Via Travel 16-Day Sydney to Cairns Best of East Coast Australia Comfort Tour

Map

DAY 1: SYDNEY

Your trip begins in the evening at your hotel in Potts Point, a harbourside neighbourhood known for its Art Deco apartment blocks and leafy streets, right beside Kings Cross. Check in, then meet your driver-guide and the rest of the small group (never more than 16) at the welcome briefing. Dinner together follows, included tonight, and it's the easiest way to put names to faces before a week on the road. Arriving early? Sydney Harbour, where the First Fleet anchored in 1788, is yours to wander before the meeting.

Overnight: Sydney (Holiday Inn Potts Point or similar)

DAY 2: THE HUNTER VALLEY AND NEWCASTLE

Head north out of the city to a conservation wildlife park, where you meet kangaroos, wombats and emus up close and learn how the park cares for native species. Then it's into the Hunter Valley, where vines have grown since the 1820s, making it Australia's oldest wine region. A tasting of wine, cheese and chocolate shows off what the valley does best. By late afternoon you reach Newcastle, founded in 1804 as a convict outpost and now one of the world's biggest coal-exporting ports. An orientation drive takes in the harbour, the beaches and the old sandstone buildings of the city's East End.

Overnight: Newcastle (Lucky Hotel or similar)

DAY 3: PORT MACQUARIE

Up the Pacific Highway to Port Macquarie, founded in 1821 as a penal settlement for convicts who reoffended. The highlight is the Koala Hospital, opened in 1973 and among the first of its kind, where volunteers treat koalas hurt by cars, dogs, bushfire and disease, then release them back where they were found. You meet some of the patients and hear their stories. Later, stroll the breakwall along the Hastings River mouth, where locals paint the rocks, and watch for the wild bottlenose dolphins that often fish here. The evening is free for dinner in town.

Overnight: Port Macquarie (El Paso Motor Inn or similar)

DAY 4: GUMBAYNGGIRR COUNTRY TO BYRON BAY

A longer driving day north. Above Coffs Harbour you stop at Niigi Niigi (Sealy Lookout) in the forest high above the coast, where Gumbaynggirr guides share language, stories and traditions of their Country, one of the largest Aboriginal nations on the New South Wales coast. Then on to Byron Bay and Cape Byron, the most easterly point of the Australian mainland. The white Cape Byron Lighthouse has shone here since 1901, and from the walking track you can often spot dolphins, and humpback whales in the cooler months.

Overnight: Byron Bay (Beachcomber Byron Bay or similar)

DAY 5: A FREE DAY IN BYRON BAY

A whole day off the bus in Byron Bay. Learn to surf on the gentle breaks of the Pass, paddle a sea kayak out towards Julian Rocks, a marine reserve where turtles and leopard sharks gather, or join a whale watching cruise in season (activities are at your own cost). You could just as easily spend the day on Main Beach and in the cafés of Jonson Street, then watch the sunset from the sand. No meals are included today, so it's a good night to try one of the town's restaurants.

Overnight: Byron Bay (Beachcomber Byron Bay or similar)

DAY 6: NOOSA TO RAINBOW BEACH

You cross into Queensland and follow the coast north to Noosa National Park, where wild koalas sometimes sit in the eucalypts right beside the coastal track and dolphins surf the point breaks below. Then a stroll through Noosa: Hastings Street with its boutiques and cafés, and Main Beach, one of the few on the coast that faces north. In the afternoon you continue to Rainbow Beach, named after the coloured sand cliffs of red, orange and yellow that line the shore. This is your base for two nights and the gateway to K'gari.

Overnight: Rainbow Beach (Rainbow Getaway Apartments or similar)

DAY 7: K'GARI (FRASER ISLAND)

Today is the big one: a full-day 4WD trip across K'gari (Fraser Island), at 123 km long the largest sand island on earth and World Heritage-listed since 1992. You drive 75 Mile Beach, the island's sand highway, keeping watch for dingoes, or wongari, walk through rainforest growing straight out of the sand, and stand beside the rusting hull of the SS Maheno, washed ashore by a cyclone in 1935. Lunch is included, and the swim of the day is Lake McKenzie, a perched lake of rainwater on pure white silica sand. Back in Rainbow Beach, walk up the Carlo Sandblow for sunset over Tin Can Bay if you still have the legs.

Overnight: Rainbow Beach (Rainbow Getaway Apartments or similar)

DAY 8: RAINBOW BEACH TO BRISBANE

The road runs south down the Bruce Highway to Brisbane, Queensland's capital on the bends of the Brisbane River. A guided orientation of the city follows, on short walks past the Story Bridge, opened in 1940 and still Australia's longest cantilever bridge, and through South Bank, the riverside parklands built on the site of World Expo 88, with a man-made beach in the middle of the city. Tonight you stay at Kangaroo Point, below cliffs quarried by convicts in the 1820s.

Overnight: Brisbane (The Point Hotel or similar)

DAY 9: BRISBANE TO AIRLIE BEACH

After breakfast you fly north, about 1 hour 50 minutes from Brisbane to Proserpine, then transfer 40 km to Airlie Beach, the mainland gateway to the Whitsundays. The afternoon is yours. Walk the waterfront boardwalk, browse the shops on the main street, or swim in the Airlie Beach Lagoon, a free public lagoon pool on the foreshore, built so you can swim safely all year in a place where box jellyfish visit the sea in summer.

Overnight: Airlie Beach (Mantra Club Croc or similar)

DAY 10: THE WHITSUNDAY ISLANDS AND WHITEHAVEN BEACH

A full day on the water. You head out with Red Cat Adventures on the fast catamaran Thundercat across the Whitsunday Passage, through an archipelago of 74 islands that are the tops of a drowned mountain range, the traditional sea country of the Ngaro people. The stop everyone waits for is Whitehaven Beach, 7 km of sand that is almost pure silica, so fine it squeaks and stays cool underfoot. A short walk climbs to the Hill Inlet lookout, where the tide swirls white sand through turquoise water. You also snorkel the fringing coral, looking for turtles and big Maori wrasse, and lunch is on board.

Overnight: Airlie Beach (Mantra Club Croc or similar)

DAY 11: AIRLIE BEACH TO MISSION BEACH

The longest drive of the trip, about 505 km north on the Bruce Highway, past sugar cane, mango orchards and the town of Bowen, the setting for Baz Luhrmann's film Australia. Your guide breaks it up with lookouts and short easy walks. You arrive at Mission Beach, 14 km of sand backed by rainforest that runs right down to the water, with Dunk Island just offshore. This is cassowary country: the southern cassowary, a flightless bird as tall as a person, lives in the forest here, and the free afternoon is perfect for a beach walk to look for one.

Overnight: Mission Beach (Mission Beach Resort or similar)

DAY 12: THE ATHERTON TABLELANDS TO CAIRNS

Up onto the Atherton Tablelands, a volcanic plateau where the air cools and the rainforest closes in. You swim beneath a rainforest waterfall, then walk the shore of Lake Eacham (Yidyam), a crater lake about 65 metres deep that formed in a volcanic explosion. The Curtain Fig Tree is a strangler fig whose aerial roots drop 15 metres to the ground in a hanging curtain. Look out too for the platypus that live in the Tablelands creeks. In the evening you come down the range to Cairns.

Overnight: Cairns (Flynn Hotel or similar)

DAY 13: THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

Today you head out to the Great Barrier Reef, World Heritage-listed since 1981 and stretching more than 2,300 km down the Queensland coast. Ocean Freedom's 20-metre catamaran spends about 8.5 hours on the water. Snorkelling gear is included, and the crew lead a drift snorkel over the coral, where you might see giant clams, parrotfish and turtles. Prefer to stay dry? The glass-bottom boat shows you the reef from above, and the crew talk about the work to protect it. A buffet lunch is included. Or, for an extra cost, try an introductory scuba dive.

Overnight: Cairns (Flynn Hotel or similar)

DAY 14: KURANDA AND PORT DOUGLAS

Glide up the range on the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, 7.5 km of gondolas just above the canopy of the Wet Tropics, World Heritage-listed since 1988, with a stop to look over Barron Falls. At the top is Kuranda, a village in the rainforest known for its markets, galleries and Aboriginal art. Then it's back down to the coast and north along the Captain Cook Highway, where the mountains drop straight into the Coral Sea, to Port Douglas. An orientation drive takes in the town and Four Mile Beach, and the evening is free for sunset drinks and dinner in town.

Overnight: Port Douglas (Paradise Links Resort or similar)

DAY 15: MOSSMAN GORGE AND KUKU YALANJI COUNTRY

A slower day. Port Douglas has its markets in the park by the water on Sunday mornings if your trip falls on the day. Then it's north to Mossman Gorge, where the Mossman River tumbles over granite boulders in the southern Daintree. A guided walk of about 2.5 km takes you through the rainforest, with a shorter option if you'd prefer. Then the Kuku Yalanji, the Traditional Owners of this forest, share their bush foods, stories and customs, and how they have lived with this rainforest for thousands of years. Lunch is included.

Overnight: Port Douglas (Paradise Links Resort or similar)

DAY 16: THE DAINTREE AND CAPE TRIBULATION

The cable ferry carries you across the Daintree River into the oldest tropical rainforest on earth, here for more than 100 million years. A guided walk of about 7 km (or a shorter option) looks for cassowaries, tree frogs and ancient plants. At Cape Tribulation the rainforest runs right down to the beach, beside a second World Heritage Area, the reef. Captain Cook named it in 1770, after the Endeavour struck the reef nearby. In the afternoon an eco-friendly cruise on the river looks for saltwater crocodiles and birds, before the drive back to Cairns, arriving around 6pm.

Map

• 1L refillable water bottle
• Wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses and sunscreen
• Beach towel and toiletries
• Swimwear and thongs
• Comfortable sturdy closed-toe walking shoes
• All-weather clothing
• Overnight bag (20kg) and small day pack (5kg)
• Personal medicine if required
• Torch (optional)
• Insect repellent and camera
• Money for snacks and meals

• 15 nights in private boutique-style hotels and resorts, all rooms with ensuite
• 14 breakfasts, 5 lunches and 1 dinner
• All national park entry fees
• First Nations cultural experience
• Wine, cheese and chocolate tasting
• Australian wildlife encounter and rescue centre visit
• K'gari (Fraser Island) 4WD small-group experience
• Whitsunday Island and Whitehaven Beach day trip with snorkelling
• Great Barrier Reef day cruise, with snorkelling gear and glass-bottom boat
• Kuranda Skyrail gondola ride
• Guided rainforest, gorge, river cruise and lookout walks
• Experienced driver-guide with local commentary
• All transport: private small-group vehicle, transfers, domestic flight Brisbane to Proserpine, and boat trips
• Sydney meeting point and Cairns drop-off points

Not included

• Meals not shown in the itinerary — there are plenty of chances to buy food or dine out with the group
• Hotel transfers to the pick-up point before and after the tour
• Optional activities and hire equipment, such as scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef, or a surf lesson or kayaking in Byron Bay
• Travel insurance (highly recommended)
• Personal spending money
• International flights

Preparing for the trip

Private tours and families

Booking the trip

Who travels with us

Cost and Fees

Whilst on tour