The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leave New Zealand on Wednesday after nine days of carefully balanced duties, from competitive sports to charitable visits. When they arrive in Sydney that afternoon, a finely tuned Australian schedule kicks in that will take the royals, on their first official tour as a family, from our national monuments to a skate park, to the red centre and back.

Sydney will host four days of royal duties. They include visits to the Sydney Opera House, fire-affected communities in the Blue Mountains, the Royal Easter Show, a children's hospice, a life-saving display on Manly beach, an Easter Sunday church service and a trip to Taronga Zoo.

The schedule does not make way for a tiara and gown moment, nor does it include any more play dates for Prince George.

Narelle Martin is the nursing unit manager at Bear Cottage Hospice, which will host the couple on Friday.

''It's absolutely incredible,'' she said. ''This is a pinnacle for us and anyone who's had anything to do with Bear Cottage.''

She hopes the visit will be relaxed, and that William will be able to spend time with the nine children and seven families he will be meeting as patron of Britain's Child Bereavement Trust.

Royal Easter Show councillor Alison Renwick says organisers are ''thrilled'' the couple will continue the royal family tradition of visiting the show.

But while royal visits were once a bonanza for schoolchildren - three out of four New Zealand children were said to have seen the Queen when she visited in 1953 - thanks to a media contingent numbering more than 200, children from St Andrew's Cathedral School junior school will no longer have a secure viewing area from which to see the special visitors at the Easter Sunday service.

Security is tight across all events, says a NSW Police spokeswoman, who confirms a police operation is in place with the Protection Operations Unit.

''We're expecting bigger crowd numbers than other royal tours,'' she said. ''Every detail has been planned. This is a little bit out of the ordinary because of who they are.''

The family - and attached media circus - will head to Brisbane on Saturday, and be back in Sydney in time for church on Sunday. They fly to Uluru on Tuesday, followed by a day in Adelaide and a final two days in Canberra for Anzac Day commemorations.

And, to keep the sodden weather theme running from across the ditch, rain is predicted in Sydney on Wednesday.