MELBOURNE TO KING ISLAND

Welcome to our holiday to fabulous King Island. With chauffeured pickup from home, we travel to Melbourne Airport. Here we’ll be greeted by an O’Shannessy’s Quality Tours representative who will assist us with check in and see us onto the plane for our direct mid-afternoon flight to the island. King Island lies off the north-west coast of Tasmania, surrounded by a rugged coastline with famously good produce and some of the cleanest air in the world. On arrival we will be met by our local guide who will show us the main township of Currie. We check in to our accommodation and be welcomed by the manager, Julie. This evening, one of the island’s best chefs will prepare our welcome dinner in-house tonight.

Lunch at own expense and arrangement / Refreshments on flight

OVERNIGHT:  Island Breeze Resort, Currie, KING ISLAND

MARTHA LAVINIA BEACH, PENNY’S LAGOON, CAPE WICKHAM LIGHTHOUSE 

AND PENGUINS

Today, our touring takes us to the northern end of the island.  We stop at the Shag Lagoon Bird Hide to view some of King Island’s beautiful water fowl, before continuing to Reekara School. The Reekara Community Complex is a Lions Club initiative designed to preserve the former Reekara Primary School, which closed at the end of 1997. The school now houses local craft as well as classrooms showing past students’ artwork. We have plenty of time to look around as well as enjoying our morning tea break.  Next we drive to Quarantine Bay while taking in the views of Christmas Island and New Year Island. From here, we cross to the eastern side of the island where we visit Martha Lavinia Beach, a world class beach break which has been voted one of the Top 10 Surf Breaks in Australia. We’ll get a chance to stretch our legs here. We also see the mouth of Yellow Rock River, the wreck site of the Shannon to hear Captain Johnson’s unfortunate story.  Our lunch break is at Penny’s Lagoon, a rare freshwater perched lake found in only three locations in the world. Continue past Lake Flannigan and Disappointment Bay to the most northern point of King Island to view the Cape Wickham Lighthouse, the tallest granite lighthouse in the Southern Hemisphere which overlooks one of Australia’s top ranking golf courses. Our last stop before returning to our accommodation will be the King Island Dairy to sample some of the delicious cheese. With a legacy spanning more than 100 years, this dairy has developed an enviable reputation as a maker of some of the world’s finest produce.  Back in Currie, we have time to freshen up for dinner at a local restaurant. Later this evening we will have the opportunity to view the local fairy penguin colony. On dusk the penguins waddle out of the water to return to their burrows. This very cute spectacle can be viewed from the comfort of our coach.

OVERNIGHT:  Island Breeze Resort, Currie, KING ISLAND

NARACOOPA, CALCIFIED FOREST, GRASSY

Our journey today takes us to the east coast where we visit Sea Elephant River, one of the island's largest river system and major link to the Lavinia wetlands. We return to the farming region of Naracoopa for a brief stop to look at the jetty. We now head to the southern end of the island. As we pass by Surprise Bay, we learn of the history of the island's first settlement in 1889 by the Bowling family. Visit a very rare forest with views over some of King Island’s most spectacular coastline which has had a chequered history, including the worst peacetime maritime disaster in Australia’s history when in 1884 the British barquentine “schooner” Cataraqui was wrecked in a winter storm. We now move onto the Calcified Forest enjoying a leisurely 30-minute stroll that takes us to a viewing platform overlooking intriguing fossilised stumps of ancient rainforest trees.  At Seal Rocks Lookout, we discover one of King Island’s most dramatic parts of the coast, used by Dutch and French sealer’s to spot pods of seals. Make sure to bring your camera! Last stop today is Grassy where we discover the scheelite mining heritage of King Island’s Dolphin Mine. We also view the Grassy Harbour which serves the island with the necessities of life—groceries, fuel and agricultural needs such as fertilisers and stock feed. On arrival back at our accommodation there will be time for a short rest and freshen up before transferring to a local restaurant for dinner.

OVERNIGHT: Island Breeze Resort, Currie, KING ISLAND

KING ISLAND TO MELBOURNE

This morning after breakfast and check out, we farewell our host Julie. We visit the local  museum run by the King Island Historical Society. It’s full of the island's history including the original lens from the Cape Wickham light house. We also drive past the King Island Kelp Industries where we learn about this important industry that processes bull kelp. It’s now time to check into King Island Airport for our flight home to Melbourne. Upon our arrival at Melbourne Airport, our chauffeurs will be waiting to transport us home with many interesting stories to tell of our holiday to King Island.

Lunch at own expense and arrangement / Refreshments on flight