MELBOURNE TO ALBURY

Welcome to our holiday to stunning Sydney and the beautiful Blue Mountains. With chauffeured pickup from home, we are transferred to meet our O’Shannessy’s Quality Tours coach and crew. We’ll make a stop for morning tea enroute to Benalla. After our lunch stop, we visit the Weary Dunlop Memorial which marks the achievements of this amazing soldier, surgeon and war hero. Benalla is also becoming known as the regional street art capital of Australia and is home to approximately 65 street art murals and hosts the annual Wall to Wall Festival. Our afternoon journey takes us to Albury for our first night stay. We have plenty of time to relax and freshen up before dinner.

OVERNIGHT: Siesta Quality Resort, ALBURY

ALBURY TO SYDNEY

This morning we make our way further north through to Gundagai for morning tea and then to Yass, to take a stroll around at Humes Cooma Cottage. Cooma Cottage is a heritage-listed former farm and tuberculosis sanatorium and now a house museum and historic site. After lunch we continue north onto our accommodation at the Sydney Olympic Park, our home for the next three nights.

OVERNIGHT:  Pullman at Sydney Olympic Park, SYDNEY

HAWKESBURY RIVER CRUISE

Today we travel north of the city to Brooklyn where we take a cruise on the Hawkesbury River. We enjoy morning tea and lunch aboard as we explore the Hawkesbury on the “The Riverboat Postman” cruise. Enjoy the magnificent scenery of the lower Hawkesbury River as the mail is delivered, along with other essentials to the river-access-only settlements upriver from Brooklyn. Before we return to our accommodation, we will visit Old Government House, situated on the traditional lands of the Burramatta Dharug, the convict-built house and Barracks buildings were built between 1799 and 1818, making them the oldest surviving public buildings in Australia. The Georgian house was the country residence for the first ten governors of New South Wales.

OVERNIGHT:  Pullman at Sydney Olympic Park, SYDNEY

EXPLORING SYDNEY

Sydney is renowned for its stunning harbour, iconic landmarks like the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and its beautiful beaches. Today we will enjoy a guided tour in the comfort of the coach, taking in some of these famous landmarks of Sydney, including Bondi Beach. After time for lunch, we will continue our sightseeing with a one-hour cruise on Sydney Harbour departing from Circular Quay. Enjoy the commentary and take in the breathtaking views of the Sydney Opera House, The Rocks, Circular Quay, Mrs Macquarie’s Chair, Fort Denison, Kirribilli House, Luna Park and the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Lunch at own expense and arrangement

OVERNIGHT: Pullman at Sydney Olympic Park, SYDNEY

SYDNEY TO THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

This morning we visit the Auburn Botanic Gardens. The Gardens have aesthetic significance for the range of environments presented such as riverside ecosystem, Australian rainforest and native garden, rose garden, fauna reserve and the Ryoan-ji style Japanese Garden. For lunch today, you can relax and unwind on the Nepean Belle Paddlewheeler as we meander through the spectacular Nepean Gorge. There’s nothing quite like the stunning ascending rock formations carved out by the Nepean River - one of Australia's beautiful and largely unknown, natural archaeological splendours at the base of the Heritage Listed, Blue Mountains National Park. We then drive over the Blue Mountains range, past Katoomba and Lithgow, to arrive at our accommodation for the next four nights stay. The property has an interesting history, once being the old Wallerawang School.

OVERNIGHT:  Black Gold Motel, WALLERAWANG

KATOOMBA AND THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

We depart for our day’s touring, stopping to enjoy the view from Govetts Leap Lookout.  We then head to beautiful Leura where we visit Bygone Beautys Treasured Teapot Museum, home of the world's largest private collection of tea-wares, including more than 5,500 teapots from all over the world and spanning five centuries. We’ll have plenty of time to explore the displays and relax with a Devonshire Tea in the Tearoom. There’s now some free time to enjoy in the picturesque town of Leura. This afternoon, we take the scenic Cliff Drive to the famous Three Sisters for a photo opportunity before arriving at Scenic World to ride the steepest incline Railway in the world. Enjoy a walk in the bottom of the valley before riding back up via the Cable Car. Also included is the Skyway across the Valley and return, providing you with spectacular views.  What a lovely day!

Lunch at own expense and arrangement

OVERNIGHT:  Black Gold Motel, WALLERAWANG

BATHURST AND MOUNT PANORAMA

Today we visit the historic town of Bathurst; founded in 1815 it is the oldest inland settlement in Australia. Our first stop today is the amazing Abercrombie House, an Australian heritage treasure built in 1870’s. Relax with some morning tea and then enjoy time exploring this magnificent house and its outside grounds. Back in town, we’ll enjoy lunch then we embark on a guided tour of Bathurst where you will learn of the history and highlights of the town and its rich architectural heritage. A visit to Bathurst is not complete without a drive around the famous Bathurst Mount Panorama Race Circuit. This 6.2km circuit features 23 turns. It is the king of motorsport tracks and is named #5 best track around the world!

OVERNIGHT: Black Gold Motel, WALLERAWANG

HARTLEY VILLAGE, LITHGOW AND PORTLAND

This morning we will explore the Hartley Historic Village. This small village consists of several colonial buildings that seem to be frozen in time somewhere in the middle of the 19th century. It includes an historic inn, a courthouse, a church and a post office, all of which provide a fascinating look into colonial architecture. Hartley was a thriving community in the gold rush of 1856 and saw the town double in size. Now you can see a remarkable remnant of the original town, hardly changed since the 19th century. This afternoon we will take a tour of Lithgow, its Main Street and residential streets to see a range of heritage buildings, including Hoskins Church. The tour will take us to the Blast Furnace Park - a monument to Lithgow's industrial history. It was here that the first iron and the first steel in Australia were cast. To finish our day, we will drive to Portland to see “The Silos of The Foundations”. Portland was the site of Australia's first cement works, which supplied cement to some of Sydney's most iconic buildings. The town is known as "the town that built Sydney". The Portland Cement Works opened in 1902 and closed in 1991. The silos were painted in April and May 2018 by artist Guido Van Helten. The six individuals represented in the artwork are all former employees who shared their recollections of working at the Portland Cement Works and how their lives have been impacted by the industry in their town.

OVERNIGHT: Black Gold Motel, WALLERAWANG

BLUE MOUNTAINS TO WAGGA WAGGA

We leave the Blue Mountains area today, driving through to Bathurst, Blayney and onto  Cowra.  Here we can see the ruins of the Prisoner of War Campsite that are still visible to this day with well-placed interpretive signage which will help you visualize what once stood in this picturesque part. We now visit the lovely Japanese Garden and Cultural Centre where we can immerse ourselves in the beauty of Japanese culture. The garden is 12.5 acres of peace and beauty and is the largest Japanese garden in the southern hemisphere! We have plenty of time to explore the garden and enjoy our lunch. Our afternoon drive takes us through the gold country towns of Young, Cootamundra and Junee, before arriving at our last nights accommodation in Wagga Wagga.

OVERNIGHT:  Mercure Wagga Wagga, WAGGA WAGGA

WAGGA WAGGA TO MELBOURNE

With all the memories of the past week, we begin our journey home, with a stop in Albury for morning tea in the Botanical Gardens. We then cross the Murray River and enter Victoria where we enjoy our last lunch together. From here we make our way home – our chauffeurs will be on hand to take us straight to our door – all part of the O’Shannessy’s Quality Tours superior service.