Planning a trip in Australia

Old Jul 20th, 2015, 02:58 AM
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Planning a trip in Australia

Hi all
My husband and myself have flights booked for 28 December this year to arrive Adelaide 29th December. I would like to put my iteneray to you all and appreciate feedback and advice. Thank you in advance.

29 Dec we are staying with relatives in Adelaide. Hoping to pick up a car when we arrive at Adelaide Airport.
We are hoping to drive from Adelaide to Melbourne on 4th - 7th January, stopping for 1 night at each of Robe, Mount Gambier, Port Fairy & Princetown.
Staying in Melbourne 8th - 11th jan before driving on to Sydney, stopping at Lakes Entrance, Merimbula, Batemans Bay and Woolongong.
Staying in Sydney 15th - 18th jan then flying on to Brisbane, hiring a car for 2 days, as we really want to visit Australia Zoo.
Flying to Mackay 21st jan to visit with relatives, who are then going to drive with us to Airllie Beach where we will board a ferry to Hamilton Island, staying there 24th - 29th Jan before flying back to Adelaide until 4th Feb then flying back to the uk.
My two main concerns are 1) Car hire. I have trawled the net, read copious reviews and am still daunted about which hire company to use, after reading advice re insurance cover etc and toll road tags.
2) I have not booked the internal flights yet. My uncle in Mackay has suggested Flight Centre.
Having justs read some other blogs a post suggested to someone else to skip the drive from Melbourne to Sydney, which I may take on board. I am thinking about my husband, who will be doing all the driving, plus the many blogs I have read are tempting me to just drive Adelaide to Melbourne and fly the rest, after all he is supposed to be on holiday too.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, sorry it is so long and I look forward to any advice from you.
Donna & Ricky
DonnaKaren is offline  
Old Jul 20th, 2015, 12:53 PM
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Hi Donna

First bit of advice. Do not use Flight Centre.

Air travel forums are full of complaints about FC. Book direct with the airline.

Some recommend using the Webjet site for comparison only and to identify flights, but - book with the airline. Main airlines are Qantas and Virgin and their budget brands Jetstar and Tiger.

That's an awful lot of driving - and in peak holiday time. Perhaps reassess what you want to see.
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Old Jul 20th, 2015, 07:26 PM
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I'd agree with Margo about both.

You will be in Australia at the peak of the peak holiday period. Apart from the Adelaide to Melbourne leg, I'd fly between cities & pick up a car for local use when you arrive.

There's no drama with car rental, provided you stick with the well known, well regarded firms.

As for CDW ( collision damage waiver) insurance, which reduces the insurance excess/deductible from around $3,000 to between $300 & nil - see what your credit card company provides in the Travel Insurance section.

Generally speaking the car rental firms will charge upwards of $25/day to reduce the excess.

HOWEVER: you need to read both the rental car firms' T & Cs and those of your C.Card thoroughly. It is not uncommon for rental firms to reserve the amount of the excess (+- $3k) on the credit card in security if that is used in lieu of their CDW. In the event of an insurance incident, they access that and you will need to claim from your CC.

This may not matter - but if you're using a CC with a low limit, you may want to increase it to accommodate this possibility if you decide to go that way.

Toll tags are no issue. Most rental car firms provide them & you just pay what you use at the end of your rental.
Alternatively, note the appropriate number & pay after you pass the tolls - or buy a short term pass when you arrive & put the various rental car registrations on it. All the info is on google & it's nowhere near as complicated as I'm making it sound here.

The one thing you DO need to watch & adhere to strictly is the speed limits.
We fine fiercely & there is not more than a km or two margin for error. Use cruise control where appropriate & set a few kms below the limits.

Road death & injury tolls in Australia have been dropping significantly over the years. Visitors are precious too.

You didn't ask - but I find the GPS in my iPhone ( and a paper map - they're not completely infallible) is just as good & cheaper than renting one with the car if it's not already installed.

Have fun - should be a great trip
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Old Jul 21st, 2015, 06:36 AM
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Thank you both Margo_oz & Bokhara2 for all your info, it really does help us.
As I am reading this FLight Centre are emailing quotes so I will just politely decline their help as I have found flights at a better price too, so thank you, you really do not know how much you are helpiing us.
I will keep you posted too
DonnaKaren
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Old Jul 21st, 2015, 06:07 PM
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What about the train from Melbourne to Sydney? We took it from Sydney to Canberra and it was relaxing. Gives the driver a break.
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Old Jul 21st, 2015, 07:42 PM
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It's a lot shorter and more convenient train trip between Sydney & Canberra than between Sydney & Melbourne.

Unless you're particularly keen in trains & don't mind spending more time & probably more $, I'd fly. It's about 75 mins flight & a 10 hour or so train trip. I have a friend who likes trains & takes the overnight Syd-Melb with a sleeper occasionally.
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Old Jul 23rd, 2015, 08:15 AM
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>

1.5 hour flight or 12 hour (not 10) train trip - this isn't a close call.

If the OP wants to spend too much money on a train, she can use the CityRail from SYD to her local residence (most climate obsessed country on the planet and it charges five times the normal price of a local train ticket just to go to or from the airport, thereby encouraging the use of cabs and discouraging the use of the electric trains . . . ).

PS - the price of parking in Sydney is enormous. It's one of the most expensive cities in the world for car parking.

>

This is semi-useful advice. Set the cruise at the limit and you'll have people passing you on the main roads. Between our last two trips, Oz may have gotten a bit more lax about speeding - at the earlier trip, we wouldn't breach the limit or see anyone else doing so; a month ago, the roads were rife with speeders. I wouldn't tempt fate because the rental car company will get the fine notice, likely pay on your behalf and then charge your credit card AND add a hefty service fee.
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