August Honeymoon Itinerary Help
 

Hello all --

I've managed to get some great advice off this list so far from questions and searching people's extensive answers. We've come up with a tentative itinerary for our August honeymoon and would love to hear your comments and suggestions:

5 nights island
-- The jury is still out here. Lizard Island is too expensive for us, and I'm leaning towards Whitsunday Wilderness Lodge or Poruma Island in the Torres Strait (which I know is not technically on the reef). I'd really like to be able to snorkel right off the beach and going to other islands/cays in the area is also a plus.

2 nights Junathan Munro wildlife tour around Atherton Tablelands
-- We're really excited about seeing some of the local wildlife and we'd like something longer than a day trip.

3 nights Marae Bed and Breakfast (with car rental)
-- I figure we can use this time to explore more of the area and maybe include a trip out to the reef if we end up at Poruma.

5 nights Sydney
-- Standard activities like Bridge Climb and day tour to Hunter Valley and/or Blue Mountains. Just out of curiosity, has anybody stayed at the Sydney Central YHA (youth hostel)? We need to save some money after the above activities :)

Some other things we're looking for
-- we love good food so any suggestions for Port Douglas in particular would be appreciated. There seem to be no lack of restaurant recommendations on this list for Sydney (we're considering Tetsuya's here if we can get a reservation)
-- relaxation
-- some of Australia's more interesting culture

Thanks for all of your help!

Hi ozwild...Haven't stayed at the YHA but have seen room etc .It would have to be a cut above the usual and is reasonably priced. Has an attractive restaurant/coffee shop downstairs. I think you would be perfectly ok there.
Tetsuyas is fabulous but not in the same price range as YHA!! Have to book way ahead.Have fun!

yes - I have stayed at Sydney Central YHA - and a whole lot of other hostels in Oz too. I add that just to provide a context. Most hostels in oz are just great. For a budget traveller some of the YHAs approach luxury (even in a dorm), but to many young b/p they lack 'soul'.

I don't suppose you'll be putting 'meeting people' at the top of your criteria - so go for it - but if you want a double room book well in advance. There aren't many.

A meal at Tetsuya's will cost you 2 nights accom at the YHA even in the best room.

Like your style! If YHA full, and you need suggestions for other budget accomm then post again. I can think of some.

Correction: I meal for 2 at Tetsuya's = 1 room for 2 for THREE nights at the YHA.

The Sydney Cantral YHA is certainly a cut above many of the other youth hostels you will come across -- it's in a grand old building, and nicely located right at Sydney Terminal Station (not the best end of town, but at least the trains will whisk you to the water in ten minutes); but if you want a double room, you may find that it's not as cheap as you were hoping for. There are other hotels in the city that would certainly give it a run for its money, price-wise, and I would refer you, just for starters, to the Criterion, on the corner of Pitt and Park Sts, which is beautifully located -- close to the Town Hall, the Pitt St Mall, the Monorail, the subway, the Queen Victoria Building, Hyde Park, the George St Cinema strip (not that being close to that is necessarily a plus!), and the best David Jones/Myer shopping complexes. It's just a pub, actually; an old art deco building that looks quite out of place in its current location, because it's only two or three storeys tall and is surrounded by much newer -- and taller -- structures. But the old Criterion, like Old Man River, just keeps rolling along, because its prices can't be beat, at least for that location -- around $AUD65 for a basic room. If you want something a little less basic, look at www.wotif.com.au. This site books only fourteen days ahead, but some weeks ago I saw the Russell Hotel going for $AUD120 on this last-minute site.... and that's just wonderful value for the cutest, best-located hotel in all of Sydney. Now, if the Sydney central YHA can undercut all these, by all means take it -- but I seem to remember someone on this site paying $AUD80 for a room there about three years ago, and I thought that, for a hostel, that was really a bit stiff. Maybe things have settled down since then.

Yeah, we really like food and Tetsuya's came highly recommended. The fish market is also on our list of things to do in Sydney.

It sounds like our best bet on Sydney accomodations is to drop the hostel and wait to find something bargain-priced two weeks beforehand, although that will be peak wedding time. I'm guessing that August is pretty off-peak so there will be plenty of openings available and I'd really like to stay around $AUD100 if possible.

Has anybody here been up to the Torres Strait Islands? Would we be missing out going here instead of one of the reef islands? We're not interested in any kind of liveaboard trip.

Thanks for the comments...

Tetsuya's is an outstanding restaurant but, not to press the point too far, is definitely a wallet-thinner. Last I heard their fixed price was AU$185 p/p, plus wine. If you want a top-of-the-line dining experience go there by all means, but bear in mind that Sydney has a wealth of good restaurants at less spine-chilling prices (also some tourist tip-offs, so be selective).

Incidentally, a Sydney institution that I never hear mentioned on this forum is Beppi's in East Sydney - a place that's been dishing up seriously good Italian food with impeccable Italian service and a great wine list since the 1950s. It's been a while since I darkened Beppi's doors but always enjoyed the experience. Has Beppi been bushwhacked by the trendy lemon-grass-lime-and-coriander "Mod Oz" brigade or what?

Speaking of trendy cuisine, a New South Wales state member of parliament claims to have a favourite recipe for "pouched koala in a bunya-nut satay sauce". Don't worry, he just uses it to upset the Green Party MPs....

Trivia snippet to Neiloz...Beppis is still going strong. as is Beppi himself! His son has a restaurant too..more modern Italian ( or should that be Oz/Italian? ).

Peter, thanks for that. I remember reading about the days when Beppi set up and real Italian cuisine was a virtual unknown in Australia. It seems the family decided to take a walk around the Botanical Gardens on their free Sundays, and Beppi was astonished to see thousands of mussels clinging to the rocks - Australians just hadn't woken up to the fact that they were a delicacy. After that the family would collect them in a hessian bag during their walk and serve them up at the restaurant. Things have come a long way.

I guess we'll have to find a way to add Beppi's to the list...

And what exactly is modern Italian? Smaller portions?

I was interested in the combination of YHA or $100/night room, combined with Tetsuya's, at a cost of about $250each with wine.

Tetsuya's is great - but is just toooo expensive these days.

Perhaps I am overestimating Tetsuya's. I heard it was a somewhat lesser French Laundry (which we've never gone too but heard a lot about).

As for the pricing disparity, I remember almost every detail of every meal I've ever had costing > $US50/person - the food, the drink, the ambiance, etc. Granted, I haven't had many of these meals but they have always been memorable experiences. Conversely, the only hotels I remember are the really miserable $15/night hostels I've stayed at on occasion. Well, I do remember the details of one bed and breakfast, but that's because it was in a place called Baraboo, Wisconsin. Otherwise, to me it's just a bed -- and usually a less comfortable one than what I'm used to at home.

I realize this runs counter to many people's vacation (and especially honeymoon) philosophies. I think we'll be getting plenty of memorable hotel/resort experiences earlier in this trip before we get to Sydney though. And in cities where a hotel is generally just a place to sleep (as opposed to the resorts up north), I usually prefer to spend my money elsewhere. Does that make any sense? Maybe I'm just an oddball.

Hi again ozwild..you may be an oddball but you are not the only one...I agree with your philosophy. Final word on Tetsuya's...yes it is expensive but in my opinion worth every cent ( and its not an every night experience ). Cheers!

Yes, Tetsuya's food is truly memorable, but I don't feel a burning desire to repeat the experience. As a rule I feel happier in a more relaxed venue like an unpretentious Italian family restaurant: good (albeit not stunning) food and wine definitely, but not somewhere I feel that I'm worshipping at the Great Chef's shrine in hushed adoration, and that the slightest lapse in concentration may rob me of some tiny, exquisite mouthful (and a mouthful is all that some courses consist of). OK, OK, I'm a peasant.

Ozwild, I know what you're saying about hotels - I remember the grim ones very well. For example, I recall a not-particularly-cheap motel in Santa Fe for the sole reason that they couldn't supply an iron, merrily suggesting that I lay my pants under the mattress for the night instead. At the time I didn't see the joke.

But I also remember the places at which I've spent a lot of money for no more, sometimes less, than I've received in cheaper and more modest establishments. As I understand it, 'star' ratings are awarded for a lot of stuff that I don't need, like opulent public areas, pool, business facilities and an excess of fawning (or surly) flunkies, and I see no point in paying for all that if I can avoid it. The more you pay, the more the shortcomings hurt. And if you're on a tight budget, the greater is the opportunity cost (i.e., what else you could be doing with that extra $50 or $100 you've paid for accommodation).

No not odd at all - yr philosophy makes perfect sense to me. It's just somewhere to sleep - I don't even need the free shampoo sachets - and I can live without a TV. Neil's points re accomm hit the spot too.

I doubt that I could ever bring myself to spend $250 on a meal - that sort of 'gourmet' experience is for those with money to burn. I won't say "and without a social conscience" cos how do I know how much they contribute to charity?

What I do know is that if I review my personal list of best eating experiences, they probably split each way between quite expensive (obviously not in Tetsuya's class though!) and cheap & cheerful - for an equally memorable taste experience.

>>And what exactly is modern Italian? Smaller portions?<<

Lighter fare, I'd say, and maybe leaning a little towards "fusion". Actually I haven't been to Beppi's for a few years, but even then I think some dishes were starting to lean that way a little. From memory his house style is northern Italian, so I wouldn't go there looking for your standard veal parmigiano. Most Australian Italians are from the South, especially Calabria, which influences the style of food you'll find in most Italian restaurants.

As has been pointed out before on this forum, in Australia the "entree" is not, as in the US, the main course, it's the appetiser. "Mod Oz" cuisine is very much in evidence, tends to use SE Asian ingredients and flavours.

Alice13, my one and only visit to Tetsuya's was sprung on me by my good wife in celebration of a birthday with a zero on the end. If I ever get back it may be in a wheelchair - but I agree, that sort of bill can affect your appetite, or in some cases start your Scottish ancestors spinning in their graves.