Cairns or Townsville
 

Okay. So I'm sitting here trying to decide: to see the Reef, is it better to fly to Cairns from Sydney or fly to Townsville. <BR> <BR>Also, I'm debating between buying a G'day Pass (US$200/A$400 approx. per flight segment between East and West, US$160/A$320 approx. within one area.) vs. waiting to get to Oz and buying flights locally. The G'day Pass looks like a good deal until you check out the comparable local fares. There's not that much difference and the G'day Pass commits you ahead of time. <BR> <BR>Anyone with any experience or advice here will be appreciated. <BR>

Hi william, <BR><BR>I know what your going through, it's a nightmare !!. <BR><BR>We booked internal flights from UK and received 2 discounted internal air fares each for £40 per person, which was excellent value. <BR>We also booked 2 internal flights via the internet and also got cheap deals, but we had to be flexible !<BR><BR>We flew into cairns and stayed at Port Douglas, would recommend PD over Cairns anytime and went to the reef with poseidon, they too were excellent and boat was not too big(50 ish people).<BR><BR>The internal flights were easy to book and it depends on how much time youv'e got when youre there but I would booik them when you get there. We managed to get a flight from Gold Coast to Sydney for 2 people for AUD 90, ok it was at 0530 on a Saturday morning, but we just changed our itinerary to suit. <BR><BR>My advice would be, check out the deals on the net now, if you can be flexible on your travel date i.e a couple of days either side, wait till you get there otherwise find the cheapest deal on Ansett/Quantas/Virgin Blue web only deals and book em.<BR><BR>I would check some of the other posts on this subject there is some good info.<BR><BR>Hope this helps <BR><BR>Good Luck. <BR><BR>

Thanks for the feed back, Colin. It all helps.<BR><BR>Because time was running out, we opted to buy a pair of G'day Passes before arrival in Oz. They are a mixed value. For example, $200US to fly between sectors. This is much less than a "market-priced" flight from Sydney to Darwin. The $160US for a flight within a sector, however, can be a bad deal. You can fly from Adelaide to Sydney for $99A on VB, vs. approximately $320A ($160US) for a pass that covers the same trip.<BR><BR>VB flies to Townsville (via Brisbane) for $203A ($105US approximately) but doesn't fly to Cairns. Anset flies to Cairns for the cost of a $160US/$320A pass.<BR> <BR>But there is a minimum requirement to buy two passes.<BR><BR>Hence my question. Anyway, now we will hold off on additional flights until we get to Oz (more G'day Passes can be purchased there once the first pair is purchased before arrival.) So we still will need input to help make the Reef access decision.<BR><BR>Your information will help.<BR>

William, if it's a choice between Cairns and Townsville, I'd most definitely choose Cairns and so would everyone I know who's ever been there. Townsville is quite dry, not a lot of tourism, has a large army base, fairly quiet (dull in my view). Cairns is very touristy, has heaps of reef trips on offer, lively, nice esplanade but no beach. Port Douglas (an hour drive north of Cairns) is also great. You could easily catch the local bus up to PD for a day trip or do an organised tour. <BR>Kay

i myself am going to australia and am doing the "oz experience" you can hop on and off the bus as many times as you want and it takes you on the "non touristy route'. its awesome deal too $250 canadian and it takes you from Cairns to sydney givin you up to 6 months to complete. and they take you to wineries, and take you to very australian sites. whatever your preference there are different packages for different parts of the country even new zealand that is another package im doing. Just go to your travel agent and ask for an oz experience brochure.

Does anyone have a website for the 'oz' experience? <BR> <BR>Thank you! <BR>Wendy