Hi Yelpir,

Everyone has given you good advice and I'm glad to see you're considering extending your trip.

I've just come back from a week in the Whitsundays which included a sail/scuba/snorkel trip to Blue Bay - just near Hamilton Island, and I wanted to let you know that there are lots of affordable and accessible options which will let you see the Great Barrier Reef. As you're staying in Cairns, there will be a variety of options from there, and they're all set up very well, safely and, if you're fit enough to fly from SA to here & get around, you will be quite fit enough to snorkel there. The visibility is excellent at shallow depths and if the weather's not good, the boats don't go out. There was an elderly lady (I would hazard 80's and not exactly slim) on our trip, who was not a confident swimmer at all and the instructor fitted her up with a foam "noodle" and she was in 7th heaven, snorkling over corals & fish just a few yards/metres from the shore. Bring/buy some plastic/rubber shoes to walk on the beaches as most of them in the GBR are coral, not sand.

On the Northern/Southern loop - I'd include Sydney in the Southern sector.

Our trains aren't too bad on the long haul sectors, but that's just it. They are l-o-n-g distances, and consequently take time you really don't have. Intra country air travel is really very cheap; particularly as our $ is so soft right now.

There are 3 domestic carriers and they all have specials frequently. Suggest you get on their emailing lists. Virgin also has a daily "happy hour" between noon & 1pm Australian Eastern Standard Time.
QANTAS ..www.qantas.com.au
Virgin Blue .. www.virginblue.com.au
Jetstar ... www.jetstar.com.au

Personally, I think you can do better, cheaper and see just as much in most places, than the big tour operators like AAT Kings offer.
With the exception of major cities themselves (Sydney & Melbourne),like your initial plan to fly into various places, hire a car and do it yourselves. Certainly,day trips, small group and specialty tours can flesh out particular areas, like the rainforests & hinterland around Cairns.

Although we're a huge country, we're only a population of 20m, mostly located along the Eastern seabord. Consequently, we simply don't have the public transport that one might expect in a country our size in places other than the major centres.

There's a website specialising in one-way car hire which might be useful to you. They seem to do a lot of re-locations at extraordinarily cheap rates ($1/day & allow 5 days Sydney-Melbourne, for example). www.standbycars.com

Yelpir,

Seems you're now looking at staying a considerably longer time which is good as far as giving you longer to see places and being able to head up north in July is going to be better than in August, June would even be better.

And you have found the costs of using tours from APT or Kings are quite high relative to others available and to some extent it'll come down to whether you think you need to pay about twice for a bit of luxury or make savings in not so much doing it too rough but sleeping out in a swag or a tent.

I'm not quite as old as you but within a decade and it can be fun and not too tough.
http://www.ntstandby.com.au/index.cg...earch&cb=1 will give you an idea of standby tours ex Darwin.

Though you have given yourself more time, your consideration of the Kimberley Vs Sydney for six days would mean you would just get a very brief impression but you could do something like I did and fly to Kununurra as I indicated above and then look at some other tours from there or fly on to Broome or Derby and do a couple of tours from there and then fly back to Darwin - probable cost about $1500 - 2000 for 6-7 days, doing it about as cheap as you can.

Bokhara and afterall have given some links re alternative tours and transport, and www.webjet.com.au will allow you to get an idea of flight costs, with any sales being a bonus, but when considering sales do not leave it until the last few weeks before flying waiting on a sale for you'll likely not get one and then miss out on cheapest fares normally advertised and could end up paying double or triple.

As for the trains, one thing you may want to consider if you're prepared to alter your plans some and there are savings for your return flight to Perth rather than Brisbane, for you can get a rail pass - www.railaustralia.com.au and you can use that for Perth to eastcoast and also Adelaide to Darwin and it is good for six months, so if you have the extra time and are up to the longer travel times you may be able to make good use of the pass.

http://www.rex.com.au/Backpacker/default.aspx is a flights pass that you also might want to consider for the southern loop.

http://www.tigerairways.com/home/index.php also has some great deals.

And I might have already said it, but to save costs and especially if you are to be travelling with a friend, have a look at backpacker hostels, particularly www.yha.com.au and also many more you can find on sites like http://www.bugaustralia.com/ and hostels offer single or twin rooms and the YHA also have a travel service that could be quite handy to you.

The relocations mentioned by Bokhara are mainly for campervans and for travel between capital cities it can be a great way to go - pull up anywhere to sleep overnight and with some you may even get a fuel allowance, and they are all as easy as a car to drive.

Your main task now is going to be sorting out all the info you have.

Good luck and have a great trip when the time comes.

Wow!! You folks are amazingly helpful. I am humbled. Thank you all so very much.

Being retired, time is less of an issue to me than cost. If it takes 2 days by train and 2 hours by air, but the train is cheaper, I might well opt for the train. Time is pretty flexible for me. I don't have to be anywhere at any time. Money is not quite as flexible, I'm afraid. Soft as your dollar may be, believe you me, our rand is a lot softer :(

You guys have given me some wonderful alternatives and some super leads. It is going to take me quite awhile to chase them all down and learn as much as I can. I can see myself being very busy for the next few days/weeks. I am so glad to hear that there are some much cheaper options available. I was beginning to think that all I was going to be able to afford was a week on bread and water with my friend in Brisbane ;)

a week on bread and water with my friend in Brisbane ;)

I'm sure we can afford some Vegemite as well!

In most cases, flights will be cheaper than trains (unfortunately). You can get pretty good fares between most major places now.

Hi Yelpir,

I vote ditching Sydney for Kimberley Region. (Sorry Sydneysiders). I only say this as you are so interested in geology. It's a geologists dream out there and I was completely fascinated by this aspect of the Red Centre, Kimberleys and Kakadu etc and I don't know diddly squat about geology!

I think that even if you get to see half of the things on your list you won't be disappointed but I say go for it and see how far you can go!

Happy Trails!

Yelpir,
A few more thoughts. The Kimberley is a wonderful area geologically but it takes a bit to get around to the different types of landscapes.

As you intend to go to Adelaide, may I sugget that you go to the Flinders Ranges. It is possible to walk or drive through the Cambrian boundry. In Brachina gorge you can drive through 120 million years of geological time in about 20 kilometres, 640 mya to 520 mya. While some people do it in a couple of hours I felt rushed seeing it in five. There are stops with interpretation which is well done unles the creationist idiots have been vandalising it. From the roadside stops there are short trails which lead you to more sites and further interpretation. Fossils of the Ediacaran fauna can be found if you do you homework so you know what to look for. It is looking only with no collecting.

Yes, the Flinders ranges would be a good alternative Saltuarius, and I had posted earlier reiterating the Kimberley vastness aspects but the post went into some other space with the passing of an electrical storm.

Yelpir, as much as the Kimberley is obviously going to be so different to visiting another city, the cost of getting there and then cost of getting around is going to be quite high.
If someone had six weeks, not 6 days to just brush the surface, I'd say go for it if you did not mind spending in order of $6000, but six days and even 16 days would not really do the region justice.

I've got a spare copy of a dvd that you get when you fly from Kununurra out over Lake Argle and the Bungles Bungles, it being quite a good indication of those areas if you want one - I could post it to a Name, Post Restante in a particular city if you like.