areinert

My wife and I will be traveling to Australia for 3 weeks in September. I need to be in Carins Sept 19 - 21 for a conference. I am panning to leave from Minnesota USA (MSP) Sept 1 and return Sept 22nd. We have never been to Australia so have no idea where to go or what to do. We are both divers so plan to spend some time diving the great barrier reef and love wine, so visiting some the great vinerys would be cool. My questions are:
- What other must do things are there?
- Should we flyin to somewhere else and work our way over to Carins so we are there by the 19th.
- Any agenda suggestions would be great
- Would love to base camp (hotel) in an area for a few days and then move to the next and so on
- What can we expect to pay per night for hotel (in US dollars). In Europe we usually stay in a 50 - 80 Euro hotel, so nothing real fancy but has private bathroom
- Will we need to fly from city to city, or are there trains like Europe?
- Suggestions for airfare, so far looks like $2000 per person

Really need help, thanks!

Tim_and_Liz

Hi, we also live in MSP...

If either of you are students, under 26, or teachers look into STA travel. They helped us book our first trip down under and saved us a lot of money on our flights. (There is one at Coffman Union at the U).

Otherwise I think you will be able to get MSP-SYD airfare for less than that... $1400-1600 is normal outside of peak times (Christmas).

You should also check out the Qantas Aussie Air Pass since you will likely be taking internal flights.

I have only been to SYD but I can answer a few questions...

It will take you two days to get to Sydney (cross international date line).

Sept 3-9: Sydney with daytrips to the Blue Mountains and the Hunter Valley wine region (possibly an overnight or two there if you love wine.)

Sept 10-12: Uluru (JMHO because we really want to go there)

Sept 13-18: Fly into Cairns and visit Far North Queensland-- diving, daytrip to Lizard Island, Undara lava caves, rainforest (Daintree) trips, lots to do...

You could cut a few days from Sydney if you need more in FNQ.

You should be able to find hotels in your price range although you might have to up it a bit...

Definitely fly from city to city. There are trains but you don't have time for them.

Hope that helps. Have fun planning!

areinert

Thanks! My wife and I are not students anymore. I will look at flights to SYD.

Tim_and_Liz

Happy to help--

Also, for more itinerary and lodging ideas you can search "australia trip report" using the search function.

Tim_and_Liz

One more thing...

You can possibly find a flight with a free/inexpensive stopover in Fiji, which has good diving. Fiji is obviously different than the GBR but if you want to dive in two places, it's an option. We loved the Fijians, and the reefs (we only snorkel) were amazing.

Liz

RalphR

That's a good itinerary suggestion from Tim and Liz. There's so much to see and do in Far North Queensland (Cairns environs), it might be worth staying even longer - 5 free days does not seem like enough to me. Undarra is a great suggestion, not just for the lava tubes, but also as a place to enjoy wildlife and experience the Gulf Savannah outback. This can be done in a long one day trip from Cairns, but I think it's best done overnight, staying in the lodging there. Going to/from Undarra, you can also see the sights of the Atherton Tablelands - all up a trip taking 2 or 3 days. Now add a day or two diving on the reef, a day up to the Daintree and Cape Tribulation, a day driving south to places like the Boulders, Josephine Falls and Mission Beach, and you're nearly filled up a week.

As for wine, why not take your remaining time and fly out to Adelaide, touring the Barrossa, Clare and MacClaren Vales? Arguably Australia's best and geographically most extensive wine growing district. (Spent 10 days there last year and had a wonderful time).

So my suggestion would be:

Sept 3-7 Sydney (3 full days)
Sept 7-11 Adelaide and surrounding wine areas (3 full days)
Sept 11-22 Cairns and environs (7 full free days).

SnRSeattle

Lucky you "having" to be in Cairns for a conference! We are now planning our second trip to Oz and spending most of the time in the Cairns area. If you want to spend some time on the tableland, go to www.yungaburra.com/accommodation.htm
We are staying at the Gables which is quite inexpensive. We are also staying in Port Douglas at a place we stayed at in 2004. It is quite nice and very well located and is $140/nt AUD called Le Cher du Mond (www.lecherdumonde.com.au) We are also staying in Cairns at Pat Woolford's B&B which is praised highly on this forum and rated as the best B&B in Cairns in the Frommer book. See at www.lilybank.com.au Cant' wait. I would recommend going to Uluru also, we loved it. We stayed for three nights and did some of the Aborigine led tours. We got upgraded there, so I can only recommend the Sails in the Desert Since you are divers, you might want to go on a liveaboard. We are booked on the Spirit of Freedom out of Cairns for three nights. They also have longer trips. See them at www.spiritoffreedom.com.au Do some searches on this board, there are lots and lots of posts of good advice. BTW, good books include the Lonely Planet East Coast, Lonely Planet Queensland, Insight Guide (Discovery Channel) Queensland and the GBR, Eyewitness Travel for Sydney and Australia. A quick check of possible places to go can be found in the AAA book (sold in regular bookstores too) Australia. Happy searching!

longhorn55

Here's another vote for Qantas' Aussie Airpass. We used it a couple of years ago and it's certainly a money-saver for those wanting to visit several places. You can fly in and out of either Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne, so it might make sense to fly into one city and fly out of another in order to maximize the places you can see. The fare from LA to Australia plus 3 internal flights (including Cairns) is $1399 from September 1 - 21. The fare jumps to $1699 beginning September 22, so you may want to come home a day early and save yourself $300 per ticket. If you add about $300 per ticket for the add-on from Minneapolis, you should be able to do all your flying for $1700 per person.
For your stay in Far North Queensland, I recommend you look at staying at a serviced apartment. There are lots of them (especially in Port Douglas where we always stay in FNQ) and at reasonable prices. The advantage of a serviced apartment is that you have kitchen facilities for breakfast, etc. and many of them have washers and dryers which will sure come in handy. (Ask about the W/D since not all apartments have them.) We stay at a nice place in Port Douglas and a 2-bedroom apartment for our family runs about U.S.$150.00 per night. So, you can probably find a one-bedroom apartment within your price range.

areinert

Based on the feedback, maybe we should do this:
Sept 2nd Leave MSP
Sept 4th Arrive SYD
Stay till Sept 7th
Fly Sept 7th to Adelaide (wine)
Stay till Sept 13th
Fly Sept 13 to Canies
Stay Canies for vacation till Sept 19th
Conference Sept 19th - Sept 21
Fly home Sept 22

Thoughts? More concentrated time in the wine area and Canies for diving and the outback

areinert

Are there service apartments in Canies? Where do you find informaiton about them?

Tim_and_Liz

I haven't been to Adelaide, or Cairns but I think you may be staying too long in the former and not long enough in the latter. (And I have a friend from Adelaide who would agree...)

areinert

So longer in Canies???

wlzmatilida

Areinert,

As you are both divers, I agree with Tim and Liz that you should plan on spending more time in CAIRNS/area and less in Adelaide. (it's not like you can't drink wine while IN Cairns, ya know)!

Regards,

Melodie
Certified Aussie Specialist

RalphR

I was thinking 3 full days in/around Adelaide would be just about right for the wineries. I would imagine it will be very beautiful there in the spring, based on what we saw last August when flowers were just starting to bloom.

areinert

Does anyone have suggestions for hotels at our three stops?

Anyone have informaiton on the service apartments?

Melnq8

Lots of info on serviced apartments - just Google.

Here's one site for serviced apartments in Cairns -

www.cairnsapartments.com.au/

This site is also very helpful regarding general info and accommodation -

http://www.totaltravel.com.au/

koala

Going to Uluru (Ayers Rock) in the outback is definately an expensive detour for a couple days, but IMHO very worth it. We did this "Sounds of Silence Dinner" there that was the highlight of our entire trip in Australia. It sounds like you really like wine, but I think it's important weather you want to spend $ on an extra flight to go do it, vs. a day or two in the Hunter Valley near Sydney. What every you choose, you really can't go wrong in Austraila, it has something for everyone.

andrews98682

I think you need at least four full days in Sydney (not counting the morning you arrive). It's a great city, tons to do. Don't shortchange it.

kingkevinkingkevin

you need to check out contiki www.contiki.com

thegilbeys

I'm Australian and grew up in the Hunter Valley. I agree with a PP you're wasting your money going to Adelaide. I say spend more time in Sydney and go to the Hunter Valley (Pokolbin) for a couple of nights. You can catch a bus http://www.rovercoaches.com.au/wine/...FR4QYQodkj1fZQ
I've stayed at the Hunter Valley Gardens for a wedding and it was beautiful (and a great base for the area)
This is a fantastic site - http://www.winecountry.com.au/

Cairns - I definitely recommend a liveaboard. I'm currently living in Central Queensland and Airlie Beach is our weekend getaway. Love diving! Sydney Harbour has some interesting dive sites I've heard.