Help Son in Au with no itinerary
 

Hi,

My son, recently returned from his second tour in Iraq has dreamed of his Australia vacation for years. He is there now with a buddy..but his trip is not shaping up to be what he thought (IMO). They flew into Sydney where they had plans to stay for New Years Eve (they don't have a reservation for a hotel and determined it to be price prohibitive..I would like to see if I could find something cheapish for them). He is staying with family friends (of his buddies)two hours south of Sydney. I think that he is feeling kind of stuck there. He had talked about going to the Great Barrier Reef (has his dive gear) and surfing (has a couple of boards). His friend is not a diver. Up to actually being there he has talked about traveling to Townsend (sp?) and Cairns..then was saying it is too far too travel taking too much time..well they are there for 3 weeks..seems to me he should be able to travel it.

Given the above info and the fact that he probably feels limited on what he can do because of his buddy. Is there an inexpensive great itinerary for him to consider at this point in time.

I spoke with him yesterday and he asked me to look into a hotel in Sydney for the remainder of his stay...I really want him to do all the things he dreamed of there and am hopeful to offer him some alternatives.

Thanks in advance!
Mom in California

Even if the friend can't dive, I'm sure he (or she?) could snorkel.

There are many wonderful things to do in Sydney, e.g., the zoo, as well.

What can he afford? Tell him to hit up wotif.com.au and find someplace and stop wasting his three weeks in front of the TV in the distant suburbs! Townsend is a few hours by plane. Get up and go, dude!

Its Townsville not Townsend if you want to look it up on the net. Its not a destination that I would want to go to actually - kind of boring place with nothing really going for it.
As someone else said " get on wotif.com.au" also get on www.jetstar.com www.virginblue.com.au and see what flights are going to North Queensland and get there. It is no point in expecting to drive there as its a long, long way, much better and cheaper to fly. Once up there, there are plenty of back packer hostels which are quite good and he will pair up with people of his own age and inclination and have a darn great time.

If his budget is very tight, he should also consider staying in hostels. Many of them have private rooms, so he wouldn't have to stay in a dorm. He and his friend could find an inexpensive, clean room, some of them with ensuite bath (for well under $100/night) in all of those towns.

Hi - oh dear, I guess a lot of people don't realise how hard it is to find somewhere to stay in Sydney over NYE - especially at the budget end.

But no point crying over spilt milk. There is no way he will get a cheap flight out of Sydney now up to QLD. It's school holidays, peak travel time.

So here's what I suggest. I'm assuming (you don't say) that he has 16-17 days left.

(1) research ways of getting up the east coast by road. There's Ozexperience - a backpacker hop on hop off bus that would allow him to stop in places like Byron Bay, and even TOWNSVILLE. Check availability, cost, departure times. Same for Greyhound/Pioneer - ordinary bus.

(2) assuming he can get a departure one way or another from sydney within 10 days of needing to be back here. Then ..

(3) before paying. get on to virginblue and book a flight back from Cairns. I have just checked and flights for $199 aud are still available.

Thousands and thousands of people do this trip every year. Most are more clued up than your son seems to be - which is strange. I would expect someone in the army to be very clued up and very savvy.

The net is a wonderful thing, but sometimes when you need to weigh up options quickly it is easier to do it in person. So maybe your son should get on a bus or train early one morning and head off to Sydney. Go and visit one of the places that specialise in budget travel. The Backpackers Travel Centre used to be in the Dymock Building on George St, or just get off the train and head over to Sydney Central YHA which is almost next door. And tell him to try and pick up a copy of TNT magazine - usually available around the train stn, or at the YHA, or at Global Gossip a few doors down from the YHA. It will be a real eye-opener.

Australia is SO EASY to travel around. The hostels are great. No need to spend $100 a night - that made me chuckle!!
And why wouldn't a young guy not want to stay in a hostel?

www.ozexperience.com
www.greyhound.com.au
www.yha.com.au/

Best of luck to him and his friend - as long as they have the nouse to just get out and DO IT.

murgirl, good advice from fuzzy, your son won't need his surfboard in Cairns or Townsvillle as there isn't any (surf). Because the Great Barrier Reef blocks it. But bring the dive gear, to save a few $$'s hiring it. There's heaps of reef trips out of Cairns for divers, snorkellers, even those who don't want to get wet, and introductory dives are available for those who aren't certified. Plenty of accommodation for his age, well under $100pp, in hostels, backpackers, motels and B&B's.

I did a very quick search for hostels/budget hotels in Sydney and immediately came up with a number of vacancies come up starting from 2nd or 3rd January. The site I looked at was www.hostelworld.com. As to how reliable the site is and the quality of the places mentioned I have no idea as I have never had the need to use them. The site has its own star rating based I gather on reports received back from people who have stayed there. I suggest your son gets on the internet and starts looking around. It would be a great shame to just let this time be frittered away doing nothing much.

I have no idea of whether this would be of interest, but campsites are available at the Lane Cove River Tourist Park which is lovely spot and only about 10 kms from the city centre. They would have to borrow camping gear from someone.

www.webjet.com.au is a good place to check out airfares upto Cairns. I'm not sure why he is thinking of Townsville. Not many people here would be choosing that as a major destination to go to. On a quick search I found flights up to Carins from Sydney for as low as A$199 on Virgin on the 11th and 12th, $215 on Qantas on the 10th, and $249 on the 8th and 9th with Qantas. Coming back there was a $175 on the 16th, $215 on the 14th. I think these are preety good prices for this time of year, peak holiday season.

Other alternatives are driving up the north coast to say Byron Bay/Gold Coast - some nice places along the way for surfing. Even if his friends haven't got their own car, a 3 way split of car hire shouldn't work out too bad. However, they need to check out accommodation as these are popular spots.

Well it's interesting that Murgirl hasn't been back - can't have been such a big drama after all.

But for the record, Shandy - in case you ever have to use it, Hostelworld is very reliable as a site - though you need to read between the lines - just as you do with posh places, to see if the accommodation will suit you.

And yes - I doubt there'll be any problem finding accommo in Sydney on 3, or even 2, jan - you see people come to the city for New Year, and then they leave. Not rocket science.

But I do hope the OP returns. I'd like to know what happened.

Great advice Fuzzy. Note though, I wrote well UNDER $100/night for a private hostel twin room w/ ensuite bath. Also, I wrote that he may not want to stay in a DORM, not hostel. Some folks don't want to stay in dorms on their holidays--no matter their age. Anyway...

OP: Hope your son was able to sort out this trip!