opportunity to shop if you want or you can visit the place where Captain Cooke landed and changed Australia forever. You also have an option to climb the Harbor Bridge if you are not afraid of heights. Our final dinner in Australia is at sunset in a fabulous restaurant overlooking the harbor, the Opera House and the Bridge. The flight to New Zealand is nonstop the next day...
The natural scenery brings new meaning to the word "magnificent," where dramatic, snowcapped mountains meet placid lakes, making a nearly utopian wildlife paradise. Do you like outdoor dining? Eat the biggest and best burgers you have ever seen as you stroll the town.
New Zealand is guaranteed to be quite unlike anything you have ever experienced and is a fitting frosting to the unique, unforgettable Australia trip. |
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Our adventure to Oz offers immersion opportunities in several of Australia's most important regions, with the opportunity to live a number of different lifestyles in a truly unique setting; endless sunbaked horizons, dense tropical rainforests, beaches, cattle ranching in the outback, and Sydney (the most cosmopolitan city in the world) are all rolled into this once in a lifetime experience. 
Australia is a diverse society, with a mix of cultures and people. It is also a vast country, each region offering its own brand of hospitality and charm and a way of life both similar to that in the USA and vastly different. 
As always, the priority is safety and, as always, each participant has choices that make his or her trip their very own personalized experience. This trip goes far beyond a teen tour blitz of Oz.
the sense that they meet the locals, understand how history and geography have impacted life and connect with the culture in a meaningful way while having a great time.
The island is 98% National Park, protecting the flora, fauna, sandy coastline, freshwater lakes, wetlands and forests. It is a unique island wilderness with sparkling clear water and white sandy beaches, one of the few untouched areas of natural wilderness along the East Coast of Australia. It is one of the largest sand islands in the world. Our hotel is directly on the beach. Sunrise brings a wash of coral over an azure sea next to palm fringed, deep white sand beaches. Don snorkel, mask and fins, and splash your way out to the artificial reef, made by sunken ships. Now, you may have been snorkeling before, but this is in a league by itself.
At night, we go out into the water and feed wild dolphins. These are not tame, trained animals... they are truly wild and live free in the wild, coming in only because they choose to.
During your 3 full days on the property you can ride horses through remote, desolate lands you have only seen in movies ("Survivor" was filmed nearby). You will travel by 4X4 vehicle to the remote outback area, hike to a waterfall to enjoy the magnificent views down through a huge gorge, and to learn a little of the history of this remarkable, remote area and the life skills required to live in it.
You will go kangaroo spotting, ride the mechanical bull, swim, learn to lasso and throw a boomerang, learn how to brand a calf (on a wooden calf that feels no pain). The storyteller will introduce you to moving and hilarious stories passed down through the generations as you sit around the campfire.
The stars are, of course, those of the Southern Hemisphere, including the Southern Cross, and are quite brilliant without the light pollution to which we have grown accustomed. There is a whole new vocabulary to be learned as well and before long you will find yourself brewing some billy to drink with your damper and tucker, making you fair dinkum, mate. Oh, and we do have flush dunnies out there! Nice, comfortable beds, too in the bunkhouse.
Back in Cairns, we focus on Aussie culture. You will see crocs, hold koalas, visit a man who specializes in handling venomous spiders and snakes to make antidote and see a profusion of butterflies. You will ride an award winning cable car for 32 kilometers (longest in the world) and explore the markets.
Our final adventure is 4 days in Sydney, cosmopolitan and gracious. Your choices will include an optional performance in the famed Opera House, built at a cost of over 100 million dollars. Cruise Sydney Harbor, then go to Damien's house right on Sydney Harbor for a cookout around the pool and a visit with Sydnians. We get a private presentation with opals (they are also for sale) and take a bike trip through the city.
Believe it or not (and you will after spending four days there!), New Zealand, site of the filming of "Narnia" and "Lord of the Rings," is even more beautiful in real life than it is in the movies.
New Zealand is famous for jade shopping. For the adrenaline junkies, imagine the world's most thrilling high speed boat ride (it doesn't feel so safe, but it is!) right up the river where they filmed "Lord of the Rings."
For our final night we take the hemisphere's steepest cablecar to the top of the mountain for dinner and enjoy a genuine, interactive performance of the Haka. This tribal dance, designed to terrify the enemy before combat, is performed to great effect by the New Zealand National Rugby Team before every international match.