February 1-21 2008

Friday-Sunday, February 1-3

The group will gather at the Los Angeles Airport for an evening flight to Melbourne, Australia. We will lose a day as we cross the International Date Line and will arrive on Sunday morning in Melbourne. We will have a city orientation tour including the beautiful Fitzroy Gardens and Queen Victoria Market before going to our hotel.

Monday & Tuesday, February 4 & 5

This morning we will drive to Ballarat to visit Sovereign Hill, a recreated 1850s town with homes, churches, stores, schools and costumed workers. We will go down into an old gold mine. Do you want to pan for gold before we go to Phillip Island where we will enjoy seeing the Little Penguins on their nightly trek in from the sea to feed their young? On Tuesday morning, our drive from Phillip Island takes us past Melbourne to Healesville Sanctuary where over 200 species of Australian animals are set in natural bush land. After a tour of the sanctuary, we will go to Beechworth where we will stay in homes of Australian families and hear “Lazy Harry”, an Australian folk singer, perform.

Wednesday & Thursday, February 6 & 7

You will enjoy the scenery and traveling through the Snowy Mountains. We will learn about the Snowy Mountain’s Electric Authority scheme and make stops at various places along the way which may include Thredbo, a popular ski resort, and Lake Jindabyne on our way to Cooma, our destination for the night. Thursday morning we will travel to Canberra, Australia's capital city, where we will visit Parliament House, see exhibits about the planning of the city at the National Capital Exhibition and have a general city orientation tour including a drive by the many embassies. Then, it's on to Sydney to see the sites there. We will stay two nights in Sydney.

Friday & Saturday, February 8 & 9

This morning we will walk through Sydney’s beautiful Botanic Gardens before taking a cruise of Sydney Harbour to see the city from the water, and having lunch at Manley Beach. In the afternoon, you will enjoy a tour of the Sydney Opera House as we learn about its construction. You may want to attend an opera or concert in this impressive building in the evening (optional). Saturday morning you will have free time to explore The Rocks area (the old part of Sydney) and visit the craft market and shops there, or visit a museum. Later, we will travel on to the Newcastle area and to Raymond Terrace for the night.

Sunday & Monday, February 10 & 11

Today’s highlight will be worshipping with the Mennonite Church of Hope and being hosted by them for a fellowship meal after the service. Foppe and Alice Brouwer are the pastors there. We will return to Sydney for the night as we will be flying on Monday morning from Sydney to Alice Springs in the mysterious and beautiful Northern Territory- Outback country. We will visit the School of the Air to learn how they have provided education to the Outback for over 55 years. At the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia we will hear how medical service is operated through 21 bases and 40 aircraft to the citizens of the Outback. You will be fascinated by these organizations and about life in this large area.

Tuesday & Wednesday, February 12 & 13

Our driver-guide will interpret his land as we travel by motorcoach through the Great Outback from Alice Springs to Ayers Rock. We will travel through many different habitats and see wild camels. Before sunset, we will visit the magnificent Ayers Rock (Uluru) which you have read about. Lodging tonight at Yulara. On Wednesday morning, you may want to get up early and see the sun rising over Uluru. Visiting Red Center will give us a better understanding of the Aboriginal beliefs and way of life. We will take an early afternoon flight to Cairns. Lodging for two nights at Bay Village Tropical Resort.

Thursday & Friday, February 14 & 15

Wednesday we will have a full-day cruise to Green Island to enjoy a beautiful tropical paradise on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. You will have the opportunity to swim, scuba dive, snorkel and view the huge variety of tropical fish, turtles, giant clams, shells, starfish and much more. It will be a day to be remembered! On Friday, we must leave Cairns and fly on to New Zealand to learn about this interesting country. We fly by way of Sydney and it will be late when we arrive in Christchurch.

Saturday & Sunday, February 16 & 17

On Saturday, we will have a brief city tour of Christchurch as we leave the city for Dunedin at the southern end of the South Island and we will make stops along the way on our journey southward. Lodging for two nights in Dunedin. On Sunday morning, we will attend First Church Otago (Presbyterian) before boarding the train to ride through the Taieri River Gorge, a rugged canyon of sheer schist rock cliffs and overhangs, dark peaty pools and wild whitewater. You will enjoy the spectacular scenery.

Monday & Tuesday, February 18 & 19

Before leaving Dunedin, we will have a general city tour including a drive up Signal Hill to overlook the city. Want a challenge? Climb up Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world. Then we will travel on to the beautiful town of Te Anau where you will have some time for relaxation or exploration of this beautiful area. Tuesday will be a special day of magnificent scenery as we travel to Milford Sound for a luncheon cruise on the fjord. We will see cascading waterfalls, towering mountains and sea lions. Let’s hope for a beautiful day. Then, it’s on to Lake Wanaka for the night.

Wednesday & Thursday, February 20 & 21

We will travel via Kawarau Gorge and Lake Tekapo to our afternoon destination to see Mount Cook. We hope the sun will be shining in this beautiful area so we can see Mount Cook. We will drive through the Mackinley Basin, Burkes Pass and Geraldine on our way back to Christchurch where we will stay for the night. Wednesday we will have a tour of Christ Church Cathedral, visit the Canterbury Museum and Botanic Gardens and have a farewell meal at Riverview Buffet Restaurant. Then, it will be time to go to the airport for our flight back to Los Angeles. It will be a long day, but it will give you lots of time to say goodbye to your new friends and think about the wonderful memories created on this trip.

Your Tour Leaders

Wilmer & Janet Martin, from Waterloo, Ontario, are looking forward to taking you to Australia and New Zealand and introducing you to these countries and their friends there. Wilmer and Janet are TourMagination partners and operate TourMagination’s Waterloo office. Join them on this most exciting trip to “The Lands Down Under” which includes an excursion to Alice Springs and Ayers Rock in the Great Outback.

For further information regarding the complete tour fare, please This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . We would be happy to be of assistance.