Been to Oz? Help needed

[CharleyUK]

Hi
Spent most of last year lurking on these boards planning my trip to WDW and had a brill time. Thanks for all the advice and tips they realy made a difference to our trip.
Well now I'm asking for help again. This year we are going to Australia to spend some time with my family and then travel around. My questions are
1. anyone been and got some tips for me.
2. Does anyone know of a similar forum where I could get some info. I know it won't be the same but up to now I can't find anything near as friendly or informative.
Perhaps I'm asking too much
Thanks again guys ( I won't be gone too long, got to work on 2006 with DH )

 

[KayleeUK]

Bump for you In case anyone missed it.

 

[CharleyUK]

Thanks Kaylee

 

[Halo]

Hi Charley - we went there last year for 5-weeks, me, DW, DD3 and DD1. We did Sydney, Perth, Margaret River (WA), Melbourne, Gold Coast (Sea World and Warner Bros World) and Port Douglas.

When and where are you off to?

We did not find any comparable forum on Oz, but am happy to share any tips I can recollect.

Its a great place.

 

[CharleyUK]

Hi Halo

Thanks for the reply. Well our plan so far is to fly to sydney and spend 5 days there with family . Fly to Brisbaine pick up a hire car and drive to Cairns, stopping in Noosa, Hervey Bay, Rockhampton, Mackey, Airlie beach, and Townsville along the way, taking nine nights. Three nights in Cairns then fly back to Sydney for three nights before heading home.

We have thought about loads of other plans. We are very aware that we only have three weeks total and there is no way we could see it all.

What do you think ?
If you had three weeks what would you do ?

We are going the first three weeks in November and will be there for my birthday

The only thing we have to do is visit my family in Sydney for a few days.

Thanks again

 

[Halo]

I envy you, however here are some Tips as requested - only IMHO I stress :-

It might be possible for you to fly back from Cairns which would save you one internal flight (i.e. fly into Sydney and back from Cairns).

Virgin Blue (www.virginblue.com.au) are very good for internal flights. Plus for a few dollars more you can buy a pass to the Blue Room - which is great at Sydney and Brisbane airports.

Driving from Brisbane to Cairns is a very, very long drive - 1,733km. It is difficult to appreciate how large Australia is for us Brits. I know the journey is part of the holiday for you but personally I would fly - its a lot of time on the road for a (relatively) short holiday.

Port Douglas is nicer than Cairns - it is about 1 1/2 hrs further north. It is a better base to do the Barrier Reef from too.

When in Cairns/Port Douglas visit the Kuranda cable car. (You can go up in the cable car and come back by train). The best thing we found was the Koala Park there - only a small park, but you get to "cuddle a Koala" for a small fee. If you visit it late in the day (3pm or 4pm) the Koalas are actually active!!!!

In Sydney:- assuming you are not staying with relatives, I would recommend staying at the apartments in the Star City Casino in Darling Harbour - a bit like an Oz Vegas (www.starcity.com.au). The apartments are 5-star but really cheap (as long as you do not lose a fortune on the gaming tables), and you can get harbour view ones with views of the bridge.

Top tip for Sydney is to book the "Aussie VIP Gold Tour" at Sydney's Taronga Zoo - well worth the money, for a fantastic behind the scenes tour of the zoo www.zoo.nsw.gov.au/content/view.asp?id=77 . (I saw this featured in London's Evening Standard newspaper in a review of star's top travel tips - this one was Jeremy Irons'). One of the experiences we had on it was DD3 (about to turn 4) bottle feeding a baby wombat.

I wish we had more time to spend in Manly (a ferry ride away from Sydney, from Circular Quay) - what we saw looked great but we ran out of time.

The Hop-on Hop-Off Blue and Red Tourist Bus Routes in Sydney offer a good way of exploring Sydney and of getting out to Bondi and other outlying districts too.

I hope that gets you started.

 

[tiggerlady]

Hi Charley We are also planning a similar trip for next March to OZ and would love some tips & info so will be keeping an eye on this thread, so far all we know is we want to fly to Sydney via Hong Kong travel up to Brisbane by car and stay with a friend who lives at Bonville (near Coffs Harbour) then fly? to Cairns for the barrier reef and finally fly home via Bali or Fiji or Hawaii not sure how feasible this is yet but anyone out there has any other ideas please feel free to suggest.

 

[Halo]

Australia is very very very large. Sydney to Brisbane is an hour and a half by plane - to drive it would be like driving from London to Milan. Brisbane to Cairns is 2 hours 20mins by plane - it is like London to Rome.

When we left Sydney on the flight back to the UK, after 6 hours in the air we were still flying over Australia! I have a great postcard which overlays Australia over Europe. Perth is roughly where Barcelona is; Broome is where Aberdeen is; Darwin is in the far north of Norway, inside the Arctic Circle; Cairns is further West than Moscow, and further north than St.Petersburg; Brisbane is near the Caspian Sea; Sydney is on the Black Sea; and Hobart is south of Beirut!

You need to look at a globe to appreciate its real size as maps based on the Mercator projection understate it but to get an idea check out the Peters Projection Map on www.petersmap.com

 

[RICH]

Charley try virtualtourist.com they have forums on just about everywhere and lots of tips etc.

 

[luckyshannon]

total trip was for 4 weeks.
flights were with qantas (boomerang tickets) via the pacific the choice of free stopovers were new york,chicago,l/angeles or fiji.Internal flights cost £60 per segment.
stopped at new york on way out for 3 nights brilliant city,then flew to sydney stopped in darling harbour area for 4 nights another city not to miss (did the harbour bridge climb one of the wifes favourite things ).flew up to cairns for 5 nights o.k. but must admit to been a bit disappointed (not as good as expected ).flew back down to brisbane for 5 nights enjoyed this city and surrounding area (wife was a bit disappointed with brisbane).final stop was in fiji for 7 nights relaxation which it was would probably stop somewere else if we do it again but only because there are lots of other places we wish to visit.
dont forget the weather differs greatly between differant citys in aus and their seasons are opposite to ours.
also when you return home you will need a holiday to recover from your great adventure and the jet lag.
it might sound a bit negative but all in all the best holiday/trip we have done and hope to do it again soon.
luckyshannon

 

[CharleyUK]

Great tip Rich just got loads of info from virtualtourist.com

Anyone else got anymore ideas for me.

 

[youngaussienurse]

Hi Charley Just found your question. I actually live in Oz in Melbourne and know that you will have a GREAT time here. There is lots of things to do and the weather is generally pretty nice for most of the year. There are heaps of nice beaches and also major theme parks in Queensland (movie world, sea world, wet and wild and more) In Sydney there is Wonderland and in Melbourne there is Luna Park (which is not much really) ,Soverign Hill ( a place that is a replicate of a gold mining town) and heap of other places in other states. Hope you have a great time!!! Any Q's feel free to ask!

 

[CharleyUK]

Hi youngaussienurse
Thanks for the reply

Things have rearly changed in the last few days. We have had a total rethink. We looked at all the advice we were given and the tons of info avaliable on the net and have a new plan. Here we go:

Fly to Adelaide stay 2 nights
Drive to Melbourne via the Great Ocean rd
4 nights in Melbourne
Fly to Sydney 6 nights (see relatives)
Fly to Cairns 5 nights
fly home from Cairns

Sound better

youngaussienurse : Can you give me advice of the best way to spend my time in Melbourne. I've seen some info on a place called William ricketts sancturary, is this easy to reach from Melbourne? Plus anywhere nice to eat/drink, we are staying near the southbank.

Other plans include :
Bridge clime in Sydney
Dinner at the Sky tower Sydney
Boat trip to Great Barrier Reef from Cairns
Seaplane trip

It's my birthday in Sydney any ideas?

Thanks for all your help so far

 

[RICH]

Charley
Can't you fit Ayers rock in , it would be a shame to not see it.

 

[CharleyUK]

Hi Rich

Had to choose between Ayres rock and the great Barrier reef due to time, only got three weeks. Got enough info to plan another trip already. Don't want to spend the whole time travelling and come back needing a holiday to recover.

 

[RICH]

Charley
I thought Ayers Rock was much more impressive than the Reef, unless you are into diving.
We fitted Perth ,Melbourne , Sydney , Ayers Rock and Cairns into 18 nights and we weren't rushed.
Have a great time i'm planning for 2007.

 

[oldmovieguy]

Charley

Take a look at a site called igougo. It's worldwide and has lots of advice and tips. There is always www.tripadvisor.com which again has a wealth of information.
We went to Ayers rock three years ago, it slashed down with rain so much that we had to cancel the sunset champagne ride on the Harley!
Cairns, Port Douglas and the Barrier Reef were just fantastic, I'm no great shakes in the water but they strapped a life jacket to me and away I went. You are very well looked after and I really enjoyed it.
If you get a chance, go to Doyles Fish restaurant when in Sydney, not the flash one in the centre but the origional one on the far side of the bay. It's right at the waters edge with a great view of Sydney Harbour at night.
Pay a visit to Sydney Fish Market as well. It don't get much fresger that 'just of the boat'. They will make up a picnic lunch on some of the stands for you to eat there and then. And lastly, you must pay a visit to Harry's cafe de Wheels, that's all I'm saying about it, but it is different. Enjoy Charley.

 

[Astrid]

Cairns is wonderful! We went to the Barrier Reef from there and had an amazing day. I wanted to see Ayres Rock too but a friend of mine who lived out there said that the travelling it took to get there would have taken too much time out of our 2 week stay in Australia.

We spent a week in Cairns, 4 nights in Adelaide with friends and then 5 nights in Sydney. I'm pleased to read that you've now decided to fly most places, so much quicker and easier - I had no idea how big it really was out there til we were there!!

We did the Kuranda Railway trip whilst in Cairns which was fun and I would definately recommend that you take a trip north to the Daintree Rainforest, it was one of the highlights of our stay.

Whilst in Sydney we purchased a bus ticket which we hopped on and off of and that meant we saw an awful lot of the City for not very much money.

I'm sure you'll have a brilliant time - I'd love to go back there one day.

Astrid

 

[Halo]

Hi Charley,

I think your new itinerary looks much better.

When you are in Melbourne I would recommend The Colonial Tram Car Restaurant. It's great but needs to be booked well in advance. You can book on the internet at http://www.tramrestaurant.com.au/ where you can also find out more about it. It is not suitable for young children though.

Enjoy.

 

[CharleyUK]

Hi

Thanks Halo - the tramcar looks great, not sure about eating on the move but want to give it a go. Did you book on line or when you got there?


Anyone got anymore tips for eating out? It's my birthday whilst in Sydney, we think we may go to the Skytower restaurant, anyone been? Also want to go on a seaplane but not sure to do it in Sydney over the Harbour or at Cairns over the GBR
Any thoughts?