Circumnavigation of Australia - 60 Nights - Cairns to Cairns

Cairns is a Far North Queensland city located on the northeast coast of Australia. This laid-back city is just over a 2 hour flight from Brisbane, Queensland’s state capital. With a backdrop of rainforest mountains, Cairns is known to be the gateway of 2 iconic Australian sites, The Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics Rainforest. Read more about Cairns, Australia

Lizard Island, named after the numerous large but harmless lizards living there, is a national park in Queensland, Australia. It is situated 90 km north of Cooktown at the northern tip of Australia’s World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef. It is also the location of an award-winning and internationally famous resort. Read more about Lizard Island, Australia

Stanley is a tourist destination and the main fishing port on the north-west coast of Tasmania. The most distinctive landmark in Stanley is The Nut, an old volcanic plug discovered by the explorers Bass and Flinders in 1798, who officially named it Circular Head. It has steep sides and rises to 143 metres with a flat top. Read more about Stanley, Australia

Restoration Island is a national park in Queensland (Australia), 1928 km northwest of Brisbane a few hundred metres from Cape Weymouth and the Iron Range National Park. On 29 May 1789, after the mutiny on the Bounty, Captain Bligh and the men who remained loyal to him arrived on the island in the ship's boat. This was the first island they came and he named it Restoration Island because the food they found greatly restored their spirits and because that date was the anniversary of the restoration of King Charles II (in 1660). Read more about Restoration Island, Australia

Thursday Island, or 'T.I.' as it's usually known, is the name of the island and the town that is the administrative and commercial centre of the Torres Strait Islands. The island group is off the far north Queensland mainland in Torres Strait, just 39 km north of Cape York Peninsula. The lucrative pearling industry founded in 1885 attracted workers from around Asia, particularly South Pacific Islanders, and this has resulted in a fascinating cultural mosaic. Read more about Thursday Island, Australia

Read more about Badu Island, Australia

Yirrkala is a well-known indigenous community in Arnhem Land. The town is situated at the NE tip of the Northern Territory of Australia, 650 km due east of Darwin, where the Gulf of Carpentaria meets the Arafura Sea. Its 800 inhabitants are settled in the largest parcel of land in Australia owned by Aboriginals, and known for its isolation, bark painting art (found in galleries around the world), and Yolngu culture. Read more about Yirrkala, Australia

The new Darwin cruise ship terminal at Fort Hill Wharf is adjacent to the convention centre, only one kilometre from Darwin’s CBD. Modern amenities, hotels and parking are there, plus a mini-market with beautiful local productions – Aboriginal art and crafts, diamonds and opals, and eateries, distinctive of the Top End. Darwin is a home port for the small luxury vessels Coral Princess and Coral Discoverer that explore the Kimberley coast to Broome. Read more about Darwin, Australia

Bathurst Island lies 75 km to the north of Darwin in the Arafura Sea, and together with the larger Melville Island makes up the Twi Islands, part of Australia’s Northern Territory. The largest settlement on Bathurst is Wurrumiyanga with a population of around 1450. Most residents are the indigenous Twi people, with Twi as their first language. Read more about Bathurst Island, Australia

King George River enters Koolama Bay and the Timor Sea from the Gardner Plateau in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The 112km river was named after King George V in 1911 by the English explorer Chas Conigrave after a privately funded expedition in the area. Over many thousands of years the river has cut back into the plateau creating stunning sheer walls and majestic waterfalls at the end of several canyons. Read more about King George River, Australia

Read more about Prince Frederick Harbour, Australia

Read more about Ashmore Reef, Australia

The Montgomery Reef is Australia's largest inshore reef system covering more than 300km2, near the mouth of the Sale River off the Kimberley coast of West Australia. At high tide you see very little of the Reef but as the tide drops rapidly away a raging torrent of water, cascading off the top of this 400ha reef erupts, as miles of surrounding reef appears to slowly rise out of the ocean. Read more about Montgomery Reef, Australia

Talbot Bay encloses the 800, rugged and sparsely vegetated islands of the Buccaneer Archipelago in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The major attraction, drawing thousands of visitors each year, is the Horizontal 'two way' Waterfall' that results from massive tidal movements that cause a waterfall effect as water banks up against one side of a narrow coastal gorge, then hurtles through, sideways, up to 5 metres high, to be repeated again on the turning tide! Naturalist David described the Horizontal Falls as "One of the greatest wonders of the natural world". Read more about Talbot Bay, Australia

The Lacepede Islands (aka the Lacepedes) are a group of four islands in the Indian Ocean off the NW coast of Western Australia, 120 km north of Broome and 30 km from the mainland. They are all small and low-lying, being composed of coarse sand and coral rubble and are important breeding grounds for green turtles and colonies of seabirds including frigates, boobies and terns. In the late 1800s the mining and extraction of ‘guano’ (phosphate) from the islands was a lucrative extra for whalers hunting humpback, sperm and blue whales in the region. Read more about Lacepede Islands, Australia

The Rowley Shoals are located over 180 nautical miles west of Broome, Western Australia. The are a chain of three spectacular, pristine coral atolls, Mermaid Reef, Clerke Reef, Imperieuse Reef with a pair of small sandy islands - Bedwell and Cunningham. Perched on the edge of Australia's continental shelf, the shoals cover 80 square kilometers. Read more about Rowley Shoals, Australia

Along the remote northern coastline of Western Australias lies Ningaloo Reef. From North to South it stretches some 260 km along the coastline, making it the longest fringing reef in the world. The reef supports a myriad of marine life including over 220 species of colorful coral formations and a huge selection of over 500 species of fish. Read more about Ningaloo Reef, Australia

Exmouth is a small resort town situated just north of the Tropic of Capricorn, 1100km north of Perth in Western Australia. The location was a WWII military base, and the town was established in 1967 to support the nearby US Naval Communication Station. Some structures are still used by the Australian navy. Read more about Exmouth, Australia

Australia’s capital city, Canberra (pop. 410,000), is situated at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory, roughly mid-way between Sydney and Melbourne. The city was designed by two American architects and construction commenced in 1913. Read more about Canberra (Batemans Bay), Australia

Located on the western coast of the Peron Peninsula 831 km north of Perth, Denham is the westernmost town in Australia, and is named in honour of Captain Henry Mangles Denham of the Royal Navy, who charted Shark Bay in 1858. Today Denham survives as the gateway for the tourists who come to see the dolphins at Monkey Mia, which is located 23 km north-east of the town. The town also has an attractive beach and a jetty popular with those interested in fishing and boating. Read more about Denham, Australia

The Abrolhos Islands lie about 60 kilometers west of Geraldton, on the Western Australian coast, and consist of 122 islands clustered into three main groups: the Wallabi Group, Easter Group and Pelsaert Group, which extend from north to south across 100 kilometers of ocean. The area is home to an abundance of wildlife including sea lions, dolphins, migratory whales and sea birds. The extensive coral reef system stretches for a hundred kilometers and is home to many species. Read more about Abrolhos Islands, Australia

When booking cruises from Fremantle, Perth, there is only one main cruise terminal, built in 1962 the Victoria Quay Cruise Terminal at Fremantle is where all cruises from Fremantle will depart. Fremantle is a day-out destination with historic buildings, eateries, tourist attractions and ferries up the Swan River to the City, and off-shore to Rottnest Island. Cars can set-down passengers and find long-term parking nearby. Read more about Fremantle, Australia

Margaret River is a town in the SW of Western Australia, located in the valley of the Margaret River, 277 km south of Perth, the state capital. It is located 9 km inland from the Indian Ocean. An exciting dimension to the Margaret River cruises, passengers come ashore at Busselton, which has at 1.8km the world’s longest jetty. Read more about Margaret River, Australia

Albany is situated on the south coast of Western Australia's tourist region. It faces the Southern Ocean and is on the shores of King George Sound and Princess Royal Harbour. Being the site of the first European settlement, much of their legacy remains today with around 50 colonial buildings standing proudly as museums, galleries and restaurants. Read more about Albany, Australia

Flinders Island was named in 1799, after Bass and Flinders circumnavigated Tasmania. The strait separating Tasmania from the mainland was named Bass Strait, while the major island in the Furneaux Group of 52 islands was named after Flinders. The history of these islands is closely tied to the tragic story of the Tasmanian Aboriginals, and the original settlement scheme that drew settlers from Tasmania and central NSW to the island's eastern shore. Read more about Flinders Island, Australia

Cruise ships anchor off the town of Penneshaw and tender to the jetty. Kangaroo Island, named by Matthew Flinders in 1802, is Australia's third largest island. Situated 112 km SW of Adelaide, it is a pristine untamed wilderness where the koalas aren't being cuddled, they're relaxing at home in native trees. Read more about Kangaroo Island, Australia

When booking cruises from Adelaide there is only one main cruise terminal, Port Adelaide Cruise Terminal where all cruises from Adelaide will depart. Adelaide is the capital of South Australia and is an architecturally-planned city, set beside the River Torrens between the Adelaide Hills and Gulf St Vincent. The wine and festival capital of Australia, Adelaide offers the convenience of a big city without the frustrations. Read more about Adelaide, Australia

Read more about Port Fairy, Australia

Phillip Island is approximately 140 km SE of Melbourne, joined to the mainland by bridge, and is the home of the world famous Penguin Parade that can be viewed each evening at dusk when the fairy penguins stroll up the beach to their burrows. There's a great range of activities to enjoy that include surfing, snorkelling, and swimming in summer, kayaking, jet skiing, aqua biking and yachting. Add to this: bush walking on the many tracks and enjoying the many parks; bird watching; pelican feeding; and don’t miss out of visiting some of the wineries. Read more about Phillip Island, Australia

Situated on Australia's east coast is Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales. Cruising guests have the privilege when departing Sydney ports to view the iconic and famous Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge while leaving Sydney Harbour. In 1973, the Opera House completed construction and is the most popular building in Australia and one of the most famous in the world. Read more about Sydney, Australia

Originally a whaling station, Tangalooma is a resort township on the west side of Moreton Island, just a 70 minute catamaran trip from Brisbane, in Queensland, Australia. Cruise ships from Sydney anchor offshore for a day on the island. Moreton is home to Queensland's oldest operating lighthouse located at Cape Moreton on the northern tip of the island. Read more about Tangalooma, Australia

Fraser Island, off Australia’s eastern Queensland coast, is the world's largest sand island, stretching over 120km, and visited only by 4-wheel drive vehicles. Panoramic viewpoints include Indian Head, a rocky outcrop on the island's easternmost tip, and the Cathedrals, a cliff famous for sculpted ribbons of coloured sand. It's a destination with popular beaches and swimming sites at Lake McKenzie, Lake Wabby, and other freshwater pools. Read more about Fraser Island, Australia

Townsville is a city on the NE coast of Queensland, Australia. Adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, the city has direct access to the beach. It lies in the dry tropics region, with old gold mining towns, rainforest waterfalls and a relaxed Queensland ambience that add up to 'life in Townsville'. Read more about Townsville, Australia

Cairns is a Far North Queensland city located on the northeast coast of Australia. This laid-back city is just over a 2 hour flight from Brisbane, Queensland’s state capital. With a backdrop of rainforest mountains, Cairns is known to be the gateway of 2 iconic Australian sites, The Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics Rainforest. Read more about Cairns, Australia