Fremantle to Sydney

Perth’s spectacular growth in recent times makes the old historic port of Fremantle seem tiny in comparison. Eighty per cent of Western Australia’s population lives in or around this sunny metropolis. Your guide to Perth. They say you can’t please everyone, but Perth may prove to be the exception to that rule. The city’s urban sprawl is awash with fusion flavours, fashionable boutiques and innovative museums but Western Australia’s capital impresses in other ways too. Its Kings Park and Botanic Garden are one of the largest inner-city green spaces; eclipsing even New York’s Central Park. Outstanding beaches decorate Perth’s coastline, while verdant wineries surround its inland fringes. Throw in the world’s largest gold coin (one of Perth’s many novel claims to fame) and you begin to appreciate why the city is so many things to so many people.

The third-largest Australian island boasts incredible natural beauty, with unspoiled pristine beaches and a truly unique opportunity to see an amazing range of animals up-close in their local habitat. As one would expect, there’s a healthy kangaroo presence, along with wallabies, koalas, seals, sea lions and goannas, the placid and unassuming lizards that grow up to a metre long.

Flower gardens and graceful, tree-lined boulevards add a refined air to Melbourne, regarded as the hub of Australia's cultural, intellectual and financial life – at least by Melbournians! Modern skyscrapers mingle comfortably with Victorian homes, and an aura of upper-class elegance pervades. If you find country pleasures more appealing, ride the historic steam train “Puffing Billy” past forests and farms, before having lunch at a Yarra Glen vineyard.

Sitting on a beautiful stretch of Tasmania's North West Coast, port city Burnie may have industrial roots, but it has since reinvented itself as a creative enclave and the state's fourth largest city. With about 40 per cent of Tasmania designated as a World Heritage Area of national parks and reserves, you can enjoy a wide range of wilderness experiences available from this laid-back market town.

Mark Twain called it “the wonder of the world”. James Michener wrote, “It is a thing of beauty, a fairy-tale body of water”. With an area that sprawls 670 square miles, Sydney is one of the largest cities in the world. But it's the exquisite Sydney Harbour that draws world-wide acclaim – that, along with its magnificent Opera House. And with nearly three days, you'll have plenty of time to go exploring.