Seniors need suggestions to plan trip to Australia
 

We are Canadian seniors 71 and 77 years of age considering a trip to Australia next year. We have enough points for business class seats on Air Canada and are looking for land travel help. We would like to consider about three areas to visit in about 15 days and look for suggestions from readers. (We are aware of the great distances in Australia.)

The names of reputable travel companies/advisors here or abroad to help plan this trip would be appreciated. We prefer a small group tour or an independent package tour which large tour companies do not handle. Driving and luxury are not considerations, but moderate and convenience are.

We have had good tips from this site on our recent trip to China so I look forward to suggestions which I will follow up.

Thanks.

I have traveled with Australian Pacific several times and found the experience to be very educational and fun. Once I was on a bus for 12 days in the outback with 42 Aussies and most were at least 10-15 years older than myself. It was absolutely wonderful, getting to know these warm and friendly people. My other AP trips have been just day-long jaunts into the Blue Mountains or areas in the Great Barrier Reef.

I would visit Sydney and the barrier reef, for sure. Your third destination
will depend upon what you want to see. I love Adelaide for its "small town" feel. I also have anjoyed Perth, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart and Canberra. I'm afraid Melbourne was at the bottom of my list of favorite cities (sorry to you Melbournites out there).

Start with your travel agent and see what kinds of brochures he/she has to offer. There are many things to see and experience in Australia so you will probably have many choices. I am sure you will have a great trip!

My suggestions to you would be Sydney - perhaps an escorted tour up to Brisbane, do the surrounds and then fly to Cairns and get some nice accommodation there and take the many, many tours available from Cairns ( stay preferably at Palm Cove which is lovely and is a nice destination in itself).
Because of the size of Australia it is difficult to get a major tour that would not be tiring for you ( think Toronto to Vancouver type of thing) and the internal flights are not that expensive.
Alternatively get to Sydney and take the local tours and take your Senior cards because unlike other countries we in Australia do accept other people's senior cards for concessions. i.e. you will only pay $1 per day for all your train/bus/ferry travel - that is unless its gone up in the last 2 years. You could happily do everything you would enjoy on that concession around the harbour. Then fly to the Gold Coast and take similiar small tours around there AND take in some that go to the Hinterland. Train it to Brisbane ( 1 hour )and fly to Cairns and do small tours around there as suggested above.
This way is a very easy, take your own time type of thing and very affordable. You will get the most out of Australia that way.

You're so lucky to have the points to go business class! We tend to use our points every year, so never accumulate enough to go as far as Australia. We're going in April (paying, so going economy not business).

I have booked our internal flights over the web, 2 with Qantas and 1 with Virgin Blue. We're starting off in Sydney (where my mother-in-law lives), flying to the Gold Coast, then Brisbane to Darwin, and then Darwin back to Sydney. I think the fare totals about $350 AUD each, which seems really inexpensive to me and definitely worth it, especially when you realize it includes taxes. I kept checking the websites and finally booked when I thought it probably go much lower.

We're dealing with Pacesetter Travel here. You might want to get their Australia/NZ brochure - they seem to specialize in Australia and NZ, and I think that their tours are through APT . The brochure might help give you some ideas. They have an office in Toronto and I've used them to book our international flights, as well as a 2 day stopover in Hong Kong. Actually I've even used them to book our hotel in Sydney. We're staying in a suburb near my mother-in-law and the rate the agent is getting is more or less comparable to what I could see on the discount hotel sites. I've booked our domestic flights within Australia on my own, as well as our accommodation in Byron Bay and Noosa. Haven't booked Darwin yet, but I think we'll do a tour there to Kakadu and then have a couple of days on our own.

Good luck planning!

Airlines, stopovers? We have a choice of New Zealand or Air Canada business. Any suggestions?

Michi--You might consider checking the Elderhostel website. They do a wonderful job of taking care of all arrangements. Husband and I will be taking a 4 week tour with them in Feb. of both NZ and Australia. So far I have taken 2 trips with Elderhostel-one to France and one to Mexico (Copper Canyon) and have been vary satisfied.

You can buy the land only package and still us your frequent flyer miles.

Let us know what you decide.

Jeez - the other Margo on an Oz thread!

Michi - I flew Air Canada business class once, and they were bloody awful. ANZ must be better.

Depending on your intersts - the best things in Oz, in my opinion are: Sydney, Barrier Reef and the Centre.

I'm a bit hesitant to recommend these places (apart from Sydney) to people I don't know, since one person (from California - maybe that's it!) took my recommendation for the Centre, and then complained that there was too much "nature".

The Barrier Reef and the Red Centre are things that are unique to Australia. I always presume it's to see something unique that people travel all that distance.

But - your interests are paramount. e.g., if you like cool weather and mountains - go to Tasmania - stay at Cradle Mountain Lodge.
Plenty of places to see. ;)

Just to throw a spanner in the works - I went business on Air NZ and that was bloody aweful too so I would look at the best time-table for you and the best stop-overs. Perhaps taking some time i.e. a day of so at a stopover may be nice.
I don't know what the Business class lounges are like for those airlines on your route but at least you have access to some lounge and that is much better than not if you have to be in Hawaii or wherever.

Your replies are appreciated and being looked into. Thanks.