Free Time in Melbourne

Annapolis traveler

My husband and I are going two days early to Melbourne and we are on January 25 trip. We plan to take the Ocean drive which is a full day excursion on a bus the day after we arrive. If anyone is interested please let us know. It is suppose to be gorgeous.

Janis & Glen Rotner
Annapolis, MD

Desert Rat

We're not on your trip. Going February 29th and we'll only be in Melbourne one extra day. I'd really like us to do that Great Ocean Road drive as well, but wouldn't be able to upon arrival as the tours start too early and we'll be wiped out anyway. I'm thinking we might try to do it the next day, i.e. the 29th though we would have to miss the meet and greet dinner that first night of tour. The more I read about the drive, the more I think it might be worth it. I'd be interested in what you think about it. Any thoughts about this other Tauck travelers?

crackers54

I did the tour the day after I arrived and loved it. I flew in 2 days before tour start so I had the day of the welcome dinner to relax, but did some stuff not far from hotel to tour. If you think you are up for it it is a wonderful tour. Just don't bother with the offered helicopter ride. I did not feel was worth the extra cost and took most of time at the stop.

Wallaroo

Hello Crackers -

My wife and I are also flying in to Melbourne 2 days ahead of the tour (actually a day and a half before the day of the welcome reception). We want to do the Great Ocean Road tour but find that most the tour companies doing the tour from Melbourne seem to want you to pre-book the tour. I’m hesitant to do that for a couple of reasons:

1st - I’m not sure in what state jet-lag will have us;

2nd - having missed more than a whole day of a tour a number of years ago due to United’s inability to get their plane to fly (long story), arriving a day or two late always looms as a possibility - so we might miss our free day to do the Great Ocean Road. We therefore don't want to pre-book and not be able to get a refund of money we obligated for the tour.

Were you able to book the tour after your arrival in Melbourne? Or did you pre-book before leaving the States? Were you able to stay awake during the tour? or did jet-lag catch up with you on the coach? :-)

Thanks for your help here.

RE619

I'd say relax a bit and walk around Melbourne on your own. It's quite walk friendly and the free trolley/bus loop will allow you to see a lot. Plus, the welcome dinner (and all the food for that matter) is quite fabulous.

mazalea

We took this trip last year and it was all magnificent! In Melbourne, we arrived early and went to see the Little Penguins which are about 90 minutes south. We booked with the little penguin mini-van company, as it is the one that leaves Melbourne the latest in the day around 4 pm (no forced stops at chocolate factories) and returns as the last vehicle out of the lot. We also signed on for a semi-private ranger guide which was wonderful because we could sit on the sands, not in the bleachers, to view the Little Penguins on their return from the ocean at dusk, and learned so much more by having a ranger with us. Some people call them 'fairy penguins' but the official name is Little Penguins. It was quite an evening. Have a happy trip!

Kitty1

My sister and I are arriving early in Melbourne for the March 7, 2016 tour and would like to do the Great Ocean Drive tour. Could anyone tell us what tour group you used and when and how you booked that. Did Tauck help you do that ahead of time? Or did you call the consiere at the hotel?

Also the same about the tour to see the little penguins.

Desert Rat

Kitty1: We went ahead and signed up for a Great Ocean Drive tour online that was recommended at TripAdvisor. It's with a company called Escape Discovery Adventures and I'm hoping it works out for us. There are many nice reviews. We'll be doing it on Feb. 29 which is technically the first day of our tour so we will be missing the initial dinner with the group. Should have planned a couple of extra days and not just one. Too late now. We'll look forward to meeting everyone the following day when we tour Melbourne.

Apb

Desert Rat wrote:

We're not on your trip. Going February 29th and we'll only be in Melbourne one extra day. I'd really like us to do that Great Ocean Road drive as well, but wouldn't be able to upon arrival as the tours start too early and we'll be wiped out anyway. I'm thinking we might try to do it the next day, i.e. the 29th though we would have to miss the meet and greet dinner that first night of tour. The more I read about the drive, the more I think it might be worth it. I'd be interested in what you think about it. Any thoughts about this other Tauck travelers?

beverlyd

we just came back last saturday and also wanted to do Great Ocean road trip. we arrived two days before, but were concerned because of jet lag. People on our tour who did it loved it, but had arrived 3 days early. We did Penguin Parade
with Gray Line Tours, VIP edition with Park Ranger and loved it...I would suggest Tauck include this tour as part of the trip.

British

Having taken the Australia tour in the past, I would not consider the tour to the Penquins as a good use of valuable time. If people want to do these extra things, they should consider arriving earlier and arranging to get there under their own steam. It appears usual that Tauck does not include every site of interest at the beginning city to give those people who are sensible enough to give themselves time to recover from jet lag and arrive early, to see these places at leisure, perhaps without having to get up extra early as they might have to do when the Tauck tour begins.