My wife and I were in Melbourne the last week of May to attend the Rotary International 2023…read moreInternational Convention and we met up with another Rotarian couple that we've known now for several years to see a little bit of the area around Melbourne. We decided on a tour operated by your company, Sightseeing Tours Australia, for the Full-Day Great Ocean Road and 12 Apostles Tour, for Tuesday, May 30th, 2023, Itinerary Number 1404753517, Booking Reference 1017395301. From the onset of the tour, we were very disappointed in the attitude, lack of professionalism and downright rudeness and disrespect/racist attitude of the driver/tour guide, a "John O.", or something to that affect. We, along with our friends, and a number of other passengers, including other Rotarians from other parts of the world, were subjected to this individual's verbal harassment and inhospitable attitude and I am writing this message to let the company know that this individual not only did a disservice to your company, but also to the overall impression of people who were in your country to experience its beauty and culture, only to leave with a feeling of never wanting to visit Australia again. To begin with, when he came to the stop we had indicated to our friends we would meet the bus, where we had been waiting for over 15 minutes, he came off of the bus accusing our friends, who had booked the itinerary, of being late and was very rude to a number of the other people that were there trying to ascertain if this was the bus they should be on. Our friends had indicated via chat with your company that they would be at Her Majesty's Theater at 7:10 am the morning of May 30th, but were called that morning to change their pickup location, which they did. When they got to their new pickup location, there was a bus there, but it was not the bus for our tour, but the driver was kind enough to take them to our pickup location, The Great Southern Hotel, where they arrived 5 minutes after the designated pickup time, just after we boarded the bus. I explained to John O. that they were en route, as I had called them once John O. informed us that they were not on the bus. When they arrived, he proceeded to berate them very rudely about them being "30 minutes late", which they were not. It was very unprofessional and very rude the way in which he was addressing them and he essentially made a scene about it in front of the entire bus passenger group. A little while later, John O. was giving some instruction to the group on the bus, and he stopped in mid sentence and started scolding a gentleman about something he may have had audible on his phone, threatening him to "take him to a police station and have him arrested" for allowing whatever it was that was audible on his phone, which no one else on the bus could hear. John O. stated to this gentleman that "this was a public bus, not his own private tour", and that he had no right to have audible what he had and that it was illegal for him to be doing whatever it was he was doing. Most of the bus passengers were in total shock about this blatant threat to a passenger, who was non-white, possibly did not speak english very well and was not at all being a nuisance to anyone else on the bus. Despite the intent of the comments, its impact definitely had serious racist undertones and created a very unsafe environment for an event we all paid for but felt as if we were prisoners in our own recreational experience. My wife, who was closer to the gentleman in question said that John O. seemed to be targeting this gentleman, as he had said something else to him a little while earlier in a threatening tone, and that John O. was totally inappropriate for chastising this passenger, a paying customer, in the way that he was, in public, in front of other passengers. In addition, his accusation to this gentleman was totally hypocritical, as John O. was playing (apparently) his own selection of music throughout the trip throughout the bus's sound system, and at one point turned up the volume on a particular Beach Boys song, encouraging everyone to sing along (which no one did). A number of passengers throughout the trip discussed among themselves this threat to the passenger and how inappropriate it was, but did so somewhat fearfully, as John O. might retaliate some of the same threats to them as well. At the stop labeled "Koala Cafe", myself and one of our friends had walked up the hill to try and see koalas in trees and walked back to the bus, keeping track of the time that had been allotted to be back on the bus. As we approached the bus, John O. started berating us for being late and my friend state that we had been conscious of the time and we were on-time. John O. started yelling at us "Oh, well I guess all of the other people on the bus are wrong, huh?" and then cursing at us "Don't give me that bullsh!t" as we got on to the bus. My friend replied "Don't yell at me" very calmly, despite my desire to argue...

Don't use - Book with another company…read more We booked 2 adults for the 1 day tour of Kangaroo Island. Sight seeing tours website accepted our booking and took payment of over $600. We received a confirmation e-mail of our booking. 2 days later I receive a phone call asking if I can change our booking date to 3 days later. We have flight home booked on this day and so cannot change. I am then told that no other dates are available and so our trip is cancelled. A full refund will be processed however this can take 5 days. The company will have had my money for over a week and as they left it 2 days before even telling me that the trip they had confirmed I had booked on to actually wasn't available, I am now chasing round trying to find an alternative.

Wow wow wow wow wow wow wow…read more Looking for an incredible Melbourne experience that would be difficult to top? Chris the Balloon Man is your guy. Half the fun of the balloon experience is you don't know where you'll be taking off from, or landing. The pick up point is the Grand Hyatt in the city around an hour before sunrise where a bus takes you to the launch spot, the day we flew we took off from Newport. There's plenty to do before you take off with the opportunity to be hands-on if you like, it's also fine to stand back and watch it all happen. We took off just as the sun was rising and drifted gently over the port and over the city, what a view! It's incredibly quiet and peaceful up there. After about an hour seeing Melbourne from a whole new point of view we landed gently in a park (ok may it was a golf course, but well clear of the fairway!) in Rosanna. We all pitched in to help pack up the balloon and the crew picked us and the balloon up and drove us back to the hotel. All up it was about three and a half hours. There is the option to have breakfast at the Grand Hyatt post flight, we couldn't as we had to get home to the babysitters but I would recommend it - not for the food but for the company. The pilot Chris was such an interesting and friendly guy, I imagine the breakfast would have been just as entertaining and enjoyable as the flight. They do gift vouchers for a special someone. I think it would also make a pretty amazing corporate gift / team event for work. You can fit a max of 10 people in the basket.

From the owner: Melbournes most romantic & glamorous sunrise experience. Hot air balloon ride,inflight photo…read moregallery, gourmet bfast Botanical gdn

I'm pretty sure our tour guide's name was Dylan. He was super nice and friendly and knowledgable…read more He kept the entire tour light and funny. We were a little late getting downstairs to meet him and caused the whole day to run a bit behind but he made sure we didn't miss anything. He took us to see koalas and kangaroos out in the open. He also took us somewhere we could hold and pet and feed birds. We stopped for tea and a snack at a lighthouse and it was such a beautiful day, it really turned out to be the best part of our entire Australian trip. The tour that we booked was the Great Ocean Road Drive and Fly tour. The flying part was phenomenal. I have never been in a plane that small, but we were clearly in good hands. The only thing I could possibly even think of complaining about would be that we ended up doing the aerial portion of the tour with another couple. It wasn't a big deal, but in the states, private has a very specific meaning, so we were a little surprised. All in all, I would totally recommend this group and if we ever return, I'm sure we would give them a call and see if we could book something again.

I agree with the other reviewer on this tour. really a well-designed tour from beginning to end. We…read morealso had Walter as our tour guide and he is a delightful guide. Great thing is that you see a lot of things others don't see and also stay away from the crowds. The overnight stay is fine. I would consider waiting to the last minute before booking because there are many hotels in the area also Airbnbs. I stayed at the Seaview motel which was just fine. Also, I would really recommend the wildlife wonders tour in the evening. If you can participate in the dusk tour, only given on certain days. It's worth it. We saw many koalas and kangaroos and other wildlife.

Stop, drop and read BEFORE booking ANY other Great Ocean Road Tour!…read more Walter (owner/operator) was our guide for this 2 day tour over the Great Ocean Road and I will start by saying you will not find another tour that will take you to so many stops and give you plenty of time to explore each - including mini hikes in the bush, Gibson's steps so you can see the 12 apostles from sea level as well as from above, swimming, seeing koalas in the wild, feeding parrots and a helicopter ride should you choose(add. cost). It is an intense two days. However, I also must add that we had a couple (wife was 65 and husband was 89) on our tour and Walter took excellent care of them allowing them to stay on the van as well as anyone else who wanted to. I was just getting over the crud, & didn't want a relapse so I opted to sit out on the more strenuous ones. Walter truly does make this an incredibly versatile tour to suit all abilities. He also provides morning tea/coffee at a morning stop and then has fresh fruit, cookies, and bottled water throughout each day. As for the accommodations they are youth hostels/backpackers so even if you pay the additional $88 for a private room, you will still be sharing bathrooms & must furnish your own towel. We opted to book at a separate hotel (additional cost) but felt it was well worth it as did most on our tour and Walter was happy to drop us off and pick us up at our respective hotels around Apollo Bay. Seeing as this is a 'small group' tour sometimes (just a few in a car up to 11 people in a touring van) you will not get a better bang for your buck anywhere. It does fill up fast, so make your bookings now Yelpers! If it's closer to time, call and see if they have had any cancellations - you might get lucky. They also have additional tours so check out their website because if they are anywhere as near as good as this one, you will have picked the best. Thanks Walter!

Our walking tour with Rian was excellent. He was very personable, had a great sense of humor, and…read morea vast knowledge of the city which he delivered in an entertaining way. We had 31 tourists in our group, but it seemed smaller. He gave us time to take photos, but didn't make photos the overwhelming reason for our tour. Instead, he gave us a real sense of the city. Rian kept up our pace making sure we were all safe crossing streets. I would highly recommend this tour.

Sam whisked about 40 of us through many sights in 3 hours. We met him at 10:30 in front of the…read morelibrary and wandered through the city until 1:30. Sam gave us a lot of history and background to his city. Some points of interest visited were: - Old Melbourne Gaol, a former prison where Ned Kelly (a bushranger who was considered both a hero and a villain) was hung, and it's now part of RMIT University and a museum - Princess Theater, where a seat is always left unoccupied in honor of Frederick Federici, and the theater is supposedly haunted by his ghost - Chinatown, the oldest Chinatown in Australia and filled with cheap eats - Federation Square, a large public space great for televising live sporting events as well as for rioting - Flinders Station, the largest and busiest metro station in Melbourne - various alleyways that have cute cafés and restaurants that are prefect for bunch and lunch - street art that's legal at some alleyways