EileenAnne

My husband and I plan to spend March in Au. We have many questions about how to spend our time and hope you all can help us. We have already used your advice in the initial planning.

We will be in Adelaide during the festival Any advice about some of the venues or how to get tickets or any free concerts will be helpful. We are spending two days at Kangaroo Island. Are ther any other day trips worthwile from Adelaide?

Next is Melbourne - we will be there for St. Patrick's Day. Is there a parade? Are there any pubs you would recommend to celebrate in? We are doing a day trip along the Great Ocean Road. We would like to see the penguins but I have read on your forum that it might be better to take a ferry to see them. Any advice on that? We plan to do a tram dinner tour. I have not heard any thing negative about that. Have any of you?

Our next stop is Port Douglas and we are booked solid with the Great Barrier Reef cruise, the Raintree forest and Cape Tribulation. After those three days I think we will need the last two to rest up for our last city - Sydney.

We plan five days there, staying in Darling Habour. No plans have been made yet. We would like to see a performance at the Opera House. Do reservations need to be made here? How is it done? I read in this forum that the early morning tour of the opera house is best. Are reservations made ahead of time and if so where? How about climbing the Harbour Bridge? I am a healthy 70 year old. Will I have difficulty? Again would reservations need to be made here?
I also found out on the forum that taking the ferries back and forth is better than a luncheon cruise. If we are in Sydney for five days what kind of a pass would we need for transportation? Any other advice would be useful since we have not planned any Sydney trips.

With all the above cities we would like advice on inexpensive dining.

Thank you all in advance for your help.

longhorn55

As for day trips out of Adelaide, I would recommend going to the Barossa Valley. This is a big wine area and I enjoyed it even though I don't drink wine. One of the major towns in this area is Hahndorf, an historic German town with great German food and crafts.

bhuty

Yeah do Hahndorf but in march it will look a little dull maybe? but its still a nice town not far from the city.

Overall i like your plans. You don't want to overplan so you can go with the flow and get advice from everywhere and everyone.

You'lll need to book in the concert if there is one.

Any irish pub will do but again i would just ask someone once you are there (eg hotel) since the locals will know if any special gigs are on in town.

Transport in sydney. trains will take you to most everything you'll want to get to (plus a bit of a walk at times but too much). As for a pass I'm sure there is (someone else can help on that) which you'll just pick up when you egt to the station.

A day trip up to the blue mountains will be nice for you i think.

inexpensive dining. well you need to be sure you have a few servings of fish and chips. Bakeries will have some excellent meat pies and the food court in Darling Harbour are not necessarily inexpensive but have some good options are reasonable value. You ahve to get your munching gear around a proper burger from a greasy joes takeaway. Oh, let me clarify. You won;t find any place called "greasy joes". You will need to look for a small independent takeaway shop that sells chips and burgers and milkshakes etc. If it looks too sterile and commercial then it'll be no good (IMO).

Neil_Oz

There's sure to be an official festival website that will provide fairly comprehensive information about events, venues etc. - just do a web search.

We were there for the Festival a few years ago and concluded that you need to be selective about what you pay to see. That was after attending a performance by a Dutch modern dance company which, not to put too fine a point on it (apart from music by J. S. Bach) was a total wank. That was our only negative experience, though.

I don't know what Melbourne does about St Patrick's Day, but traditionally it's never been as big a deal in Australia as in the US, possibly because until at least the 1940s it's a safe bet that most Australians (myself included) had some Irish ancestry, so "Irish-Australian" was almost a redundancy. It would make as much sense to have a big parade on St George's Day. As a rule Irish-Australians have been less conscious of their "Irishness" than Irish-Americans, and a good deal less sentimental about the Ould Sod, no Bing Crosbys and Jimmy Cagneys playing lovable Irish priests, etc. St Pat's Day is celebrated more now than in the past, I'd say, but it's all pretty commercial.

As longhorn55 says, it's a good idea to hit the Barossa Valley and Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills. Just be aware that some of the leather-shorts and beer-stein images are strictly tourist hokum - the Germans who settled the area were Lutherans from Silesia, not Bavarian Catholics.

adeben

You won't see penguins along the Great Ocean Road. Top spot for seeing them is at Phillip Island, quite some distance in the opposite direction from Melbourne. Travel to Phillip Island is by bus, and the penguins come ashore at dusk.
St Patrick's Day will pass relatively unnoticed in Melbourne: the parade died many years ago with Archbishop Mannix.
The Restaurant Tramcar is OK, but is overwhelmingly populated by tourists, because the locals know they will eat better at a restaurant. Melbourne is a foodie's delight.
In Sysdey, catch the ferry from Circular Quay (between the Bridge and the Opera House) to Manly. Get off there and find yourself a pleasant spot to have lunch. Then catch the ferry back. Better and cheaper than a luncheon cruise.
Whe you get to Sydney, check what's on at the Opera House, and decide if anything is of interest. You should be able to get tickets OK.

fuzzylogic

May I ask Neil_Oz which Dutch modern dance company it was? Your insight is always so appreciated.

I second the advice to check the official website for the Adelaide Festival (I won't find it for you - just do a google). And once you are in the city you can pick up the programmes for the official fest, and for the Fringe. They're available pretty much everywhere, and they are free.

If you happen to be there at the end of the fortnight the outdoor concert held in the parkland next to the Festival Centre is good value. Great music, under the stars, free; go early and take a picnic, or go late and find a space right up on the edge. You will still hear the music.

There's some great offerings at lunchtime and there's WOMAID.