Group too big

This was a once in a lifetime 20th anniversary tour for us. When I was looking for a group to go with, one of the things that I did not want was to have a very large group. I specifically asked via e-mail what the cap was on this trip and I was assured, again, in writing via e-mail that the cap was 20 people. When you are getting off and on a bus, the more people there is, the longer it takes. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoyed everyone that was on the tour, but we did have 41 people. That is over double the cap number!! I was very disappointed that this customer representative of Go Ahead would misrepresent something like that just to make a sale. But as for the trip itself, it was wonderful. For me the Outback and the Great Barrier Reef were the highlights. The cities were nice, but once you have been in one city, you have been in all cities. Our tour guide Sladjana was absolutely amazing!! She always went above and beyond the call of duty, even lending us her camera when we lost ours on one of our flights. Con and Gerry in the Outback were great. The wine tasting could have been done more towards the beginning of the tour, just because it tended to loosen people up and was a great ice-breaker. More time could have been spent at the Markets, but overall this was a good experience. I would definitely recommend Australia as a destination, but just remember that even if you have it in writing, it doesn't mean that it is a fact :(

Great Trip-Great Value

A wonderful way for the first time traveller to experience Australia. We covered a large amount of the country and had great encounters with all types of wildlife, other cultures and lovely scenery. I definitely recommend this trip!

Australia is AWESOME!

My trip to Australia was amazing. Every day we had fun things to do and great sites to see. I chose to do all of the optionals and I loved it! My favorite place was Cairns because of the beautiful Great Barrier Reef. I went scuba diving and saw the amazing life under the sea. In Alice Springs, the hot air balloon ride was spectacular and Ayers Rock was breathtaking. Learning about the Aboriginal way of life was interesting. In Melbourne, the Penguin Parade was so cute. Lastly, Sydney was great! I took a helicopter ride over Darling Harbor, we visited the Sydney Opera House and actually got to hear the Sydney Philharmonic practice which was priceless, and our quick visit to Bondi Beach was super cool. Our tour guide was FANTASTIC! He was efficient, accommodating, and very informative. OUr bus drivers were fun and entertaining. The Qantas food was great and the air hospitality was welcomed. Overall, it was an OUTSTANDING TRIP.

Great Trip

The Australian experience is one that will be a lasting memory for all who do it. The friendly people are beyond compare and if you are lucky enough to have Luke as the tour director then it will be perfect. The Uluru part is worth the entire 20 plus hours of flight. Alice Springs is a charming little town in the outback where the friendly people are always helpful. The only negative experience for this trip was the Barrier Reef. This was caused by the rough seas and being surrounded by vomiting people the entire day. I would recommend that Goahead plan a second choice for those people who cannot do the rough seas! This was my second trip to Australia and the first definitely had the better reef trip--beautiful sunny day with a calm sea as compared to this one with overcast sky and very rough sea. I would recommend this trip to anyone who really wants to have a good trip with a variety of things to do and see.

My most amazing trip!

Every place we visited was awesome. It rained the whole time we were in Cairn but it was still very enjoyable. The Daintree Rainforest was a real treat., especially the Skyrail ride over the treetops. I was able to hold a real Koala and get my photo with it, too. The Outback was beautiful and green since they had a very wet winter. Ayers Rock was much bigger then can be imagined by photos. We learned so much about the history and culture of the Outback and it was very interesting. Melbourne is a beautiful city and we watched the "Little Penguins" come home to digest the fish they had been swallowing for several days.. They were adorable to watch. They put on a show for you. The Blue mountains were truly blue. Sydney was the perfect ending of our trip. Visiting the Opera House was a very informative tour and it is also much bigger than any photo can depict. Taking pictures of the Bay bridge and the Opera house in the same frame was really fun and mine turned out great. Taking lots of pictures was hard because you wanted to see everything without the camera in your face. This was a very fast paced trip. So my next trip will be slower and longer. I would like to spend more time in each location without rushing onto planes, boats, trains and motor coaches constantly. And I will surely plan to go First Class so the plane trip over and back will be more comfortable.

Visiting Down Under

Visiting Australia was wonderful. It was hard to decide what was the most enjoyable. Perhaps the most enjoyable were the Australian people themselves---friendly, laid back, and "no worries".

Around the world

This was a great trip for everyone who likes adventure and fun. Our tour leader Simon was informative and well organized. The optional excursions were many once in a lifetime activities packed into one trip. The vacation combined the best of rural and urban Australia starting out in the rainforest of Queensland, then the desert Outback and finishing in the cities of Melbourne and Sydney.

The Rich Smell of Eucalyptus

Well crafted trip with variety of experiences for every traveler. Also, I appreciated two or more nights at various locations which allowed me to really rest between adventures.

Great Trip - Read before purchasing excursions

Overall this was a great trip and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to see Australia. My wife and I have always wanted to go and if we had planned the trip ourselves I do not think we would have seen a fraction of what was offered through GoAhead. The tour guide was fantastic and the itinerary was very well organized, offering the perfect amount of time in each location with a great combination of free time and scheduled tours/activities. For example, my wife and I were able to bicycle through the Outback (Alice Springs), attend an Australian Football game (Melbourne), and purchase tickets to the Sydney Opera, even though those activities were not offered through GoAhead. My optional excursion experiences: Kuranda Rainforest (very beautiful but I'm not a big souvenir guy so I felt the 4 hours in Kuranda village was excessive since it was mostly a tourist trap with souvenir shops, not really a lot of history or things to see); Sunrise Ballooning (cancelled due to weather); Yarra Valley wineries (As a wine enthusiast this was a great excursion although I would have liked to see more than two of the wineries); Sydney Tower Dinner (Not worth the price, the view was good but the food wasn’t that great and we were bunched together in tables of 6-8 people which kind of spoils what could have been a romantic/intimate evening); Blue Mountains (Absolute must! The mountains are spectacular but the highlight was really visiting the wildlife park. You can’t go to Australia and not get pictures of all the native animals(Kangaroos, Koalas, Wallabies, Emus, Crocodiles, Tasmanian Devils, Wombats, etc)…plus feeding/petting the Kangaroos was pretty cool). We opted out of the Aboriginal Dreamtime (based on other’s negative reviews and opted to go bicycling instead) and out of the Fairy Penguins because it took up an entire afternoon/evening (Those who went said it was glorious but you couldn’t take any pictures). Other random but important notes: Your hotels will not offer free WiFi…it is $30/day. Your best bet is to find a McDonalds or a Café that offers it for free. Just so you are prepared for the sticker shock, food seemed extremely expensive. For example, at a sit-down restaurant a Hamburger and fries would run you anywhere from $19-25; a bottle of water is $4-5, etc. My wife and I are 32 years old and I would not classify this trip as very strenuous however we were the youngest couple in our group by about 25-30 years. I’m pretty sure everyone else was retired (and therefore most of them continued on to New Zealand afterwards). For younger folks with two weeks off work, this was the perfect trip. I don’t know if this is typical group composition but they all handled the pace very well. Again, overall, a fantastic trip and one that is highly recommended.

excellent trip

Overall the trip was great, would recommend changing the accomadations in Alice Springs, it was much less than your usual standard & frankly a little scary