GregY2

Every year an enormous number of Australians take flights of 20+ hours to holiday in Europe and other parts of the world, often for only a couple of weeks. They seem to manage this without too much difficulty; I doubt that it is any harder to manage coming from the US. For a quick sampling of our 2 principal cities your itinerary is fine - personally, I would give Melbourne an extra day as there is as much to see there as in Sydney, but you are only getting an overview in any case. I think you would be wise not to try and cover too much ground in a short time. Hoepfully you will like what you do see and one day have time to come back for a longer visit.

moneygirl

richardab, Do not be discouraged about spending only a short time in Australia. It is a large, fabulous country and you will never see it all in one visit. You will leave wanting to return and most importantly of all, it is the people that make Australia so facinating! (Not the rock, the reef, the rainforests or the animals can compare.)

I fell in love with the people we met, with the small towns that dotted the Bruce Highway, amazingly one hour apart. I fell in love with the pride Australians have in their country and the easy way they would share their US travel stories with us. I could go on and on... simply put, I believe it doesn't matter where you actually go, you are in for an experience like none other. Enjoy.

AustraliaZooIsGreat

>I have no problem with Australian Fodorites putting forward the positives of one's home region/state, but attacking other destinations really isn't the best way to go about that

I don't believe i've done that. I've visited canberra. I've also spent a great deal of time in melbourne and to a lesser extent Sydney.

I live in Europe (Irelad). The flight is much longer from here. Especially considering the fact that I have to catch 3 flights to get there. I've done the flight from here to Australia and back 3 times now. The time difference is 10 hours. It takes around 1 hour per day for your body's internal clock to adjust to a time difference. I've never fully adjusted in less that a week.

However, I will grant you that I didn't realise the flight from the US was that much shorter than mine. It takes me 29-36 hours to get to Australia. When I arrive I sleep. By the time I wake I've lost 2 days when you consider the flight time and tiredness associated with the trip.

AustraliaZooIsGreat

For some reason a lot of Irish people visit Canberra. I think its because they know it's the capital and expect it to be a big city. Probably because Dublin is the largest city in Ireland and is also the capital.

I'm not surprised canberra's 2nd biggest industry is tourism, they probably don't have any other industry outside of agriculture. I stand by my remarks that Canberra is not worth visiting.

AustraliaZooIsGreat

>Having now run a quick search I see a flurry of postings by AustraliaZoolsGreat, who appears to be a Queenslander

Wrong! In fact I don't even live in Australia.

>I have no problem with Australian Fodorites putting forward the positives of one's home region/state, but attacking other destinations really isn't the best way to go about that.

But you seem to have a problem with non-australians offering unbiased advice based on their own experience when that advice reflects negatively on any given place.

Neil_Oz

Well, AZG, I'd hate to be responsible for even a small deterioration in relationships between Australia and the land of (some of) my ancestors, so I withdraw the "Queenslander" accusation. But as much as I like Brisbane, I did find it hard to believe that any but the most besotted local would claim that it "knocks the socks off" Sydney and Melbourne.

As for Canberra, I maintain that yours is a minority view, and that the "nothing to do" assessment of Canberra is sweeping, inaccurate and misleading to prospective visitors. Whatever it is you like to do, it would seem that either Canberra doesn't have it or you didn't find it; fair enough, perhaps, but that doesn't mean that other visitors would have the same experience, and demonstrably most don't.

I would have thought it obvious from even a brief visit that the Australian Capital Territory is not noted for agricultural achievements. The No 1 industry is, as you'd expect, public administration, with (from memory) tourism and academia following. The numerous foreign embassies, many of which have annual open days, are also of interest to visitors.

There's a small but significant high-tech industry and, as noted in a previous post, we also proudly lead the nation in the production and distribution of X-rated video material and fireworks...

soapsfan

I just got the Globetrekker's DVDs on Australia and one on Sydney. Both were really great. Globetrekker has great shows on PBS in the US - and they have a website - at globetrekkertv.com

AustraliaZooIsGreat

>But as much as I like Brisbane, I did find it hard to believe that any but the most besotted local would claim that it "knocks the socks off" Sydney and Melbourne

Nearly everyone I know who visits australia do Melb-Syd-Cairns and maybe Ayres Rock.

What I love about brisbane is the shear size. It's so spread out. It's a big enough city (pop 1.8mil - larger than dublin) yet they have trees,birds and houses! I found it very tranquil, very clean and very easy to get around.

The weather is brilliant, southbank very nice and it has excellent proximity to...
Australia Zoo
Alma Park Zoo
Dream World
Sea World
WB Movie World
Rainforest Areas
Mountains suitable for Rock Climbing

Then of course surfers paradise et al beaches. I loved the rainforest areas nearby and the storms. I love the fact that Brisbane gets about 3 times as much rain as us yet it's almost always sunny.

On the other hand Melbourne looks like a city that's trying to be european. Why travel 22,000Kms (or whatever) from europe to see europe? It disapointed me. Sydney I liked for many of the reasons that I like Brisbane... except, too big for my liking. Quite crowded. Dublin too is crowded, I thought i'd be escaping that by visiting Australia.

Peteralan

As for nothing to do in Canberra, I've lost count of the number of times I've got ready to rush off to the Sydney Art Gallery to see some fabulous exhibition only to find it is only on in Canberra!

AustraliaZooIsGreat

>As for nothing to do in Canberra, I've lost count of the number of times I've got ready to rush off to the Sydney Art Gallery to see some fabulous exhibition only to find it is only on in Canberra!

In your opinion, do you think someone coming from europe or the US is going to be interested in our galleries?

Museums and galleries here in dublin, london and in paris are pretty damn impressive.

Is somebody who has visited the louvre going to be awed to the extent that it's worth stopping in canberra?

Alan

Well, AustraliaZooIsGreat, when you use words like "awed", it's pretty hard to argue with you, as you have raised the bar rather high.... but, just speaking for myself, when I went (some years ago) to Buenos Aires, I was very interested to see the Art Gallery there, even though I didn't expect it to outrank the Louvre or the Prado. What I DID expect it to do -- and, indeed, which it did -- was help me understand more about Argentina. The Pope's old chhurch in Krakow can't hold a candle to St Peters in Rome, but nonetheless, I was eager to look through it, and I'm glad I did. I wasn't awed, but I was impressed.

The Australian Art Gallery is not as big as the Louvre and it's not as awe-inspiring as the Louvre.... but it's Australia's best art gallery and has a lot of works in it that you can't see in the Louvre. Why wouldn't visitors be interested in paying it a visit and learning from it? The same applies to the Australian War Memorial, which, frankly, is absolutely terrific by any standards (you might, indeed, be "awed&quot, the Science Museum, the Australian-American Memorial, and the very-impressive and almost awesome new National Museum (is that the correct name, Neil?) All of these are worthwhile attractions in their own right, and as important in getting to really "know" Australia, as is the Harbour Bridge or Uluru or any of the other sights that inspire you with "awe". (This word reminds me of a story about actor John Wayne, who was doing a one-line guest spot in the movie about Jesus, "The Greatest Story Ever Told". Playing a Roman centurion, Duke's one line was "Truly this man was the Son of God!", but he kept saying it as if he were reading a laundry list. So the director, George Stevens, trying to be helpful, said, "Duke, try it again, but put a bit of AWE into it!" So Duke, being an obliging fellow, did as he was told: "Awww, truly this man was the Son of God!&quot

richardab

Follow up...

I am still planning this trip but haven't secured frequent flyer seats yet. I got seat to get me to Sydney and Melbourne, but there is nothing to get me home.....

cantwaittogo

Don't give up on the frequent flyer seats. I called three times a day for a month before we were able to get ours, but it was well worth the effort.

Neil_Oz

Well said, Alan. Fortunately there are travellers who are interested in the human history and culture of the country they're visiting. AZG has tastes that obviously lie elsewhere, which as far as I'm concerned is OK, but seems reluctant to accept that others may have a different perspective.

Great John Wayne story, anyway! I'd been thinking that his laughable Roman centurion role was in a previous Jesus epic, "King of Kings", known by some wits as "I Was a Teenage Jesus" and starring Jeffrey Hunter as a fair-haired, blue-eyed JC, but you're right - it was indeed the one that starred Max von Sydow.

Reminds me of a classic Hollywood scriptwriter's joke, about the young "Brat Pack" star who decided to prove that he could really act by appearing in an off-Broadway production of "Hamlet". His performance was so excruciatingly bad that halfway through the first act the audience began laughing and making loud derogatory comments. Finally he stepped out of character and yelled at the audience "Hey, why are you giving ME a hard time? I didn't write this shit!!!"

Alan

Nice Hamlet story, Neil... was this Brad Pitt or Keanu Reeves(both of whom have elicited that same audience response from me just watching their movies? Did you ever see anything as goddamned awful as "Meet Joe Black" in your entire life?)

Jeffrey Hunter as a blue-eyed Jesus..... ahh, yes, I remember. I was still in college, I think, and we used to go around reciting, "Jeffrey Hunter, meek and mild...." Nice score by Miklos Rosza, however.

As for Max Von Sydow.... a blue-eyed Jesus with a Swedish accent??!!! ("Truly this man was the son of Lief Ericsson!&quot

Sorry, richardab, for getting off the track!

beemersgallore

Well now lets see here, Museums, artgalleries.
I was in the Louvre a couple of years ago and all that was there was the Egypt exhibition - now I have always thought that a museum was in a specific country to show me what that country was about but not so always its seems.
Then as for the V & A museum in London well thats great too if you like to be shut indoors and not outside for hours on end. Dublin's museum failed to tell me why it was that a country relied on only one crop which, when it failed, brought widespread desperation and famine. Museums, well I can take them or leave them but to say that Canberra is not worth a trip is to say that the Tower of London is only an assortment of bricks so why go there. Canberra is a beautiful city, sure its new and sure its planned but it is beautiful and whatever time of year you go there is more things to do than just the museum or art gallery. Why would you expect to come to a country and find Western History when its only been inhabited for just over 200 years by Westerners. Why not look at the history of the country in terms of Anthropological, Aboriginal and mammalian terms, this is where the facination of Australia comes to the fore. This is the most ancient land on earth and has some of the most interesting history of this planet. There is more to "culture" than museums and art galleries although they do give you a 'window' in which to start your process.

AustraliaZooIsGreat

>I was in the Louvre a couple of years ago and all that was there was the Egypt exhibition

I was at the Louvre in September 2003 and they had Egyption, Roman and Oriental galleries in the Museum. Not to mention the Art gallery where the Mona Lisa was on show and flash photography was allowed.

It was incredible. I've never seen another city where you'd find ancient roman artifacts on display in a metro station.

beemersgallore

AZG: perhaps you are one of those people who like Museums, I don't particularly care for them myself and think that they are only useful mainly for those Sundays when you are living in a grubby city somewhere and the weather is rotten and you have nothing to watch on TV. For my money I would rather save and go and see some countryside somewhere even if that means that I miss out on seeing some coin made 1,000 years ago.
I would have preferred the Louvre if it had had more information about the history of France than of Egypt or Rome or anywhere else for that matter. Wandering the streets of Paris is preferable to walking around a stuffy museum. Thats the difference probably between people in Australia and people from your country. Here we prefer to be outside whenever possible doing whatever as long as its not inside looking out. I would give up seeing any museum anywhere in the World or any Art Gallery anywhere in the world given the choice between say, having those things at hand or being able to dive on the GBR and play around in the water with the marine life or wandering through a rain forest or discovering ancient Aboriginal art on some rock wall somewhere or just watching the many birds darting through the trees on a lovely afternoon with a warm breeze through my hair.

AustraliaZooIsGreat

>perhaps you are one of those people who like Museums, I don't particularly care for them myself and think that they are only useful mainly for those Sundays when you are living in a grubby city somewhere and the weather is rotten and you have nothing to watch on TV.


Oh beemers, your arguments become more and more ridiculous.

Perhaps you should read the rest of the thread and decide again whether you believe i'm a museum/art gallary enthusiast.

Neil_Oz

>>Thats the difference probably between people in Australia and people from your country. Here we prefer to be outside whenever possible doing whatever as long as its not inside looking out.<<

Well, in all fairness you'd expect the weather to influence Australians' vis a vis Irish people's choice of leisure activities, wouldn't you?

However, the fact is that many more Australians attend cultural and entertainment events than sporting events, never mind get actively involved in sports and outdoor activities. Museums, galleries and theatre all do excellent business in Australia.

In general I know we'd like to think of ourselves as a physically active race, but the sad fact is that we're a nation of couch potatoes.