Trip recap -- Round One -- Adelaide
Mar 4th, 2006, 07:42 AM
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Trip recap -- Round One -- Adelaide
It was a whirlwind 16 days but SO worth it! To make this manageable, I'll break down into the various stops we made....
Left on Feb 14 -- Washington Dulles to LAX, LAX to Sydney, Sydney to Adelaide (arrived Feb 16 in the AM). Stayed at the Rendezvous, a great hotel in a great location. Through the hotel concierge, we hired the BEST driver, Bob from A and B, who picked us up from the airport (wonderful, after 21 hours of flying), and took us all around the Barossa Valley two days later. (We bought LOTS of wine to drink over the next 14 days!)
We found a wonderful restaurant on Gouger Street, Star of Siam, for dinner one night. Dinner in the hotel the other two nights (b/c we were too tired to do much else, frankly), were okay.... but I'm sure Adelaide has many other fine restaurants to recommend. Wandered through the market (what a great place! wish we had one like it in Washington, DC!), Rundle Mall (like any other shopping center, but lots of good people watching)...
Left on Feb 19 for Alice Springs... see next message.
Left on Feb 14 -- Washington Dulles to LAX, LAX to Sydney, Sydney to Adelaide (arrived Feb 16 in the AM). Stayed at the Rendezvous, a great hotel in a great location. Through the hotel concierge, we hired the BEST driver, Bob from A and B, who picked us up from the airport (wonderful, after 21 hours of flying), and took us all around the Barossa Valley two days later. (We bought LOTS of wine to drink over the next 14 days!)
We found a wonderful restaurant on Gouger Street, Star of Siam, for dinner one night. Dinner in the hotel the other two nights (b/c we were too tired to do much else, frankly), were okay.... but I'm sure Adelaide has many other fine restaurants to recommend. Wandered through the market (what a great place! wish we had one like it in Washington, DC!), Rundle Mall (like any other shopping center, but lots of good people watching)...
Left on Feb 19 for Alice Springs... see next message.
Mar 6th, 2006, 09:13 AM
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thanks for the advice, Jed. Here is the second message....
If you're still reading.....
Left Adelaide and flew north to Alice Springs. Met the flies at the airport. Picked up rental car and drive to Uluru. Yes, it's four hours away but we wanted to see the countryside from ground level. Or so we thought...
Driving -- very easy to left side drive, as it turns out. Turn right at Erldunda and stop for gas -- and to buy fly nets ($2 cheaper than at Yulara and VERY MUCH NEEDED).
Got to the Lost Camel Hotel, a Voyages resort at Yulara. Hotel was funky -- purples and oranges, very modern. We did not pay the extra for a room with a TV, and did not miss it at all.
We arrived just in time for a quick nap and then off to the Sounds of Silence dinner -- which was wonderful. The food was okay, the ambience was magnificent! If you can work this into your trip, I highly recommend it! We sat with other Americans (sorry, but the majority of the others were either Polish or a group of Brits that all seemed to know one another) -- our group included two women Army helicopter pilots who gave us a great recommendation for later on -- Heron Island (see later posting).
Next morning -- sunrise tour of Uluru and the Liru Walk, with an Aboriginal guide and Interpreter. The interpreter was very interesting -- he was taken from his mother as a small child and raised by Catholic missionaries. (Watch Rabbit Proof Fence....)
Back in the car and back to Alice Springs. This is what we would have done differently -- flown into Connellan Airport and rented a car there so that we could have spent a day at Kata Tutja and some time at Kings Canyon, too -- and then flown from Connellan to Brisbane.
Alice Springs is desolate and kinda creepy at night, by my standards. We stayed downtown, which seemed like a good idea in our planning phase (in the US) but not so good in reality. Not much to see/do there, with all respect to its inhabitants.
Left Alice on Feb 21 for Brisbane.
(see next message)
If you're still reading.....
Left Adelaide and flew north to Alice Springs. Met the flies at the airport. Picked up rental car and drive to Uluru. Yes, it's four hours away but we wanted to see the countryside from ground level. Or so we thought...
Driving -- very easy to left side drive, as it turns out. Turn right at Erldunda and stop for gas -- and to buy fly nets ($2 cheaper than at Yulara and VERY MUCH NEEDED).
Got to the Lost Camel Hotel, a Voyages resort at Yulara. Hotel was funky -- purples and oranges, very modern. We did not pay the extra for a room with a TV, and did not miss it at all.
We arrived just in time for a quick nap and then off to the Sounds of Silence dinner -- which was wonderful. The food was okay, the ambience was magnificent! If you can work this into your trip, I highly recommend it! We sat with other Americans (sorry, but the majority of the others were either Polish or a group of Brits that all seemed to know one another) -- our group included two women Army helicopter pilots who gave us a great recommendation for later on -- Heron Island (see later posting).
Next morning -- sunrise tour of Uluru and the Liru Walk, with an Aboriginal guide and Interpreter. The interpreter was very interesting -- he was taken from his mother as a small child and raised by Catholic missionaries. (Watch Rabbit Proof Fence....)
Back in the car and back to Alice Springs. This is what we would have done differently -- flown into Connellan Airport and rented a car there so that we could have spent a day at Kata Tutja and some time at Kings Canyon, too -- and then flown from Connellan to Brisbane.
Alice Springs is desolate and kinda creepy at night, by my standards. We stayed downtown, which seemed like a good idea in our planning phase (in the US) but not so good in reality. Not much to see/do there, with all respect to its inhabitants.
Left Alice on Feb 21 for Brisbane.
(see next message)
Mar 6th, 2006, 09:14 AM
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third message...
Thanks for following along thus far....
After another day of Qantas, we arrived in Brisbane around dinner time. Stayed at the Medina Executive. The Formula One mentioned to me on this board was indeed less expensive (only around $59) but we wanted a little more, and needed to do laundry.
Ate a wonderful restaurant, the Ecco Bistro.
The next day we picked up our rental car and drive to Heron Island -- taking the recommendation of our table mates at the Sounds of Silence dinner, we made last minute reservations for two nights on the Reef resort. The drive was long... almost six hours. Not much to see, and we started to get worried about the drive back -- we had planned to return the car in Sydney, which is 10 hours south of Brisbane (so it would have been 16 hours total). When we got to Gladstone (where you get the ferry to Heron), we made plane reservations to fly back to Sydney instead.
In Gladstone that night, we stayed at the Xenia Central hotel -- everything else was completely sold out. This little gem of a hotel was a great find -- we got a one BR suite (with kitchenette, laundry, etc.) for less than $100!
Heron Island was beautiful and a wonderful respite. Snorkeling, reef walking, eating...The ferry ride over was rough (I took Dramimine and was fine; others were not so lucky) so be prepared.
We had another day in Gladstone before our hotel in Sydney was available so we drove to Agnes Water and the Town of 1770 and spent the day at the beach. Very quite beaches -- drive right up (nothing like that on the Virginia coast!).
Thanks for following along thus far....
After another day of Qantas, we arrived in Brisbane around dinner time. Stayed at the Medina Executive. The Formula One mentioned to me on this board was indeed less expensive (only around $59) but we wanted a little more, and needed to do laundry.
Ate a wonderful restaurant, the Ecco Bistro.
The next day we picked up our rental car and drive to Heron Island -- taking the recommendation of our table mates at the Sounds of Silence dinner, we made last minute reservations for two nights on the Reef resort. The drive was long... almost six hours. Not much to see, and we started to get worried about the drive back -- we had planned to return the car in Sydney, which is 10 hours south of Brisbane (so it would have been 16 hours total). When we got to Gladstone (where you get the ferry to Heron), we made plane reservations to fly back to Sydney instead.
In Gladstone that night, we stayed at the Xenia Central hotel -- everything else was completely sold out. This little gem of a hotel was a great find -- we got a one BR suite (with kitchenette, laundry, etc.) for less than $100!
Heron Island was beautiful and a wonderful respite. Snorkeling, reef walking, eating...The ferry ride over was rough (I took Dramimine and was fine; others were not so lucky) so be prepared.
We had another day in Gladstone before our hotel in Sydney was available so we drove to Agnes Water and the Town of 1770 and spent the day at the beach. Very quite beaches -- drive right up (nothing like that on the Virginia coast!).
Mar 6th, 2006, 09:14 AM
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and last message, round four:
The end of the holiday -- arrived on Feb 27th in AM. Shuttle to hotel took us all over town so we didn't bother with a hop on-hop of tour bus later. This was the final stop of our honeymoon so we opted for high end -- Park Hyatt on the Sydney Harbor. Our balcony was just under the Harbour Bridge so we could watch the terrified bridge walkers (we couldn't do it). Jane Fonda was checking in just after us -- in town for her book tour.
Walked around harbour all day, steak dinner at Prime -- great! Over the course of the next two days -- Manly Beach....Opera House tour... Taronga Park Zoo. Dinner at Mezzaluna -- a MUST! Last night dinner at Pier -- passable. Service was horrendous, but food was good.
Sydney is a big city -- same as many others. Depends on what you want to see and do there....
We wanted to go to the Blue Mountains but ran out of time.
Left Sydney Thursday, March 2 in AM -- arrived at Washington Dulles Thursday, March 2 in PM. Time travel is a great thing!
thanks for reading this far -- happy to answer any questions!
The end of the holiday -- arrived on Feb 27th in AM. Shuttle to hotel took us all over town so we didn't bother with a hop on-hop of tour bus later. This was the final stop of our honeymoon so we opted for high end -- Park Hyatt on the Sydney Harbor. Our balcony was just under the Harbour Bridge so we could watch the terrified bridge walkers (we couldn't do it). Jane Fonda was checking in just after us -- in town for her book tour.
Walked around harbour all day, steak dinner at Prime -- great! Over the course of the next two days -- Manly Beach....Opera House tour... Taronga Park Zoo. Dinner at Mezzaluna -- a MUST! Last night dinner at Pier -- passable. Service was horrendous, but food was good.
Sydney is a big city -- same as many others. Depends on what you want to see and do there....
We wanted to go to the Blue Mountains but ran out of time.
Left Sydney Thursday, March 2 in AM -- arrived at Washington Dulles Thursday, March 2 in PM. Time travel is a great thing!
thanks for reading this far -- happy to answer any questions!
Mar 6th, 2006, 02:24 PM
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I've not been around this Australia forum for a while, concentrating more on the Asia and Europe forums, where I do a considerable bit more travel.
BUT, I popped in to see what was going on here, and I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your trip recap. I've made 6 trips to OZ thus far, and hope to do at least a couple more in my lifetime. In all my travels (I've been to all the capital cities plus the outback areas) I have to say that I have fallen in love with Adelaide. I was pleased to read someone elses trip report that took time to visit this great "little country town" of what, about 1.6 million people?
Thanks for reminding me just how much I enjoy traveling to Australia. I usually make my first stop in Sydney, staying at the Novotel on Darling Harbor. When I arrive, I open the curtains and savor the view and know why I sat on planes for soooooo long!!
Thanks for sharing your recap.
BUT, I popped in to see what was going on here, and I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your trip recap. I've made 6 trips to OZ thus far, and hope to do at least a couple more in my lifetime. In all my travels (I've been to all the capital cities plus the outback areas) I have to say that I have fallen in love with Adelaide. I was pleased to read someone elses trip report that took time to visit this great "little country town" of what, about 1.6 million people?
Thanks for reminding me just how much I enjoy traveling to Australia. I usually make my first stop in Sydney, staying at the Novotel on Darling Harbor. When I arrive, I open the curtains and savor the view and know why I sat on planes for soooooo long!!
Thanks for sharing your recap.
Mar 6th, 2006, 04:01 PM
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Adelaide's population is 1.1m. For purposes of comparison: Sydney 4.2m, Melbourne 3.6m, Brisbane 1.8m, Perth 1.5m, Canberra 0.3m, Hobart 0.2m, Darwin 0.1m. Total for all capital cities 12.8m or 64% of Australia's population. Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, June 2004 figures. Adding the populations of large regional cities and towns would confirm that Australia is overwhelmingly a nation of townies, and has been ever since 1788.
Mar 7th, 2006, 04:31 AM
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Neil
I do understand the idea that most visitors see more of the country than the locals do. I've also been to all 50 US states, but have not seen some of the "local sites" close to my own hometown!!
Carol
I do understand the idea that most visitors see more of the country than the locals do. I've also been to all 50 US states, but have not seen some of the "local sites" close to my own hometown!!
Carol
Mar 7th, 2006, 09:36 AM
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Neil (and other Aussies reading) -- I want to say that of all my travel, I found the Australian people to be the nicest, most pleasant, most welcoming of all. Everywhere we went, the locals were smiling and helpful, and asked us where we from in the States, and if we were enjoying our holiday, and what we had seen, etc.
I try to be as welcoming and helpful when I see tourists here in my city (I work in Washington, DC, so I see A LOT of tourists), but I think that, as a rule, Americans are not half as friendly as the Australians were to us!
(now the Americans reading can tell me how wrong I am....)
I try to be as welcoming and helpful when I see tourists here in my city (I work in Washington, DC, so I see A LOT of tourists), but I think that, as a rule, Americans are not half as friendly as the Australians were to us!
(now the Americans reading can tell me how wrong I am....)
Mar 8th, 2006, 01:54 PM
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secondxthecharm
I agree that the Aussies are very friendly. It was great to actually have conversations at street corners, waiting for the light to change, and on elevators!! Here in the US, no one seems to talk on elevators! And heaven for bid, talking to a stranger at a street corner??? Aussies are very friendly and helpful folks. I agree with you!!
I agree that the Aussies are very friendly. It was great to actually have conversations at street corners, waiting for the light to change, and on elevators!! Here in the US, no one seems to talk on elevators! And heaven for bid, talking to a stranger at a street corner??? Aussies are very friendly and helpful folks. I agree with you!!
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