Vicky is the best!
Australia
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Dec 21 - Jan 2, 2025
Our guides in Melbourne were excellent - Walter with Around and About, Josh with Oceania Tours Melbourne & especially Shelley Cohney, who did the Jewish Melbourne tour. Let me also add that Vicky didn't have an existing vendor for a Jewish Melbourne tour, but she happened to stumble upon the most knowledgable tour guide about Jewish life and history in Australia. On two occasions we asked Vicky to swap out or cancel scheduled tours on just over 24 hour notice and she managed to get us full refunds, which we really appreciated. The only negative thing I can say is that I wish Vicky had given us more of a heads up about what the Edge experience at the Melbourne Skydeck was, as had we known, we would have told her NOT to book that for us. Without Vicky, our trip would't have been anywhere near as amazing as it ended up being, and I would HIGHLY recommend her to anyone booking a trip to Australia!
Hotel Reviews
Hotel was great. Having the living room area was a nice plus. My only complaint was that there was no way to attach a Fire TV stick to the TV in the bedroom as there was no way to access the back of the TV given the way the TV was mounted to the wall. The kids really liked the pool and pickleball court.
The kids really liked the pool. We loved that breakfast was included, and it was excellent (the kids really liked the juicer). Balconies in the rooms were a plus.
Lobby was great - kids loved the foosball table. Pool was also great.
Activity Reviews
We were lucky to be the only ones on the tour that day. I know it wasn't set up as a private tour, but that was an added bonus.
The kids loved Moonlit Sanctuary - especially the opportunity to feed the kangaroos and wallabies. I note that our tour guide was nice enough to give a cup of kangaroo/wallaby food to the two families on the trip that had kids (including ours), which was a nice touch (it seems as though whatever membership his tour company has for the sanctuary includes 2 cups of food per visit). Our tour guide Josh, was great.
I have to give very high marks both to Vicky for not only arranging this tour in the first place (she told me she hadn't previously booked a Jewish Melbourne tour and didn't have a go to vendor, and she managed to find the most knowledgeable possible guide with respect to Jewish Melbourne and Australian Jewish history in general) and to our tour guide Shelley Cohney, who was absolutely fantastic.
The kids loved the Port Douglas Wildlife Habitat.
Great experience, although similar to what I was expecting given that I had visited the great barrier reef 20 years ago.
We definitely preferred the skyrail to the train.
It was fun to see this great public space, and a good thing to do on Christmas, since so many things were closed.
This was the kids favorite activity of the entire trip and it was one of the main reasons for the timing of the trip - I did the Bridgeclimb in 2004 and so I wanted to wait until my son was old enough and tall enough to go back and do it with my kids.
I also appreciate your kind words about my efforts to accommodate those last-minute changes. Flexibility is key when it comes to making sure your trip is as perfect as possible, and I’m so pleased everything worked out smoothly and our partners could assist... Read more