Our early November trip from the U.S. to Oz…….

LAX to Sydney….great flight, though I have little international travel experience to compare it to. Make sure to go to www.seatguru.com to find the best coach seats to request. We nabbed one of the rare two-across spots in coach, which makes a huge difference.

Day 1 (Sydney)- stayed at the Rendezvous Stafford in The Rocks. Free upgrade to a Terrace House. The hotel itself was decent, the location was excellent (only a quick walk to Circular Quay). Ate at Sailors Thai in The Rocks (didn’t live up to the hype IMHO). Took a ferry to Manly. Unfortunately it was a cool, windy day, so not the best for the beach. Dinner at Ashiana, good Indian food. Ferry back to Circular Quay at night, great view of the city skyline and Opera House.

Day 2 (Sydney)- breakfast at Pancakes on the Rocks, then took a ferry to Darling Harbour and a visit to the Sydney Aquarium (be sure to keep an eye out for free Sydney guidebooks- ours had a 15% off coupon for the aquarium). That afternoon we made our way to Blacktown and the Featherdale Wildlife Park. It’s a bit of a haul via train/bus, but worth the trip. After that, we headed back and exited the train at the Town Hall stop, then walked to the AMP Centerpoint Tower. Great views of the city from the top (tickets were 2 for 1 with a guidebook coupon), thought I’d recommend skipping the OzTrek feature. Dinner at Zia Pina in The Rocks (I’d only call it average pizza) and great dessert at The Rocks Café (tiramisu and lemon miringue pie).

Day 3 (Sydney)- breakfast at The Pancake Kingdom (don’t laugh, we LOVE pancakes), then took the train to Bronte and bus to Bronte Beach. On the walk from Bronte Beach to Bondi Beach, we enjoyed the Sculpture By The Sea event. Didn’t find many restaurant options near Bondi Beach, so we headed back to Circular Quay. Spent the afternoon shopping in The Rocks, then went to our Harbour Bridge Climb. We’d reserved for the last climb before “twilight” pricing and it was a good move. By the time we got to the top, it was about 7 p.m. (perfect weather) and in the heart of twilight. Lots of fun. Dinner at Costi’s Famous Fish, which was probably the best meal we’d had to that point.

Day 4 (Sydney)- Got up real early and took some sunrise photos around the harbour. Then we went for a Blue Mountains Tour with the OzTrail company. In retrospect, I really wish we’d have heeded advice here and done the trip ourselves (via train from Sydney to Katoomba), because this tour didn’t offer nearly enough time in the spots we enjoyed. As it was, we stopped at Kings Tableland, Wentworth Falls, Echo Point/Three Sisters, took the Sceniscender cableway down to the forest floor (only spent about 15 minutes on the floor), then took the railway back to the top. Stopped at a park to see kangaroos on the return trip and were dropped off at Olympic Park for a ferry back to Circular Quay. The guide wasn’t terribly knowledgable. Had dinner at Phillip’s Foote in The Rocks (you pick your meat and grill it yourself).

Day 5 (Sydney/Cairns/Port Douglas)- breakfast at Pancakes on the Rocks (yes, again!), a bit of shopping in The Rocks, then we had a flight from Sydney to Cairns. Being Americans who are used to a certain (low) standard on coach flights, we were impressed with Qantas. Getting lunch, movie and a dessert is almost unheard of in our experience. Anyway, we arrived in Cairns and had a reservation with Sun Palm for a shuttle to PD. Good thing we’d brought our confirmation (for $45 rountrip pp) because they tried to charge us $55 pp. Then, after a LONG wait for other passengers, the driver thought he was a Formula One pro, making the winding trip to PD a quesy one. Arrived in PD for our stay at the Hibiscus Gardens (good location, very nice looking room, but the service was hit and miss). Dinner at the Salsa Bar, which was far and away the best we’d had so far in Australia.

Day 6 (PD)- walked to the Wavelength wharf for our GBR trip. Only 14 guests on the boat, which made for a nice experience. I thought the crew could’ve been a bit more enthusiastic. But the weather (sunny, no wind) and scenes made for a great day. Once back, we had dinner at Star of Siam (good food, poor service), then stopped at Wicked for some ice cream.

Day 7 (PD)- met Pete Baxendell at 8 a.m. for our Daintree trip. We’d “chartered” Pete for the day and it was a GREAT investment. Without question, the best day of the trip. The guy has more knowledge in his little toe than I have in my whole body! Pete had us back by 5:30 and we just got some groceries from the Coles in PD for an easy dinner.

Day 8 (PD)- this was a bit of a “rest” day. Breakfast at Java Blue, then I went to Wavelength to pick up the CD from the underwater digital camera that I’d rented on the GBR trip. Unfortunately, they’d failed to tranfer 20+ of the photos I’d taken (the best ones, from the last site). Wouldn’t have upset me so much, except they didn’t seem to have any regret over the mistake. Had lunch at EJ’s (a little fish/chip spot), then did some shopping (I’d recommend Bilby Gallery for impressive Aboriginal art). Pizza and ice cream for dinner.

Day 9 (PD/Melbourne)- got some sunrise photos at Four Mile Beach, then the Sun Palm shuttle back to Cairns. Another good Qantas flight to Melbourne, where we got an Airbus shuttle ($24 pp rountrip) to the city. Stayed at the Holiday Inn on Flinders. It was a fine location, though I think I’d stay closer to Swanston St. in the future. By the time we got cleaned up, it was 8 p.m. Made our way to Chinatown area and, just for grins, walked in to Flower Drum to see if they had any tables. Amazingly, they did. What a GREAT dinner! Enjoyed the “Santa Kid” display outside Myer department store on the way back to the hotel.

Day 10 (Melbourne)- breakfast at Pancake Parlour on Bourke St., then got quick tram instructional course from a nice fellow at the Tourist Information Center. Took the tram to Melbourne Gaol (very cool), then back down to the Melbourne Park National Tennis Centre (a friend wanted an Australian Open souvenir). Spent some time at Olympic Park and Federation Square, then back up to the Melbourne Museum Complex to see a 3-D IMAX movie. Then back down to the shops of Bourke St. and Collins St. After shopping, headed back to the hotel and went up in the Rialto Tower (another 2-for-1 coupon from a visitors guide). Quick hotel stop, then got some pizza at Pizza Mouth. We’d planned to stay in our room and watch the World Cup qualifying match on television. But after Australia scored a goal to make it 1-0, they showed a shot from Federation Square, where thousands of people were watching the game on a huge screen. So we hopped on a tram and headed down there. What an atmosphere!

Day 11 (Melbourne)- up to the Queen Victoria Market, where we spent much of the morning. We LOVED this place. Shortly after noon we went to the Melbourne Central shopping complex. After a break at the hotel, we headed to the Aussie Rules Football Hall of Fame (another guidebook buy 1, get 1 free coupon). What a fascinating place. I’ve been to many halls of fame and this was one of the best. Back to our hotel where we met friends from Geelong. They took us to Dion, a Greek restaurant on Lonsdale St. Excellent food. We walked to the Crown Casino and spent some time there before going back to the hotel.

Day 12 (Melbourne)- our friends too us down to Geelong, where we got to see their home, then off for some time on the GOR. We drove to Loring and had lunch at the Loring Hotel. Along the way stopped at the Split Point Lighthouse and Eagle Rock. After Loring, we went out to Erskine Falls. Back on the GOR and to Geelong. Afternoon snack at Gloria Jean’s (I’d give anything for a Tim Tam Bash and a piece of Tim Tam cheesecake right now!), then later had dinner at Tony’s, an Italian place. Then we all had a late drive back to Melbourne.

Day 13 (heading home)- made an early morning trip to the Queen Victoria Market, then took the Airbus back to the airport for the flight back to LAX.

Sounds like you had a fabulous trip! I'm sorry you had problems with Wavelength. I've gone out with them about 5 times over the years and the staff in the office and on the boat have always been friendly and helpful. You might just drop them a line and let them know about the problems you had with them. I'm sure they don't want to ruin the good reputation they have.

Midwestcoup: Thanks so much for your JBR. So glad you got into Flower Drum, what a treat! And isn't Victoria Market fantastic - I always make time for a trip there when in Melbourne. Seems as if you've had a good mix of "tourist & local" experiences. BTW, I think you might have gone to Lorne, not Loring.

Midwestcoup,
Thanks for such a great trip report - helped me sort some things for our Blue Mountains sidetrip in the spring. I really like the seatguru site, too, but unfortunately they seem not to track Air New Zealand, which is our preferred carrier to NZ and Oz. Anybody know if they'll add them?

Thanks for catching that, Bokhara. I got a bit bleary-eyed after writing for awhile-- would you believe this report is condensed from the 16 pages that I typed for our personal journal!?!?

And thanks for your comment, longhorn55. Believe me, I talked to everyone I could at Wavelength before leaving PD, including the owner, and they were completely unconcerned about the cd. It was kind of surprising.

(LOL) MWC., I just had visions of some poor sod driving along the GOR looking for "Loring" ..... "Whadderyer mean it's not on the map, woman? It MUST be, I read it on Fodors!"

Thanks for interesting report, midwest, sorry about the hairy trip with Sun Palm. Don't think Sun Palm deliberately tried to overcharge you, I know they have some new drivers who maybe weren't aware of old charge - current cost is actually AU$60 Cairns-Port Douglas return. Hefty increases in fuel prices which many operators can no longer absorb have led to fare increases.

Any baggage weight problems on the internal flights ?

We traveled quite light. I think my suitcase was 18 lbs. My wife's was similar. So there were no weight issues.