2 girls, 2 weeks in Australia!
Jun 28th, 2009, 01:23 AM
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2 girls, 2 weeks in Australia!
We are in the early stages of planning our trip for late Sep early Oct.
We are foodies, love wine and snorkeling. Of course, we want to see animals in their natural habitat and meet locals.
My thought is to fly from San Francisco to GBR (not sure exactly where to stay) (4days), Sydney (4), Melbourne (3), Adelaide area (3).
Any thoughts suggestions? Too much for two weeks? Change in order of itinerary?
We are foodies, love wine and snorkeling. Of course, we want to see animals in their natural habitat and meet locals.
My thought is to fly from San Francisco to GBR (not sure exactly where to stay) (4days), Sydney (4), Melbourne (3), Adelaide area (3).
Any thoughts suggestions? Too much for two weeks? Change in order of itinerary?
Jun 28th, 2009, 03:17 AM
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The only city in vicinity of GBR with an international airport is Cairns and limited flights into there [mainly NZ and Japan origins I suspect] so you'll likely be best to fly into Sydney or Brisbane for a connection to Cairns if wanting to do that first.
Your day allocations are reasonable and to save losing too much useful daytime on flights/airports have a look at www.webjet.com.au re selecting early morning or evening flights if that appeals, flights earlier morning usually being cheaper.
Once you get a feel for best prices of international and domestic you could compare that with Qantas using their Australian Airpass for which you need to nominate flights and book at same time as your international ticket.
You could go from either Sydney or Brisbane to Cairns, Cairns to Adelaide, Adelaide to Melbourne and back to Sydney if an in and out of one airport is cheapest but if Open Jaw is possible for same price, you could look at In Brisbane and Out of Sydney or In at Sydney and Out of Melbourne.
If finding no advantage with the Australian Pass or there's much better international deals with other airlines [ a few people have commented on cheap flights with Virgin or V-Australia which started up recently], you could make use of www.tigerairways.com.au cheaper flights on Adelaide to Melbourne and they're also starting up Melbourne to Sydney if that becomes applicable to you.
You're not going to have a definite opportunity to see animals in their natural habitat [except for Aussies in bars!] but there's reasonable wildlife park trips you can do from all four cities where animals are in open areas more so than small cages.
Sydney has Featherdale Park, Adelaide a Gorge Park and for Melbourne, Healesville sanctuary or what is called a Savannah tour will have you getting a good chance to see Kanagaroos in the open and a day trip down to Phillip Island to see fairy penguins coming through the surf in the evening should not be missed and there's also a Koala sanctuary there too.
If you google the names I've mentioned you'll get the web sites coming up with details.
Your day allocations are reasonable and to save losing too much useful daytime on flights/airports have a look at www.webjet.com.au re selecting early morning or evening flights if that appeals, flights earlier morning usually being cheaper.
Once you get a feel for best prices of international and domestic you could compare that with Qantas using their Australian Airpass for which you need to nominate flights and book at same time as your international ticket.
You could go from either Sydney or Brisbane to Cairns, Cairns to Adelaide, Adelaide to Melbourne and back to Sydney if an in and out of one airport is cheapest but if Open Jaw is possible for same price, you could look at In Brisbane and Out of Sydney or In at Sydney and Out of Melbourne.
If finding no advantage with the Australian Pass or there's much better international deals with other airlines [ a few people have commented on cheap flights with Virgin or V-Australia which started up recently], you could make use of www.tigerairways.com.au cheaper flights on Adelaide to Melbourne and they're also starting up Melbourne to Sydney if that becomes applicable to you.
You're not going to have a definite opportunity to see animals in their natural habitat [except for Aussies in bars!] but there's reasonable wildlife park trips you can do from all four cities where animals are in open areas more so than small cages.
Sydney has Featherdale Park, Adelaide a Gorge Park and for Melbourne, Healesville sanctuary or what is called a Savannah tour will have you getting a good chance to see Kanagaroos in the open and a day trip down to Phillip Island to see fairy penguins coming through the surf in the evening should not be missed and there's also a Koala sanctuary there too.
If you google the names I've mentioned you'll get the web sites coming up with details.
Jun 28th, 2009, 05:14 PM
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You can have great opportunities to see native animals in the wild if you do your homework. Even if you just use this site.
There are tours which concentrate on just this but you will do better with your own guide as they do not have to fit some one else's schedule. There is a Taste of the Tablelands tour which runs out of Cairns but if you hire your won car and stay up in the highlands for a couple of days you can do all that yourselves and hire a guide to show you platypus,kangaroos, possums and birds and explain their special features as well. Do the same for the Blue Mountains out of Sydney and you'll not only have seen a lot of wildlife you'll have met locals and gained an understanding of how the Australian environment works which is so different from that of a northern hemisphere temperate one.
There are tours which concentrate on just this but you will do better with your own guide as they do not have to fit some one else's schedule. There is a Taste of the Tablelands tour which runs out of Cairns but if you hire your won car and stay up in the highlands for a couple of days you can do all that yourselves and hire a guide to show you platypus,kangaroos, possums and birds and explain their special features as well. Do the same for the Blue Mountains out of Sydney and you'll not only have seen a lot of wildlife you'll have met locals and gained an understanding of how the Australian environment works which is so different from that of a northern hemisphere temperate one.
Jun 28th, 2009, 06:59 PM
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Do you have a particular reason to include Adelaide, drcruisin? Not that it's not a nice enough town, but if it's wine there are many excellent wineries in the vicinity of Melbourne; if wildlife (i.e. Kangaroo Island) there are other opportunities, including wildlife tours ex Cairns (use the search function on this page to learn more).
By reallocating those 3 days (equally between the other three locations, I suggest) you'll have a less rushed and I think more enjoyable experience of Australia.
If you really want to include a fourth destination, though, you could consider Tasmania.
You may also like to consider getting a professional to design a customised itinerary - go to www.australia.com to locate a qualified "Aussie travel specialist" near you. I would also suggest buying a good guidebook and using it for structured research backed up by specific enquiries here.
By reallocating those 3 days (equally between the other three locations, I suggest) you'll have a less rushed and I think more enjoyable experience of Australia.
If you really want to include a fourth destination, though, you could consider Tasmania.
You may also like to consider getting a professional to design a customised itinerary - go to www.australia.com to locate a qualified "Aussie travel specialist" near you. I would also suggest buying a good guidebook and using it for structured research backed up by specific enquiries here.
Jun 28th, 2009, 07:00 PM
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To be honest decrusin I think you are doing one too many stops for 2 weeks. I would probably cut our Adelaide & add one night to each of the other stops. Don't get me wrong Adelaide is lovely but I think slowing it down a little will give you more time to take it all in. You can get some incredible winery experiences around Sydney & Melbourne that definately match those around Adelaide. Just my thoughts! Have an amazing trip
Jun 28th, 2009, 09:37 PM
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If you are foodies you will go MAD in Sydney. There are way too many great restaurants. Cafe Sydney is worth it for the wonderful view over the harbour. North Bondi Italian, to watch the sunset over Bondi Beach. Crown St in Surry Hills has many fabulous places as do many other parts of the city. It's a city that is all about food! Taronga Zoo has an amazing setting and has some free range locals. There is also a zoo with many natives animals at Darling Harbour, right in the heart of the city. Well worth a visit, and it's near the Aquarium. And also near, you guessed, some really fab restaurants!
Jun 28th, 2009, 09:59 PM
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And Melbourne is also rightly known for its excellent dining options. The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age Good Food Guides give rundowns on the best eateries in Sydney and Melbourne respectively. You should find these guides in any newsagent, including airport outlets.
Jun 28th, 2009, 10:31 PM
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If you decide to skip Adelaide, you could also use the time to take in The Red Centre, fly Cairns to Uluru and do a tour via Kings Canyon back to Alice Springs, www.waywardbus.com.au being an example of several available and best way to appreciate the outback.
Tiger Airways also have cheap flights between Alice Springs and Melbourne and you could manage that in three days whereas you'd not be doing Tasmania justice in attempting it in three days.
Tiger Airways also have cheap flights between Alice Springs and Melbourne and you could manage that in three days whereas you'd not be doing Tasmania justice in attempting it in three days.
Jul 1st, 2009, 05:53 AM
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if you come to Melb. i would definitely go to "Cutler and co" in Gertrude st. Fitzroy, it's the latest it place, you can just go to the bar and taste oysters from various places in Oz, or book into the restaurant it's very cool. Sydney is a beautiful city but i am biased because i come from melb. there is a terrific food culture here and you can do a few places in one night, a glass of wine and something yummy to eat at each, often in an environment where you can easily converse with others. Go for breakfast at LiarLiar in Kinkora Ave in Hawthorn, great coffee. Then lunch at Canteen on the Yarra river in Sth Yarra, jump on the little boat nearby and cross the river to the island sculpture garden. Melb is easy to get around too. there are many easy day trips, to other restaurants! Healesville Sanctuary will have all the native animals in one spot, you can definitely see a platypus in the platypussary( i love that word), they luckily escaped the major disastrous bushfire in summer. The go to the town pub which is very good. mmm now i'm hungry.
