ESSENCE OF OZ

Your Australian adventure begins in Sydney, the country’s best-looking city and one of its cultural capitals. You’ll spend your first 3 nights in the Langham, a classically luxurious heritage hotel in the historic city centre district The Rocks. The hotel’s central location means Sydney’s iconic attractions are within easy reach; the Sydney Opera House is one of the world’s most recognisable buildings and a world class cultural venue. One of Sydney’s great charms is its natural beauty, particularly around the seafront; the Sydney Harbour National Park is covered in walking trails and home to beautiful cliffs and islands as well as sites of historic and cultural interest such as Aboriginal burial grounds. For surfers and sunseekers, Bondi Beach is the place to go. One of the world’s most famous beaches, it’s also the pick of Sydneyites, and is a great place to people-watch and relax – particularly the morning after a taste of the Harbour City’s famous nightlife.

Departing Sydney, you’ll take a scenic drive for a couple of hours inland to the Blue Mountains, an area of incredible natural beauty named for the characteristic smoky haze which gathers around its peaks. You’ll stay in the historic small town of Leura, an impossibly picturesque spot in the heart of the mountains. Your hotel is the Old Leura Dairy, a cosy, luxurious boutique property and the perfect base for active excursions into the mountains. Bushwalking and hiking are two of the more obvious activities, with a huge number of trails taking you through rainforests and past strange rock formations and waterfalls; there are various lookouts which afford incredible views. Mountain biking and horse riding are also great ways to get to know the area up close. A rich diversity of wildlife lives and can be spotted in this area, including prehistoric plants such as the blackheart sassafras and Antipodean icons like wallabies, dingoes and kangaroos.

After 3 nights exploring the Blue Mountains, you’ll depart for another of Australia’s great natural wonders: Uluru. After driving back to Sydney you’ll board a 3.5 hour flight to Ayers Rock Airport, which is close to Sails in the Desert, your stylish and luxurious desert hotel. Inspired by the rich cultural and artistic traditions of the area’s Aboriginal people, local artwork adorns the walls of the hotel and the stunning Mulgara Gallery. The hotel is a short drive away from Uluru itself, a vast mound of red sandstone over 3 kilometres long which rises strangely and suddenly from the sand of the Outback. Dawn and dusk are particularly impressive times to visit, when the rising and fading sun casts the entire area in rich hues of orange and red. The rock’s pitted, moon-like surface is home to many sites of religious significance to the Anangu people.

The next and final stop on your Aussie adventure is Port Douglas, a fashionable and glamorous seaside town on the northern coast of Queensland. With the pristine Four Mile Beach, a great selection of upmarket bars and restaurants, and easy access to the Great Barrier Reef, this is one of the premier coastal destinations in Australia. You’ll spend 4 relaxing nights at Thala Beach Lodge, a luxurious eco-hotel set in a nature reserve of the same name. Here, you can relax on a stretch of privately accessible beach, enjoy world-class cuisine, and explore the nearby rainforests of Tropical North Queensland, home to iconic wildlife like koala bears, platypuses, cassowaries and kangaroos. The highlight of any stay here, though, is the opportunity to dive and snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef and one of our planet’s greatest natural wonders. Excursions on luxury boats can be arranged by your hotel, so you can experience the Reef in style. After 4 nights relaxing and immersing yourself in nature in Port Douglas, your essence of Australia adventure has come to an end, and you’ll be taken by private transfer to nearby Cairns for your onward journey.