As mentioned in the itinerary

Exclusions:

• International Air Tickets
•  Internal Air Tickets
• Weekend stay surcharge in hotel if applicable
•  Tips to Drivers and Guide
•  Portage charge
• Camera Charges wherever applicable
• Any Option excursions other than mentioned in inclusions
•  Meals other than mentioned in inclusions
•  Travel Insurance
• Use of Hotel Services Minibar
• Laundry etc.

Hotel Details:

Note: Hotel component in above tour pricing is dynamic and subject to change at the time of confirmation.

Costing:

Total Cost per Adult AUD670

History:

The history of Australia is the history of the area and people of the Commonwealth of Australia with its preceding Indigenous and colonial societies. Aboriginal Australians arrived on the Australian mainland by sea from Maritime Southeast Asia between 40,000 and 70,000 years ago. The artistic, musical and spiritual traditions they established are among the longest surviving such traditions in human history.

The first known landing in Australia by Europeans was by Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon in 1606. Later that year, Spanish explorer Luís Vaz de Torres sailed through, and navigated, Torres Strait islands.[1] Twenty-nine other Dutch navigators explored the western and southern coasts in the 17th century, and dubbed the continent New Holland. Macassan trepangers visited Australia's northern coasts after 1720, possibly earlier. Other European explorers followed until, in 1770, Lieutenant James Cook charted the east coast of Australia for Great Britain and returned with accounts favouring colonisation at Botany Bay (now in Sydney), New South Wales.

A First Fleet of British ships arrived at Botany Bay in January 1788[2] to establish a penal colony, the first colony on the Australian mainland. In the century that followed, the British established other colonies on the continent, and European explorers ventured into its interior. Indigenous Australians were greatly weakened and their numbers diminished by introduced diseases and conflict with the colonists during this period.

Gold rushes and agricultural industries brought prosperity. Autonomous parliamentary democracies began to be established throughout the six British colonies from the mid-19th century. The colonies voted by referendum to unite in a federation in 1901, and modern Australia came into being. Australia fought on the side of Britain in the two world wars and became a long-standing ally of the United States when threatened by Imperial Japan during World War II. Trade with Asia increased and a post-war immigration programme received more than 6.5 million migrants from every continent. Supported by immigration of people from more than 200 countries since the end of World War II, the population increased to more than 23 million by 2014, and sustains the world's 12th largest national economy.

The first Europeans visited the site of Melbourne in 1803. A group of settlers landed at Port Phillip Bay but within a year they moved on to Tasmania. The city of Melbourne in Australia was founded in 1835. In that year a group of Tasmanian businessmen formed the Port Phillip Association to found a settlement on Port Phillip Bay. Acting on their behalf John Batman (1801-1839) bought land from the local Indigenous Australians, the Dutigalla clan. However, the indigenous people had no concept of owning or selling land and did not really understand the deal.

St Francis Church opened in 1845. Its the oldest Catholic Church in Victoria. St James Old Cathedral opened in Melbourne in 1842 (though it was not completed till 1847). The cathedral was moved to its present site in 1913. Meanwhile in 1837 Williamstown was laid out as a seaport for the town of Melbourne. However, in the 1880s it was superseded by the growth of Port Melbourne. Meanwhile in 1842 Melbourne was incorporated (given a mayor and corporation).

By 1851 Melbourne was already a considerable town with 29,000 inhabitants. In that year Victoria became a separate colony from New South Wales and Melbourne became its capital. In the same year, gold was discovered in Victoria and a gold rush began. As a result, Melbourne mushroomed. Settlers flocked to the town. As Melbourne exploded in size many new buildings were erected. Princes Bridge was built in 1850. Melbourne University was founded in 1853. The Royal Melbourne Hospital was founded in 1848. Then in 1857 Melbourne gained a gas supply. In 1865 a monument to the explorers Burke and Wills was erected in Melbourne.

The first telephone call in Australia was made in Melbourne in 1878. Melbourne was connected to Sydney by railway in 1883. Meanwhile, Royal Arcade was built in 1870. The Royal Exhibition Building was built in 1880. Block Arcade was built in 1892. It was modeled on the Galleria Vittorio in Milan. Then in the 1880s, the price of land in Melbourne rose to dizzying heights. However it became overpriced. In 1889 the property market collapsed and economic depression ensued. Eureka Tower was built in 2006. The Yve Building was also built in 2006. At the beginning of the 21st century Melbourne was a thriving city. In 2002 a new development, Federation Square opened. In 2004 UNESCO declared the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne a World Heritage site. Then in 2008 UNESCO designated Melbourne a city of Literature. Today Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia. The population of Melbourne is 4.4 million.