Sydney, the Red Centre and the Reef
Australia punishes the three-stop fortnight: Sydney, Uluru and Cairns with a five-hour flight between each is four days of the trip spent in the air. Twelve days is the minimum at which it reads as travel rather than transit, and even then the internal legs need planning.
At Uluru the value is entirely in the guiding. We work with Anangu guides at Kata Tjuta and the base walk, which turns a rock into a place with names, and nobody climbs anything.
The reef is 2,300 kilometres long and the day boats from Cairns work a dozen sites of it. We put clients on a liveaboard to the Ribbon Reefs with a marine biologist who briefs honestly on what the coral is doing, which agencies find their clients respect rather than resent.
A slow first day: the harbour by ferry, the Botanic Gardens, and an early night against the jet lag.
The Bondi to Coogee coastal walk at dawn, the opera house backstage, and a private launch on the harbour at dusk.
West to the escarpment, a walk down the Grand Canyon track, and a night above the Megalong valley.
The flight inland to Yulara, and Uluru from a distance as the light goes red on it.
The base walk at sunrise with an Anangu guide, the rock art and waterholes, and the cultural centre after.
The Valley of the Winds between the domes early, then a helicopter over the whole formation in the afternoon.
North through the desert oaks to the rim walk above the canyon, and a night at Watarrka.
The flight to Cairns and straight up the coast road to Port Douglas, arriving to the Coral Sea.
Across the Daintree river to the oldest rainforest on earth, a Kuku Yalanji walk, and crocodiles on the estuary.
Boarding the liveaboard, three hours offshore, and the first dive or snorkel with a marine biologist aboard.
A full day on the ribbons, with the Cod Hole and a night snorkel over the coral heads.
A last morning in the water, back to Port Douglas, and the transfer to Cairns for the flight home.
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