17-Day Northern Explorer

Welcome to Brisbane, the capital of the Sunshine State and Australia’s third largest city. Brisbane is a booming city with over one million people and is the major international gateway to South East Queensland. Brisbane also provides access to the holiday destinations of the Gold Coast to the South and the Sunshine Coast to the North. Brisbane is Australia’s third largest city and the state capital of Queensland. Not so long ago, the rest of Australia considered it little more than an
overgrown country town, but it has shirked off this unwelcome reputation to become one of the country’s most progressive centres.

Beautiful Climate
The Sub-tropical climate promotes an easy going relaxed lifestyle with hot summers and warm clear winter sun.

Explore Brisbane
Brisbane offers a whole range of activities for the visitor. The South Bank Parklands has 16 hectares of fun and excitement: Tropical rainforests, beaches, wildlife habitats, restaurants, specialty shops , shows and even an English style pub. The Queensland Art Gallery, the Queensland Museum and the Maritime Museum are justifiably famous. Customs House provides a look back in Queensland’s history, as does Newstead House complete with period furnishings.
With its Sub-tropical ambience, Brisbane has many gardens and parks. See the Koalas at the Alma Park Zoo, the Australian Woolshed also has sheep shearing demonstrations and don’t miss the Lone Pine sanctuary, the famous City Gardens and Mt Coot-tha Gardens.

In Northwest Australia on the Indian Ocean, where the desert meets the sea.

The Great Barrier Reef curves close to the coast and meets the rain forest at Cairns, the gateway to Australia’s “Deep North.” Explore the reef up close via catamaran, or choose from a host of excursions the lush tropical forests, picturesque towns and homesteads that surround the city. The nearby town of Kuranda has a butterfly farm and a great street market on Sundays and Wednesdays.

Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory, N Australia, on an inlet of the Timor Sea. It is the chief port and administrative center for the sparsely settled tropical north coast. Called Palmerston until 1911, it was renamed for Charles Darwin, who discovered its site in 1839. It has been largely rebuilt since a devastating typhoon in 1974. Kakadu National Park is nearby.

A major town int he midwest region of Western Australia on the coast, it is also the site of a maritime museum that houses the relics of numerous ship wrecks that occurred off its coastline.