australiabound

Hi Everyone,

I am planning to travel to Australia at the end of March. It know that it's late to be trying to figure out where to go and what to see at this late date. I was planning to go last January but my work schedule push my trip to the end of March.

I will be visiting Australia for the first time and besides spending 5 days in Sydney was interesting in getting comments on where to go and what to see. I made an earlier post about going to Perth and taking the Indian Pacific back to Sydney, but a fellow poster recommeded against spending only a couple of days in Perth. I thought the Indian Pacific would be a good place to meet people while seeing the country. I have never been on a long distance train and thought that would be interesting.

What I am looking for is a nice leisurely trip. I want to spend time in Sydney doing the cosmopolitan things. I also want to see some of the wildlife. Australia is a big country just like the US with many diverse things to do. I am looking for some recommendations.

I am shying away from the Great Barrier Reef because I am from New York and I can do all the watersports things in the US. I am looking for something different but not overly strenuous. After all this is a vacation. Some poster recommeded Adelaide, Canberra and Cairns.

I like to get my comments soon so that I can make bookings over the weekend. My company's travel department is going to make all the arrangements for me. They will also get me discounted air and hotel as well.

Thanks everyone for your help.

Judy_in_Calgary

Hi Australiabound,

My slow travel style -- there are some who have referred to it as slug travel -- obviously doesn't suit everyone, so I will refrain from suggesting what pace of travel you should maintain. But there's one thing you said that I feel compelled to comment on:

>>>>>>I am shying away from the Great Barrier Reef because I am from New York and I can do all the watersports things in the US.<<<<<<

The GBR is not about water sports. Yes, you need to get under water in order to see it, and you may enjoy the process of going under water, but still the scuba diving or snorkelling or going down in some sort of submersible vehicle is only a means to an end. Trust me, you cannot do the GBR in the U.S.

After we'd been to the GBR, my husband had to go to the Cayman Islands on business. Once he was there anyway, he went down in a two person "submarine" to see the local coral reef. He said there were lots of American and Canadian vacationers scuba diving, and they went "Ooh!" and "Aah!" and obviously thought the coral reef was an incredible phenomenon. He said that to someone who had seen Australia's Outer Reef, there was just no comparison.

You would be able to get out to the Outer Reef as an excursion from Hayman Island, which was one of the destinations you'd floated out in your previous post. But, as I mentioned, you'd also be able to go to the GBR from Cairns or one of the nearby resorts. There you also would be able to go on a tour of the tropical rainforest and visit the Cairns Highlands, which has some interesting sights. There also are opportunities for viewing Australian native animals in the vicinity of Cairns (albeit that is something that you can do in several other places in Australia too).

Hayman Island, along with the rest of the Whitsunday Islands, is 700 kilometres south of Cairns. While the Whistundays' vegetation is pleasant in its own way, it's not quite the tropical rainforest that one finds in Far North Queensland.

Anyway, I'm now going to wrap my hands in duct tape so that I can't say another word.

wlzmatilida

Hi Australiabound!

Well no need to tell you that you've got last minute plans! I think by researching all the posts regarding Sydney you'll find a wealth of things to do (and you don't really state what your specific interests are, other than animals)

As far as the Indian Pacific goes, I would have to say that I recommend this to clients who have 1) alot of interest in trains 2) have "unlimited" travel time -- it does tear up a big chunk of your travel.

As far as "shying away from the GBR" because you can do those sorts of things in the US...well, really you can't. This is a very unique part of the world, so don't write it off as something you can do here - you can't.

Ive snorkelled in Hawaii, the Caribbrean, and Mexico and you really can't lump in the experience of the Reef in any if those.

You say that your company is making arrangements for you, and that's fine, but they may not really be knowledgeable about what Australia has to offer. (especially if they're the ones who are teliing you that going to the Reef is like any experience you can have in the US)

Hope this is helpful!

Melodie
Certified Aussie Specialist

marg

If you only have two weeks and already have five days planned for Sydney, I'd suggest flying from Sydney to Melbourne, have a couple of nights there, then hire a car and drive along the Great Ocean Road to Port Fairy, then head inland through the Grampians to the Western Highway and then into Adelaide. Do the wineries in the Barossa Valley, have a look around Adelaide and fly back to Sydney. The weather in this area should be pleasant.
Incidentally Australians have a four day break over Easter (Good Friday is 9 April) and accommodation is generally booked up well in advance. School holidays start 3 April and continue (in Victoria) to 18 April. If you are travelling during this period, you really need to book accommodation ahead.

lizF

if you can do in the USA what you can do in the GBR then we in Australia can ski mountains that are better than the Rockies!
You have deserts in the USA too and trains and you could also cross the country there on one - you would actually get to see more.
I would sack whoever you have as an advisor but if its yourself then may I suggest some further research.

Alan

Hi, australiabound!

If you think that the Great Barrier Reef is a bit close to what you do at home, and you want a leisurely holiday, why not take the new ferry which goes from Sydney down south to Tasmania? Following the coastline, it would be far more interesting than the Indian Pacific, which, I think, you were well-advised to stay away from; and March in Tasmania would be very pleasant as the autumn leaves start to appear. It's a great place tio hire a car and just drive as the spirit moves you -- and fairly small, so that with a week's car hire you could see just about everything. I rather like the idea of Tasmania for a New Yorker, as the pace down there is so slow that it will make a welcome contrast.

If possible, fly back to Canberra, as this is a must-see city -- I don't really think you's be overly-impressed with Melbourne or Adelaide, which are merely pleasant but hardly memorable. Plan on maybe two days and two nights in Canberra.

From Canberra you can catch a train back to Sydney -- about a four-hour journey which will allow you to see some of the countryside that you will miss by not taking the Indian Pacific.

So there's your two weeks: Sydney (5 days); Tasmania (including ferry) 7 days; Canberra (2 days). Sound okay?

pat_woolford

By missing North Queensland you're also missing two back-to-back World Heritage sites - the GBR and the Daintree Rainforest. I can't think of a less strenuous pastime, you couldn't call it a watersport, as snorkelling - you just lie there, stick your face in the water, and remember to breathe through your mouth. You don't even need to be much of a swimmer as your fins will keep you afloat - just kick your legs now and then.

sallypl

I cannot imagine why anyone would recommend a trip to Canberra as a must. It's a very sterile, purpose built city to house the bureaucrats. Life and soul it has not! GBR is a must. Don't take the Indian Pacific - too long and VERY VERY boring. How much flat desert do you want to see, - think midwest and triple it. I am Australian Sally

Neil_Oz

Ho hum, here we go again. I remain puzzled as to why there are still Australians who feel a need to bad-mouth their capital city, a national achievement of which they should be proud rather than resentful. In the process they invariably invoke the same tired, out-of-date and derogatory cliches like "soulless" - with the clincher that it houses "bureaucrats" (as though other cities don't). Maybe it's the good old Australian cultural cringe at work. Overseas visitors find it a bit puzzling. Me, I just find it a bit embarrassing.

Australiabound, you can safely ignore Sally's remarks about Canberra, but whether you visit the city or not depends on what you want to get out of your visit to Australia. Leaving aside the unpolluted natural beauty of the city and its setting, Canberra contains a wealth of national institutions that provide the most concentrated introduction to our history, culture and achievements that you'll find in Australia.

The Australian War Memorial, for instance, has received several awards as Australia's No. 1 tourist attraction. Impressive collections of Australian art, cultural and technical artefacts can be found in the National Gallery, National Library, National Museum, National Archives, Screensound Australia, Questacon, the National Portrait Gallery in Old Parliament House and a number of private collections, especially the Nolan Gallery, housed in a historic homestead at the foot of the Brindabella Ranges just south of Canberra.

The city has a very active arts, theatre and music scene, and several lively cafe/restaurant areas with an excellent range of European, Asian and Middle Eastern cuisines (Manuka and Dickson especially recommended). You can also visit some of the many small wineries just out of town, and there's plenty of outdoor activities, like ballooning, depending on your tastes, the Old Bus Depot Markets and a great deal more. You can find out more at www.canberratourism.com.au.

Canberra's attractions may well not be what you're looking for, but at least you should be able to make a decision based on information rather than parochial name-calling. Most contributors to this forum do try to put their own prejudices aside, especially when they're based on information that's at best partial, and also try to allow for the fact that we can't always know what a particular visitor might or might not enjoy.

Same goes for the Indian-Pacific train: to me it sounds like three days of living death, but self-evidently there's a lot of people out there who don't agree with me - just as the many visitors who have a great time in Canberra would find Sally's jibes hard to understand. "Boring" is in the eye of the beholder, and that applies to the Nullarbor Plain as much as the fertile plains of the American Midwest.

margo_oz

and Neil is there! What more could you possibly look for?

Neil_Oz

Go easy, Margo - we're trying to encourage tourists, not scare the buggers off!

prue

Since australiabound was making her trip in March it is all pretty academic anyway!!

Neil_Oz

Thanks, Prue, I did miss that rather basic point, but it's just another grievous sin to add to Sally's already big load - she topped the post after all. But like a good Christian ("like" being the operative word, since I became a pagan at the tender age of 16) I forgive her, and I like to think that my little rave will shine a little ray of sunshine into the darkness for travellers yet unborn.

OK, Australiabound, what happened anyway?

Eagle

Go to Sydney and then fly or take the ferry to Tazmania. We took the ferry from Melbourne but if I did it again I would fly. Tasmania is great!!!

wlzmatilida

To Neil The Pagan,

You have to realize that while you may think Canberra is worth a visit, most US tourists haven't even visited our OWN capital, much less seeking out a foreign one!

Melodie

Neil_Oz

OK, Mel, now I have a big confession to make - when visiting the USA all we saw of DC was the train station. To my eternal shame (and the greater shame of my wife, who unlike me is a public servant) we took the train to Richmond Va. instead. In the early planning stages we'd decided that after Boston and NYC we'd probably be big-citied-out for a while. Wrong move.

"Hypocrite!", I can hear the voices cry. I plead guilty, Your Worship, and throw myself on the mercy of the court by pleading in mitigation that as a reformed sinner I'm now trying to help others down the path of righteousness. Repent! Repent!