Vacation in Australia
 

I am planning a trip to Australia in November and would appreciate any advice or assistance anyone might have. My partner and I will be there for approximately 2 weeks -- flying into Sydney. We are planning to spend a few days in Sydney, and then go to Cairns, Brisbane, and/or possibly the Gold Coast. We can fly out of Sydney, Brisbane, or Cairns.

We are in our 30s and want to spend some time in the cities -- sightseeing, restaurants, and clubs. We also want to spend some time on the coast -- snorkeling, relaxing, etc.

Any ideas, both in cities to see, accomodations, and things to do, would be MOST appreciated!

Try not to miss Melbourne out as it is a great city. If you happen to go to Melbourne and on a self-drive holiday head down to Dalesford / Smeaton there is a wonderful spa there. Also don't miss Tuki Farm. There you can fish for your own salmon and they will cook it for you the way you like it. More info available on www.aussie.net.com

Insted of Cairns you may want to try Port Douglas which is about 60kms north of cairns and much more relaxing and has fantastic accomodation and restaurants
which are moderately priced. i would definitly make the trip.

Regards Greg

Well that is the trip I took 2 years ago. In Sydney I stayed at the Sheraton on the Park. Great beaches Bondi and Manly. Great places to eat and sightseeing. Then we flew to Cairns and then took a bus to Port Douglas which is the closest place tp the reef. We stayed at the Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas which is great. It is so beautiful and then we flew to Brisbane the Gold Coast and stayed at the Sheraton Mirage Gold Coast the hotels and service were great throughout the trip.

If you still need more information on Austrailia, I can send you information on all the important things that you should see and avoid.

Hi, we're planning a trip to Australia and New Zealand this year. So far we're looking at either September or October to make the trip, we definitely want to avoid any rainy season, would Oct be safer?. We've got two weeks and the ability to make 3 additional flight stops once we arrive (AA flight certificate).

We definitely want to experience New Zealand as well as Australia. Any direction you can offer as to where we should go and stay would be of great help, and on this particular trip we're not overly concerned about expense. I've done some looking at different areas and end up overwhelmed with the choices. Two weeks seems too short now!

Jimmie, School holidays are between Sept 18 and Oct 12 in Australia and Sept 25 and Oct 12 in NZ, so can I suggest you will get better deals and less crowding if you travel earlier or later than those dates. It is Spring so the weather should be more settles towards the end of October.To find a lot of links for helpful info in Oz try the site www.travel.com.au regards Peg.

I live in Brisbane ,have lived in Sydney for 1 year. and have been to Cairns and am going to Cairns again in June. Love to help if you have any specific questions. goog trip.

My family and I, husband and 3 children ages 17-5, are coming to Australia in May. We are staying 6 days in Sydney and are planning a couple of day trips. We are thinking of driving to Barrington Tops. We are very interested in seeing wildlife in it's natural setting(koala bears, wombats, etc.) Is this a practical journey for our family to take? How far is it? Is it worth the trip, or would you recommend something else? Can it be done in a day? We would appreciate hearing from you. This is our first trip down under and we're really excited. Any information you can give us would be appreciated.

hi larry
i am a 35 yo aussie based in brisbane and if you would like to email me with the things your into im sure i can give you some ideas
i have travelled extensivly within queensland and i know your going to have a great time
Brisbane is a lovely city, the gold coast is a lot of fun and the sunshine coast is like the gold coast except less commercial, cairns and far north queensland is spectacular
martyn

Larry, I got an email from a guy in the US about his trip to Oz, I am sure he wont mind if i share part of it with you............""we are indeed back from the fabled land of oz/and i can not say enough wonderful things about the people, Sydney, the water, the beaches, the rainforest, the food, the weather, THE PEOPLE, the flora, the fauna, the night sky, you get the idea, we are already planning a return visit, and i have recently purchased but not yet recieved a scanner/ so somewhere i will post some pix of our trip/ thank you for writing and i can't ever repay you for the tip on port douglas/ if not for your advice i'd never have gone!!/ we ended up not spending the planned three or four days but ten!/ and could easily have doubled that/ we did a rainforest trek/ we also didi a 10k mntn bike & hike tour thru the forest [most excellent] /
and the great barrier reef - well how many adjectives can i fit in here?! the experience far exceeded our very high expectations/ geez i
feel like i need to return . . . Larry I hope your experience is as good :) Peg.

Dear Larry,
if you really want to discover Queensland ckeck out
this:
Forget Port Douglas -just see it shortly.
Instead stay a few days at cape tribulation,
cooktown, Tully, Cairns, Fraser Island and Sydney.
Why - if you're interested I could give you some
interesting hints from a young (28)german male
traveller.

Than you will be highly satisfied with your personal
australian experience - I guarantee.
Schahin

Larry,
You are so lucky to be traveling to Oz. We returned 6 months ago and still relish every moment of our two weeks. Sydney is fabulous, beautiful, lively, great food (our favorite restaurants were Tetsuya' sin Rozelle and BelMondo in the Rocks). A trip to Blue Mountains National Park on a sunny day is unforgettable.
Instead of Cairns (has no beaches), we stayed in Palm Cove, a sleepy little beachside resort with a spectacular beach, about 10 miles north of the Airport. The Allamanda Resort Hotel was pricey but paradise. The boats to the Barrier Reef pick you up at the town jetty, and the hotel provided all transportation so we didn't have to rent a car.

Barrington Tops is a beautiful place but it is about three hours drive from Sydney, really too far for a day trip. Australian wildlife blends intop the bush and is often difficult to see - it requires patience.

One of the best places is the Warrumbungle National Park in NSW. About 7 hours drive from Sydney, good camping area and great wildlife - kangaroos, wombats, emus etc.. Also Pebbly Beach 3 hrs drive south of Sydney - see the surfing kangaroos, its also a beautiful beach. I can also reccomend a trip to Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory, try a 3 day camping safari ex Darwin, there are lots of all inclusive small group tours. See the Crocodiles, aboriginal art and scenery. Call Qantas Vacations in El Segundo Ca 310 322 6359

Great accomodation in Sydney Medina Apartments .Ranging from 3 to 4 star studio,1.2&3 bedroom apartments.Serviced & cleaned daily 8 diff locations very friendly & helpful staff.Apartments fully fitted out ,equiped to potato peeler etc,full kitchen GREAT VALUE.PLEASE EMAIL ME I WILL PROVIDE FURTHER INFO

Accomodation for family in SYDNEY.Can highly recommend Medina Serviced Apartments.8 Properties in great locations ranging from studio ,1,2,3bedroom apartments all fully with equiped kitchens TV videos etc.Serviced daily.very clean.hese apartments are really your home away from home.Better value than hotels as you pay for 1 apartment for whole family instead of 2 small hotel rooms.Please email me if more info required.

Dear Debra,
Thks for yr kindness and i need yr help for advise.
I plan to visit cairns for about 3.5 days.

How should I plan to visit the various places of interest from day 1 to day 3?

I will be on a midnight flt from singapore and reached cairns around 9.00am, day 1 should be somewhere nearby the hyde hotel. How far is the Village in the rainforest, Kuranda from hyde hotel?

Do we hv time to go to the great barrier reef in day 2?

do you recommend a trip to port douglas and return on the same day on day 3?

We will depart on day 4 at 2.00pm.

Await your kind reply.

Thks n rdgs,
justin

justin, you can do alot in 3 days!! 3 years ago my husband and I spent 4 days in Cairns. We went to Kuranda, took a day-long tour of the rainforest and the cape tribulation and daintree and on day 3 spent the day at the reef. Be prepared to spend 3 very busy days!! Use your hotel's travel desk (we stayed at the Hilton) to book the day trips. We arrived on a Tuesday night and booked everthing at once. I'd recommend Billy Tea Bush Safaris for the trip to the rainforest. We used Tropical Horizons for the Kuranda Railroad tour, and Sunlover Cruises for the trip to the reef. Yoou may want to take the trip to kuranda on the day you arrive, as the trip to the rainforest began at 7AM!! The trip to the reef was at8AM. Have agreat trip!!! We cannot wait to go back!!

If you have time, take a trip out to the Blue Mountains, just west of Sydney. I went there and camped for a few days when I lived in Australia over 20 years ago. It is breathtaking. Since I camped, I can't recommend a hotel (as if I could remember, anyway, after twenty years). But the Blue Mountains are one gorgeous part of Australia, and great hiking.

Hey !
I read your respond in the Fodor message, about Australia. I like to have a conversation with you if it´s possible. you seam to know Australia/Oz quite a lot, if you are living there still and if you have been living in diffrent city´s there. I´m planing to come down to australia and perhaps study and working for a while and I like to meet some one who know a bite about Australia and got some experiences about it. Can we chat and perhaps meet in Oz, later.
I´m 32 year and from Sweden, Stockholm my name is Camilla. See you !
please send me a e-mail:[email protected]

I agree with a number of people in that you should see Port Douglas - it's the best jumping off point to see the Great Barrier Reef. There are dozens of choices from large catamarans to smaller luxury charters that do special snorkelling/diving excursions every day. In Port Douglas there is one of the world's truly amazing restaurants called The Nautilus. Book for dinner and be amazed- it is entirely candle lit in a cathedral-like space of palm trees. Oh,and the food is divine too.
The Mirage is OK, but the best hotel in the area is Silky Oaks Lodge. It's run by P&O the cruise ship company and is one of the world's better wilderness resorts. (Only 20 mins to Port Douglas) It does have a small swimming pool - but forget that and swim in the river that runs through the hotel - one of the best Australian experiences to be had.

I am planning to go to Sidney,Australia for New Years 2000. I have six weeks of time that I can spend in the South Pacific. Once I leave Australia I would like to island hop at my leasure on the way back to the states. My question is does anyone know of the best way to island hop in this area. Something like inter island airline, or a freighter that I could travel on part of the time.

<BR>I'll be a first time traveler to Australia with a friend. I'd like any and all advise on what to see and do. I'm interested in seeing and experienceing everything and am looking for anything that a first time traveler might miss or must need to see and experience.

Two friends and I will be coming down to Australia in early September. We are all 19 yrs old and are considering the "Oz Experience" bus tour. We will be there for 2 months and are interested in both having a good time and seeing the amazing sights. The package that we are interested in starts from Sydney and goes up to Cairns. Can anyone help me out by giving me an idea of what to see and where to spend the most time? Also is Ayers Rock worth the extra excursion price of $200? Any information is greatly appreciated, preferably by e-mail.

Hi, My mother and I will be traveling, for the first time, in November to Sydney (3 days), onto Canberra and Blue Mts. (4 days), and then to Melbourne (3 days). We would love any suggestions on what to see and what to avoid!!! Also we will be moving onto Auckland for 3 days and would love some advice on what to do while we're there. We are very excited about our November adventure to the South/Eastern Hemisphere and would love any and all advice. Thanks a bunch!!! Also any packing and traveling tips would be well received.

Kristina-My brother-in-law went to Ayers rock and said it was a waste of time and money-lots of flies, hot and really not all that remarkable. Cairns was great and had a really young atmosphere. Make sure you take a ride out to the reef and at least go snorkeling, no experience necessary! <BR> <BR>For something a little off the beaten path, we went to Kangaroo Island for a couple of days. Its not at all commercial and if you're into wildlife viewing, there's beaches filled with seals and parks with kangaroos, emus, koalas and we were even lucky enough to see an echidna (sort of like a small porcupine). <BR>