This trip was a trip of a lifetime! Ruth from...

Australia | Apr 6 - Apr 27, 2025

The hotel could use some upgrading. The bed was comfortable, our view of the lake was nice. The amenities were fine, but you pay extra for everything.

Really nice, modern design with plenty of space to have breakfast, a drink or just relax in the lobby. The rooms were comfortable and had everything you need.

Good location for walking about Melbourne. Breakfast was varied and good! The rooms are small, but clean and comfortable beds.

Nice rooms and comfortable beds. Great amenities like laundry to free! Convenient to the whole resort. Pool was on the chilly side.

We loved having a place to cook a meal ourselves. The pools were nice and private. Laundry was convenient. Location in the middle of town was very convenient.

Definitely gets you a feel of the city! It's right in the middle of Chinatown, a bustling area with lots of shops and restaurants, and ambience. Close to transportation options.

We arrived late in the evening and the receptionist was helpful in directing us to restaurants nearby. The rooms are comfortable.

Mt Terawana crater hike was a great experience - maybe almost half the fun what the wild ride in and out. The crater hike was amazing, terrific views, quite windy at the top and the path down to the crater bottom was unexpected but also quite fun. The guides here definitely patient with our group as some folks had a harder time, they informed us about the geology of the area, and always gave us time to remove the "gravel" from our boots.

What a day - one of the real highlights of the trip. The day started out overcast but by the time we got to the Sound it was beautiful and clear (apparently not the usual experience for a place that measure rainfall in the 10+ meter/year). Again, we had very good guides from the driver (Chou) from Queenstown to the guide on the boat tour on the Sound. The scenery was truly amazing everywhere you looked! We were able to see dolphins and seals in the Sound.

Dan was our guide and gave us the opportunity to experience just a hint of this Great Trail - it makes us think we really need to come back and do this whole trial! While this wasn't a Lord of the Rings tour - he pointed out some of the sites used for filming and explained how Queenstown has become a filmmakers - "go-to location". Wonderful tour and really funny conversation with Dan and Adrian - time as too short.

Visited four wineries and tried some tasty varieties. John was our guide - he was friendly (what would you expect from a Canadian - also made for an interesting discussion of the Stanley Cup playoffs just underway), knowledgeable, and made sure we stopped for some great sites for photos.

We took the gondola ride at dusk and got to see the beautiful views as the sun set and stars came out - we also ended up signing up for the buffet as we were told it was the best buffet in town.

Wildlife Habitat private tour was lovely the way they made a natural habitat and the Lily was a great guide and made us very much feel like VIPs. It was wonderful to get a close up view of some of the beautiful birds, had another koala encounter (can't get enough of those), but also had encounters with a black cockatoo and a frogmouth.

We had our formal Opera House tour next, and it was really a wonderful way to learn more about this extraordinary architectural achievement. Our guide was great. I can't remember the name, but he had recently won an employee photography contest. It is easy to see why a tour of the Opera House is a "don't miss" experience as the thought that went into each space (including the restrooms) is clearly evident. We spent some of our free time after this walking along the harbor to the botanical garden and you can take classic photos of the Opera House along the way.

The Phillip Island Go West Tour with guide, Chris R. was fantastic! He was funny and personable with plenty of information on the area and animals. Our favorites were the Moonlit Sanctuary, petting the koala was well worth it! Phillip Island was beautiful - the Nobbies were truly beautiful and the penguins, so so cute. We hit it at molting season, so there weren't as many penguins coming in a night, but it was still amazing!

The Hidden Gems Arcades and Lanes tour was such fun! Fiona was a great guide, she knows so much about Melbourne that we learned a lot. It was also a great way to see parts of the city we might have missed if we hadn't done the tour. The chocolate was a nice treat along the way!

The Great Barrier Reef snorkeling adventure was an adventure! We had very choppy waters and it made for a rocky trip to and from the reef. The guides, especially Isaac, were accommodating and helpful. They knew I was not a strong swimmer, so they kept and eye on me and helped me out when I needed a boost. Seeing the reef was a highlight of the trip. Amazing to view it with my own eyes!

The Great Ocean Tour with Terry, from Go West. We enjoyed the stops along the way and the scenery was stunning. We actually saw a koala in the wild, but not where we thought we would. The evening at Twelve Apostles was beautiful, with a sunset view and a quick trip down to the beach, it was amazing.

was Bondi Beach with James from the volunteer life savers group. Our beach day was windy and rainy so it was fun to hear about the history and just stroll along and see the sites. The weather was windy, so we didn't swim, but the walk was one fantastic view after another. The "city art" along the beach was everything from fun to amazing.

Sunset tour and BBQ with guide, Hayley was amazing. She was able to teach us about the Ananu people, and the stories they would share with us. The short walk to the watering hole was a highlight. Sunset vista was amazing. The BBQ was so nice, meeting people from all over the world. The food was great and plentiful.

Hike in Kata Tjuta also had stunning views and amazing conglomerate rock. We got great snacks to bring along and eat at the viewpoint. Our guide set the pace was a little too fast for me, we just didn't have enough time to look around, and really enjoy the views around us. There was a definite split in the group where the faster ones went ahead, waited for us, but then moved on as soon as we caught up. I'm not completely out of shape either. That made it a challenge, but the it was worth doing.

Mossman Gorge Adventure with the walk and river float was a tremendous experience. Francisco was a great guide - he was fun on the river float - highlighting the plants that are trying to kill us and the beauty of the forest. The spiders were something else - amazing to see and the rainforest was amazing. The smoke ceremony with Tim was educational and a great way to start the forest walk. We stopped for lunch in a cute little town with good food and parrots all around us! They provided some snacks along the way for the hike.

The dinner and Harbor cruise - a beautiful evening with great views of the city, Harbor bridge, and Opera house. This cruise in the harbor made for a very pleasant evening - service was great - Philip had a hard time staying at the table as the sites along the harbor were better outside. Food was good. We did have to change this reservation so we didn't really have a window seat - part of the reason Philip kept going outside.

The evening drone show was cancelled due to wind. But we did get a lovely wine and cheese basket and enjoyed a laser light show. The location is very nice and the staff gave great customer service.

Early morning at the Field of Lights was spectacular! The glowing light of the rising sun, the beautiful lights stretching out in front of the amazing Uluru. Thoroughly enjoyed this tour. The guides were pleasant and provided coffee and treats as the sun came up.

Drive from Cairns airport to Port Douglas was scenic. Driver was not super talkative, but that's fine.

Our tour of the Blue Mountains with Steve. He commented on how the traffic in the city was pretty minimal that morning - maybe because everyone was already on the way to the Blue Mountains. It was a holiday and quite crowded which decreased our enthusiasm as the short hikes felt a bit more like being in a queue. Nevertheless, there were some lovely sites, but living with mountains very near, we could definitely see the appeal of hiking out into the park to better enjoy nature.

As Lord of the Rings/Hobbit fans, this was a truly enjoyable way to spend some time on a rainy day. This day almost didn't start off well as there was some confusion about the pickup location but luckily one of the van drivers spotted us and caught us up with the correct van for the trip to Hobbiton. Hobbiton was charming, even in pouring rain. The detail in the hobbit home that we could walk through. We could've spent a lot of time looking around.Lunch at the Green Dragon pavilion was delightful.

The glow worm kayak tour was very fun and the glow worms were just amazing but mostly we were glad that we weren't the kayak that tipped over - the guide was great about helping everyone out and it was some considerable work The glow worms should not be missed if you're in New Zealand.

The Whirinaki forest walk was up next - this was very much one of the most memorable and enjoyable parts of the entire trip. Our guide Tom was perfect for us - full of information and pointed out all kinds of great things along the trail. His 30 years in conservation introduced us to so many amazing things about the New Zealand rain forest and the challenges that New Zealand is facing on the conservation front - just a truly amazing day.

The Cultural center for dinner and a Maori experience . We had listened to New Zealand history from the perspective of European-descendants and it was great to get some of this from the Maori perspective. Lots of food and an elaborate show after made for a great evening.