Wow, that's quite a light show! Great report, and great photos images2.

re: Prices of food in Australia. It is definitely expensive compared to what we are used to, but to me the prices in NY and San Franscisco are pretty ridiculous too. So, much of it is relative, but there are other reasons food is high priced there as well, including fuel prices, the very long distances, and the relatively small comparative population.

At least that's what I've heard

You're right about price comparisons.

This thread is pretty funny and shows how an Australian is loving the "low" prices of France compared to her country?


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...t-2-france.cfm

It's all just part of the experience. We were in Israel and Jordan in January with prices closer to the U.S. although Jordan was more expensive than I thought it'd be. It all evens out in the end!


Hope your coming trip goes well.

Those Vivid Sydney photos are fantastic.

I really must make more effort next year!

Even Switzerland seems good value after living in Australia.

Hi Images2,
Great report and even better photos. Thanks for your effort.

No one calls us "Cheap", Mel!

Great pic. Thanks for sharing.

Mainly i am living in Australia visit these places often many times but here nice snaps are provided as what Australia is and it is a nice place to travel with family because of variety that include the small country having population more than 23 million, here government is Federal monarchy, Constitutional monarchy, Parliamentary system.

Traveling Australia is really amazing and in my opinion two weeks are very less because it is world's sixth largest country, Australia's economy mainly depend on the eastern and western part consists of famous Lake Lefroy to be visited near http://www.kambaldahotel.com.au/ where the western part provide mining industry which is backbone of the economy while the eastern part is responsible for the various sectors including the Insurance and financial services, It is great time to visit the Australia as these snaps provide me to explore more from here through my little words.

Yes Great experience in that place, It is nice also in Ski Season in Europe. You will generally witness the first snow flakes between the end of October and early december. In most resorts, the ski season extends from early December yo the end of April. However, it is good to know that in some countries such as in Austria or France you can ski the whole year round on challenging glaciers slopes.

Images 2, thank you so much for your trip report and your fabulous photos; it's very helpful. We are planning our trip for April/May 2014. Our itinerary includes Tasmania and New Zealand; we'll be there a bit longer (4 1/2 weeks). Can you make any recommendations about what to pack? I'm a bit daunted by the range of weather we may encounter!

peggionthego, it depends where you will be in australia. the further south you go the cooler it will be. april/may is autumn. In Tasmania it will be cooler than the mainland.
I would pack summer gear (if you will be north of Sydney) , but also take long sleeve jumpers/sloppy joes & perhaps a light coat.

Thanks, Millie. Our itinerary includes Sydney, Blue Mountains, Uluru, Cairns, HunterValley, Yarra Valley, Melbourne, Taz, and the south island of NZ!!! Makes me tired to type it!

bookmarking

Images2,
What a great trip report you have left for posterity! I must say, even though I am going to Sydney and not any of the other places you went, I will read the whole thing eventually and maybe have to go a second time to see more. Your photos are wonderful and make everything seem more real and possible for me.
Thanks so much for posting.

Thank you for such an great trip report. Your pictures are just amazing!

I've been to eastern Australia twice - and let me tell you, if someone were looking at both of our pictures - they would think we had gone to two different places. LOL - Mine do not do justice to such a beautiful country.

I'm excited to return to Australia in January. This time I will only be there for a short time, and will be staying in Perth. I'm looking forward to seeing some new sights, but after viewing your pictures, I sure would like to go back to the east coast as well!

I think I need to do some major work on my camera skills before my trip!!