By Glenn Adams

updated 12:25 p.m. ET Oct. 4, 2007

SYDNEY, Australia - Yes, the ride is long, real long.

That's the short answer to the first question they ask when you say you've been to Australia. It's about 14 hours from Los Angeles to Brisbane. For me, a few steps up and down the aisle, a few catnaps, a couple of movies. Stretched my legs under the seat now and then, trying not to bother the guy in front.

Is it worth the little discomforts? Bloody right!

When we landed, a new day had just begun — G'day — and the wonders of the land down under lay before us: Watching a stingray glide before my eyes as I snorkeled in the Great Barrier Reef. Seeing little blue penguins muster at nightfall at the Southern Ocean's edge for their ritual march to their nests. Black swans. A wallaby springing across an open field. Up above, the Southern Cross. And bungee-jumping in New Zealand.

My wife and I had left a northeastern U.S. winter behind to complete a long-unfinished mission. Working as editors on an ocean liner 28 years earlier, Betty and I had sailed to five continents, missing Australia. We decided now it was time to go. We worked in a stay in New Zealand in a package arranged by our travel agent. We have never been much for escorted tours, but with so many attractions spread over a vast area, and limited time (two weeks), we opted for a tour with Globus. And we met nice people, locals and tour-mates, along the way — including an Atlanta couple who married at the famed Sydney Opera House — with us among the witnesses.

Like other Aussie cities, Sydney is walker-friendly, with tons of shops and closed-street malls. Navigating the excellent public transit system is easy; we took a bus to the famed Bondi (bond-EYE) Beach, a surfing hot spot outside the city. While things aren't cheap by U.S. standards, deals can be found, like the Australian $10 steak dinner along a canopied sidewalk off the beach. For a beer (a popular local brand is Victoria Bitter) count on spending at least $3.50. Opera house tours run about $28.

For adventure, you'll pay more, like $150 to scale the Sydney Harbor Bridge arch, using catwalks and ladders while harnessed for safety. (We opted out, but a walkway along the bridge's highway-level span is free, and still offers a magnificent view. Downtown, you can harness up for Sydney Skywalk — a walk on the roof of the Sydney Tower, about 800 feet above the city, well above the bridge's crest.)

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A round-trip ferry ride from the harbor to Manly Beach, where surfers were riding wild waves, set us back about $9. It was worth the fare given the view — including a sailboat race and flotilla of other pleasure craft, not to mention a look at the Sydney Opera House from the water. At the beach, February's late-summer water was in the 70s, so the swimming was fine. The sun was strong; don't forget sunscreen, and consider wearing a T-shirt in the water.

That rule made even more sense in the tropical north in Cairns, a Coral Sea resort town of about 120,000 and jumping-off spot for the 1,300-mile Great Barrier Reef. Catamarans run regularly from the marina to Green Island, where even snorkeling novices can easily see brilliantly colored tropical fish, and with luck, a stingray or two. Tours can be booked to more remote spots along this natural wonder.

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In town, canopies cover sidewalks along the main streets, so walking even at midday is pleasant. But an early-morning stroll along Cairns' seaside promenade and park is a must. A white-sand beach, with lifeguards, has been created along an inlet that's cut off from the open sea but still offers the feel of an ocean dip.

Beyond the sugar cane plantations spread over the lowlands outside the city, rain forests take over where the Kuranda Range rises. We rode a gondola to the mountaintop for a guided walk in the lush rain forest of towering red penda Kauri pine and maple silkwood trees, supplejack vines and many other varieties. The walk included views of the wild Barron Falls below. A ride by cable car, train or a combination costs about $90.

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