Australian Summer

Your journey begins in Sydney. Sydney is situated on one of the world’s most beautiful and famous harbours, and you will have ample time to discover its many attractions. Included during your stay in Sydney is a full day of private touring.

From Sydney you will head to the chic Capella Lodge, nestled amongst the volcanic peaks and emerald valleys of Lord Howe Island. Take to walking tracks and visit remote rocky coves alive with magnificent bird life or walk into valleys brimming with ancient plants.

Leaving the sub tropical north you will venture south to Australia’s only island state, Tasmania. Tasmania is a land of dramatic coastlines, rugged mountains, tall forests and sparkling highland lakes. Join Craig and Janine Williams who provide a luxury authentic experience of the Tasmanian wilderness.

North Bundaleer Homestead in the Clare Valley is your base for the next part of your journey to explore the wineries, forests and mining towns of mid north South Australia.

3 hours drive further north is Angorichina Station. In the middle of the desiccated red ranges, known as the Flinders Ranges, Angorichina Station comes as a startling contrast, an oasis of roses and lavender hedges, green lawns and shade – and an entrée to a remarkable world.

Kangaroo Island is your final destination. Widely acclaimed as Australia's Galapagos, Kangaroo Island is home to an abundance of native wildlife and spectacular natural attractions. The perfect end to a memorable Australian journey.

Travel Period:
This itinerary can be taken all year round, however we strongly recommend November to April when the weather is perfect in the Southern region of Australia.

Destinations :
Starts Sydney-
2 nights Park Hyatt Sydney
3 nights Capella Lodge, Lord Howe Island
3 nights Pepperbush Adventures, Launceston, Tasmania
2 nights North Bundaleer Homestead, Clare Valley
3 nights Angorichina Station, Flinders Ranges
3 nights Southern Ocean Lodge, Kangaroo Island

Designed for :
Solo travellers/ couples/small groups and families with children over the age of 6yrs.
Southern Ocean Lodge is not suited to children under this age, should the remainder of this Itinerary be of interest to you please contact one of our Travel Designers as we can substitute Southern Ocean Lodge with another product to suit a young family

Inclusions :
2 Nights Park Hyatt Sydney, Sydney Airport transfers, Sydney full day private tour, 3 Nights Capella Lodge including all meals & selected beverages and selected activities, Island airport transfers , 3 Nights peppers Seaport Hotel, 2 full days private touring, 3 nights North Bundaleer Homestead including all meals & selected beverages and five hours touring, private transfer from North Bundaleer to Angorichina Station, 3 nights Angorichina Station includes all meals & selected beverages, activities including scenic 4WD tours& guided walks, private Air Charter from Blinman to Parafield in a C172, scheduled flights between Adelaide & Kingscote, 3 nights Southern Ocean Lodge including all meals & selected beverages, and full day private tour activities and full day private tour

Retail Cost : Prices start from;
$18343.00 per person based on 2 Adults travelling together (double or twin share accommodation)
$15933.00 per person based on 4 Adults travelling together (double or twin share accommodation)
Based on low season rates (terms and conditions apply)

For a full detailed Itinerary please email our Travel Designers – info@outbackencounter.com

 

Day 1 – Day 3 Park Hyatt Sydney
• Met on arrival at Sydney Airport for private transfer to Park Hyatt Sydney
• 2 nights Park Hyatt Sydney –Opera Deluxe Room
• 1 full day of private touring

The Park Hyatt Sydney has an outstanding reputation as one of the best hotels in Sydney, and is uniquely positioned on the very edge of Sydney Harbour, with spectacular views of the Harbour Bridge above and the Opera House. The boutique hotel is renowned for having the largest hotel rooms in Sydney with luxury amenities and private balconies taking in unobstructed views of the harbour.

Visitors can explore The Rocks interesting buildings, shops, bars, restaurants and weekend markets easily on foot.

Included in you stay is an ultimate Sydney sailing private tour. This unique day is the ultimate way to experience the beauty of Sydney. Your experienced guide greets you at your hotel for a walk around the historic Rocks precinct, visiting the first church in Australia & the convict built cottages. You then take a walk around the Observatory, continuing around Circular Quay, the Opera House & into the magnificent Botanical Gardens.

Joining the vehicle under the famous Harbour Bridge, you will continue onto Watsons Bay on South Head to enjoy a meal of Doyle’s famous fish & chips in the park with a bottle of chilled Australian wine and a cheese platter. You return to the city, visiting Darling Harbour where your yacht awaits for a cruise around Sydney Harbour with a delicious afternoon tea. After an incredible 2 hours on the world’s most beautiful harbour, your vessel returns to Darling Harbour. Here you may decide to eat out at any one of the dozen or more restaurants, stay & enjoy the entertainment, or take the monorail into the city, returning to your hotel at your leisure.

 

Day 3 – Day 6 Capella Lodge, Lord Howe Island, for 3 nights
• Private transfer to Sydney Airport
• Flight: Sydney to Lord Howe Island (not included in cost)
• Met on arrival at Lord Howe Airport for transfer to Capella Lodge
• 3 nights stay in a Lagoon Loft including all meals and selected beverages
• Includes selected activities

Capella Lodge is an exciting mix of international sophistication and Australian understatement. Interiors feature timber floors, white bleached shutters, marine ply joinery and custom furniture - designed to emulate a private beach hideaway.

The Lodge’s contemporary design displays interiors awash with muted colours combined hints of modern tropical and mariner chic.

A sub-tropical island sanctuary lost in time – rugged volcanic peaks and basalt outcrops, hidden valleys awash with rare plants in shades of emerald, cloud forests, opalescent sands and serene turquoise lagoons.

Lord Howe Island is encircled by the world’s southern-most coral reef which provides home to a kaleidoscope of abundant coral and fish. It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1982 as a place of rare and unique beauty, rich in local history and folk-lore. It’s yours to enjoy with a limited few – only four hundred guests are permitted on the island at any one time in order to preserve this precious natural treasure.

Take to walking tracks and visit remote rocky coves alive with magnificent bird life or walk into valleys brimming with ancient plants. Undertake a journey of discovery with a world-renowned naturalist; climb to the summit of Mt Gower – rated as one of Australia’s best day walks; or simply laze on one of the pristine white beaches.

The waters around Lord Howe Island are ablaze with colour – delicate soft corals, intriguing hard coral formations and a riot of fish. Perhaps take a cruise to Balls Pyramid situated 23 km south of Lord Howe Island. Ball’s Pyramid is the world’s tallest sea stack and one of a series of volcanic pinnacles formed from a massive eruption millions of years ago.

 

Day 6 – Day 9 Pepperbush Adventures, Tasmania, for 3 nights
• Private transfer from Capella Lodge to Lord Howe Island Airport
• Flight: Lord Howe Island to Launceston (not included in cost)
• Met at Launceston Airport by your private guide for transfer to Accommodation
• 3 nights Peppers Seaport Hotel – Riverview Suite
• All meals and selected beverages
• 2 full days private touring

You will be met on your afternoon arrival into Launceston by your hosts for this adventure, Craig and Janine Williams, and transferred to your accommodation at Peppers Seaport Hotel. Dinner on this first evening is at Mud Restaurant - a modern, fresh and vibrant eatery and lounge found at the Old Launceston Seaport.

Your first day of touring begins by gliding across the treetops in a unique canopy tour. This fantastic adventure lasts 3 hours and is unlike any other Australian nature experience. You will glide along wires attached by harnesses with highly-trained guides and includes cable spans of between 15 and 371 metres, connected by tree platforms called ‘cloud stations’. This award winning adventure showcases the forest and its ecology in a new light and allows you to learn about the ancient and vibrant Tasmanian forests and wildlife.

After the adventures of the morning, the afternoon takes on a different pace allowing you to enjoy a private gourmet wilderness & wildlife tour. Stand amongst the forest giants at Tombstone Creek Forest Reserve and experience a gourmet campfire dinner under the stars with a glass of Tasmanian pinot while waiting for a captivating encounter with some of Tasmania’s unique and endearing wildlife species. Wildlife species you may encounter are eastern quoll, possums, wombats, wallaby, bettong, bandicoot and Tasmanian devil.

Your next day begins with a morning hike to Mt. Ben Lomond - one of the most impressive geological features in the state. Tor trek is an enjoyable alpine walk climbing 430 metres over 4.3 km on a gently graded track. You can experience alpine flora and panoramic views from the highest peak in Northern Tasmania.

Afternoon cycle with our local guides will take you on one of the ultimate mountain bike descents possibly in Tasmania with a total drop of 1050 vertical metres. This awesome trip takes you down the spectacular Jacobs Ladder road before connecting to old four wheel drive tracks through the eucalypt forests. We then continue on fire trails and other single tracks to our finishing point on the Blessington Road at 400m. Time permitting we will visit Joseph Chromy Vineyard on the return journey to Launceston.

 

Day 9 – Day 11 North Bundaleer Homestead, northern Clare Valley, for 2 nights
• Private transfer from accommodation to Launceston Airport
• Flight: Launceston to Adelaide (not included in cost)
• Met on arrival at Adelaide Airport for private transfer from Adelaide to North Bundaleer Homestead
• 2 nights stay in a Standard Room, includes all meals & selected beverages
• 5 Hours touring including lunch

North Bundaleer, completed in 1901, is one of the last grand pastoral homesteads built in South Australia and was constructed as an opulent expression of the wealth associated with pastoral pursuits in the Mid North at that time. Now beautifully restored by your hosts Marianne & Malcolm Booth, guests have the use of the entire hosted Homestead, including the formal Drawing Room which has been designed around an original and unique hand painted frieze.

Although the surroundings may be grand, the ambience is relaxed and informal. The aim of North Bundaleer is to provide an environment in which to unwind and enjoy the simple pleasures of life—excellent food provided by the Chef, Leo Hollingshead, fresh air, and the good company of your hosts.

The Clare Valley is close by along with the historic mining towns of Burra and Mintaro. Perhaps bushwalk along the Heyson and Mawson Trails that traverse the Bundaleer Forest or if you have an interest in wine, North Bundaleer is an excellent base in which to explore the region’s esteemed wineries. Malcolm and Marianne will organise a day to suit your needs, and pack up a gourmet picnic to enjoy along the way.

 

Day 11 – Day 14 Angorichina Station, Flinders Ranges, for 3 nights
• Private transfer from North Bundaleer to Angorichina Station
• 3 nights stay in a standard Homestead Room
• All meals & selected beverages, activities including scenic 4WD tours, guided walks

In the middle of the desiccated red ranges, known as the Flinders Ranges, Angorichina Station comes as a startling contrast, an oasis of roses and lavender hedges, green lawns and shade – and an entrée to a remarkable world….For guests, one of the real pleasures of staying at Angorichina is the chance to become absorbed into the life of a working outback sheep station.” (Michael Gebicki – Outback In Style).

Ian and Di Fargher, the fourth generation to run Angorichina station can take you to the top of one of the many hills near the station to experience sunset over the often-desolate landscape, and watch it transform into a mesmerizing panorama in the changing light, whilst sipping on your sundowner. Evenings are spent with your hosts around the dining table laden with fantastic home cooked cuisine. Arrive as guests – leave as friends.

Take a rugged 4 wheel drive tour along the Oratunga Track - a 50km long dirt track through some of the most scenic land formations in the Flinders Ranges. Have your lunch in a creek bed en-route amongst the towering river Redgums. Wildlife in the area includes the western grey and red kangaroos, euros, emus and the endangered yellow-footed rock wallabies.

Perhaps you may choose instead to take a scenic flight, (additional cost), with Ian, an experienced pilot, to show you the Flinders Ranges from above. Viewed from the air, the Flinders Ranges appear as gigantic bowls formed by bent and distorted rows of hills and mountains resembling the back of a prehistoric crocodile.

Either by foot or by air a journey through the Flinders Ranges is a 60-million year journey through the Earth's history.

 

Day 14 – Day 17 Southern Ocean Lodge, Kangaroo Island, for 3 nights
• Private Charter flight from Angorichina Station to Adelaide (Parafield Airport)
• Private transfer Parafield Airport to Adelaide Airport
• Met on arrival at Kingscote Airport and transferred to Southern Ocean Lodge
• 3 nights stay in a Flinders Suite with all meals , selected beverages and included activities
• 1 full day private tour

Southern Ocean Lodge is Australia’s first true luxury lodge experience. Sensitively designed to float amongst the untouched coastal drama of Kangaroo Island’s South West coast and commanding spectacular ocean, beach and wilderness views, the celebrated world-class lodge offers a unique fusion of nature and luxury.

With exceptional guided adventures and experiences on offer, Southern Ocean Lodge incorporates a complete Kangaroo Island experience. A range of signature activities are offered daily, allowing you to encounter rich and varied wildlife, indulge in world-class food and wine and discover the Island's unique natural attractions, often with exclusive access and always with a touch of sumptuousness.

If this is all too strenuous you can opt for indulgent pampering in the Southern Spa, located in a pavilion on the top of a hill with commanding views over the wild coastal landscape. Relaxing and healing treatments inspired by indigenous methods use a combination of Li'tya products and local botanical ingredients.

During your stay, experience a full day of private touring with Exceptional Kangaroo Island. Former wildlife ranger and islander Craig Wickham, Exceptional Kangaroo Island’s founder, has assembled a team of dedicated, sharp-eyed outdoor enthusiasts who combine the role of naturalists, historians, driver, guides and story tellers. Your personal guide will reveal a side of Kangaroo Island that only a few get to experience through private access to some of the most beautiful scenery in Australia.

Your taste of Australia journey ends back in Adelaide.

For a full detailed Itinerary please email our Travel Designers – info@outbackencounter.com