please advise on december itinerary
Feb 6th, 2006, 12:05 PM
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please advise on december itinerary
hi everyone. i have a preliminary itinerary for two people in mid-december. i know some parts of australia is better than others in december so i wanted to run this by everyone. nothing is set in stone except for my flight from usa to sydney:
dec 14-15 sydney 2 nights
dec 16 early flight to cairn. drive to the skyrail and later to silky oaks in mossman
dec 17-19 reef snorkel with wavelength, one day tour with david A and one day charter with pete baxendell
dec 20 flight to adelaide; fly to kangaroo island
dec 21-22 KI
dec 23 flight back to adelaide; drive to prairie hotel in flinder's range
dec 24 flingers range
dec 25 arkaroola
dec 26 drive to barossa valley
dec 27 barossa. leave late afternoon for flight back to sydney
dec 28 later afternoon flight back to usa
my main two goals are to see unique landscape/scenery not seen in other parts of the world. i have traveled extensively in europe, asia, north and south america. second, i want to see wildlife!! differnt varieties in their natural habitat.
i understand it's hot in flinders range but i lived in tucson, arizona for 5 years so maybe i'm ok? also it doesnt seem like anywhere else in australia is better except for KI and tasmania. although tasmania sounds awesome i dont want to spend half of my first vacation there...unless someone could persuade me otherwise
for fantastic scenery should i shouse kakadu over flinders?
gosh sorry for the long post. i appreciate your help.
dec 14-15 sydney 2 nights
dec 16 early flight to cairn. drive to the skyrail and later to silky oaks in mossman
dec 17-19 reef snorkel with wavelength, one day tour with david A and one day charter with pete baxendell
dec 20 flight to adelaide; fly to kangaroo island
dec 21-22 KI
dec 23 flight back to adelaide; drive to prairie hotel in flinder's range
dec 24 flingers range
dec 25 arkaroola
dec 26 drive to barossa valley
dec 27 barossa. leave late afternoon for flight back to sydney
dec 28 later afternoon flight back to usa
my main two goals are to see unique landscape/scenery not seen in other parts of the world. i have traveled extensively in europe, asia, north and south america. second, i want to see wildlife!! differnt varieties in their natural habitat.
i understand it's hot in flinders range but i lived in tucson, arizona for 5 years so maybe i'm ok? also it doesnt seem like anywhere else in australia is better except for KI and tasmania. although tasmania sounds awesome i dont want to spend half of my first vacation there...unless someone could persuade me otherwise
for fantastic scenery should i shouse kakadu over flinders? gosh sorry for the long post. i appreciate your help.
Feb 6th, 2006, 01:28 PM
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I am thinking of a similar trip (in fact it is practically identical) in Dec 2006 except I haven't purchased my international airline tickets.
Do you mind if I ask how you are flying and how much your tickets were? I contacted Qantas this morning and nearly fell of my chair when they quoted $2367.22 pp - SYD-Adelaide-SYD-CNS-SYD-LAX. I am purchasing 4 tickets which is why it seems like so much $$. It is the idea of spending close to $10,000 USD just to get there that seems so steep!!
Do you mind if I ask how you are flying and how much your tickets were? I contacted Qantas this morning and nearly fell of my chair when they quoted $2367.22 pp - SYD-Adelaide-SYD-CNS-SYD-LAX. I am purchasing 4 tickets which is why it seems like so much $$. It is the idea of spending close to $10,000 USD just to get there that seems so steep!!
Feb 6th, 2006, 03:51 PM
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You are fortunate! I tried today to obtain tickets with AA and nothing at all is available during Xmas!! Qantas is their partner and I heard that Qantas releases the ff seats to their members at least 25 days before AA gets a hold of any remaining seats. I'm now thinking of traveling at another time. Good luck with your trip planning!
Feb 6th, 2006, 06:08 PM
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You are certainly attempting a diverse trip. One word of warning though - did you realise it is the "wet season" in Cairns and the tropical north? The weather will be very hot and humid and it is the season for tropical storms - so reef trips could be cancelled. On the other hand, it may well be perfect! Presumably your tour operator will have advised you of alternatives.
There is amazing scenery all over Australia - Kakadu is awesome but I wouldn't go in December either. Tasmania has a kinder climate at the end of the year and you would love Cradle Mountain, the Freycinet Peninsula and the Franklin River area. You would find it hard to match any of that scenery anywhere else.
You will have to return because another awesome experience is the inland desert and Ayers Rock. And we havent even touched on Western Australia........But then you cant do it all - can you?!
There is amazing scenery all over Australia - Kakadu is awesome but I wouldn't go in December either. Tasmania has a kinder climate at the end of the year and you would love Cradle Mountain, the Freycinet Peninsula and the Franklin River area. You would find it hard to match any of that scenery anywhere else.
You will have to return because another awesome experience is the inland desert and Ayers Rock. And we havent even touched on Western Australia........But then you cant do it all - can you?!
