sydney & port douglas mid april 2008
 

I will be visiting sydney for the first time in april for 7days and
3 days in Port Douglas. Please help
with itenerary 3 adults, nothing too
physical. Sightseeing, shopping, nice restaurants. We do not snorkel. But we do want to visit the GBR. Thanks for your help

Here's a guide to get you started.
www.whats-on-in-sydney.com.au

Sydney is jam packed with shopping, sightseeing & nice restaurants; you just have to walk out your front door & there it is :)

Lots to see! In Sydney pick up an Explorer Pass to make your way all around the city - hop on and off as you please http://www.sydneypass.info/
You should check out what performances are at the Opera House while you're there and do that one evening if possible. One of the days you should venture off to one of the beaches (Bondi) and perhaps ferry over to the Taronga Zoo. Another outing should be to the Blue Mountains and/or the Hunter Valley for the wineries. If you're feeling brave, book a harbor bridge discover climb - which goes up in one of the pillars, but not across the top.

I would spend more time in Port Douglas - you're going to love it up there. In Port Douglas you'll want to spend one day out on the reef. There are lots of excursion companies that have platforms out over the reef where you can see the reef in underwater viewing chambers, glass bottom boats, and semi-submersible subs - in other words you don't have to get wet. Quicksilver comes to mind. Another day you should go on a safari into the rainforest. If at all possible I would book a small size tour in a 4wheel drive vehicle. It's a fascinating day filled with lots of local culture, ecology and history about the land. Another day venture off to take the Kuranda SkyRail with a return to Cairns by train. While in Kuranda see the Aboriginal Tjapukai Aboriginal Culture Park. Here's a link to all the Australia Tourist Bureau sites: http://www.wickedgoodtraveltips.com/?p=288 If you haven't already you should give them a call and order their tourism brochures.

Have a great trip!

Even if you have never tried snorkeling before, I hope you will give it a try in Port Douglas. While you can enjoy seeing the Reef in a glass bottom boat, etc. there is really no experience like seeing the fish, coral and other sealife up-close while snorkeling. People of all ages, sizes, swimming abilities, etc. can and do snorkel and there are lots of tour companies out there that ready and willing to help you do it. They've got wetsuits, life vests and foam noodles on board to help you with swimming and buoyancy problems; they've got staff to show you how to use the snorkel, mask and fins; and the staff are always watching while you're in the water for the least sign of difficulty.
One really good tour company (with whom I have gone out to the GBR at least 5 times) is Wavelength. I took a middle-aged friend of mine who had never even been to a beach, much less out on the ocean, on a Wavelength trip and snorkeling on the GBR was the highlight of her trip to Australia.

I totally agree with Longhorn re snorkeling - I am a lousy swimmer, and the concept of ocean snorkeling was not in my comfort zone. I was reluctantly talked into jumping in the water....it was a fantastic experience.
Believe me- if I can do it, anyone can!
Guaranteed

Thanks so much for all your suggestions, sounds great. I think
I just might try snorkeling at GBR
instead of just doing the glass bottom boat. Thanks for the encouragement.

We're staying at the Port Douglas
Peninsula Hotel. Any remarks on this hotel?

The Penisula looked fantastic from the beach, and I understand that the rooms are more like self contained apartments...which is great.
The only concern I might have, is that April is not a very busy month in Port Douglas. I am assuming you are paying close to $1000 for the 3 nights? I think you can do better elsewhere if you wait for a month or so to book. There will be all kinds of resort hotels up there, willing to give you a great room for a lot less.
If cost is no consideration, go for it.
If cost is a conbsideration, cancel, and check things out a month before arriving.

Thank you for that advice, I will
wait. I was trying to get as close as possible to the beach. Any other hotel suggestions
for Port Douglas?

I agree about waiting for accomm at PD - you may well snag a bargain a bit closer to the time.
Have a look at www.wotif.com.au
They won't have listings up for that far ahead yet, but you will get an idea of what's on offer now, locations etc.

Properties often list their unsold rooms at a hefty discount in slower times.

You might find this School Holidays list useful as most States will be on holidays either the first or 2nd fortnight of April.
http://www.oztourism.com.au/school_holidays.htm

If you want some good ideas on day trips in and around Sydney, shopping and walking etc, try www.cityhobo.com

As for Port Douglas, I agree it's best to wait until closer to the time to get discounted room rates. Mind you, you will only get cheaper rates if the school holidays aren't on at that time.

I've just had a look at the school holidays calendar, most states have school holidays at some point in April. The vast majority don't start until April 14.

www.wotif.com (as suggested0
www.lastminute.com
www.needitnow.com

Rydges Reef resort has great apartments with full kitchens. Beautiful resort with pools etc. One barrier reef tour does a trip to Low Isles where you snorkell close to the island beach, not out in open water with a beautiful cruise back in the afternoon.

I didn't feel comfortable snorkeling initially, so I enjoyed viewing the Great Barrier Reef from the semi-submersible and the underwater observatory at Quicksilver.

You can also take a helicopter ride over the great barrier reef from the quicksilver base, which it located at the outer reef. It was just fantastic and I did not even touch the water!

ive just been researching the port douglas area
and i looked at the peninsular boutique hotel
liked it cos it was close to the town centre but one of the three hotels near the beach
i decided against it..heard from one lady who bought another venue that it needed a bit of tweaking and that the breakfast menu was a bit tired
but otherwise it seems a nice place
i went for the mantra aqueous which is not as close to the beach but has a swim out room into the pools..its new ...2003
i think you have to know how old a place is and whether or not it is refurbished
i looked up a few reviews on tripadvisor but mostly spoke with people who have been ..and even agencies who knowing that i was planning a birthday treat led me ( i hope in the right direction)
the mantra aqueous is 300 a night in the peak of the dry season...august a popular month but i couldve scored the room at 190 a night on rates to go ...missed out cos i tarried for a day
will see what i can do later ..on wotif etc closer to the dates
be careful when looking at accommodation on macrossan..some places are right near the pub or face the back of the pub ...so its best to speak to someone directly or instruct your agent
some of the mantra places for eg are right on top of shops or very close to big drinking holes! this may not be a problem to you in april
be aware that stinger season will just be coming to an end...may to october is usually safe in the water so take precautions in april..heed all warning and know what to do in case youre stung
no need to be terrified..just watch out...
it can also be still very muggy/ humid in the month of april ...so be prepared for the exhausting heat that mellows considerably to a nice 25 degress celsius in the dry period
enjoy...let us know what you thought of the peninsular..apart from it being expensive!
they quoted me 429 per night for an ocean view...but wary ...some ocean views are obscured by trees..so ask!!! there is a lift in the building which is a plus...many of the apartments dont have a lift 9 the mantra aqueous does)
there is daily room service and a coach transfer is offered ..full buffet breakfast by the pool each morning ( and thats where the discussion as to value begins but i cant comment )

I highly recommend you take a boat trip on the "Shaolin" (wooden Chinese junk) to the Low Isles out on the GBR. Check www.shaolinportdouglas.com for photos, rates and trip details.

We did the Quiksilver boat to the outer reef which was fine, but Shaolin was so much more enjoyable as they take an extremely limited number of people (20 is max) out on the boat (we had just 6 people plus 2 crew). They give you lunch and tea on board.

You transfer from the junk to a tender to get shuttled over to the beach of the island. From the island, you can relax in the sun, explore the island, go on the glass bottom boat or snorkel right off the beach (they provide stinger suits, snorkel gear and floatation noodles). I couldn't believe how much better the visibility, color and variety of coral and fish were that close to the island compared to being on the Outer Reef with QuikSilver. If you are hesitant about snorkeling in very deep water, it may offer you peace of mind to be able to snorkel right off the beach and control how far out you go.

Again, you do have to transfer from the junk to a tender to get on shore and this necessitates a short climb down from the deck of the junk to the tender. If you have serious mobility issues, this is something you should consider. We had a couple of women in their mid to late 60s on our tour and they did just fine getting off the junk and into the tender.

For Port Doulgas, try the Mandalay Shalimar Luxury Beachfront Apartments www.mandalay.com.au

They offer 1 and 2 bedroom apartments located right on the beach. They have a great pool, it's quiet, clean and they have beautiful gardens around the property. It's also a quick walk to the main street in Port Douglas for restaurants, shopping, bars, grocery store, etc.

We flew Lizard Island on a reef snorkelling tour with Daintree Air Services from Cairns.
The quality and the amount of coral was just fantastic.
Swimming from the beach is easy and you only need to go as far as you want.
Others we were with went out for miles but they were good swimmers.
The guide swam with us to what he referred to as his special places.
We therefore wasted no time at all seeing amazing colourful fish and marine life,
The low flying along the reefs and rainforests is an added bonus.
Flying low along hundreds of kms of deserted beaches was the icing on the cake.

For the reef we used Synergy 11 which leaves Port Douglas , was really comfortable ,has no more than 12 passengers ,excellent food ( arrival coffee and danish , interesting bar b q lunch and salads , afternoon fruit platters and cheese ) and excellent supervision when you are in the water and counting of passengers etc on return .They go to smaller reefs ./A friend who has never snorkelled did so under their supervision and adored it .We had windy weather so whn it is calm it is even easier to snorkel .But if you really do not want to try it then go with a company that has glass bottomed boats top view the reef