Sydney, Melbourne, Phillip Island, Kangaroo Island, Port Lincoln & Adelaide

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

My husband & I are booked on the Diamond Princess Sep 26th. This is our itinerary…

 

Spending two nights in Sydney before departing on Sep 26th. 

 

Sep 28th- Melbourne, Australia; 7:00AM-10:00PM

 

Sep 29th- Phillip Island, Australia; 8:00AM-11:00PM

 

Oct 1st- Kangaroo Island; 7:00AM-5:00PM

 

Oct 2nd- Port Lincoln, Australia; 8:00AM-6:00PM

 

Oct 3rd- Adelaide, Australia; 7:00AM-6:00PM

 

Oct 5th- Melbourne, Australia; dock at 7:00AM & spending one night before flying to New Zealand for a 15 day land trip.

I am in the beginning stages of research for excursions for our cruise as I have been spending most of my time planning the land trip to New Zealand & that is making my head spin! 

We like to see the countryside, absorb the culture, short hikes, etc as opposed to visiting museums, art galleries, etc.

If anyone has any recommendations for private excursions for any of these ports, your suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 
So far, I have looked at quad bikes on Kangaroo Island & the Puffin Billy train on one of our days in Melbourne (we will be in Melbourne the day we disembark too). 

Thanks, 

Juli

Edited April 4 by Cool Breeze Cruiser
Didn’t finish it

[possum52]

3 hours ago, Cool Breeze Cruiser said:

My husband & I are booked on the Diamond Princess Sep 26th. This is our itinerary…

 

Spending two nights in Sydney before departing on Sep 26th. 

 

Sep 28th- Melbourne, Australia; 7:00AM-10:00PM

 

Sep 29th- Phillip Island, Australia; 8:00AM-11:00PM

 

Oct 1st- Kangaroo Island; 7:00AM-5:00PM

 

Oct 2nd- Port Lincoln, Australia; 8:00AM-6:00PM

 

Oct 3rd- Adelaide, Australia; 7:00AM-6:00PM

 

Oct 5th- Melbourne, Australia; dock at 7:00AM & spending one night before flying to New Zealand for a 15 day land trip.

I am in the beginning stages of research for excursions for our cruise as I have been spending most of my time planning the land trip to New Zealand & that is making my head spin! 

We like to see the countryside, absorb the culture, short hikes, etc as opposed to visiting museums, art galleries, etc.

If anyone has any recommendations for private excursions for any of these ports, your suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 
So far, I have looked at quad bikes on Kangaroo Island & the Puffin Billy train on one of our days in Melbourne (we will be in Melbourne the day we disembark too). 

Thanks, 

Juli

Phillip Island - definitely do the Penguin Parade, particularly if offered by Princess. It will be likely cool to cold in the evening at the Penguin Parade, so do wear warm clothes and take a rug or cushion to sit on. The wind off Bass Strait can be bitter even if the days are fine. 

Melbourne - has lovely gardens and parks which are great to walk around and perhaps have lunch. Or walk around and explore the wonderful lanes and alleys of the central business district CBD) - there are free walking tours you can do. Our coffee culture is well known and you can always find a cafe or kiosk selling great coffee. 

 

Puffing Billy is fun and you will get to see some of our native forest up close. 

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

1 hour ago, possum52 said:

Phillip Island - definitely do the Penguin Parade, particularly if offered by Princess. It will be likely cool to cold in the evening at the Penguin Parade, so do wear warm clothes and take a rug or cushion to sit on. The wind off Bass Strait can be bitter even if the days are fine. 

Melbourne - has lovely gardens and parks which are great to walk around and perhaps have lunch. Or walk around and explore the wonderful lanes and alleys of the central business district CBD) - there are free walking tours you can do. Our coffee culture is well known and you can always find a cafe or kiosk selling great coffee. 

 

Puffing Billy is fun and you will get to see some of our native forest up close. 

Thanks for the suggestions possum52. 
I have been copying notes non stop but it is great to get first hand experience. 
We normally book independent excursions but we just booked this cruise a few weeks ago so most of Princess’s excursions are sold out so we definitely need private excursions. 
I think we are considering doing Puffing Billy combined with Healesville Sanctuary or something else for one of our days in Melbourne. My husband likes trains so Puffing Billy seems like a good fit. 
Juli

[yarramar]

9 hours ago, Cool Breeze Cruiser said:

My husband & I are booked on the Diamond Princess Sep 26th. This is our itinerary…

Puffing Billy can be easily done DIY from Melbourne without combining a tour to Healesville Sanctuary. Healesville is the best but given that you will be on Phillip Island and Kangaroo Island, it is probably superfluous to add extra native animals to your voyage.

to get to Puffing billy, just catch a train from Flinders St Station to Belgrave and then walk across to the Puffing Billy station. The train to Belgrave is about an hours journey.

For Phillip Island, a whole day will give you plenty of time for wildlife including koalas, kangaroos and pelican feeding. The penguin parade is a must but you will need transport to it and back to Cowes for your tender to return to the ship. The penguin parade finishes just after sunset which is about 6.30pm on Sept 29th. There are varying levels of penguin viewing, which can be found here. There is also lots to do on Phillip Island for the rest of your time there of which ideas can be found here.

You can book taxi's on the island to get you around but personally, I would hire a car for the day as it will be very worthwhile in getting around to all the different attractions. https://picarhire.com.au/ I would also do the same for Kangaroo Island. Both Hertz and Budget have agencies on KI.

 

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

Thanks for all the great information yarramar! You are making my research much easier! 
Your suggestion about skipping Healesville Sanctuary this go round makes sense. I was just trying to combine something else with the Puffing Billy so we make the most of our time in port. 
I will check out the car rentals too. We just booked this cruise a few weeks ago. I have been working on the Oahu road trip before our cruise & the New Zealand road trip post cruise so any help is much appreciated! 
Like most people, Australia & New Zealand are bucket list places for my husband! 
Juli

[possum52]

19 hours ago, yarramar said:

 

For Phillip Island, a whole day will give you plenty of time for wildlife including koalas, kangaroos and pelican feeding. The penguin parade is a must but you will need transport to it and back to Cowes for your tender to return to the ship. The penguin parade finishes just after sunset which is about 6.30pm on Sept 29th. 

 

 

The tenders dock at the Rhyll pier not in Cowes - Tender Docking at Phillip Island, although there are shuttles from Rhyll to Cowes.