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Tour includes private transfers, private or small
group tours, wine tasting at selected wineries
and some
wineries of your choice, scheduled cruise or rail
services, meals as indicated; first class and
deluxe hotels,
B&Bs or country house accommodation. The tour
can be customized for groups.
DAY
1 DEPART
USA
DAY
2 EN
ROUTE
Cross
the international date line, lose a day (gain
on return)
DAY 3
ARRIVE
SYDNEY
You
will be met and transferred to your hotel.
Balance of day at leisure.
Accommodation: Sydney, 2 nights
DAY
4 SYDNEY
CITY DISCOVERY TOUR (BD)
This
morning, pick up for city sights tour. Travel
via luxury air-conditioned vehicle to the charming
Rocks
area where you take a stroll around the historic
area, with its quaint old cottages, pubs and churches.
Rejoin the vehicle and travel along Macquarie
St, the seat of government for NSW, the Mint &
Hyde Park
Barracks. Traveling past St Mary’s Cathedral,
you visit Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair for an
unsurpassed view of
Sydney Harbour, the Opera House and Bridge. Continuing
along the shores of Sydney Harbour, you travel
through Kings Cross, Double Bay & Rose Bay.
Passing by the up market real estate, you pause
briefly for
morning tea in
the
beautiful Sydney Harbour National Park. You
then travel further to South Head, with its
breathtaking views of Sydney Harbour and the city.
Take a short stroll along the cliff tops
and rejoin the
vehicle to continue to Bondi Beach and Centennial
Park before returning to the city. Afternoon at leisure.
This evening enjoy the spectacular lights of Sydney’s
famous Harbour while dining aboard a luxury
catamaran. A fine selection of beverages are available
from the licensed bar at your own expense.
DAY
5 SYDNEY
TO HUNTER VALLEY (BL)
Pick
up from the hotel; travel north over the Sydney
Harbour Bridge via the Gore Hill Freeway to join
the
Pacific Highway and then the F3 Freeway. Crossing
the Hawkesbury River leave the Freeway to travel
on
sealed roads through the Yengo National Park.
Here you travel through contrasting
rural farmland and
Australian Natural Bush, mountains ranges and
grazing land. En route view several sections
of the original
convict built Old Great Northern Road. This
road, built in the 1820’s was considered
to be one of the world’
s great engineering feats of this time and is
an exceptional example of English road building.
Stop to enjoy
a delightful morning tea before continuing through
the historic Wollombi village, established in
the early
19th Century and a wonderful example of the small
colonial rural townships of this era. Departing
Wollombi, your journey takes you over Mt View
where you gain a panoramic perspective of the
Hunter
Valley wine areas. From here travel to the
first of the Boutique Wineries to sample premium
Hunter Wines
before adjourning to a renowned Vineyard Café
to enjoy lunch. After lunch visit another
respected
boutique winery to sample more of the Hunter Valley’s
famous wines and have the opportunity to
purchase wines that are not available anywhere
else. Afternoon at leisure.
Accommodation:
Hunter Valley resort, 1 night
DAY
6 HUNTER
VALLEY TO ADELAIDE (B)
After
breakfast you are transferred to the Hunter Valley
wine school for an informal tutorial of wine
education. Walk through the on site vineyard
of 30 year old shiraz vines and discuss matters
viticultural.
Then it’s off to the crusher and into the
Winery to see the air bag presses, huge tanks,
the Potter
Fermenters, the filtration equipment, and the
largest Rotovats in the Hunter. From there,
the tour then
moves through into the Oak Cask maturation area,
and on into the Wine Tasting Cellars; An
informal wine
tutorial and tasting follows. On completion
of the wine school you return to your accommodations
to check
out. This afternoon, return to Sydney
airport and your flight to Adelaide. On
arrival, transfer to your hotel.
Accommodation:
Adelaide, 3 nights.
DAY
7 NATIONAL
WINE CENTRE (B)
This
morning, transfer to the National Wine Centre
situated in the beautiful Botanic Gardens. Experience
interactive sights designed to educate the visitor
in every aspect of the wine making process and
provide
insights into the history of the Australian Wine.
At the completion of your self-guided tour
enjoy a
personalised tasting. Afternoon at leisure to enjoy the sights of Adelaide.
DAY
8 MCLAREN
VALE (BL)
You
will be met at your hotel for your drive to McLaren
Vale about 45 minutes south of Adelaide and
located between the southern Adelaide Hills and
the sea. The area’s hot summer growing
season is
tempered by cool afternoon sea breezes. The
region is known for ‘Old Fashioned’
full-bodied reds which
have as much to do with a mild, temperate climate
and complex soils as with the wine making technique.
The region’s white wines also have a certain
full-flavoured intensity about them. The
region is best known
for shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay and
more recently, sauvignon blanc and chenin blanc.
The day is full of surprises, none the least the
vineyards themselves – the oldest continually
working
vineyards in the world! Visit small, family wineries
that provide a special experience. Enjoy cellar
door
tastings and sales from wineries whose wines have
earned top awards from around the world.
Lunch
at a winery restaurant such as D'Arrys.
DAY
9 BAROSSA
VALLEY & CLARE VALLEY (BL)
You
will be met at your hotel for the drive to the
Barossa Valley. The Barossa is one
of Australia’s most
famous wine regions and many of the nations largest
wine companies have their roots there. The
Barossa
was settled in the 1840s by German Lutherans who
also brought the first vines to the Valley. Today
the
region remains close to its roots. Many
shiraz, grenache and semillon vineyards have vines
that are
between 50 and 100 years old and produce wines
with exceptional depth of fruit. Other grape
varieties
produced in the region include chardonnay, riesling,
cabernet sauvignon and Merlot as well as semillon
and
Pinot Noir in
the
slightly cooler Eden Valley nearby. Experience tasting premium local wines with the
opportunity to discuss your tastings with knowledgeable
winery staff. Enjoy lunch in a winery setting
where you can enjoy the region's distinctive cuisine.
After the day of wine tasting, continue north to the
Clare Valley for overnight.
Accommodation: Clare Valley country house,
1 night
DAY
10 CLARE VALLEY
TO ADELAIDE (BL)
The
Clare Valley has a number of elevated vineyards
producing wines with distinct cool-climate
characteristics and intense varietal fruit flavours.
The best example of this is the Clare Valley
Riesling
which presents itself with a crisp and fragrant
bouquet, steely herb and lime flavours on the
palate and a
long dry finish. Spend the morning tasting
premium Clare wines before heading for a tasting
at Skillogalee
Wines and lunch. After lunch enjoy further tastings
at other Clare Valleys wineries before returning
to
Adelaide.
DAY
11 KANGAROO
ISLAND (BL)
This
morning, transfer to the airport for your flight
to Kangaroo Island.
South west of Adelaide, Kangaroo Island is a microcosm
of a very diverse continent. It has many of the
images people readily associate with Australia
- abundant native wildlife, wide open spaces,
clean air,
beautiful wildflowers, a rugged coastline with
pounding waves, white sandy beaches, clear water
perfect
for scuba diving, rolling farmland dotted with
sheep and cattle. The Island’s red dirt
roads are its signature
and signal the lush gentleness of the island. The unique wildlife is plentiful as well as remarkable,
an endemic sub-species of kangaroo, tammar wallabies, Australian sea lions, New Zealand fur
seals, koalas, echidnas, platypus, goannas, 243
species of birds including many rare or endangered species,
possums, bandicoots and even whales during winter. This wide range of flora and fauna is well protected
with over 30% of the Island part of a National
Park or Conservation Park. Freedom from many of the introduced
pests that plague mainland Australia, especially
the European rabbit and red fox, has meant that
the Island had retained much of its original identity. A lack of human population for much of the last
20,000 years and particularly the past 2,500 years
has meant that the environment has developed in the absence
of both continuous hunting pressure and a regular
fire regime. All of these factors, combined with A high percentage of remnant native vegetation,
make Kangaroo Island a rare place. At the completion
of the tour, transfer to the airport for your
return flight to Adelaide and transfer to your hotel.
DAY
12 ADELAIDE
- MELBOURNE (B)
This
morning, transfer to the airport for your flight
to Melbourne. Upon arrival you are met and transferred to your
accommodation. This afternoon, a half day
tour of Melbourne where you will view historical buildings,
beautiful gardens, and shopping areas famous for
their restaurants and fashion. Melbourne is the
sporting city and Melbournian’s are passionate
about their Aussie Rules footy and almost all sports known
to mankind. Travel past the sporting precinct
that became famous in the 1956 Olympic Games and now roars
to the cheers of Aussie Rules crowds each weekend.
See the nearby Rod Laver Tennis Centre that hosts
the Australian Tennis Open each year. Melbourne
is home to people from all over the world and this cultural
diversity is expressed in the food and fashion
centers. Walk along the shopping strips of up-market traditional
Toorak, funky Chapel Street Prahran or the culturally Vietnamese Bridge Street Richmond.
This evening, transfer to the Colonial Tramcar
Restaurant for dinner. Dining in Melbourne
can be a fabulous
experience, especially aboard the fleet of historical
trams that have become The Colonial Tramcar
Restaurant. These glossy, burgundy restaurants
on wheels are the first traveling tramcar restaurants
in the
world and ensure a delightful innovative approach
to dining. As they cruise the scenic streets
of
Melbourne, diners can enjoy the fine cuisine and
drink the very best of Australian wines or make
a
selection from the fully stocked bar at a fully
inclusive price. The atmosphere is cozy, the service
friendly
and the decor as invitingas the colonial period
these trams reflect. After dinner, transfer
back to the hotel.
Accommodation:
Melbourne, 2 nights
DAY
13 YARRA
VALLEY (BL)
This
cool climate, low yielding wine region is situated
only an hour to the east of Melbourne in the rolling
foothills of the Great Dividing Range. Although
the history of winemaking in this region dates
back to
1840, the large plantings that now produce the
region’s great wines only commenced in 1968
at the Yarra
Yering, Yeringberg and Fergussons wineries. The
French company, Moet & Chandon, seeing the
potential
of the area for sparkling wines, established the
Domaine Chandon winery in 1985. The Yarra
Valley is a cool
climate region, experiencing very cold winters
and mainly cloudy days during the growing months.
Combined
with
its fertile soils, this region’s climate
is well suited for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet
Sauvignon and sparkling wines.
Enjoy
a day of tasting wines from this fine wine region
including a gourmet
winery lunch.
DAY
14 DEPART
MELBOURNE (B)
Today
you are transferred to the airport for your onward
or homeward flights.
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