After all the planning and preparation the wait is finally over. Our group will head to the airport for our morning flight on Qantas direct to Cairns. On arrival in Cairns you will be met by our experienced guide and driver for a full trip and safety briefing. We travel to our retreat to check in before we meet a migrant now living in Queensland as she shares her story as well as her love of cooking with you. You will learn how to prepare a delicious meal from her home country, as she discusses the circumstances that caused her people to flee their country of origin. You will also learn of the hardships she has faced since arriving in Australia that will humanize this struggle. You gain some culinary skills, feast on a fantastic meal, and gain an insight into an important topic. Overnight Seville Mercy Conference Centre

Meals:  D

Today is a special day! This morning you pack our bags and after breakfast you transfer to the pristine Fitzroy Island. A fringing coral reef surrounds the island, part of the inner Great Barrier Reef, providing a sheltered home for a wide range of marine life. You join a marine naturalist for a safety briefing and background on the island and its inhabitants before you walk straight into the water to explore the reef system. After some exploration you will join a Coral Watch and data collection program and learn about what is happening on the island with the reef restoration program, addressing climate change and coral bleaching. The data collected goes to the University of Queensland's Coral Watch scientists who analyse the results. This afternoon you visit the Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Centre. The CTRC is a volunteer operated, non-profit organisation dedicated to the rehabilitation of sick and injured turtles. The Great Barrier Reef is home to six of the world’s seven species of marine turtles. A number of these are seriously threatened by a diverse range of natural and, more significantly, human induced factors. You will meet some of the volunteers and see the great work being done here. Overnight camping on Fitzroy Island

Meals:  B,L,D

This morning you wake on the island and prepare for the day ahead. Today you will join a marine biologist aboard a catamaran on the Great Barrier Reef, a UNESCO listed World Heritage Site and one of the most bio diverse places on the planet! The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres. Your boat will dock at a floating pontoon as you embark on a snorkeling tour with our specialist guides. Our marine biologist will explain about the importance of the reef and its hidden creatures in marine ecosystems. We hope to see a rainbow of hard and soft corals, turtles, butterfly fish, clown fish (think Nemo!), parrot fish and giant Maori Wrasse. You will receive training and join the Eye of the Reef data collection program with your marine biologist Guide. The program helps the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority maintain and manage the long term sustainability of this special place. Today you can also participate in a semi submarine and glass bottom boat ride, underwater observatory and marine life touch tank. This afternoon you return to your campsite on Fitzroy Island.

Meals:  B,L,D

This morning we rise early and take on a new challenge, walking thesteep rainforest track that gives way to dry open forest and scenic vistas. At trail's end stands an historic lighthouse where views of the sparkling Coral Sea stretch to the horizon. For an extra challenge we can push on to the summit of the island for 360-degree views. We pack up camp and take the return ferry to Cairns where we participate in a Service Project for Indigenous Women. You learn to make “Moon Sick Pads” to distribute to women in need. These pads provide women with a healthier, more sustainable and cost effective alternative to disposable sanitary products. This service project provides free reusable, washable menstrual pads to girls who miss school when menstruating and face other barriers during this time of the month. During this activity you master some basic sewing skills, gain an understanding of the complex cultural barriers that affect women in remote communities in the world, and learn about the environmental and social benefits of reusable sanitary products. The Moon Sick Pads are donated to the women in remote Aboriginal communities -- places where costs of sanitary items are prohibitive and these products are gratefully received. Overnight Seville Mercy Conference Centre.

Meals:  B,L,D

Today you join the Mandingalbay Yidinji people to learn about their cultural heritage and explore their Country straddling the Wet Tropics and Great Barrier Reef World Heritage. You travel by boat across the inlet, past mangroves, and are welcomed on to Country with a traditional smoke ceremony. Over the course of the day you listen to stories about spiritual and cultural connection to Country before joining a range of immersion programs and activities including bush tucker, maintaining land with local aboriginal rangers and how flora and fauna is used in every day life. You will have opportunities to learn about totems, biodiversity and the protection of animals. This afternoon you bid our hosts farewell and return to Cairns. In the late afternoon, you have free time to explore the Esplanade and the Night Markets. Overnight Mercy Seville Conference Centre

Meals:  B,L,D

This morning you wake on the island and continue your exploration before you board your boat and head back to the mainland. On arrival you meet back up with your vehicle and driver for what must be one of the most stunning drives in Australia, to Mossman Gorge in the Daintree National Park, and area sacred to the Kuku Yalanji people. Here you will join an exclusive afternoon with the peoples in this area exploring their terrain and joining them on a traditional hunting and gathering afternoon. The group will travel with traditional custodian members of the Kuku Yalanji to their homeland on Cooya Beach (Kuyu Kuyu), an area where the community continue to practice their cultural activities and maintain their cultural heritage. The group will explore and discuss matters of cultural importance of this Country and the group will lend their hand to traditional activities including the fishing activity of spear throwing and handling as it is still practiced here today. The traditional custodians will take you along Cooya beach as they continue to hunt and gather, observing cultural medicine and food plants as you go and collecting materials for the community families, venturing into the mangroves and onto the mudflats. The group then return to the community to see Kuku Yalanji artefacts and share stories from their traditional land while they prepare their daily food for their families. After your immersion walk and exploration you continue to the Daintree Rainforest for overnight. Overnight Daintree Rainforest Eco-Lodge

Meals:  B,L,D

After a night of immersion in the rainforest, you wake to birdcalls and the chatter of the jungle. If it is hot you can walk to the nearby crystal-clear rainforest swimming hole used by locals. It's a perfect place to cool off. You then head to the award winning Daintree Discovery Centre. This world class interpretive facility allows you easy access to this unique rainforest wilderness via a boardwalk tour, a 23 metre high Canopy Tower, Aerial Walkway and comprehensive Display Centre. In the company of your guide, you discover what’s tasty on the Bush Tucker Trail, follow the flight of the brilliant blue Ulysses butterfly, look for the endangered giant cassowary in the underbrush, and learn about why the Idiot Fruit is so important. With a large indoor display area, the latest touch screen technology, audio visual theatre and sweeping, all-weather verandas, the Centre provides easy-to-understand information about one of the most biologically complex spots on the planet and you’ll leave with a greater appreciation of this special environment. You continue south towards Cairns and visit an indigenous art gallery. Artist-in-residence Binna teaches you how to re-create paintings that are a typical Aboriginal style and symbolic of Australian art. He explains the meaning behind his paintings and what this art means to his people. You will be able to take your small canvas painting home with you. You return to Cairns for your final night and dinner celebration. Overnight Seville Mercy Conference Centre

Meals:  B,L,D

Morning to pack and prepare for flight home. Fly to Sydney.

Meals:  B