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Australia Uncovered
Australia

Australia Uncovered

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Personal planning

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A real conversation with someone who understands pace, routing, hotels, and the details that make a trip feel personal.

  • Grant (Buster) St. ClairGrant (Buster) S.Oceania
  • Ian SwainIan S.Co-President

Overview

Uncover Australia's heritage, from Melbourne’s laneways to Sydney Harbour, with the Red Centre and the Great Barrier Reef in between. Aboriginal guides show you their Country firsthand: the Birrarung that runs through Melbourne, the rock art at the base of Uluru, the rainforest and tidal flats of Kuku Yalanji Country north of Cairns. Between them, you ride The Ghan from Adelaide into the Outback, walk among sea lions on Kangaroo Island, sail to the outer reef, and sit down to dinner in the desert as 50,000 lights come up around you at Uluru.
Australia Uncovered
Day by day

Your journey, day by day

  1. Day 1

    Welcome to Melbourne

    Welcome to Australia's cultural capital, Melbourne. Upon arrival, you'll be transferred to the elegant Park Hyatt Melbourne, your home for the next three nights. Here, grand Victorian architecture stands alongside bold contemporary design, hidden laneways lead to acclaimed cafés and galleries, and leafy parks soften the edges of this vibrant city.

  2. Day 2

    Aboriginal Melbourne: Past and Present

    Before it was the Yarra, the river was the Birrarung, a source of food for the clans of the Kulin Nation. With an Aboriginal host, you walk its banks and follow its course. Your host points out where the Melbourne Cricket Ground now stands, once a Kulin gathering place, and a nearby scar tree that still carries the mark where bark was cut for a canoe or shelter.

    Later, the walk moves to Fitzroy. Along Gertrude Street, sites important to the Aboriginal community sit beside murals painted by and for it, and the conversation turns to Aboriginal life in Melbourne today.
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch

  3. Day 3

    Lanes & Arcades Walking Tour

    Melbourne keeps many of its favorite spots off the main streets. On a morning walk with a local guide, duck through Victorian-era arcades and down narrow lanes lined with street art, stopping at independent designers, specialty shops, and cafés that are easy to miss without someone who knows where to turn. Your guide fills in the history and architecture as you go.

    By lunch, the city’s layout makes sense, and you have a short list of places to return to this afternoon.
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch

  4. Day 4

    Fly from Melbourne to Adelaide

    Adelaide is small enough to walk across in an afternoon. Colonel William Light laid out the city center in 1837 as a grid ringed entirely by parkland, and the plan still holds: a few blocks in any direction, the streets give way to lawns and gum trees. The afternoon is free to settle in.
    • Breakfast

  5. Day 5

    Kangaroo Island One-Day Adventure

    Kangaroo Island is a haven for native wildlife, rugged coastlines and quiet beaches. At Emu Bay, watch for kangaroos near the shoreline before venturing inland to Duck Lagoon, where koalas rest in eucalyptus trees and native birds gather around the wetlands. A visit to a historic eucalyptus distillery offers a glimpse into the island's past.

    At Seal Bay Conservation Park, walk with your guide among a colony of Australian sea lions. Watch pups playing in the surf, mothers nursing their young and large bulls resting on the sand. Explore the rugged coastline and secluded bays of the island's southeast before returning to Adelaide.
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch

  6. Day 6

    Classic Adelaide: Culture and Heritage

    Discover Adelaide's cultural heart, where grand government buildings, historic universities and tree-lined boulevards reflect the city's heritage. Admire Rodin sculptures at the Art Gallery of South Australia, explore the South Australian Museum and its desert garden, and see skilled conservators restoring paintings, books and textiles at Artlab. Wander through charming laneways and hidden corners known to locals, stopping to sample handcrafted chocolates at Haigh's and visit South Australia's own Jurlique skincare boutique. Pass the historic Adelaide Club and Queen Adelaide Club, gaining insight into the city's social history. Perhaps finish with lunch at the Art Gallery.
    • Breakfast

  7. Day 7

    The Ghan: Adelaide to the Outback

    Step aboard the legendary Ghan. North of Adelaide, wheat country thins into mallee scrub, and the Flinders Ranges hold the eastern horizon before falling away behind the train. The Ghan takes its name from the cameleers, many from Afghanistan, who carried supplies through this country in the 1800s, long before the railway. Your private Platinum cabin is your base for the night, while gourmet regional cuisine and South Australian wines are served on board.
    • Breakfast
    • Dinner

  8. Day 8

    Arrival in Alice Springs

    The train stops at Marla, in the far north of South Australia, so you can step off with a coffee and watch the sun come up over the Outback. Back aboard, brunch is served in the dining car as the train continues north into the Northern Territory.

    Alice Springs is Mparntwe to the Arrernte people, whose Country takes in the town and the MacDonnell Ranges around it. Your afternoon is open to visit local landmarks or venture further with a helicopter flight over the MacDonnell Ranges or camel ride across the ochre country outside town.
    • Breakfast

  9. Day 9

    Uluru at Sunset

    Uluru rises dramatically from the red desert landscape, its immense scale becoming even more impressive as you approach. Walk with your guide along the base, visiting ancient rock art sites and the peaceful Mutitjulu Waterhole. Learn about the cultural and spiritual significance of Uluru to the Anangu people, the Traditional Owners of this land, as you explore the Mala Walk and hear stories passed down through generations.

    As the sun begins to set, watch the changing colors of Uluru from the Talinguru Nyakunytjaku viewing area, with Kata Tjuta in the distance and a glass of sparkling wine in hand.
    • Breakfast

  10. Day 10

    Kata Tjuta at Sunrise and A Night at Field of Light

    Kata Tjuta means “many heads,” and at sunrise its 36 domes change color one after another. After a picnic breakfast, walk with your guide into Walpa Gorge between sheer conglomerate walls. Walpa means wind, and you hear why as it moves through the gap above you.

    In the evening, you’re taken to a dune with views of Uluru for sunset, canapés, and sparkling wine, accompanied by a didgeridoo. As darkness falls,  50,000 glass spheres of Bruce Munro’s Field of Light sparkle across the desert. Dinner is three courses flavored with native ingredients, followed by a star talk on the southern sky. Afterward, you walk the paths through the installation, with a last look from the dune-top viewing area.
    • Breakfast
    • Dinner

  11. Day 11

    From the Red Centre to the Coral Sea

    Leaving the red ochre sand of the Outback behind, by afternoon you’re on the Coral Sea coast north of Cairns, where Thala Beach Nature Reserve occupies a private headland of rainforest between Cairns and Port Douglas. The rest of the day is unscheduled.
    • Breakfast

  12. Day 12

    Kuku Yalanji Country

    The Kuku Yalanji have lived between the rainforest and the reef for countless generations, and their relationship with this land continues. With a Kuku Yalanji guide, you walk through rainforest and along the coastal flats, learning which plants are eaten and which are used as medicine, and tasting bush food along the way. On the tidal flats, you gather shellfish, try your hand at spear throwing, and, with luck, catch a mud crab. The day ends with a swim in a freshwater stream.
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch

  13. Day 13

    Sailing to the Outer Great Barrier Reef

    The Daintree’s mountains follow you up the coast as the yacht sails out of Port Douglas toward the coral cays of Mackay Cay or Undine Reef. At the reef, a marine biologist leads a guided snorkel over gardens of giant clams and coral, with a chance of seeing turtles. If you’d rather stay dry, a glass-bottom boat goes over the same reef. Between swims, there’s time to walk the white sand of the cay.
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch

  14. Day 14

    Fly from Cairns to Sydney

    Takeoff to Sydney and continue on the next stage of your adventure. Upon arrival, the day is yours to settle in and explore. Circular Quay, the ferries, and the Opera House are a short walk downhill from Shangri-La Sydney, which stands above The Rocks.
    • Breakfast

  15. Day 15

    Sydney from Bondi to Manly

    See both sides of the Sydney Harbour in a single day. The morning starts in The Rocks, where the colony began, continues along Macquarie Street past Parliament House, St Mary’s Cathedral, and Hyde Park Barracks, and pauses in the Royal Botanic Garden for a view across to the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Sulphur-crested cockatoos and lorikeets are common here.

    From there, you wind through the iron-lace terraces of Paddington and Woollahra, stop for coffee at a neighborhood café, and walk the cliff path from Tamarama to Bondi Beach. After crossing the Harbour Bridge to Middle Head and Mosman for lunch, you visit Manly Beach, where surfing first took hold in Australia, and North Head.
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch

  16. Day 16

    An Evening at the Sydney Opera House

    The day is yours until evening, when you take a guided tour of the Sydney Opera House. Jørn Utzon’s building opened in 1973 on Bennelong Point, named for Woollarawarre Bennelong, a Wangal man who served as an intermediary between the Eora peoples and the first British colonists. Afterward, enjoy a two-course dinner at Bennelong, the restaurant beneath the building’s sails, with Australian wine pairings.
    • Breakfast
    • Dinner

  17. Day 17

    Farewell to Sydney

    If your flight time allows, take one more walk down to Circular Quay before your private transfer to Sydney Airport.
    • Breakfast

Included activities

A Night at Field of Light

A Night at Field of Light

Half-day
Kata Tjuta Sunrise Tour

Kata Tjuta Sunrise Tour

Half-day
Lanes and Arcades Walking Tour

Lanes and Arcades Walking Tour

Half-day
Uluru Sunset Tour

Uluru Sunset Tour

Half-day, Full-day


Pricing

Package level

Deluxe

Prices are approximations and may vary with exchange-rate adjustments. Each itinerary can be customized around your interests, pace, and preferred hotels.
Twin Share
10/1/2026 - 10/31/2026USD $18,635 p/p
11/1/2026 - 11/30/2026USD $18,050 p/p
3/1/2027 - 3/31/2027USD $18,635 p/p
Single Traveler
10/1/2026 - 10/31/2026USD $33,375 p/p
11/1/2026 - 11/30/2026USD $32,310 p/p
3/1/2027 - 3/31/2027USD $33,375 p/p

Add internal air to this package from USD $1,275 p/p*


Good to know

Terms and conditions

Prices are per person, twin/double share in USD. All highlighted savings are reflected in the price. Price does not include airfare unless otherwise stated. Travel may be limited to certain days of the week. Hotels and tours remain subject to availability. Cancellation penalties and other booking or alteration restrictions may exist. Please note blackout dates may apply to Christmas, New Year and local special event periods. Pricing may increase over Holiday and special event periods and may not be reflected in price grid. Prices indicated remain subject to change without notice. Prices are not guaranteed until full payment is received and processed. CST #2012413-20 See our full Terms and Conditions: www.swaindestinations.com/terms
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  • Grant (Buster) St. ClairGrant (Buster) S.Oceania