Cobber Pass Cairns to Melbourne by Oz Experience

Tour Itinerary

Please note: At time of booking, HostelWorld will take a deposit on your trip. Oz Experience will also debit your credit card for the balance of the trip price at time of booking - not when you join the tour

Recommended Min.Trip Time

26 days

Cairns to Mission Beach

East Coast, here we come. First stop is Babinda Boulders where we view some seriously big rocks. We then head to Innisfail to visit some very big and very bad crocodiles (optional). Get right up close to these amazing reptiles, but not too close because we want you around for a few more weeks. We stop in at Mission Beach, which is one great place to stay over for a few days. The beaches are superb. Relax or go skydiving or white water rafting (optional). If you're lucky you'll see a Cassowary, these are seriously big birds with attitude to match.

Mission Beach to Townsville / Magnetic (zz)

You can stay in Townsville or travel over to Magnetic Island (320 sunny days per year) with the guide (optional). Get out for some hikes or try and spot koalas in their natural habitat.

Townsville to Airlie Beach (zz)

We travel via Bowen, a great place to stop and earn some money picking fruit or veggies. In Airlie you'll probably say goodbye Oz Bus and hello sunshine and sailing boats for a few days. Don't forget to book your bus out of Airlie before you set sail!

Airlie Beach to Sarina

We say farewell to Airlie Beach and head to the Sarina Bowling Club to play bare-foot lawn bowls, which is becoming an Aussie tradition. Your guide will show you how!

Sarina to Kroombit Cattle Station (zz)

Leaving the coast we travel into the outback and our overnight stop at Kroombit. There's a local payment to cover bush dinner, bunk accommodation and breakfast. Don't go to bed before cracking a whip and having a go at the mechanical bull ride!

Kroombit to Hervey Bay

We don't leave the station until we get on the horses and round up the goats (optional activity). Then be part of a real-life mini-rodeo which is loads of laughs and included in your pass. Stay behind for more of the cattle station or get back on the bus to Hervey Bay and Rainbow Beach. Along the way you may wish to get off the bus to visit the Town of 1770 for a few days.

Hervey Bay to Rainbow Beach (zz)

Rainbow Beach is the shortcut to Fraser Island so the best place to start your guided or self-drive four wheel drive island adventure. After Fraser, there's so much to do at Rainbow: beaches, great natural attractions like the Carlo Sand Blow, coloured cliffs and even dolphin feeding. Rainbow Beach is a laid back beach town that some say was like Byron Bay 20 years ago. Be sure to get off the bus and take the Oz EX cultural walk (included) and dolphin feeding cruise (optional).

Rainbow Beach to Noosa

After a few back roads we're onto the highway and it's not long before we turn for the Sunshine Coast and a stop in the holiday spot of Noosa.

Noosa to Brisbane

The Glasshouse Mountains, remnants of active volcanoes from times past. Sailing past in 1770, Captain Cook saw them and thought they looked like Glasshouses in his home of Yorkshire: Active Volcanoes or an overactive imagination?

Brisbane to Gold Coast

Our first drop-off point is Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast: golden sands, theme parks, and great bars and clubs. It's a lot of high-rise buildings, but it's a lot of fun. Try it out for a couple of days yourself and see.

Gold Coast to Byron Bay (zz)

South and across the border into New South Wales and Byron Bay; a great beachside town with a cool vibe and interesting locals. We're sure you'll love it and want to stay longer. Enjoy! Take a cheap day tour to Nimbin, town of happy hippies.

Byron Bay to Surf Camp (zz)

Today is a short journey to Spot-X for our afternoon surf lesson. Surf's up! Its time for your included 3-hour surf lesson - all gear supplied: wetsuits, surfboards, professional surf instructors, water, sunshine and lots of fun. Surfing can be addictive so you might not want to leave the tranquil and uncrowded Spot-X surf beaches.

Surf Camp to Sydney

We get up early today for the journey to Australia's largest city. Stay longer if you reckon surfing's your thing and you're not quite ready for the big smoke! It's a cruisy day with lots of bush, cool tunes and a coastal lunch stop before we reach Sydney late in the afternoon.

Sydney to Thredbo Alpine Village* (via Canberra) (zz)

Our first stop today is the capital city of Australia - Canberra - where the Prime Minister hangs out. See for yourself how a custom-made capital city is built as you take in the view from Mt. Ainslie, take a tour of Parliament House, check out a few embassies and see other city highlights. We travel via Cooma, learning about the historically important Snowy Hydro-Electric Scheme on our way to Thredbo. *In ski season (Jun-Sep) we stay in Jindabyne and during winter, have time to play in the snow at the ski resort of Perisher/Smiggins (optional toboggan hire or snow tube at own expense).

Thredbo to Lakes Entrance via Snowy River Country (zz)

Grab your hiking boots and cameras, this morning we're going to the "Roof of Australia". There's a chairlift (included in your local payment) express up the mountain! You can walk to the summit of Australia's highest mountain, Mt Kosciuszko, or to the viewing point. After lunch, it's a spectacular drive along Barry Way, watching the Snowy River wind along below us. Tonight we stay in the coastal town of Lakes Entrance, the Gateway to the Gippsland Lakes and Australia's longest beach - Ninety Mile Beach.

Lakes Entrance to Wilsons Promontory NP and Melbourne (zz)

We travel to mainland Australia's most southerly point, Wilsons Promontory National Park. Walk along gleaming beaches, hike along amazing granite rock formations and learn about coastal flora and native wildlife. You might even see emus and wombats! We finish our tour travelling to Melbourne through pastoral landscapes in South Gippsland.

NOTE:

Prices valid for passes purchased on or before 31st October 2010

Valid for travel within 12 months of sale date

Refer to www.ozexperience.com for full terms and conditions

Strict luggage limit of 15kg

Meals B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner

Itineraries may vary and/or attractions be substituted due to seasonal conditions, weather extremes, Traditional Owner and national park requirements.

(zz) = compulsory overnight stop required