buddy123

Dear Forum Members - This forum has been most useful in planning our Australia Honeymoon from Jan 5th to Jan 13th. We are very thankful to everybody who has assisted us.

Please feel free to advise changes/suggestions on our final itinerary below (we have booked accomodations).

We are still trying figure out a few things: the exact schedule in Sydney; good (vegetarian) places to eat in Sydney & Palm Cove; or what exactly to see in the Opera House

Itinerary

Day 1 - Arrive in Cairns 9:30 pm, Overnight at Outrigger (where we stay for 5 nights in Lagoon Spa room), Palm Cove (from a long journey from India)

Day 2 - Relax in Palm Cove, maybe go to Port Douglas and back, Maybe Skyrail

Day 3 - Daintree Air day trip to Lizard Island

Day 4 - Charted Daintree Tour with Pete Baxendell

Day 5 - Relax - leave day open - maybe another trip to GBR (Wavelength)

Day 6 - Reach Sydney by 11pm, Check in Shangri-La (Grand Harbor View King Room), where we stay for 3 nights. Check out Circular Quay, Macquarie Street, Sydney Harbor

Day 7 - Sydney Harbor Bridge Walk, Manly Beach(maybe), Darling Harbor Area, end with a show at the Sydney Opera House.

Day 8 - Open for relaxing, and whatever else we need to see in/around Sydney

Day 9 - Leave morning 10 am flight out of Sydney.


Thanks
Buddy

Alan

What to see in the Opera House? You're in luck! Madama Butterfly starts January 5, and has performances on Jan 10 and 12. Don't wait too long before booking, will you? In fact, do it NOW, before you even read the rest of this response. For productions like that, tickets sell FAST.

There are several theatres and halls in the Opera House, but the two BIG halls -- the only ones that will make you feel like you have really visited the Opera House -- are the Concert Hall and the Opera Theatre. Madama Butterfly is in the Opera Theatre, and there is nothing, on the website, listed at present for the Concert Hall (surely that will change!). The other, tiny, venues might have good productions, but I think that if you can't get into one of the big halls, your best bet is to forget a show altogether and instead do the 7 a.m. tour of the Opera House (out by 9 a.m.), as it takes you to all sorts of cunning parts of the complex which you won't see in any of the "regular" tours.

On Day 6, when you arrive at the Shangri-La at 11 p.m., by all means check out the area around Circular Quay, but forget Macquarie Street and the rest of Sydney until the next day. This is not New York, and most of Sydney will be semi-deserted after midnight. The heritage buildings in Macquarie Street are only open for inspection in daylight hours.

If you are walking across the Harbour Bridge on Day 7, catch a ferry from the wharf next to Luna Park (you'll see it, don't worry)to Darling Harbour and do this part of your day relatively early. Then from Darling Harbour you can catch ferries to other interesting little stops, such as Balmain, or back to Circular Quay, where you can change ferries for the Manly trip, if you still have time and energy left. There are lots of activities at this time of year around Darling Harbour, and my own feeling is that you should allocate a good half-day to this area, and leave the Manly ferry until the following day. Do a couple of other smaller ferry rides on the first day; e.g., from Milson's Point (across the bridge) you can go (on as "loop" ferry which will return you, eventually, to your point of departure) to Woolwich (one of the "genteel" areas of Sydney). From Darling Harbour you can go to Balmain, which, if you're prepared for a walk up the hill (if not, there's a bus that meets the ferry), has some interesting churches, antique shops, colonial architecture, and restaurants. That would probably be a good spot to have dinner before hopping on a city bus (or, alternatively, back to the wharf for a ferry) to get to the Opera House and Madama Butterfly.

If you start the day by calling in at Circular Quay Railway Station and buying a Daytripper Pass (for $AUD15), you won't have to buy point-to-point tickets for the rest of the day; it includes ferries, trains, and buses.

Have a great time!

Neil_Oz

Balmain's a good idea, Alan. I don't know what the ferry services are like these days, but when we lived there (in the Dark Ages), a ferry from the East Balmain wharf, at the bottom of Darling Street, would get you to Circular Quay in 11 minutes.

buddy123

Thanks for the responses. I will fine tune the Sydney itinerary based on your suggestions.

I am going to book Madama Butterfly. What are the recommended seats for best view? I am looking at around AUD$150 per person as budget. Looks like Stalls B Reserve and Circle B reserve might be good.

Also does any one know of a return policy in case I can't make it?

Mucky

www.palmcove.net

for full information on restaurants.
Have a fabulous time.

Muck

Alan

I don't know much about your chances of a returns policy if you can't make it, but my strong feeling is that there is no such thing. All tickets are, to the best of my knowledge, final from the moment of purchase.

(However, you can always wire them to me as a late Christmas gift!)

There won't be a great deal of difference between the two tiers of "B" reserve seats; "A" reserve is the most expensive and considered the very best, but I can't imagine you will be unhappy with either; the Opera Theatre, strangely enough, isn't very big. The circle might be your best bet if you like to look at the surtitles, which is like subtitling but projected onto a screen above the proscenium.

Have a great time!

buddy123

Thanks Alan. I booked Madama Butterfly Circle B reserve seats. Hopefully it will be fun.

Alan

If you're not going to make it to the Opera House, let me know as far in advance as possible, so that I can buy a decent shirt and a tie!

Have a great time!