"Help the Yankee DISer" Part II-visit Australia/DL-the PTR(8/19 -TR Link Post#263!)

[PrincessInOz]

Pete - Montville is nice and it is inland. Are you looking for inland or along the beach? There are a number of tourist spots along the Sunshine Coast that are alternatives to Montville, if you wanted to be close to the beach.

Noosa is the prime tourist trap in the Sunshine Coast; but there is also Maroochydore and Malloolabar. I tend to stay at Alexandra Headlands in at the Sunshine Coast.

 

[aussietravellers]

Montville will be beautiful for an inland stay (and chilly in August). If you were wanting closer to the beach (from memory you said you prefer inland to coastal but just incase), there is the Novotel Twin Waters resort. It starts from around $145 pn (although you could get it cheaper). I think inland would be beautiful, when you have just done a drive down the coast (yes farther north, but still done a coast drive).

 

[skier_pete]

Pete - Montville is nice and it is inland. Are you looking for inland or along the beach? There are a number of tourist spots along the Sunshine Coast that are alternatives to Montville, if you wanted to be close to the beach.

Noosa is the prime tourist trap in the Sunshine Coast; but there is also Maroochydore and Malloolabar. I tend to stay at Alexandra Headlands in at the Sunshine Coast.

Montville will be beautiful for an inland stay (and chilly in August). If you were wanting closer to the beach (from memory you said you prefer inland to coastal but just incase), there is the Novotel Twin Waters resort. It starts from around $145 pn (although you could get it cheaper). I think inland would be beautiful, when you have just done a drive down the coast (yes farther north, but still done a coast drive).

Yes, we are definitely more interested in inland scenery. I figure after having stayed on the shores for a week, we would be more interested in the mountains. And it seems like being further south it would be less likely to be beach weather anyways. So yeah, I would definitely say inland!

Yesterday, I booked the hotel in Airlie Beach. I ended up at the Airlie Beach Hotel. It was $198 a night (US) through travelocity. I check WOTIF as you guys recommended, but it was $200 (US) a night with the fees on there, so I went with travelocity. There was another hotel I was considering (Boathaven Spa Resort) but the Tripadvisor reviews were sort of iffy, and it would've only saved us $30 a night, so I thought I would push the upper edge of the budget for something more reliable. Prices were a little higher because we need a Friday and Saturday night booking.

I also need to book our Whitsundays sailing. I think for that reason I am going to hold off on the Brisbane/Montville booking a little bit. I am trying to spread the charges out a bit, and have a bunch of charges coming up on this months CC bills. (I prefer to pay it all off.)

Going back to something Disney related -- I'm very excited to see we will get to see Carsland at DCA as part of our trip. As a Disney fan, I am very excited at ALL the new (old) things we are going to get to see there.

By the way, the weather here in Buffalo has been unbelievable. We have been in the 70s for almost two weeks now (for you Celcius folks - that's around 20-23 C). To give you an idea what the weather is SUPPOSED to be like this time of year, the Spring Skiing rates at the local ski areas should have started at the beginning of this week. I've skied in good conditions as late as March 30th. Yesterday we broke the all-time record high by 12 degrees..old record was 69 F (20 C) new record 81 F (27 C). Normal average high for yesterday - 52 F (11 C), so we've been running 20-30 degrees above normal for almost two weeks. The grass has started growing and my wife's lialic bushes are coming out, two months ahead of normal. Usually I don't get the mower out until late April at the very earliest, but looks like I'll have to be mowing within a week. It's supposed to get back more to normal starting Monday and for most of next week. The farmers are rightly really worried, as plants are all growing way too fast and there could easily be a cold snap that kills everything. But, really it's hard not to enjoy it. Honestly, we're lucky if DD birthday on May 22nd has this nice weather. We've got a fun weekend ahead, with going to see our high school's production of Seussical (the Musical) tonight, an NHL hockey game tomorrow, and tickets to see a Queen cover band on Sunday.

Next weekend we are traveling abroad - OK, about 30 minutes away to Niagara Falls, Canada. We try to book a getaway weekend once every winter to go to one of the indoor water parks over there. This time, we got another couple and their kids to go along, so it should be a fun time. Hopefully, it will cool off a bit, cause if it's that warm outside the water park is like a big glass furnace.

And yes, Aussie readers, I'll reiterate, if you are coming to the states and planning a visit to Niagara Falls, please drop me a line. I'd be happy to help with planning and even act as tour guide. We are lucky enough to live "minutes from the falls".

 

[PrincessInOz]

Unseasonal weather in Melbourne too. The start of this week it was beach weather, shorts and thongs (flip flops). Cold snap came through and there was a light dusting of snow on the local alpine country...still 70 odd days out from the official start of the skiing season.

Have fun in Niagara!

 

[skier_pete]

3 Months, 3 weeks, and 3 days until our trip!

My DW was telling me the other day that she read in a travel book that "You should not wear shorts in Sydney or you will look like a tourist." I guess this is because its mostly business people.

Anyways, my response was "(1) But I AM a tourist and (2) won't my American accent, constant picture taking and all the touristy things we'll be doing give that away anyways?"

Should this really concern me? It was always a rule as a kid when visiting NYC to do what you could to "Not look like a tourist" but that was mostly to avoid crime. Is there a reason I should care if I look like a tourist?

No one ever says that about a trip to Disney, right? Don't look like a tourist? My gosh, you could dress as ridiculous as possible and still not outdo some of the people at WDW!

Though, it got me thinking about clothing. Here's what I picture we require:

Los Angeles - Hot at Disneyland. 25 C or more. Shorts and T-shirts all the way.
Sydney - Cool but not cold. 15-20 C Pants and a light jacket possibly. Rain possible.
Melbourne - cooler than sydney. Probably the coldest part of the trip. 10-15 C. Still not freezing temperatures though. Jacket and maybe even a hat at times. Shipping our ski clothes here, so we will have plenty of layers available.
Cairns-Mackay -> Warmer. 20 - 25 C range? Shorts weather, though possibly cool enough in the evening for a light jacket.
Brisbane -> Still moderate temperatures, but closer to what we'll see in Sydney.15-20 C?
LA - Hot again.

Obviously we can't predict the exact weather we will see in each place, but I am just trying to think ahead to what we're packing. My concept is that we have 3 suitcases, instead of packing one for each person, we pack them for each PLACE, with us doing laundry in the middle in Melbourne. So, we would only need to open one suitcase in LA, and a different one in Sydney. Don't know if my wife will go with this idea, but I think she will.

 

[battymum]

People that say "you dont want to look like a tourist" are just jealous because you are on holiday and they are not!

Like any city, "be alert, but not alarmed"

I think you have it about right, you probably won't want to be wearing shorts in Sydney in July - like most places wear layers - jeans with a light jacket you can take off and tshirt will be fine during the day.

Depending on your activities, you might want something heavier at night, but if you are mostly indoors a light jacket will do for getting between places.

 

[PrincessInOz]

You'll want comfortable clothes. If shorts are comfortable, stick with it. You will probably use them up north and let the Sydney weather be your guide.

I tend to pack our bags based on geo-location as well or based on appropriate groupings between laundry wash. That way, we only need to open the appropriate bag for the appropriate location and if one bag goes missing, then at least we ALL still have clothes to wear until the missing bag decides to join the rest of us.

 

[skier_pete]

People that say "you dont want to look like a tourist" are just jealous because you are on holiday and they are not! .

Ha, that's a good point!

Like any city, "be alert, but not alarmed"

I think you have it about right, you probably won't want to be wearing shorts in Sydney in July - like most places wear layers - jeans with a light jacket you can take off and tshirt will be fine during the day.

Depending on your activities, you might want something heavier at night, but if you are mostly indoors a light jacket will do for getting between places.

Yeah, I know traveling in your winter is not ideal, but we have to go when DD is out of school, so we just have to dress the part. The good news is our family is used to and doesn't really mind the cold...whereas "cold" for us is < 0 C, so whatever we get, it probably won't be that.

I don't think we'll be out late at night - I would think the time change will have us waking early, and ready to collapse for the night early as well.

You'll want comfortable clothes. If shorts are comfortable, stick with it. You will probably use them up north and let the Sydney weather be your guide.

I tend to pack our bags based on geo-location as well or based on appropriate groupings between laundry wash. That way, we only need to open the appropriate bag for the appropriate location and if one bag goes missing, then at least we ALL still have clothes to wear until the missing bag decides to join the rest of us.

That's a great point Princess. I was talking with DW last night about packing, and made the comment about packing one suitcase for the 4 days in California, a second for Sydney..etc. So, each bag would have some clothes for all 3 of us, rather than one for me, one for her, one for DD. You make an extra good point - if one suitcase were to go missing, then the others would have enough to get by for a while to replace it.

The thought is we have about 10 days before we get to Melbourne, and roughly 12 days after we leave, so try to pack so we do most of laundry in Melbourne. (Aren't you known for your laundrymats.) I took a quote from your PTR with her, as we were talking about having enough underwear, and I said..."really we can always buy some, I don't think it's that expensive, nor does it take up much room".

 

[PrincessInOz]

I took a quote from your PTR with her, as we were talking about having enough underwear, and I said..."really we can always buy some, I don't think it's that expensive, nor does it take up much room".

It's always a good day when I do community service.

 

[battymum]

On our trip last year I told everyone to pack all their oldest underwear, its amazing how many pair you can find, and we would throw them out and buy more to replace them.

Trouble was I couldnt bring myself to throw out dirty underwear.

 

[shushh]

I wouldn't worry too much about wearing shorts in Sydney. You see people wearing all sorts of clothes...like you say most of them are business people and just get on with their own business. There are so many tourists anyway! Like princess says, if shorts are comfortable then wear them. However, it might just be a touch cold for shorts in July. Having said that, the young lady that we hosted from Boston thought our winter was so warm that she wore short sleeve tops and shorts most of the time she was here! (about 15-17 degrees)

 

[aussietravellers]

Yep, totally agree with the others. You will see people in all sorts of fashions, from formal to very casual and from every style under the sun.

Wear whatever you are comfortable in, you will look fine, blend in and not look out of place, regardless of what you are wearing . Now you may get a few strange looks if you were wandering around in a superhero costume or looking like a Disney Princess or a Mickey Mouse costume , but really even then, people would just walk by, look and carry on their merry way.

You know, I was really quite nervous when I went to NY for the first time in 2010. From reading TA, all of the do's and don't's, things that annoyed the locals that tourists do (stopping to take a photo as they are walking down the street, is a no no apparently ) I did it all the time But I also read about their "dress code", that nobody wears shorts in NYC! Well I live in shorts when it's warm. They are longer shorts, but that's what I wear and that's what I was packing for WDW along with a pair of jeans. I became so worried about it. But when I was there... there was everybody, dressed in every possible variety of clothing I could imagine, including shorts (including superhero costumes too ).

So come to Australia, wear what you want, have fun and have the best holiday ever!

 

[battymum]

Wear what you are happy to see in your photos -that is the only time you will care!!!

 

[aussietravellers]

Wear what you are happy to see in your photos -that is the only time you will care!!!

Oh that is so true!

 

[Chicago Mo]

 

[skier_pete]

Welcome Mo, thanks for joining in.

Haven't really had any updates lately. Ended up with a lot of CC charges last month on this trip, so I'm avoiding booking anything else for a bit, though mostly I have just two nights of hotel left to book.

I am also very wary of DL ticket price increases. I recently discovered that you can buy discount tickets through our corporate website. Not a huge savings, but about $50 less for the three of us on a 3-day hopper pass, and any savings is something. (I'm still almost $1000 over budget on the trip, so trying to find places to cut back without sacrificing the trip. It's difficult to do, because it often doesn't make sense to cut something when you say "well, I could save $100 if we didn't do "this", but on the other hand if I'm spending X thousands of dollars for this once in a lifetime trip, and I really want to do "this" why worry about $100. It's much different on say a Disney trip where we say, "oh we'll just have to cut that and maybe can do it next time." I'm going into this with an attitude that "there is no next time".

 

[Chicago Mo]

Welcome Mo, thanks for joining in.

Haven't really had any updates lately. Ended up with a lot of CC charges last month on this trip, so I'm avoiding booking anything else for a bit, though mostly I have just two nights of hotel left to book.

I am also very wary of DL ticket price increases. I recently discovered that you can buy discount tickets through our corporate website. Not a huge savings, but about $50 less for the three of us on a 3-day hopper pass, and any savings is something. (I'm still almost $1000 over budget on the trip, so trying to find places to cut back without sacrificing the trip. It's difficult to do, because it often doesn't make sense to cut something when you say "well, I could save $100 if we didn't do "this", but on the other hand if I'm spending X thousands of dollars for this once in a lifetime trip, and I really want to do "this" why worry about $100. It's much different on say a Disney trip where we say, "oh we'll just have to cut that and maybe can do it next time." I'm going into this with an attitude that "there is no next time".

You have the right attitude!!! I would treat it just the same. So... What's the end result so far? What are the days looking like?

 

[Franrose]

Subbing

 

[skier_pete]

You have the right attitude!!! I would treat it just the same. So... What's the end result so far? What are the days looking like?

The short answer is to read the first 6 posts for the details of the trip. The rest of the pages really are me working out those details. While I may add things as I go, I will try and keep those first posts accurate if anything changes.

Subbing

Welcome, welcome!

I apologize to those that are so kind to follow me that this PTR is kind of boring, and lacking much detail/pictures. I promise if you stick it out until the actual trip, they're will be some wonderous stuff to see.

I have to admit I am getting very excited about the trip as its really just 3+ months off. I am probably overly excited about the Disneyland part - partly because I am a Disney Junkie, and partly just beacuse it comes first. It's sort of exciting to think "we get to do these brand-new (to us) Disney Parks, and THEN we get to go around the world on an adventure". I'm glad we are doing Disneyland first though - because I honestly think we will be too tired to enjoy it on the way back.

 

[Chicago Mo]

WOW! you have a lot going on!!! I didn't know you were updating the first couple of posts...
Very exciting for you and the fam!!!