SET DEPARTURE GROUP ITINERARY

TRIP FEATURES

* Excellent location site to witness the solar eclipse
* Expert Astronomer while in Ceduna
* Small group numbers (3 trips with maximum of 20 travellers twin-share basis
* 5 Star Hotel whilst in Sydney including touring of the Blue Mountains
* Visit Kangaroo Island and discover Australia's unique wildlife eg kangaroos, koalas, seals
* The opportunity to swim with sea lions and dolphins in the wild!
* Enjoy real Aussie outback pub hospitality
* Experience life on a working sheep station (ranch) located near the River Murray

26th November
Touch down at Sydney International Airport where you will be met and transferred to your hotel, The Sydney Marriott. Perfectly located with superb views of either Hyde Park or the City East. Just a few minutes walk from the city's shopping district and vibrant nightlife, Sydney Opera House, Darling Harbour and Oxford Street. Today will be at your own leisure to explore the beautiful harbour city of Sydney.
OVERNIGHT SYDNEY MARRIOTT HOTEL (Room only)

27th November
After breakfast your private driver guide will meet you. Heading westwards across the coastal plain you make your way to the Great Dividing Range of Australia. It is here we leave the 'average' Blue Mountains tourist behind and enter the national park to unlock a piece of Australia you would never have known existed. Visit ancient aboriginal sites and outstanding lookouts; examine rock formations and the unusual plants and wildlife that abound the area. From the quaint little village of Leura skirt around cliff drive to Katoomba where you will find yourself looking out over the magnificent Jamieson valley and the three sisters.

Enjoy a delicious buffet lunch including a selection of beautiful Australian wines and cheeses under the canopy of the Australian bush. Before returning to Sydney drop into a hidden valley, roam the area, seeking out the many kangaroos that graze in the wild (conditions permitting).
TOURING OF BLUE MOUNTAINS (Lunch & refreshments)
OVERNIGHT SYDNEY MARRIOTT HOTEL (Breakfast)

28th November
Say goodbye to Sydney and transfer to the airport. Board your Qantas scheduled flight to Adelaide. Upon arrival you will be met and transferred to the General Aviation terminal to catch your charter flight to Kangaroo Island. A short 30-minute flight has you arriving at Kingscote Airport. Today explore the unique island with your professional naturalist guide. Travel in four-wheel drive comfort while visiting traditional destinations and remote places that only a local can show you. Drive down endless red dirt roads, while your personal guide 'spins yarns' about shipwrecks, lighthouses and fridges being turned into mailboxes. At Sandy Bay watch adult sealions snooze only metres away and pups play in the surf.

Walk through a Redgum forest at Cygnet River, smell the Eucalyptus and seek out koalas sleeping - and feeding if you are lucky - in the forks of trees. Break for lunch and enjoy a crisp South Australian wine as your Guide cooks lunch. Visit D'Estrees Bay where ospreys' nest and kangaroos come out to graze. Stand on a cliff top watching waves crashing onto the rocks - the first land they have encountered since Antarctica. This evening return to the peaceful Kangaroo Island Lodge.
SYDNEY MARRIOTT HOTEL (Breakfast)
TOURING OF KANGAROO ISLAND (Lunch & refreshments)
OVERNIGHT KANGAROO ISLAND LODGE (Dinner)

29th November
Continue exploring Kangaroo Island with your guide today. Visit Flinders Chase National Park, a 74,000-hectare wilderness, home to kangaroos, possums, wallabies, goannas, echidnas, koalas, platypus and many birds including rare Cape Barren geese. Lunch is a picnic in the bush before visiting Cape du Couedic. See the Cape du Couedic lighthouse, Admirals Arch and Remarkable Rocks. At the end of the day you will be returned to your accommodation.
TOURING OF KANGAROO ISLAND (Lunch & refreshments)
OVERNIGHT KANGAROO ISLAND LODGE (Breakfast & Dinner)

30th November
Today is your last day exploring Australia's nature island. Discover a wonderful range of wildlife in pristine locations. The third largest island off the coast of Australia, almost half is virgin bush, Kangaroo Island is wildlife enthusiasts dream.

As a traveller to KI said "Looking for an off-the-beaten-path paradise? Try Australia's Kangaroo Island. The shopping's lousy, the disco's non-existent, but the scenery is spectacular and the flora and fauna unique."
TOURING OF KANGAROO ISLAND (Lunch & refreshments)
OVERNIGHT KANGAROO ISLAND LODGE (Breakfast & Dinner)

1st December
This morning transfer to Kingscote Airport and board your charter flight to Streaky Bay. After a short road transfer you will arrive at the wild western coast of South Australia and beautiful Baird Bay. Your hosts Allan and Trish Payne, were so enthralled by the beauty of the area whilst on holiday, they bought a property here. This afternoon relax in the superb five star two story rammed earth building. The rooms are all delightfully decorated in a local flavour, incorporating ocean views and private courtyards. A wonderfully spacious shared sitting room overlooks Baird Bay and can be enjoyed by travellers. Guests will relish all the comforts of home plus many extras in this delightful location.

Relax with the Payne's overlooking this remarkable coastline in an untainted and isolated part of the world.
KANGAROO ISLAND LODGE (Breakfast)
OVERNIGHT BAIRD BAY (Lunch & Dinner)

2nd December
Today board their magnificent boat, the 'Investigator' and experience a unique marine adventure. Enjoy a rare and unforgettable swim with wild dolphins and the only surviving mainland based colony of the rare Australian sea lion. Come face to face with the sea lions an experience that has left most who encounters it overwhelmed. Some of them weigh up to 250kg. Watch them copy your movements and perform in a natural circus.

This afternoon you may like to try your luck with some fishing. Local favourites are snapper and King George whiting. Or take a cruise to one of the local islands to pursue the much sought after Southern Blue Fin Tuna (seasonal).

Hopefully this evening Dinner will be 'Fish of the Day'.
OVERNIGHT BAIRD BAY (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

3rd December
After breakfast, we will transfer by road to the Ceduna Shelly Beach Caravan Park. This will be your base for the viewing of the solar eclipse. Your accommodation will be in comfortable tents. Set on the shores of Murat Bay, Ceduna it is the western-most town of any size in South Australia. The township is aptly named, as Ceduna is a derivative of an aboriginal word "chedoona", meaning "a resting place. Your local guide will show you the highlights of the coastal town including the rugged shorelines, oyster farms and Aboriginal culture.
BAIRD BAY (Breakfast)
OVERNIGHT SHELLY BEACH CARAVAN PARK (Lunch & Dinner)

4th December
In the late afternoon of Wednesday 4 December 2002, Ceduna will experience a total solar eclipse for 32 seconds. The track of this eclipse starts in the Atlantic and crosses southern Africa before crossing the Indian Ocean and arcing into Southern Australia. From the Ceduna area where it is 9 degrees in altitude, it heads north east crossing the Stuart Highway when it is at an altitude of 6 degrees getting progressively lower in the sky till totality occurs at sunset near Queensland, New South Wales, South Australian border. In the Ceduna area the width of the track is only some 35 km wide and points to the East and West (Wirulla and Penong) are well clear of the track. The moon will first begin to obscure the edge of the sun at about 6.40pm (local daylight saving time), and will steadily move across it until, at 7.40pm after a brief "diamond ring" effect, it will be a deep midnight blue, until the diamond ring effect reappears as the sun emerges. Gradually daylight will return but at sunset 8.29 pm, the sun will still be about 18% covered, making some interesting sun set photography.
OVERNIGHT SHELLY BEACH CARAVAN PARK (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

5th December
Depart Ceduna and your magnificent solar eclipse experience and continue by charter flight to the Flinders Ranges. In the sleepy town of Parachilna - population seven - the Prairie Hotel has created a quiet revolution in country cuisine. Try the legendary feral foods and native cuisine that has made the hotel unique; or taste some of the local bush tucker collected within this area. Combined with great food and wine, Jane and Ross give guests the opportunity to experience genuine outback hospitality in an utterly Australian atmosphere.
SHELLY BEACH CARAVAN PARK (Breakfast)
OVERNIGHT PRAIRIE HOTEL (Lunch & Dinner)

6th December
The Fargher's are one of the original pastoral families to the area, and also own neighbouring Nilpena Station. Guests will enjoy private access to the most scenic of ranges, magnificent sand dunes, the vast Lake Torrens, world renowned fossil reserves and the opportunity to observe and participate in life on a working sheep/cattle station.

Take a trip out into the station country and learn about the local fascinating flora and fauna. See how the animals of the outback live. Experience the sheer vastness of the properties and perhaps check the stock and the watering points on the way home.
OVERNIGHT PRAIRIE HOTEL (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

7th December
This morning depart the stunning surrounds of the Flinders Ranges and your charter flight will transfer you to Portee Station. Portee Station is a 40,000-acre commercial sheep grazing property located a leisurely two-hour drive from Adelaide. Your hosts, Ian and Margaret Clark, offer you a unique chance to experience the very best of Australian living. Portee was first settled in 1841 by the famous early explorer and protector of aboriginal people Edward John Eyre. Situated on the banks and flood plains of the River Murray, Portee Station is rich in early South Australian history and the property surrounds the Moorunde Creek inlet.

The original homestead, built in 1873 is the focal point of this working sheep station. The homestead was meticulously restored to its original grandeur after the flood in 1956.
PRAIRIE HOTEL (Breakfast)
OVERNIGHT PORTEE STATION (Lunch & Dinner)

8th December
Whatever you choose to do on Portee, the clean air and wide-open spaces of Australia's outback lifestyle will captivate your senses. Guests are invited to join in with the day-to-day management of the station, which may include mustering and droving sheep, the water run and sheep work in the woolshed or yards. Observing the station dogs working the sheep is a special highlight and you mustn't miss your stockman's lunch.

A variety of activities are available. This gives you the opportunity to view the abundant native flora and fauna such as kangaroos, emus, and the wonderfully intriguing hairy-nosed wombat. Bird life flourishes on the adjoining lagoons and billabongs of the River Murray. You may choose to do a boat tour of these wetlands for a close-up view.
OVERNIGHT PORTEE STATION (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

9th December
Your early morning charter flight will depart Portee Station and return to Adelaide. Upon arrival you will be transferred to Adelaide Airport for scheduled flight homewards.

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