“The Yellow Water Sunset Cruise, quite possibly my favourite single experience of the whole trip: multiple crocodiles... a huge variety of birdlife, and a herd of water buffalo silhouetted against the sunset.”
Day 1–2: Singapore to Melbourne
I flew out with Singapore Airlines, an excellent choice as always, and had time to stretch my legs at Singapore's fantastic airport before the connecting flight. Arrived into Melbourne and transferred to The Rydges Melbourne, a very good four-star hotel with a fantastic rooftop pool and a delicious breakfast buffet. Dinner tonight was at The Farmer's Daughters, Melbourne's premier farm-to-table restaurant, before an early night to shake off the jetlag.
Day 3: Melbourne's Hidden Lanes & Bars
After a swim and the breakfast buffet, we joined the Hidden Secrets Tours: Private Lanes & Arcades Tour, a great walking introduction to the city that took us to places you'd never find on your own, including lunch at Melbourne Winery, a unique urban winery tucked into the city's bustling Flinders Lane.
Next was a one-hour guided tour of the National Gallery of Victoria, followed that evening by a Hidden Bar Walking Tour with Show Me Melbourne — a company that started out doing sports tours back in 2004 and has since branched into experiences like this one. We visited three of the city's many unique bars (these vary trip to trip) along with a generous dinner.
Day 4: Phillip Island & the Penguin Parade
Today was all about Phillip Island via the Mornington Peninsula and French Island. A ferry from Stony Point Pier took us to French Island, where a Naturaliste Tours guide showed us a very large and healthy koala population, plus a couple of rare daytime Echidna sightings, before a home-cooked lunch at Mandalye Park Estate.
By 3pm we'd ferried on to Cowes for the famous Phillip Island Penguin Parade, booked as the 'Penguins Plus' experience for close-up viewing. Numbers vary between 500 and 1,500 penguins a night; tonight there were about 800. This is now a must-do for anyone visiting Victoria — every penguin has bags of personality. Dinner was at Beach HQ Restaurant and Bar in Cowes, with an overnight stay at Phillip Island Apartments, a great option for avoiding a late drive back to Melbourne.
Day 5: Mornington Peninsula & Jackalope Vineyard
Breakfast at local favourite The Store, then back towards Mornington Peninsula, stopping at Moonlit Sanctuary — inspired by conservationist Gerald Durrell — to hand-feed kangaroos and wallabies among its 50 Australian species.
Lunch and wine tasting followed at Pt Leo Estate, with a guided tour of its Sculpture Park, then a brief but worthwhile stop at Peninsula Hot Springs. The night was spent at Jackalope Vineyard, a couples-focused property with a complimentary wine tasting, minibar, and a 30-metre infinity pool over the vines. A cocktail-bar dinner at Jackalope's Flaggerdoot, with local wine and a Negroni, rounded off the day.
Day 6: Puffing Billy & the Yarra Valley
Breakfast at Jackalope's Doot Doot Doot restaurant, then a 90-minute drive to Puffing Billy's Belgrave Station — Australia's oldest steam railway — for a scenic ride to Lakeside.
From there we headed to Punt Road Wines for lunch, wine and cider tasting, then to Four Pillars, an award-winning gin distillery, for a tasting of their own. The night was spent at Balgownie Estate Vineyard Resort in the Yarra Valley, a boutique luxury resort with an excellent restaurant, day spa and on-site activities.
Day 7: Melbourne to Darwin
An early walk brought a large mob of kangaroos into view, though our planned hot air balloon flight was cancelled due to weather. After a relaxed morning we flew Jetstar to Darwin, about four and a half hours and a real reminder of how huge Australia is.
We checked into the Oaks Elan and headed out for dinner at Moorish Café, whose Australian take on tapas — kangaroo and local fish alongside Mediterranean flavours — was a real highlight.
Day 8: Darwin to Kakadu National Park
A morning swim and a walk to Mindil Beach, then a stop at Parap Markets for a Vietnamese summer roll and fresh sugar cane juice among the many food stalls.
The drive to Kakadu included a stop at Fogg Dam, spotting two crocodiles and abundant birdlife, before checking into the Mercure Crocodile Hotel, Jabiru. We watched the sunset from a viewing point over Nourlangie Rock, home to extensive Aboriginal rock art, then enjoyed a very tasty Barramundi dinner at the hotel.
“By 3pm we'd ferried on to Cowes for the famous Phillip Island Penguin Parade... This is now a must-do for anyone visiting Victoria — every penguin has bags of personality.”
Day 9: Arnhem Land & the Yellow Water Sunset Cruise
A tour of Arnhem Land — 90,000 sq km of Aboriginal-owned land famed for its landscapes, culture and nature-based experiences — was a real highlight, walking with a local Aboriginal guide who talked us through rock art and its meanings. Much of it is difficult to date precisely, but some pieces are thought to be over 20,000 years old.
We were dropped at Cooinda Lodge for the Yellow Water Sunset Cruise, quite possibly my favourite single experience of the whole trip: multiple crocodiles (including two around 5 metres long), a huge variety of birdlife, and a herd of water buffalo silhouetted against the sunset. Binoculars are a must. Dinner was at Mimi's restaurant back at the Lodge.
Day 10: Edith Falls & Nitmiluk Gorge
After checking out of Cooinda Lodge, we stopped at Edith Falls for a swim and scramble up through the rock pools — well worth packing your swimwear where you can reach it.
We then continued to Cicada Lodge near Nitmiluk Gorge for a sunset dinner cruise. Recent floods meant only the first of the gorge's 13 sections could be cruised, but the food and rock art still made for a memorable evening.
Day 11: Katherine Outback Experience
The Katherine Outback Experience — one of the included excursions on the Ghan train journey — combined country music from owner Tom Curtain with entertaining farm-animal training demonstrations. A stop at the naturally warm Katherine Hot Pools was a refreshing follow-up, and the Adelaide River Inn broke up the long drive back to Darwin (look out for Charlie the Buffalo from Crocodile Dundee).
We checked into the well-located Novotel on the Esplanade and had dinner at Hanuman, a very good South East Asian restaurant.
Day 12: Exploring Darwin
Our final full day began with an AAT Kings city tour of Darwin, with a good overview of the city's history, taking in WWII ammunition bunkers at Charles Darwin National Park (used to hide ammunition from the Japanese), the Darwin Aviation Museum, and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, plus a stop at the Royal Flying Doctor Service Tourist facility to learn about its history and Darwin's wartime story.
We ended the day with a sunset dinner cruise on Darwin Harbour, famous for its sunsets and generous with the giant prawns — I made the most of the buffet.
Day 13: Sunrise Jetski & Journey Home
Up before 6am for a sunrise jetski tour from Stokes Hill Wharf — a brilliant, exhilarating way to appreciate just how vast Darwin Harbour is.
After a final breakfast we transferred to the airport for the Singapore Airlines flight home, with just a five-hour hop to Singapore first. A four-hour layover was well spent at the terminal one pool (about £16 entry, no booking needed) — a great way to freshen up between flights.
'I have been working for Prestige Travel for 4 years. I started working in Travel after spending ten years working and travelling around the world including 18 months each in Australia and New Zealand.'
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