Welcome To Travel Welcome to Australia: East Coast – 30 days

Map

DAY 1: SYDNEY, THE EAST COAST BEGINS

Your East Coast trip starts in Sydney with a meet and greet in the early afternoon, where your Welcome to Travel guide runs through the next 30 days and answers every question you have. Then the group heads off for a secret activity, followed by a welcome dinner together. That night you board the first of two overnight buses, heading north up the Pacific coast for about 760 km and waking up in Byron Bay. Most people arrive in Sydney a day or two early to get over the flight.

Overnight: Overnight bus to Byron Bay

DAYS 2 TO 4: BYRON BAY

Your guide starts with a walk around town, then a group dinner to celebrate your first night. Next morning you're out on a guided river kayak, the first of many trips on the water. In the afternoon you climb to the Cape Byron Lighthouse, first lit in 1901 on the most easterly point of mainland Australia; from the track below it, dolphins and, in winter, humpback whales often pass close in. Between activities there's time to surf, sit on the beach or wander the shops. Your last night in Byron is a team night out. Two dinners are included.

Overnight: Byron Bay (Surf House, 100 metres from the beach, with a rooftop bar)

DAYS 5 TO 6: SURFERS PARADISE AND BURLEIGH HEADS

From Byron the group carries on together without your guide, with everything set out in the Trip Loop app and the team a message away. On the Gold Coast an Aboriginal guide leads you round Burleigh Heads, Jellurgal in the Yugambeh language, a headland whose stacked basalt columns are lava from the Tweed volcano that erupted some 23 million years ago. The rest is up to you in Surfers Paradise, a seaside village called Elston until 1933, when it took the name of its most famous hotel. Hit the beach, a theme park or the nightlife. Two dinners are included.

Overnight: Surfers Paradise

DAYS 7 TO 9: BRISBANE

In Queensland's capital you choose the pace. Want to recharge? Head to South Bank, the site of World Expo 88, where Streets Beach is a free lagoon with real sand beside the river, and ride the CityCat ferries for the best views of the city. Want more? Two popular extras: a day on Moreton Island, where you can sandboard the dunes and snorkel the Tangalooma Wrecks, a line of 15 ships sunk on purpose as a breakwater, and a day at Australia Zoo, which Bob and Lyn Irwin opened in 1970 as a small reptile park.

Overnight: Brisbane

DAYS 10 TO 12: NOOSA

Noosa has beaches, a good food scene and a national park right on the edge of town. Follow the coastal track through Noosa National Park to the Fairy Pools, two rock pools near Granite Bay that the waves top up at high tide; go near low tide, when they're calm enough for a swim. Keep looking up into the gum trees on the way, as koalas are often spotted in the park. One afternoon the group takes to the Noosa River in a Roundaboat, a round, flat little boat you drive yourself (bring your own snacks and drinks). Your guide's sunset spots are in the app.

Overnight: Noosa (Bounce Noosa)

DAYS 13 TO 14: THE NOOSA EVERGLADES

Next you move inland into the Noosa Everglades, one of only two everglades systems on earth (the other is in Florida). You stay together in cabins and safari tents at Kangarooms, right in the national park, where kangaroos graze around camp every evening. Grab a kayak or paddleboard for the lake, or a beer from the brewery on site. On your second day a boat cruise takes you up the River of Mirrors, where tea-coloured water, stained by tannins from the paperbarks, reflects the forest so perfectly it's hard to tell where the bank ends. Then you paddle a short stretch by canoe.

Overnight: Noosa Everglades (Kangarooms cabins or safari tents)

DAYS 15 TO 20: RAINBOW BEACH AND K'GARI

Before and after the island you stay at Rainbow Beach, named for its coloured sand cliffs, and watch the sun go down from the Carlo Sandblow, a 15 hectare dune above town. From Inskip Point the barge crosses to K'gari (Fraser Island), at 123 km long the largest sand island on earth and World Heritage-listed since 1992. Over three days by 4WD you swim in freshwater lakes, float down creeks, see the wreck of the Maheno, driven ashore by a cyclone in 1935, and sit round the campfire under the stars. If you're 21 or over with a full licence, you can drive. Two breakfasts, three lunches and two dinners are included.

Overnight: Rainbow Beach, with 2 nights camping on K'gari (tents, sleeping bags and gear provided)

DAYS 21 TO 23: AIRLIE BEACH AND THE WHITSUNDAYS

You see the Whitsundays twice: first from the air, then from the sea. The included 60-minute scenic flight passes over Heart Reef, a natural heart of coral about 17 metres across on Hardy Reef. Then a fast boat takes you out among the 74 Whitsunday Islands, named after the passage James Cook sailed through in 1770, for snorkelling and a visit to Whitehaven Beach, 7 km of sand that is about 98% pure silica, so white it stays cool underfoot. Lunch is included on the boat day. Back in Airlie Beach there's the free lagoon pool, laneway bars and waterfront restaurants.

Overnight: Airlie Beach

DAYS 24 TO 26: MAGNETIC ISLAND

A short ferry from Townsville takes you to Magnetic Island, named by James Cook in 1770 because he thought it upset his ship's compass. 'Maggie' is the place to slow down before the finish. Walk the Forts Walk, a track past the gun emplacements and command post built in the Second World War to guard Townsville, with wild koalas in the gum trees along the way, descendants of a few brought over in the 1930s. Feed the rock wallabies at Geoffrey Bay at dusk, hire a snorkel, or hire one of the open-top pink 'Barbie cars' to tour the bays.

Overnight: Magnetic Island

DAYS 27 TO 30: CAIRNS AND THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

Nearly 3,000 km after leaving Sydney, you finish in Cairns with a full day out on the Great Barrier Reef, World Heritage-listed since 1981 and the largest coral reef system on earth. Snorkelling is included, so look for clownfish in the anemones and, with luck, a turtle; an intro scuba dive can be added. That night the group celebrates with a farewell meal. Cairns is also the base for white water rafting, the Daintree rainforest, bungy jumps and skydives if you want to stay on. The tour ends on the last day, and you can leave whenever you like. Lunch and dinner are included on the reef day.

Overnight: Cairns

Map

• 23 nights in hostel dorms (6 to 8 beds), including Magnetic Island
• 2 nights in cabins or safari tents at Kangarooms in the Noosa Everglades
• 2 nights camping on K'gari (Fraser Island)
• 2 overnight buses
• 2 breakfasts, 5 lunches and 6 dinners
• Food and drink discounts and specials at every destination
• Air-conditioned coach travel up the coast, with WiFi and USB
• Ferry to Magnetic Island
• 4WD on K'gari (Fraser Island)
• Fast boat to the Whitsundays
• Scenic flight over the Whitsundays

Not included

• Flights to Australia
• Airport transfers
• Visas
• Meals not listed

Preparing for the trip

Private tours and families

Booking the trip

Who travels with us

Cost and Fees

Whilst on tour