Hi, We are a family of five planning to be in queensland during this august.

We do not have so much time and want to know which is the best tour for seeing marine life such as nemo and friends.

Thank you in advance.
justine.

Hi Justine

I was in Port Douglas before Christmas last year and my girlfriend and I took a tour on the Wavelength.

Port Douglas is the closest point on the mainland to getting deep into the outer reef (a one hour high(ish) speed boat trip out gets there), and itself is a lovely place to stay, especially with a family.

Most tours leave from either Cairns or Port Douglas, there are dozens and dozens of boats, but we opted for Wavelength because it has smaller groups, gets most of its customers by word of mouth and most importantly, each tour is assisted by a marine biologist who will show you things you'd no doubt miss otherwise. Including Nemo!

There are dozens of very pleasant apartments in Port Douglas, and the jetty where most of the tours leave from is within walking distance of all of them!

Have a great time, you'll love it!

hello jimbo, thank you for the advice on wavelength. I went to the web site and looks very nice. i prefer to have a boat with not so many people.

as we have only a very short time i want the best even if i must pay a little more with a smaller group.

is wavelenghth the only boat you go out with or did you do an other one.

we think we will stay at hamilton island or cairns as we can fly in and out of both places.

three days is all we have left after exploring other places in australia.

justine

Hi Justine

I did two sessions 'finding Nemo' a one day trip from Port Douglas on the Wavelength, and a two night, three day cruise around the Whitsundays on Wings Of The Dawn (which was awesome). We snorkelled twice in the Whitsundays, and while the colours of the reef weren't as intense, the sheer volume and variety of sea-life more than made up for it. We had a VERY close encounter with a metre long sea turtle who came up to breathe about a metre away from us, simply breathtaking!

Anything else you'd like to know, just ask!

All the best
Jimbo

thank you once more jimbo.

i have found many interesting and helpful information here

how many people were on the boat from whitsunday island with you.

i have read many good things here about one day lizard island tour with daintree air services with very small groups. do you know about this one.

i know it is a plane not a boat but we would also like to see the reef from the air if possible it seems very private.

did anyone do a private tour in kangaroo island to see the seals.

i have some info but can not find a private tour.

thanks

justine

Hi Justine

We had a group of about 10 on the boat with us, it was just about the right size for getting peace and quiet when you needed it and enjoying socialising and a few drinks in the evening.

I didn't do a Lizard Island tour but I did manage to get down to Kangaroo Island on an overnight tour from Adelaide. Use this link to read my report:

http://www.travelpackers.com/cgi-bin...ry.cgi?id=1180

It wasn't a private tour, but it was great fun nonetheless...!

Incidentally, when we flew from Cairns to Hamilton Island, we flew directly over some of the reef so we got an airborne tour for free!

Cheers for now,

Jimbo

Hi Justine, My family actually flew from one side of Australia to the other with Daintree Air.

We did every thing from Bromme in the north west to the kimberley's, Kakadu, Arnhemland, Cape York and the Great Barrier Reef over a couple of weeks. Our teenage kids did not close their eyes the whole time.

The flying the views and experiences were out standing. Some thing none of us will ever forget.

One of the very best flights of the whole tour was from Cairns to Lizard Island. We saw ship wrecks up close, the reef where James Cook run aground, Manta Rays, etc, no commercial flight could ever compare to flying low along the barrier.

Incidently the reef where the guide took us snorkelling at Lizard was the best we had ever seen, loaded with marine life,turtles sharks and a half an acre of Nemos living amoung the biggest clams you could imagine.

Your family will have the day of their lives.

Jess.

jimbo and jess thankyou we am looking at a private day tour on kangaroo island with willderness safaries.

i have a question for you. we think maybe it will be better if we fly to kangaroo island in the mornin for the tour then fly back to adelaide in the evenning.

if we do not take the sealink boat will we miss any thing and if we do take the boat is the sea going to be rough.

my husband has a little problem with boats and rough water. Anyway we think the boat is very long and also the drive to the departure point is a long way.

justine

Justine

If you've got the money and time is of the essence then your flights in and out are a good idea. The coach journey from Adelaide to Cape Jervis is something like two hours, the boat journey is then another one and a half or so. Some people do half and half, i.e. coach/boat there, fly back. But like I say, nothing would be quicker than to fly.

The only thing you'd really miss would be the beautiful countryside down near Cape Jervis. But you would avoid the semi-rough seas down there!

hello again. rough sea, now my husband has made the choice for me thank you jimbo.

so we stay in adelaide at the chancellor hotel. it looks nice and very small and close to restaurants.

we fly to kangaroo island with regional express air for a day tour with willderness tours.

has any one used the novotel in the barossa valley. we think maybe two nights here would be nice.

should we drive to melbourne on great ocean road to see penguins and or better to take airline to melbourne then have a day tour. has any people driven this road in august.

thanks justine

I drove the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne to Adelaide which is the traditional direction to make this wonderful and beautiful journey. Going in this direction means that you're driving on the "outside" of the road so you get the full dramatic effect of the winding cliff-top-esque roads. I took three days to do the drive which was comfortable and stayed in a couple of B&B's on the way.

August may be quite chilly and wet, I drove the journey in December which was blistering hot.

Hi There Justine, Looks as though you are on top of things with your planning. You will receive some very helpful hints here on this forum as we did last year.

You are following pretty much the same route we did last July. The seals at Seal Bay are so cute, your kids will love them, unfortunatly we spent only an hour at the Bay, in hindsight I wish we stayed longer.

Jimbo is correct about the direction you drive the GOR although if you are driving Adelaide to Melbourne you will see beautiful viwes all the way so don't worry about missing anything.

A good friend of ours told us about a magnificent farm stay not far from the 12 apostles on the GOR. Close enough that you can drive 10 minutes down to the apostles at dusk and see hundreds of Penguins walking up the beach with no one else around for miles, just you the Penguins and the white waves smashing up against the rock formations.

We were there on a freezing cold windy night. With our torches provided by the farm stay we enjoyed the experience of a life time.

When we returned to the farm stay the owners had a huge fire started with snags (sauages) steaks and red wine ready for us.

We paid $18.00 Australian Dollars per night for the accommodation. We are 5 star people. This was one of the best places we have ever over nighted.
A huge dorm just for us. Magnificent views across the rolling hills to the ocean.

Im so jealous.

Keep your eyes open while driving along that road. There are some wonderful surprises to be found.
The helicoptor ride around the apostles is also awesome.

ffej

jimbo and ffej we are now driving for three days to melbourne from adelaide
we have no other choice with the air tickets we have.

have you been to melbourne and the yarra valley and is it worth it to stay for 3 days here before flying to sydney.

i hve been researching melbourne and see nice hotels on the river which one is the best.

my children want very much to see rugby match one day.

justine

Hello Justine, One of my favourite hotels in beautiful Melbourne is the Windsor. The hotel is conveniently located at 103-115 Spring Street, Melbourne.

The Windsor is situated in the heart of Melbourne's shopping and business district. Many attractions and activities are Within walking distance like parks,gardens,cathedrals,
exclusive stores, theatres and Chinatown.

The Royal Botanical Gardens The Arts Centre, State Library, National Gallery, Museum, Zoological
Gardens, Crown Casino, Melbourne
Exhibition Centre and Southgate are all easily accessible.

You will need a minimum of three days in Melbourne to experience the Yarra Valley, and the AFL. You have asked about rugby. You would be better to experience rugby in N.S.W. perhaps in Sydney.

We do play rugby in Melbourne however Australian Rules or AFL is more than likely what you have heard about in Melbourne.

Melbourne is noted as one of the most livable places in Australia.

Try to plan at least three days in Melbourne if you can.

Enjoy.
fsg.

fivestargirl thankyou for your advice. we already deceided to stay in melbourne for three days.

we end up booking with carlton on queen.

what do you think about this one we have rooms lookin out to a lake

after three days in melbourne we plan to fly to sydney.

we are thinking maybe two or three days is enough, can we have some comments on hotels near city.

thanks very much for all your help.

justine

Hi, this question is for ffej, regarding the farm that you stayed at along the GOR near the 12 apostles. We'll be staying in Melbourned and wanted to take that awesome drive.

thx

Hi Slee, Well Slee this place is a little far for a day tour from Melbourne.

It is a farm stay as opposed to a B&B.

It is very very beautiful.

The views are to die for.

The farm stay is very close to a small village in which is a little cafe that serves the second best bacon and eggs in Australia while your playing serious pool with the kids.

The coffee was not that great but the atmosphere more than made up for the lack of staying power in the instant.

As this site is full of world travellers, I bet some one will come in and let the cat out of the bag as to say. about the name.

Most people come into this little site and go on about the same ole stuff.

Lets see if any one knows about the really good stuff.

I did not say walking on the harbour bridge was not good.

Come on fodorites , where is this idyllic little hide away amoung the rolling hills looking out over the apostles ??

Ffej: i think i might have found it. Are the owners: Judy & Kurt Nesseler?

Slee

Hi Justine, Sorry I was unable to answer you before this, If you have not already booked a hotel in Sydney try the Marriott on College Street.

36 College Street Sydney, 2010 NSW Australia
Phone: 61 2-93618400 Fax:
61 2-93618599

Very central, just across the road from the Quay and the Rocks area.

Great restaurants close by.

The views of the harbour are wonderful.

Archibald"s Cocktail Bar ( in house ) is an interesting place for a drink before the Opera or the movies all close by.

The breakfasts are also very good.However there is a little breakfast bar across the road where you can have a similar breakfast for around $11.00 aud. For a family of five you can make a reasonable saving there over a three day stay.

fsg

5* girl....you are confusing your Marriots.

The one you are describing is the sydney harbour marriot not the one opposite hyde park.