liz

Don't be put off by the swearing Brian, 'cos Aussies swear more than anyone on this earth. In fact it was only recently that there was a big debate in a newspaper about the F word and the concensus was that it was now generally acceptable. <BR>However most of us use it only when we hit our thumb with a hammer and such like. You will though, hear the words &quot;bloody&quot; and &quot;bugger&quot; all the time.<BR>You have to agree tho' that the P word is better than using A...h...! Have a great day continue with your preparations to come to this country of foul mouths ;O)<BR>

Pete

Brian !!!!!! If there is one thing I love about Aussies,,it's their ability to make a joke out of just about any thing. I can see from YOUR comments about the P...k and the S..k which have been loosley thrown about here ( re ) your honeymoon that your sense of humor is similar. While you are here though Don't forget,lots of us can trace our history back to swindlers,highway bandits,muggers, cattle and sheep thieves,people locked up for bank note forgery, etc. My great great grand daddy was done for murder. Although they seem to think these days the people he murdered were trying to murder him. He just got in first. In any case he actually escaped to the land of OZ. Was not sent. That puts me a cut above the rest, as my ancestors wanted to come. The others were actually imprisoned here. lol<BR>You will have a ball in this country, no matter where you go or what you do. Do what we do , sit back and take it on the chin no matter what happens. You know what Brian!!! we really have not changed that much in the last 200 years. The first meeting between the Poms ( the english ) and the real Australians ( aboriginals ) was on April 29 1770 when Cook pulled out a musket, loaded it with a small shot, and then fired it at an aboriginal. It hit him as well. The aborigine shook himself a couple of times, and to Cooks amazement, he picked up a shield so to stop the next shot, and just stood there looking at Cook. Cook sort of looked around at his men and I think he said !!!! (bugger) or maybe (shit) but the point of the story is that it was the first time Europeans met Aussies, and even after shooting one of em the Aussies still seemed fairly friendly. Please do not think Im suggesting you come over here and start shooting at us though. lol <BR>(god forbid)here come the knockers.<BR>The worlds indidgenous population did get him back though, the cut his body up and threw it all over Karakakoa Bay in 1779. We just finished a( cricket) test against the POMS. We did the same thing. We really cut through em, but we did let them win one. And then every one went to the pub and celebrated. And to the Gentlemen whom called me a P...K . If I was one of those my friend!! I bet I would get all your money. Pete !!!!!

Kate

Brian - since you have decided on Hayman and are looking for comments on activities &amp; restaurants, I'll chime in again since that's where I honeymooned! <BR><BR>As for food, get the full breakfast buffet included in your package. The full buffet includes hot food in addition to breads, danishes, and baked goods. One of the best things about breakfast - it's available until 11am! Every resort should have breakfast until later in the morning so everyone can really take their time. As for lunch, the wedge cut fries poolside are a tasty and filling appetizer. Drinks are somewhat pricy, but hey, you're on your honeymoon! The formal French restaurant was nice - but it is quite formal and it's the most expensive restaurant on the island. The Italian restaurant was standard fare, but had well-priced dinner specials. If you get the honeymoon package, you'll also get an in-room dinner with a bottle of wine - served either on your balcony or in your room. Dinner was slow but the service was very friendly and professional.<BR><BR>As for activities, the complimentary catamaran is fun and not hard to operate. We also took a one day scuba and snorkel trip. I'd only scuba-dived once prior to this trip, so I was still a beginner and a master diver accompanied myself, my husband and one other person. Again, like I mentioned above, the seaplane to Whitehaven is very romantic - you should definitely do this! If you're lucky, like we were, we got a private plane to ourselves since no one else booked (and we did not have to pay the private charter price). Our massages were included in our honeymoon package, but the massages were just ok. Finally, a trip to a secluded beach (actually a tiny island) with a basket of food and champagne, blanket and pillows to watch the sunset was excellent as well. This too was included in our honeymoon package. A very romantic activity - up until a small tourist boat stopped by to watch the sunset as well and dropped off a dozen college-aged tourists for about 15 minutes (oh well, everything else was great!).<BR><BR>Let me know if you have any specific questions!

rberkow

Brian, I have a question for you. I am planning my honeymoon in Australia and New Zealand. Our itinerary is similar to yours but not exact. How much did yours cost? Our trip is going to cost us approx. $15k for 17 days/16 nights. It comes to about $500/person/day. Is this reasonable, given that it includes tours and the luxury hotels?

pat_woolford

Hello Brian - you've done well choosing Silky Oaks and why would you want to go to PD when you're staying there. I'd just lie back and enjoy it! It is a long way from Tully River for WWR - if you spent a night or two at Mission Beach or Cairns you'd be much closer for rafting trip. There's quite a few liveaboard dive trips which obviously take you much further than you would get on a day trip - try Pro-Dive, Nimrod, Tusa's Spirit of Freedom or Mike Ball. Much more cost effective for reefthan Lizard or Bedarra (the two most expensive Queenland island resorts)- have a great trip

wlzmatilida

Brian,

I've had the good fortune to stay at Silky Oaks twice. The first time was before they put in their spa, and the last time was in September; however, there were a number of people in my group that wanted to check it out, and all the spa times were completely filled. So, if spa treatments are of interest on your honeymoon, you may want to contact them and arrange for this prior to arriving.

You've planned a lovely honeymoon trip and we all look forward to a report after you've returned (in between writing all those thank you notes from your wedding)

Regards,

Melodie
Certified Aussie Specialist