Topic: We finally going Down Under - any tips?

[carosanto]

Hi Y'all

OH and me are finally going to do the Big Trip to Oz.  We are not sure when, but it will be this year or early next.  We are complete novices at booking long trips like this.  But I bet there are some of you who could help us.

Has anyone been recently to Oz?

Did you book own flights and arrange itinerary or get an agency to do it for you?

Does anyone have any experience of the hired motorhome in Oz?

What about public transport, i.e. long disance trains, or internal flights?

We will spend a week in Sydney with friends.  The rest of our time, and we hope to spend 4- weeks away, we are open to anything but would like to look at:

Tasmania - Cairns - Barrier Reef - maybe some of the wine growing country
But honestly we need some recommendations, the more off the wall and unusual the better.  So....any ideas are truly welcome.  The truth is always out there in A4A.

Regards,

[tricia]

Tasmania - Cairns - Barrier Reef - maybe some of the wine growing country

Memories, memories.............it was a long time ago - 1991 - but I visited all those places and many more when I spent 10 weeks down-under. We toured by hiring cars at each airport we arrived at.

First, we had a three night stop-over in Singapore - well worth it and it helps with the jet lag. Our first stop in Oz was Perth where we toured the most southern tip of western Oz, then on by air to Adelaide and a tour of the wine growing Barossa Valley and eventually ended up on the coast by the Apostles. From there along the coast to Melbourne where we stayed three weeks visiting friends and touring the Grampians, the Dandenongs, Philip Island and the penguins etc. Flew from Melbourne to Hobart and in another rental toured the island for a couple of weeks before flying to Sydney. Did the usual tourist things in Sydney then flew up to Cairns to visit the Barrier Reef and tour the Tableland and the rainforests to the north of Cairns. Fantastic trip! Flew home via Bangkok, but wouldn't do that again - far prefer Singapore where there is so much to do and see.

I'm sure there will be others who have more recent experience, but this is just a synopsis of my own personal time there. Wonderful country, wonderful people.

Tricia

[jennym]

Have been a few times, but only to Sydney and around New South Wales up the east coast to Brisbane way. It's a BIG country, and this info is just a brief idea of how I found it. Booked own flights in advance. Its a very long flight, 24 hours, and you need a couple of days to get over it. It's a rotten trip, exhausting I found. Sydney is 11 hours ahead of us at this time of year, there are various time zones across the country. They have shorter more even days than us, I think its about 12 hours in winter and 14 hours in summer, so it gets light at about 6am and dark at about 8pm. It can rain a lot on early winter, torrential when it comes. In August, late winter, we had one day of rain and were told we were lucky. Temperature in winter varied between 8 degrees at 8am to 32 degrees at 1pm, so it was hard to know what to wear! In October, it was roughly 18 to 35 degrees. Most folks wore shorts.
Mostly everything is on the edges near the coast. The roads are very good, they drive on the same side as the UK. Don't hire a vehicle through a UK agency, you will get one a lot cheaper if you hire via an Australian car hire firm, I used one called Thrifty car rentals which was about half the price of Avis. Straight from the airport too, no hassle, really easy. Check the requirements for licences, insurance etc, I'm not sure if the vary from state to state. You must carry your licence with you at all times, they do a spot fine if you havent got it. Everything's metric, and the speed in town is 50 km per hour usually. No alcohol blood limit, so never even have a sip of beer if driving. There are some really steep rugged roads out of town, a good 4 x 4 is essential if you're going outside towns.
Parking restrictions aren't too bad, but read  the signs and ask if you don't understand, usually you can find somewhere free, but if you're staying in towns for several days you can get visitor parking permits from the local authority offices which are so much cheaper. There is a train system, not very comprehensive though,  didnt use it, think Sydney to Brisbane was about 14 hours. Flying is quicker. The country is huge, it takes ages to get places to always check before you set off driving. It's so easy to underestimate when you look at the map. Driving during th day from Tasmania to Cairns may take you 4 to 5 days driving I think, its about 2,000 miles.
Don't even think of going into the outback with reading up, having the right equipment and registering with the police that you are going, where and times to check in to them that you're safe. There are poisonous creatures, snakes, spiders and huge cockroaches, even in town. It's hot most of the time, you must wear very high factor sunscreen, I used sunblock most of the time and could only go on the beach for an hour at a time and this was in spring (October/November) but then I've got red hair, but everyone was very careful. Their sunglasses are better than ours. You can buy hats, tee shirts etc that block the sun, we went to a shop called The Cancer Council, very good info and large range.
The food in supermarkets is about the same price as UK, ask for english tea though, and in cafes ordinary coffee is called flat white. Alcohol seemed more expensive, and some fresh fruit. There are some really good pie shops! Fish dishes were good. Restaurants and cafes seem a bit cheaper than the UK. There's a lot of people from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and surrounding countries and so there's some good interesting restaurants for this type of food. 
The Hunter Valley is the wine region I visited, not sure about others. Interesting but expensive. You can taste loads of wines, but need a non drinking driver. You can book a tour by small coach, but again, not cheap. Renting houses or apartments  to stay in seemed reasonably priced, again it's cheaper to arrange via an australian website. We paid about £100 per night for a very nice large house with pool sleeping 6 when staying about a week, but check exit fees (extra charges for cleaning which some levy).
The country seemed to me to be a sort of cross between England and America, but then I've never been to America so it's just an impression. You need to stay at least 3 weeks, its so big and there's so much to do. Anyhow, enjoy it!

[emmy1978]

Yes...take me with you.  :)

[Obelixx]

Do try and get to Uluru/Ayre's Rock.  Don't climb iot but do the tour round it and also the Olgas for stunning sunsets and sun rises.  If you go there, do the astronomical dinner - sunset apéritifs between the two big rock formations, candlelight dinner then a "tour" of the Milky Way with aboriginal mythology and more scientific explanations too.   Fabulous.

Alice Springs - Flying Doctor museum, deserts museum, eptiles etc.   Don't bother doing the Ghan train to or from Adelaide.  It's expensive and tehre's nothing to see except desert, scrub, a few cattle and some wild budgies in trees.  Fly instead.

Adelaide - lovely city, fabulous Central Market and food, access to cricket ground if you like, wine tours, penguins, beach etc.

Sydney - Manley ferry for best view of harbour and some fine fish and chips Oz style at Manley.

Canberra - interesting city with museums, parks, sites, malls, markets etc.

Have a great trip.

[PurpleHeather]

Although I have never been to Australia, every one I know who goes seems to do it to visit family who have emigrated there and they have enjoyed it. So I am sure you will too.

I have been abroad to far reaches on many occasions and it is a lot cheaper to book your own flights hotels and transport  on line.  

The only slight snag is that any flights you book, especially the return ones, you often need to confirm the booking about three days before it leaves, simply because they often over book flights and some people alter their plans with open end tickets, Airlines sometimes cancel a flight and join together with another company if the flights are seriously underbooked so you may find a slight change occurs. Not worth missing a flight or finding it is overbooked so you can not board.

Not so bad for Australia because the language is so very like ours. Almost the same.

The Ozzies are over strict about taking food in, as I understand it. My grand daughter had an apple she wanted to eat on the car journey from the airport and was forced to throw it away. So don't plan to take anything like that with you, no plant seeds, anything.

Even if you are doing it all yourself, still collect all the free brochures from the Travel Agents and scour them for ideas about the things you want to do. Just because you are not going with them, they can not stop you using their ideas.

If you book hotels in advance check them out on sites like holiday watchdog and 'trip adviser' for reviews.

Stop overs are another option for you to consider too.

Different companies stop over in different countries and this could effect your decision on who to fly with. Do you fancy a few days in Hong Kong Singapore or Bangkok? It wont add a lot to the cost because you will either need to change planes or refuel some where. Do you want to do it going or staying?

Another thing about a long stay is the laundry. Hotels charge by the item and they are very expensive. If you can work it to visit your friends with your luggage needing refreshing, shall we say, they will at least point you in the direction of a cheaper local laundromat, if they can not offer you the use of their machine.

Only once have I ever had a suitcase lost for a few days but have heard night mare stories from others,  so another tip is to pack at least one change of clothes in some one elses suit case so that you will have something to change into if it happens to you.  It can spoil a holiday having no luggage, Make sure that inside the suitcase is a contact name address and telephone number (not yours you wont be there) Some one who knows where you will be and when.

Make a copy of your passport details and all your cards. Who to contact if they are lost or stolen and E-mail it to yourself as an attachment so that it can be recovered anywhere. Just in case you need the information in a hurry. You may never need it but if you do, you will be glad to recover the details easily.

Don't forget to get good travel insurance either. Cheapest is not always the best.

Once you have taken every possible precaution for every imaginable problem then you can enjoy your holiday.

[SamLouise]

Caro,

You are doing the same with Oz as we are with Canada this July.  We've booked 17 days off and plan to travel British Columbia.  We booked our flights last August and are now in the middle of planning our route/hotels - we're having great fun!

Never been to Oz, so cant' help you there but ... we've found the trip advisor website SO helfpul with our choice of places to stay and where to visit. www.tripadvisor.co.uk  It's reviews from 'real' holiday makers and not some overpaid luvvie critic, so you get an honest review of accommodation and also places of interest within the area you've booked.

Sam
 

[Mr Smith]

Plenty to do down under I was once a £10 pom, but from what I can gather  being in the big cities today is just like being in London with sunshine apart from Perth of course, :)

[elvis2003]

you lucky people,youll love it!

[carosanto]

Hi Y'All

Thanks for the really informative posts, I certainly read and digest, looks like a load of interesting stuff there.  We are firstly pondering time of year.    We have a  little sailing bot which goes back in the water in March, which we are hoping to sell so we are doing work on that now, so I guess that March and April will be out.  But I will not ecape the hairy adventures we have on water, well actually I travel most places blindfolded and tied to the mast, as OH says that's the only way he can get me along!
oh god how I would rather be on terra ferma tending my onions when faced with a Force 4

We have another small  2 boat  Snapdragon bought as an unfunished project and still unfinished tho getting there.and which we re keeping  So we are happy to get in a bit of sailing before we go to Oz.  Then the boat has to come out of the water, in our case in October. So we COULD go October November.  Christmas and January too hot, so Feb/March 2011 could be a goer but have to get back for the boat going back into the water agin end March

Add the heady mix of a poorly and ancient Mum, a step daughter whose relation all kamikaze at the first falter, one brother having a breakdown (small businessman) another brother going the same way (banking but in a lowly job where they treat you like rats,  and it gets diffifult.  However, the die has been cast and once we get our timing sorted out we get booking,  Please keep sending suggestions specially must-see places.  Thanks all for your help.

[saddad]

Plant your seeds the other way up!!  ;D

[budgiebreeder]

I have done the rail crossing from Adelaide to Darwin and back on "The Ghan"It was fantastic and stops at several places for you to get off for and hour or two ....Alice Springs etc.Takes 5 days each way if my memory serves me correctly.
I used a motor home in New Zealand and found the facilities gr8 .I understand they are just as good in Aus.

[jonny211]

Cairns is a bit like Acton in reverse, drunken English backpackers lying in the gutters, check out the Woolshed or the Sports Bar if you like that sort of thing (although that was a while back). If you fancy a change from that though I'd recommend Fitzroy island for a couple of days. However the diving from there has extremely poor visibility.

If you dive from Cairns I'd recommend Deep Sea Divers Den... they have a live aboard vessel out on the reef and they move it about overnight so you get two sites per day.

Have fun!

[Trevor_D]

Plant your seeds the other way up!!  ;D

And the sun goes the wrong way in the sky. Very sinister....

Only ever been to Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast (SIL lives there). Loved it, but a bit like I remembered England as a kid - kept expecting "Educating Archie" to come on the wireless. But rather American in a 1950s way.

And they're obsessed by sport! Don't expect a museum, or even a bookshop....

(Don't get me wrong - it's just different. You'll love it - everyone does.)