Jake

Thanks everyone for your advice before we left. We had a wonderful trip. Here are some of our recommendations for future travelers.<BR><BR>Sydney (4 days)- <BR>Accommodations: Bed & Breakfast Sydney Harbour. I can't recommend it enough. It is in The Rocks so it is only a few minutes walk to Circular Quay. Huge breakfasts and cozy bedrooms. The owners are wonderful too.<BR>Activities: <BR>Red & Blue Explorer Buses - You feel like a tourist but it the best way to see all the sights in town and the beaches. <BR>Blue Mountains 4WD Tour Dal Miles - Good Tour. Favorite stop was Featherdale Wildlife Park to feed kangaroos and koalas.<BR>NRL Rugby Game - We saw the Sydney Roosters beat the NZ Warriors.<BR>Bridgeclimb - Our climb left at 3:55 pm so we got to watch the sun set from the top of the bridge. Expensive but where else in the world can you do it?<BR><BR>Alice Springs (1 night) - <BR>Accommodations: Palm Desert Resort - Nothing fancy. About a 15 minute walk into town or a A$6 cab ride. There is not much to do in Alice. We hung out at a pub and on the weekends there are street markets.<BR><BR>Sahara Outback Tours - 3-Day Camping Trip<BR>This was a pretty comprehensive tour and it was nice to have someone else to do the driving up to Ayer's Rock Area. We stayed at permanent tent campsites and shared cooking & cleaning up duties. Be sure to bring GOOD walking shoes as we walked about 15 miles by the end of the trip.<BR>Day 1 - Uluru - Did walk around the base. People were climbing but it looked very steep and it is discouraged.<BR>Day 2 - Kata-Tjuta - Hiked around the trail and went to Cultural Center.<BR>Day 3 - Kings Canyon - Great views but a very steep hike around the rim.<BR><BR>Port Douglas (6 days)-<BR>Accommodations: Hibiscus Gardens - Great location 5 minutes in either direction into town, to the marina, and to the beach. Nice rooms and good value. We had rented a car and drove in from Cairns.<BR>Activities:<BR>Wavelength Outer Reef Cruise - Great tour company catering towards snorkelers. Boat only holds 30 people and stops at 3 places along the reef. Included a guided snorkeling tour with knowledgeable staff. We were glad we chose this over the massive Quiksilver boats. We did see one small reef shark.<BR>BTS Tours Daintree and Cape Tribulation Day Trip - Also a good tour. We crossed the river by cable ferry, went on a river cruise to spot crocs, had lunch in the rainforest, canoe and swimming in freshwater river, and walk along boardwalk. Very knowledgeable guide who had actually lived in the rainforest for a few years. Make sure to bring bug repellent though!<BR>Scenic Railway/Skyrail to Kuranda – Kuranda was not much besides a marketplace and souvenir shops but the journey there was the interesting part. Took the train in and the skyrail out.<BR>Sailaway Trip to Low Isles – Very highly recommended. We took a sailboat out to a coral island where we were free to relax on the beach and snorkel. The water was not as clear as other parts of the reef but there more sea turtles than I could count. We spent the rest of the day lounging on the beach. It was a very small island but the boat we went on only held 30 people so it was not crowded.<BR><BR>The weather was nice everywhere. Cool in Sydney, warm but not hot yet in the Outback, and tropical in Port Douglas.<BR><BR>Hope that helps.<BR><BR><BR>

melissa

Hi Jake~<BR>Sounds like a great trip! I have a few questions: When did you go? Did you fly round-trip to Sydney? How much did the B&B in Sydney cost? <BR><BR>Can you tell me a little more about the camping trip? Did you have a private tent? Are there shared bathroom facilities? It sounds interesting, but I have never been camping, so it makes me a little nervous!<BR><BR>Thanks~<BR>Melissa

jake

We went the last week of August & first week of September. We bought a round trip ticket from the US to Sydney. We bought all our domestic Australia tickets through the Quantas website. We flew from Sydney to Alice Springs, Alice Springs to Cairns, then Cairns to Sydney.<BR><BR>You can find the B&B at their website...http://www.bbsydneyharbour.com.au/html/info.html. The room we were in was US$82 per night. We shared a bathroom with one other room.<BR><BR>The camping trip was a great way to experience the "Outback". There were about 22 people and one guide. We drove from Alice Springs to Ayer's Rock in a small tour bus. We camped 2 nights, one in Ayer's Rock and one at King's Canyon. At both places we had a tent for 2 set up with cots & sleeping bags. There was a traditional campground type bathroom with many stalls and showers. The company provided all meals while we were with them (you do have to help cook them and wash the dished afterwards). If you have never camped before it would be a good trial run. You have the fun of camping but without all the work of hauling gear and setting up the tents yourself. <BR><BR>On a side note, we were up at 5am both mornings in order to get to Uluru and the other places early. It is for the best though because you get to see the sunrise, you get started on the hiking trails before they get clogged with other tour groups, and you get done with the hike before the warmest parts of the day.

Sonia

Hi Jake<BR><BR>It was great to read your report! I'm off to Australia in December 2003 and your Sydney and PD suggestions backup what I had already thought of doing. I have also considered camping at Ayres Rock to keep the cost down and now I'm certain I'll do it.<BR><BR>Thanks again<BR><BR>Sonia

Karen

hi Jake,<BR> It was so nice to hear about your trip. We will be going to PD the second week of January. Just wondering if you saw or heard anything about Thala Beach Lodge Resort ?<BR> How long did it take to drive from Cairns to PD ?<BR> What airline did you use for your trip<BR>home ?<BR>Thanks,<BR>Karen

Sandy

Hi - Thanks for that great report. We leave in 6 weeks. Could you tell me more about the 4WD tour? What is Dal Miles? How did you book that? The bus and the Bridge Climb are already definites for us. Thanks.

jake

First, in reply to Karen, we passed Thala beach on our way into Port Douglas. Our travel agent originally recommended Thala to us, but we wanted to be more in the heart of Port Douglas. If you are getting a car it wouldn't be a big deal but we liked the freedom to walk to dinner, the beach, and the wharf area. We flew Quantas for all our domestic flights. The drive from Cairns to Port Douglas is about an hour. The road is pretty curvy and a little indimating if it is your first time driving on the opposite side of the car and the road as we were. It was nice to have a car because we could do our own exploring around Mossman Gorge (about 30 minutes north of Cairns) and drive back towards Cairns to catch the train & railway to Kuranda.

jake

Second, to Sandy, Dal Myles is the tour company that operates a 4WD tour to the Blue Mountains. here is theor website...http://www.dalmylestours.com/n4wheeldrive.htm.<BR>The first stop was Featherdale Wildlife Park. We were the first tour company so we had the koalas & kangaroos to ourselves. Be sure to see the wombats, they are so unique. <BR>The second stop was an isolated creek in the mountains for tea, cake,and biscuits. The next stop was Govett's Leap. Driving through the mountains our guide, Peter, had many stories about the area and his days as a 'fruit picker' and 'parole officer'. <BR>We stopped in a park where Peter demonstrated how to throw a boomerang and we all got a chance to try.<BR>Lunch was a buffet at a historical hotel with lunch meats, salads, & fruit.<BR>We had about 30 minutes just to stroll through the forest to listen to the sounds and enjoy ourselves.<BR>After lunch we drove to Katoomba. We rode a skyway down into the rainforest, explored the boardwalks and took an incline ride (52 degree slope riding backwards up the mountain) back up. Definately a thrill.<BR>I am not sure where other tour companies go but after we left Featherdale, we never saw another bus or car.

Mina

Jake, I'm a little late on the ball here, but wanted to say thanks for posting your report. I enjoyed reading it. We stayed in two of the same places (B&B Sydney Harbour and Hibiscus) so I'm glad to hear you enjoyed them too.

Karen

Hi Jake,<BR> Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my qustions ! I am so excited about our trip !<BR>Karen