Greetings all...

I was just given the task of planning my best friend's 30th birthday - *girls only* trip to Australia (October 2007 - she has always dreamed of Australia, and chose this as the destination).

There will be 8 of us (all in our late twenties, early 30s) all together. We have never been to Austrailia, so are open to all ideas. We are, however, limited in time to about 7-10 nights(this may be a big problem, since we're all flying out of nyc or philly).
My first thought is to fly into LAX, spend a night or two partying in LA, then head to Sydney for a little bit - - because I haven't done much planning for this part of the world. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

thanks

lucky you!

are you just here to party or do you want to shop? sightsee?

I have organised several similar things (I'm an event planner by trade) and saying you had 7 nights, I'd be tempted to do 4 nights sydney, 2 nights melbourne. that way you're in the same place for more than a couple of nights. the gold coast is also very fun - I organised a hen's weekend up there last year - but for more touristy things (and shopping), I would probably say syd/mel. (although, that time of year, lovely weather at the GC)

while in syd I'd suggest you leave a day to go to the hunter valley for a wine tour - get your own bus and driver and you'll have a lovely day.

a couple of sites that might help you out for interesting things to do:
www.redballoondays.com.au. there's a lot of great things for your type of group here. www.hensweekend.com.au.

If you want to email me ([email protected]) I'd be happy to send you some of the things I've used in the past when organising this sort of thing and also help with some ideas (or even the logistics at this end). can you tell I'm an event planner by trade?

Hi Tricia!

What fun - a group of girls going to Oz -- good luck - when my girlfriends and I try to plan things we have a difficult time picking out a restaurant!

The amount of time you have is going to be your biggest problem; I hope there's a way that you can add some days onto your trip because this is the way it would work out:

Fly from JFK or PHL to LAX (or SFO because we have direct flights now). Let's say overnight in an inexpensive airport hotel (you can play in Sydney - much cooler than LA anyday).

Day Two - fly from LAX - SYD

Day Three - lose a day crossing international Dateline.

Now, you arrive in Oz in the early morning, BUT, you're FOUR days into your vacation and you've just gotton there!

You'd have to turn around 3 days later and fly home, SYD - LAX and then onto NYC or PHL (which is a HORRIBLE day combining two very long flights).

Hope this is helpful!

Regards,

Melodie
Certified Aussie Specialist

but Melodie, Won't they gain the day back going home

A/D

Thanks so much! I'm trying to talk to the girls now and see if we can extend the number of days... great suggestions though, so so helpful!!!!

-Tricia

Yes AndrewDavid, they do gain that day back, but since it's a "travel day"... (I always consider the first and last day of any itinerary as a travel day as you're usually spending the majority of that day getting from Point A to B).

On their return, let's say SYD-LAX (and then they have to get a connecting flight to Philly from there - talk about a looonnnng day, or overnight at LAX)

So, they'd either be leaving at noon-ish and getting into LAX at 7AM or leaving at 3:20P and getting in at 9:45A (same day).

So the last day is spent getting to the airport, in the airport, in the air and then a connecting flight or an overnight, no gain there unfortunately!

Regards,

Melodie