• Two nights accommodation in a 5-star centrally located Sydney hotel
• Breakfast
• Airport transfers

This trip to Australia circumnavigates huge swathes of the island-continent, to provide a sweeping overview of Australia’s most dramatic landscape formations—aboard a small, low-flying aircraft. Discover UNESCO World Heritage areas; see sacred Aboriginal sites; encounter profuse wildlife in their native habitat.

To learn more about this trip to Australia, watch this video or visit our web site for trip details.

The Ghan, part cruise train, part the working train that it started as, 90 years ago, is Australia’s transcontinental north-south line — a private railroad now running for 1,900 miles with just four stops through the vast interior of the country (and 1,900 miles back) twice each week. Northbound, it rolls from Adelaide on the temperate southern coast, through low desert plateau at Alice Springs, and on to the tropical lushness of the Top End, as Aussies call their northern coast, at Darwin on the Timor Sea.

The train was originally called the Afghan, after the camels that provided earlier transportation into the Australian interior; it has since been shortened to the Ghan, and a camel with its rider is the train’s ubiquitous trademark.

The entire trip from Adelaide to Darwin lasts 48 hours.

To read the complete article, visit NYTimes.com

Visit our site for information on group travel to Australia or creating a custom private trip to Australia, to include a ride on The Ghan, for just you and your family or friends.

Austraila travel – The Great Ocean Road

I have just returned from adventures in Australia. This journey began as both the quintessential ‘girlfriends’ trip and a journey of exploration to shores unknown.  My dearest friend, who I had met long ago when, post college, we were both traveling in Latin America, called one day to suggest a nostalgia trip.  Remembering how much fun we had long ago? Our kids are now grown and we finally had time to sneak away to rekindle a dear friendship, within the framework of adventure.

Travel to Australia is a huge undertaking, so we decided to bite off a manageable chunk:  Melbourne, The Great Ocean Road, the Barossa Valley wine country and a few days in Sydney.  The perfect road trip.

Melbourne’s sophisticated charms captivated us from the beginning, as we spent a lazy weekend exploring the markets, craft fairs, admiring the architecture both Victorian and oh, so contemporary and watching the Sunday rowers on the Yarrow River.

Leaving Melbourne, our first few kilometers on the road toward the coast were memorable, mostly for the sheer terror of driving on the left side of the road.  But, alas, even Americans can be quickly retrained and within a short time we were comfortably cruising like the locals.

The Great Ocean Road will forever loom large as one of the World’s great road trips.  Quaint coastal villages, spectacular ocean vistas, bronzed surfers, charming cafes, friendly people all along the way, koalas, kangaroos and (oh, should we mention?) great shopping.   We had days were we achieved record low distances covered. We stopped at every sight, drank coffee in each café and visited with countless, interesting people.  Watching the sunset over the ocean from the sheer cliffs at the Twelve Apostles rock formations will stay with me forever.

Eventually, with time drawing short, we begrudgingly picked up the pace and arrived in the Barossa Valley, Australia’s premier wine region.  Quaint and charming don’t begin to describe. Closely resembling California’s Napa, this valley produces some of the world’s fine wines and has an outstanding food and art scene, as well as world class accommodations, including The Louise with it’s award winning Appellation restaurant.  We could have stayed here forever, but Sydney and home beckoned.  Will we return?  Absolutely!

View Marilyn’s Australia travel photos on our Flickr site >>

Kayan Mentarang National Park, Indonesia
“Kayan Mentarang, on the verdant island of Borneo, is one of the last remaining homes to the rhinoceros hornbill and strange primates like proboscis and leaf monkeys. The big draws for tourists (and poachers) are the adorably petite Sumatran rhino and the Borneo pygmy elephant.

How to Go: Asia Transpacific Journeys suggests a six-day itinerary beginning at the village of Long Layu. Local Dayak tribes still live in communal dwellings and guests do, too, as there is no accommodation in the park.”

Daintree National Park, Australia
“At 160 million years old, this UNESCO World Heritage–listed spot in Oz’s far northeast region is one of the oldest undisturbed forest ecosystems on earth. It’s also a birder’s paradise—more than 430 avian species live in the forest, including 13 found nowhere else on Earth. And it’s home to the weird and wonderful peppermint stick insect: colored like candy, the creature creates a peppermint aroma to ward off predators. The Maardja Boardwalk (an easy stroll even for a lethargic walker) displays the transition from freshwater rainforest to saltwater mangroves.

How to Go: Asia Transpacific Journeys guests stay at Daintree Eco Lodge, a luxury treehouse set high in the canopy.”

Company founder, Marilyn Downing Staff, leaves for Australia where she’ll explore the Great Ocean Road and other stunning sites while traveling from Sydney to Melbourne.

Donna Galland will be joining our guests on ‘Snorkeling Thailand and the Mergui Archipelago: the Undiscovered Waters of the Andaman Sea‘, a trip jointly ran with the World Wildlife Fund.

And Allison Shepley will do some research on expanding travel options in the Philippines for us.