Scudam

Hi Everybody,

My wife and are planning a 20+ day trip to Australia in 2010 (late June/early July). With the help of many from this site, we just about have figured out our itinerary. We though we would start with a few days in Melbourne then head towards Adelaide with the intent of spending a couple of days visiting KI. Then fly from Adelaide to Ayers Rock for a coouple of days. Then onto Port Douglas/Cairnes area to see the GBR. Finishing up the vacation with a few days in Sydney.
This will be our "dream vacation" and I want to be able to relax and enjoy it. After reading many postings on this site, it is highly encouraged to book everything yourself. I was planning on doing that, but guided tours that we like are offered by AAT Kings and APT, and to use them, you have to book through a travel agent. What I would like is to book everything in advance, including the hotels and the different day trips at each location, so I can relax and enjoy the vacation. We wouldn't mind signing up for different group tours at the different places and let them do all of the planning and execution, taking the pressure off of me. So, what I'm looking for are some suggestions; should I book the whole thing through a travel agent, or does anybody have suggestions of good guided tours that I can book myself? Thanks for all of your help.
Scott

SnR

Hello, Scott. It is exciting planning a trip to Australia, isn't it! And very, very easy, also!! In June/July it will be quite cool in the southern part of Oz, so keep that in mind. I don't have any experience with Adelaide or Melbourne, but we went to Uluru in July of 2004 and found that you can easily rent a car (there is hardly any traffic so it is a good place to practice left-hand drive if you don't drive that way at home). That way you can go to the Rock, to Kata Tjuta, and the Cultural Centre when and as often as you like, also see which sunset and sunrises you want. We booked through Avis I believe, but smaller companies have lower rates. All of the hotels are owned by the same company, so email the central number and ask for the best rates. The "5-star" one is Sails in the Desert (not really 5 star except in price but very nice) which we were upgraded to from the Outback Pioneer Motel. All of them have had acceptable reviews here, you can search for them. There is also a night observatory tour. Some people really rave about the Sounds of Silence dinner in the desert, but we chose not to pay that. Interesting reviews here about that, too. They have day tours that you can sign up for, we took the Aborigine led one and the free ranger led one.

In Cairns, you couldn't do better than stay at Lilybank B&B (owned by a regular here, Pat W) We stayed there on our trip in 2007. It is on a bus line and she can arrange day tours with all of the GBR boats, going up to Taranga, Daintree tours, hiking options, car rentals, etc. If you don't like B&Bs, the hotel you choose can also do the arranging, either ahead of time or when you get there. I am like you, I like to have the tours booked so I can relax and enjoy, so I did a lot of research on line and in books to find the ones that I wanted. In Sydney we stayed at the Lord Nelson Brewery right in the Rocks and could walk or bus to all the sights we wanted. We took one tour of the Hunter Valley wine country that I booked when we got to Sydney, plus we did a tour at the Observatory that we booked through the tourist agency. The Lord Nelson was booked on line. It's a B&B, too, with the only drawback that the rooms with baths are on the 3rd floor (4th to Americans). But we didn't mind. If you want to go very upscale, book the Hyatt with a view of the bridge or the Opera House. $$$$$$ There are lots of reccs of nice hotels here, but we wanted lower price and convenient location. In 2004 we also drove to the Blue Mtns, but there are day tours there from Sydney, too.

To simplify booking, we either used the secure site if the hotel/tour had one, or we used a calling card we got at Costco for I think $30 (and we still have over a hundred minutes left after using it to book 5 weeks of things and calling home.) We would make arrangements on line in emails and then call the people with our credit card number. Fodor's made me change my screen name for some reason, so you can't find my trip reports unless you search for SnRSeattle. Here is the one about Port Douglas and Sydney: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=3
Feel free ask questions if I am not clear and I am sure others will chime in. But please use the search function--there is a gold mine of great trip reports and iformation if you are just a little bit patient. It is so rewarding to research and find just the place and tour that YOU want instead of relying on a big tour company IMHO. The research is at least half the fun for me! Happy planning!
Sally in Seattle

wlzmatilida

Hi Scudam,

It sounds like you're planning a very interesting "trip of a lifetime"!

You can have the "best of both worlds" doing this, planning your trip with a travel agent, who will customize your trip to suit YOUR needs and your budget; they can also arrange any "modules" you want with AAT Kings and/or /APT (both good companies, btw).

This is what I do every day - you can go to australia.com, then click on "Find A Travel Agent" and find the Aussie Specialist in your area -the agent will take your information as to what you'd like to do and formulate a custom designed itinerary - taking the pressure off you but incorporating your Wish List into the itinerary.

Hope this is helpful!

Regards,

Melodie
Certified Aussie Specialist

Bokhara2

Hi Sally,

Would you comment on the two tours you did at Uluru, please? I'm particularly interested in what you saw/experienced on each.

Cheers from Sunny Sydney (about 23c today, I think). Bokhara

DownUnder

It all sounds great,but June & July, although holiday time in the Northern Hemisphere, are not the best months for a "Dream Vacation" downunder. I don't want to be a spoiler, but March/April or September/October/November are much better times to visit OZ.

afterall

Agree with Downunder.

But please, from the bottom of my heart, do reconsider booking everything down to the last day tour in advance.

Why? Well, you may happen across something you'd not had a recommendation for, and not come across in your researches, that you'd like to experience, but you can't take it further because you have already booked (and paid for) another activity. More practically, your excellent itinerary in the making has some slack in it, so you can afford NOT to book day trips in advance. It would be real shame to book a day trip to the reef, and have to take it on a bad-weather day (smile!!).

You really don't need a travel agent to book a trip to Australia. You can do it all on the internet, or by phone, or email, based on your own research and input from friends/family and cyber family.

It's not till 2010 so by the time you get here you'll be an expert ahead of time.

Happy planning!

Scudam

Thanks for all of your great suggestions everyone! We realize that going in June/July things in the south will be cool (we live in Connecticut so we are used to cool/cold weather), but my wife works for the school dept. so that is the only time we can go. If anyone has some suggestions on what to do instead of seeing Melbourne/Adelaide/KI, I would love to hear them. We could make the northern OZ the focus of this trip. Hopefully we might be able to return someday to explore the southern region.
I didn't know that Pat W runs a B&B in Cairns? My wife and I love B&B's, and she always gives such great advice. I guess we will have to book a few nights at her place. Afterall, thanks for the advice about planning in a couple of "bad weather" days. I like that idea. I had planned a couple of extra days in Melbourne just in case we had problems with the fight. Sally, thank you for your comments. After some searching, I found your trip report on PD and Sydney. I enjoyed it very much. I plan on going back and reading the entire report. I glean a lot of very useful information from them. But I disagree with you one one point. I think I get more that half the fun doing the research. That's why I been montoring this site for nearly 10 months and our trip is nearly 2 years away.
I have a couple of questions for everybody. My original plan was to go to OZ in March/April timeframe. I had planned on covering the east coast from north to south. After reading DownUnder's comments maybe I will reconsider moving the trip back to the original plan (if we work things out with the wife's job). Now if I cannot, any recommendations on what to see and where to go (and stay away from since it is holiday time) to replace the southern part of the trip? After reading a small part of Sally's trip report, it seemed you booked many of you excursions only a day or two in advance. How did you do that (you said you went "internetting", did you bring a laptop on your trip?) and what, if any, would you suggest to book in well in advance? I have plenty of time to modify the trip and I greatly appreciate everyone's help.
Thanks
Scott

DownUnder

March/April would be a perfect. Wherever you go Australia's attractions are great natural wonders and scenic beauty. You just can't pop into the Uffizi on a wet day, so to enjoy the absolute maximum of what this place has to offer, the timing should be right especially when your visit is not for a while. Certainly don't ignore the southern areas as to only see Queensland and the Ouback would be to ignore the total picture. Happy planning as it is half the fun!!!

LizzyF

I cannot believe I am writing this BUT I agree with Afterall completely about not booking everything and certainly doing it yourself over the Internet. You do not need a Travel Agent.

SnR

Hi Bokhara, we did the Anangu Aborigine led tour "Liru Walk" where there was an Aborigine man who spoke to us in his language and then a ranger who translated "Wally said. . . ." Wally demonstrated making a firestarter from a plant, the wooden container that was worn on the head, the "glue" material made from plants that put the spear point on, etc. Also about the customs and beliefs of the local people. We also did the ranger led (free) tour Mala Walk that started at the place where people climbed the rock. It was very interesting and informative, also. Scudam, my trip reports from 2004 when we went in July are not in the archives. I can email you our itinerary if you would like.
Sally in Seattle

SnR

p.s. We are from Seattle and definitely hot weather wimps and enjoyed the temps everywhere in July except it was cold at Jenolan Caves area at night and we heard that it snowed a couple of weeks after we were there. We brought a jacket/windbreaker and other layers but it was quite warm in Cairns, and H_O_T in Darwin/Kakadu (95!!)(in winter!!)
Sally

Vivid01

Hi Scudam,

Just returned from two weeks mid-August in Sydney/Queensland...and here's my two thoughts. We're from Mass and by no means cold-weather wimps..but you will need a light fleece in Sydney for July and definitely for any Blue Mountain excursions. As far as making your trip the "dream vacation" to relax and enjoy...you are doing a LOT of traveling to do much relaxing. Remember, each flight is at least 3 hours from the looks of it, with transportation to/from airports, layovers, luggage, etc..eats up time and aggravation. My last suggestion is to save Queensland for last..and stay in Port Douglas. It's beautiful and dreamy Just what you need after long days of traveling..I am so glad I did. Cairns is big and noisy and touristy, think Cape Cod mid-July..ick! Enjoy Oz, its beautiful

longhorn55

We lived in Australia for a few years and have been back twice since then on vacation (in July/August because we have kids in school). My suggestion is not to worry about going that time of year, but to consider spending your time in the north (Top End of the Northern Territory) rather than in the south (Melbourne, Adelaide, KI).
I have been to all of the places you mention in July/August. None of them were terrible in winter, but wet and/or cold weather was definitely a factor in the southern cities--Melbourne, Adelaide and Kangaroo Island. Uluru (Ayers Rock) was sunny and pleasant during the day, but darn cold at night. (I have a photo of my daughter wearing her winter jacket there at night!) I've been to Port Douglas five times in July/August and have never had a bad day there. It can be windy sometimes out on the Reef, so allow yourself enough time there so you can book a reef trip on a day with less wind. (That's why it's a good idea NOT to book everything in advance if you possibly can and to give yourself plenty of time in each place for changes of plans.) And we have had wonderful winter days in Sydney that felt like spring days although we did have ONE cold and rainy day there on our last trip.
Also, let me recommend the Top End of the Northern Territory for July/August. This time of year is called the Dry because there isn't any rain then. It's also quite warm, but not uncomfortably so, and it's not humid. (It's like summer in the States.) We enjoy this area because of the magnificent scenery and outdoor activities like swimming in natural pools and hiking. Start in Darwin and definitely make a day trip to Litchfield National Park (an easy drive). If you have more time, look at going to Kakadu National Park and/or Katherine (for Edith Falls National Park and Katherine Gorge National Park.) You could easily spend a full week in the Top End itself (we have!)
I agree that planning a trip is at least half the fun. You've got plenty of time to plan this trip on your own and it's easy to customize a trip to Australia without a travel agent if you want. Get a good map, read a couple of guidebooks that fit your travel style and search this forum and ones like TripAdvisor for information.
Have fun planning your trip!

Scudam

Everyone,

Thank you for your great suggestions. I greatly appreciate them. The more research I have done, I will base the cities that we go to based upon the time of year we finally decide to go. If we go March/April, we will do the east coast, if we go July/August we'll keep to the north. I suspect that we will do Darwin/Ayers Rock/Cairns-PD then finish up in Sydney. Sally, PLEASE if you don't mind, would you email me your trip report, as my wife and I would love to read it. Longhorn, thanks for your suggestions about Darwin, because that's the way I believe we will end up going. I don't think we will stay a week so how many days do you recommend allocating to seeing Darwin and surrounding territories? Again, thanks for all of your help.
Scott

ms_go

We took an 18-day vacation to Australia last June/July (07) and visited many of the same locations that were on your original itinerary (except Adelaide), in reverse. We planned the whole thing ourselves, but I've put the link to our report below in case any of it is helpful. We hit what we were told was an unusually wet period, even for winter, but it did not interfere much with a great trip. Happy planning!

http://www.onelittleworld.com/australia_1.html

longhorn55

Scudam, if you are just going to do Darwin and the area around it (e.g. Litchfield NP), then 3 days should do. If you want to go to Kakadu, add another 2 days. If you want to go to Katherine, add another 2-3 days.
I highly recommend being in Darwin on the night of the Mindil Beach Sunset Market, which is Thursday nights (with a smaller market on Sunday nights).

SnR

Scott, I emailed you the itinerary for our July 2004 trip and the trip report for 2007. LMK if it doesn't come through.
Sally

SnR

p.s. Some good books are the AAA spiral guide to Australia. It breaks down areas to "if you have 3 days" etc. However, do not think that you can do all of the places!!! Also the Lonely Planet guides for the different states I think are more helpful than the big Australia one, but check it out from the library. We decided to go to Jenolan Caves with a picture in the National Geographic guide book, so those eye-candy books like the Eyewitness and NG are fun to look through and see what catches your fancy.
Sally

Bokhara2

Hi Scudam,
I endorse Longhorn's recommendations to spend some time in & around Darwin. It's a unique part of Australia and the city itself deserves a couple of days, I think. There's a lot of interesting history associated with WWII up there and, in the Museum, some of the boats the original Vietnamese boat people used to get here. There are hop on/hop off buses which do a loop of most of the highlights. The guides are informative & entertaining and it's an excellent way of getting a good overview.

You would be up there at an ideal part of the year, too.

I took a small group tour to Kakadu, Litchfield & Katherine Gorge over 3/4 days and would go back in a heartbeat.

This link might be useful for your planning:

www.TravelNT.com

Scudam

Hi Everybody,

It's funny, I've been monitoring this site for many months working out the details for our vacation. I have read so many questions and responses that I'm getting to know everybody. I want to thak all of you for your great suggestions and help. Everybody's been so friendly and very helpful.
Since it looks like my wife and will have to be traveling in the late June early july time period, I will take your opinion and tour northern Australia. Since our trip will probably last around 23 days, giving 1+ days to get there and back from CT, that will give us 20 days to visit Darwin/Ayers Rock area/Cairns-PD/ then end in Sydney. Reading Sally's trip report (great report, thank you!)has convinced me to rent a car (which mades me nervous) and according to many of you, book most of our day trips after we get there. From what I have read from this forum, most of the hotels/b&b's are happy to help you book excurions. My last question I have for you, knowing where we are going, are there any day trips in those cities that I would need to book before arriving? That is one of my biggest fears. Any suggestions? Thanks Again!