5 days / 4 nights
April 10-14, 2023
Day 1 - Arrive Sydney, Australia
On arriving at Sydney Airport (code: SYD), you’re met by our local TravelQuest guide, who arranges the quick transfer to our centrally located hotel. Spend the rest of the day relaxing or exploring the shopping district and nearby Sydney Opera House. Then in the evening, join us for a sunset dinner cruise around Sydney Harbor – scenic at any time of day, but especially striking as the sun sets over “Emerald City.” The ship’s chefs create a menu showcasing Sydney’s multicultural cuisine, while the sommelier offers selections from the acclaimed wine regions of New South Wales.
DATE(S): Monday, 10 April, 2023
MEALS: Dinner
ACCOMMODATIONS: Radisson Blu Hotel Sydney
Day 2 - Exploring Sydney
After breakfast at the hotel, our local guides immerse you in Sydney’s past, sharing tales of convicts, seafarers and other colorful rogues as you explore cobbled lanes and narrow alleyways, stopping to admire colonial-era churches, along with historic pubs and inns that have welcomed sailors and other adventurers from every corner of the globe. Our walk around Circular Quay leads to the renowned Opera House, where you can explore the beautiful theatres and other spaces that are usually off limits to visitors, then enjoy lunch at the restaurant.
In the afternoon, we pass historic Parliament House, The Mint and Hyde Park Barracks en route to Mrs. Macquarie's Chair, a sandstone bench carved by convicts in 1810, which offers breathtaking views of Sydney and its impressive natural harbor. Carrying on through cosmopolitan Kings Cross, you take in more ocean views from the headland at Watsons Bay, then return via Bondi Beach and Paddington, whose Victorian terraced houses are richly decorated with cast-iron lace. In the evening, you’re free to explore further on your own and dine at one of the many restaurants near our hotel.
DATE(S): Tuesday, 11 April, 2023
MEALS: Breakfast / Lunch
ACCOMMODATIONS: Radisson Blu Hotel Sydney
Day 3 - Cairns
After breakfast, we transfer to Sydney airport for our flight to Cairns, gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. After checking into our hotel for the next two nights, you can spend the afternoon exploring this interesting city on you own, noting the shift from Sydney’s cosmopolitan style to a more laidback tropical vibe. Then in the evening, join us for a traditional barbecue fest at Rainforestation Nature Park, in the heart of a World Heritage rainforest, where our indigenous Pamagirri Aboriginal hosts teach us about their culture through dance performances, spear and boomerang throwing, and haunting traditional music played on the didgeridoo.
DATE(S): Wednesday, 12 April, 2023
MEALS: Breakfast / Dinner
ACCOMMODATIONS: Crystalbrook Flynn Hotel
Day 4 - The Great Barrier Reef
Pack a bag with your swimsuit, hat, sunscreen and camera (including an underwater model if you have one) as we drive to Port Douglas and board QuickSilver for a day of snorkeling or diving along the spectacular Great Barrier Reef. The experienced crew takes us to the very edge of Australia's continental shelf at Agincourt Reef, then down into a world of sunlit corals teeming with brilliantly colored fish and exotic sea creatures.
Whether you snorkel (with all gear provided, along with tips on technique), or scuba dive (at extra cost) or view the reef from one of Quicksilver’s semi-submersibles, count on an extraordinary experience as all the undersea documentaries you’ve ever seen come to life around you in the shimmering turquoise waters.
DATE(S): Thursday, 13 April, 2023
MEALS: Breakfast / Lunch
ACCOMMODATIONS: Crystalbrook Flynn Hotel
Day 5 - Flight onward to Perth
After breakfast at the hotel, we arrange the quick transfer to Cairns Airport for your flight to Perth and the beginning of your Western Australia Total Solar Eclipse tour.
DATE(S): Friday, 14 April, 2023
MEALS: Breakfast
ACCOMMODATIONS: n/a
Pricing
Price: $2,380 USD per person, double occupancy and $2,925 for single occupancy.
- Add-on package includes: four nights’ accommodation at hotels in Sydney and Cairns, plus all meals, activities and transportation (including transfers) as noted in the itinerary.
- Not included: inbound airfare to Sydney, as well as from Sydney to Cairns and from Cairns to Perth – plus any services or items of a personal nature.
Payment is due with your final payment for the Western Australia Total Solar Eclipse tour. All payments become non-refundable 120 days prior to departure.
An important note about air travel within Australia: Internal Australia flights for travelers joining our pre-trip and/or post-trip tours are not included in these add-on costs. TravelQuest will provide pricing information and other details pertaining to these group flights in Fall 2022.
As we seek out the best places on Earth for eclipse viewing and stargazing, we also explore some of our planet’s most fascinating and less-travelled regions – because that’s all part of the TravelQuest experience. On our astronomy-themed journeys, we don’t just look upward; we immerse ourselves in the natural and cultural wonders all around us.
After lunch on your own, we rendezvous in mid-afternoon and head north along the coast to Nambung National Park and the Pinnacle Desert, named for the weathered limestone pillars that protrude from its yellow sands, reaching heights of 3 m (10 ft) or more. It’s the perfect time of day to wander among these unconventional rock formations: most visitors will have left, and the temperature becomes pleasantly cool as the Sun sinks below the ocean’s far horizon.
Other landmarks on our walk include the Round House, Western Australia’s oldest building, constructed in 1831 as a jail; and Fremantle Prison, built by inmates and the first home for many of the 10,000 people who were forcibly transported here from Great Britain and Ireland. Their legacy, and that of the whalers and other adventurers who settled this remote shore, live on in tales of prison breaks, shipwrecks and colonial-era hardships that forged the tenacious spirit that still prevails in Western Australia. We end our day arriving at our hotel with time to relax before enjoying dinner on your own.
Early this morning we board our private jet at Perth Airport for the two-hour flight north to the remote resort town of Exmouth. On arrival, we shuttle directly to our chosen viewing site – and just before 11:30 a.m. the Moon’s shadow passes over us in a magnificent total solar eclipse. There’s plenty of time to savor the experience and take in the beauty of the Coral Coast landscapes. Then in the afternoon we fly back to Perth, landing in time for an evening of farewell toasts over dinner at the hotel at a local restaurant.
After breakfast at your leisure in the hotel, we arrange your quick transfer to Perth Airport for your flight homeward or on to other adventures. Or take advantage of our Ayers Rock post-tour add-on (see below).
