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We love Australia Fair!
My husband and I first went to Australia in September-October 2006 and liked it so much that we have been back twice since – in October-November 2007 and August-September 2009. For the last two trips I spent time at the beginning in Canberra, as a visiting fellow at Australian National University.
During the first trip we spent time in Sydney, the Cairns/Daintree/Great Barrier Reef area, the Red Center (Uluru and Alice Springs), and Tasmania. The 2007 trip took us to Canberra, Melbourne, Kangaroo Island, Adelaide, and Sydney (and also the North Island of N.Z.) In 2009 we went to Canberra, the Northern Territory (Darwin and national parks in that area), Perth and environs, and Sydney. For all three of these trips, I received invaluable advice from Fodorites, and thank them for that. I will (finally!) be posting reports on most of these destinations. In the meantime, let me know if there are any places we visited that you are particularly interested in. Knowing what I know now, if I could only take one trip to Australia, I would definitely go to Sydney (perhaps the most beautiful city in the world), the Cairns/Daintree/Great Barrier Reef area (which offers such a great variety), and the Northern Territory (great nathional parks, flora and fauna, aboriginal culture). We really liked Alice Springs; we went there because people convinced us we “had” to go to Uluru; Uluru didn’t do anything for us, but Alice did. We r eally enjoyedour visit to Port Arthur in Tasmania, but didn’t have great weather the rest of our time in Tassie (e.g., it snowed while we were at Cradle Mountain N.P [in October}, trails to Wineglass Bay were closed because of wind). Melbourne is a nice city, but doesn’t, in our opinion, match Sydney. We enjoyed Kangaroo Island, but I wouldn’t put it near the top of a list of places to visit. Adelaide and Perth were pleasant and interesting, but also wouldn’t be near the top of a list. Canberra has some nice museums and the national parliament, but probably would not be of much interest to people who aren’t really into Australian history and culture. Trip reports to come. |
Waiting with bated breath judilie. I look forward to hearing about all the places you visited, SA, WA and TAS in particular.
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Pity about your trip to Tasmania but I guess that weather is always a hit and miss thing. I thought I would just write and say, as an Australian, how much I agree with your comments about the places that you visited. It is really good to have comments by someone who has been several times and who has spent a good deal of time seeing the country. Its good too to get comments from people that do not follow the usual " you must go here and see that " guide book suggestions of the top 10 places to see blah blah.
Look forward to your reviews and hope that you will get back to OZ sometime in the future to see some of the hidden places that you have not seen to date. |
judilie...did you get far out of Adelaide, beside Kangaroo Island? We loved our trip to South Australia - Adelaide was just a small part. The wine valleys, Flinders Ranges and Coober Pedy were the highlights, rating at least as high as North Queensland, the NT, etc.
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RalphR - We were only in the city of Adelaide.
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Judilie and all: We are in OZ now and it is probably too hot to visit Uluru and/or Alice Springs. But the thought of flies kind of turns us off of the area. In all the programs one sees on TV, etc., the folks are continually swatting at flies. Maybe I am spoiled. We have noticed the flies all throughout Australia, but they aren't too irritating. Is the red center about the same, bug wise? We hope to come back in the winter next time to do the top end.
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Wind... I have to laugh reading your post. I went on my first OZ trip back in 1988. First stop, Cairns. There, I saw lots of hats for sale that had corks hanging down from the edge of the brim, all the way around. I thought... why are they selling those crazy hats??? And then, I headed to the Red Center for a 13-day tour of the Outback. The flies... UGH!!! It was then that I realized that those friendly flies that tried to get on the inside of my sunglasses could be shooed away by the bobbing/swinging corks on those funny hats!! That trip was in the winter time (June/July/Aug) and it was still fly season. Days were warm, nights a bit cool. I don't know if there is ever a time when the flies aren't so bad (or so friendly!!).
Judilie, I have to agree with you about Sydney. In each and every one of my 6 trips to OZ I have spent at least 5-6 days in SYD. I think it is a wonderful and beautiful city. |
Been to the Red Center a couple of times, both times in winter (July-Aug). I honestly don't remember flies being pesky on either occasion. We had frosty nights, maybe that made the difference.
judilie: fyi, I spent almost 3 yrs at the ANU as a postdoc in the Research School of Chemistry. We loved Canberra, for me, mainly getting out of the city for hiking in the Brindabella Ranges, Tidbinbilla, etc. Plus weekends on the the coast where often rented a house with a few other couples. Those were the good ol' days! As I keep saying, my postdoc in Australia was the best vacation I ever had! |
It's raining in Alice Springs at the moment, may get to Uluru, with some luck. There's a nice video of John Williamson's "It's Raining on the Rock" at the bottom of this blog. http://alittleadrift.com/2009/12/rai...ru-ayres-rock/
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It seemed to be not only raining, but flooding in Alice Springs yesterday, from what I saw on news, Bokhara.
Melnq, just saw on weather channel, WA has had its hottest summer on record. |
Water in the Todd! Imagine the Henley-on-Todd then. http://www.henleyontodd.com.au/
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It's been stinking hot Pat and it's not over yet.
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I'll take your hot weather over the snow and frigid temps we've been having in the midwest this year. I hope SYD stays nice and toasty for my visit, coming up in just a little over a week.
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Thanks for that Bokhara. Humidity, heat haze and 'to lie in sweat on familiar sheets' pretty much sums it up.
How about sending some of those frigid temps my way simpsonc510? |
Mel, I wish I COULD send you some of our cold weather. I would FedEx it overnight. We actually expect a slight warming trend, with temps "soaring" into the mid-30sF.
I'm used to the heat and humidity of Bangkok, having been there 19 times (#20 will be in April) so Sydney should be a breeze. Rain in Alice? That perhaps means the desert will be in bloom. I would love to see that. Carol |
It's feels like winter in Sydney today, cold.dark and raining
Forecast isn't much better for the rest of week Geordie |
Not a good day to be wandering around naked in Sydney I guess.
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"It's feels like winter in Sydney"
Geordie, does that mena you have the 6-8" of snow I see all around my house? Haha... What is the temp this week? My friends whom I'll be seeing in Sydney warned me that it could be beastly hot, or it could be very pleasant when I'm there. |
"It's feels like winter in Sydney"
Speaking as a refugee from Sydney myself I have to say that Sydneysiders are serious weather wimps. Geordie, would I be right in reporting that your cold snap yesterday consisted of a minimum of 19C (in American, 66F)? In fairness, that was also the maximum. Carol, unless there's a return to summer conditions you could well have very pleasant weather for your visit. In Canberra there's a distinct hint of autumn in the air. |
Just looked at the Sydney forecast Carol, maximums of 23-27C for the next week.
Still, and also speaking as an ex-Sydneysider, I think it would have been a bit nippy yesterday at only 19C for the 5,000 odd who posed naked on the steps of the Opera House. |
" ....the 5,000 odd who posed naked on the steps of the Opera House."
Yikes! I had no idea... What is going on in Sydney these days? It's been nearly 6 years since my last visit. Maximums of 24-27 for the next week sounds delightful to me. All of my other OZ visits have been during the June to September timeframe, and it could get a bit blustery and chilly at that time. Carol |
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Thanks for the link Melnq - simpson, the naked photo shoot was arranged by the organisers of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, this is a huge event in Sydney, held this time of year for about the last 30 years. It was a bid to help promote understanding between hetero and homosexuals, and seems to have met with great success.
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Thanks, Mel and Pat, for that information. It's all for the arts...
:) |
simpsonc510
We all go naked in Sydney now! Sure cuts down on the clothes you need when travelling - and associated laundry! Sydney is a fun place! ;) and quite informal |
That's what I love about the Aussies! It's always a fun place, thanks to the people. You'll never know what fun they can be until you've spent 13 days on a bus in the Outback travelling with 43 of them (which is what brings me back to attend the wedding of someone I met on that bus, waaaaay back in 1988)!
I guess I can really pack light, eh Margo? Except for the very special dress and shoes I bought for the wedding, that is. Carol |
"You'll never know what fun they can be until you've spent 13 days on a bus in the Outback travelling with 43 of them"
Sounds lke pure hell to me, but then I'm a bit of a curmudgeon at heart. Speaking of curmudgeons, a small band of Christian wowsers (see below) led by one of Sydney's prize idiots, The Rev. Fred Nile, used to shadow the G&L Mardi Gras praying for rain as a signal of God's disapproval of the cavorting sinners. I think there might have been a light sprinkle one year, but otherwise God showed no interest. History Department: The epithet "wowser" was claimed by the 19th-century Sydney scandal-sheet publisher and politician John Norton, signifying a miserable teetotalling killjoy. He also had a fondness for aliteration, as the following shows: "I invented the word myself. I was the first man publicly to use the word. I first gave it public utterance in the City Council, when I applied it to Alderman Waterhouse, whom I referred to as the white, woolly, weary, watery, word-wasting wowser from Waverley." That effort paled into insignificance, though, compared with Norton's comments on Queen Victoria's eldest son Prince Alfred after the latter's visit to Australia in 1867. And he didn't spare poor old "Affie", as he was known to his mum, on account of his having been shot by a mad Irishman while in Sydney: Norton thundered in his rag, the problematically-named "The Truth", "He (the Prince) left this colony amid the howls of the harlots whom he bilked and the lamentations of the poor washerwomen whom he had refused to pay for the disagreeable task of washing his doubly dirty linen. Traced and tracked to New Zealand he was, under threats of detention and legal process, compelled to pay for his dirty living and settle some of his tradesmen's bills." They don't write papers the way they used to, that's for sure. |
Let's not forget the Kiwis and their annual Boobs on Bikes parade. I watched the news coverage on the event while we were there one year and it was a complete hoot (ahem, maybe that should be 'hooter')
http://weirdnews.about.com/od/weirdp...s_on_Bikes.htm |
Is there something in the water or the other side of the globe? haha
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Sorry.... ON the other side....
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