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Trip to Australia - Anyone Been? (1 Viewer)

kutta

kutta

Footballguy
Well, the family had such a great time on our Europe trip this last summer, and I got so many good suggestions here in my Europe thread, that we are now thinking of heading to Australia next summer. I know really nothing about the place, except that I think our summer is their winter. We are OK with that as we like getting out of the Phoenix heat in the summer.

Has anyone gone there before? Any suggestions? Any ideas of what cities to visit and where to make our home base? I'm thinking of maybe staying about 10 days or so.

I would like to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef, but other than that, I am open to suggestions.

TIA for any help!

 
Our Summer is their winter FYI

ETA: saw that you mentioned. I've only been to Sydney over new years 4 or 5 years ago. I enjoyed the city, but you really only need 3-4 days there.

 
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been twice for week, but only one week each time. Spent most of my time in QLD, mostly Brisbane. Really like Brisbane and would go back there for vacation.

 
We were considering Australia before deciding on South of France for our trip a few months ago. After doing research, I decided that 10 days just wouldn't be enough. If we were going to make that insanely long trip from NY, it would most likely be once in a lifetime so we wanted to fit New Zealand in too.

Australia is about the size of the US, so if you are planning on going from Melbourne to Sydney to the Great Barrier Reef, think of it as New Orleans to Atlanta to Boston. That's a lot of ground to cover. Here's Australia over the map of Europe.

Without New Zealand, which everyone says is a must, 14 days minimum, imo. 3 weeks would be ideal.

And as much as I'd like to see Ayers Rock, it doesn't seem like it's worth the effort.

 
Went in April 2013 for ten days, 3 stops in Sydney, Uluru/Ayers rock resort, and Cairns.

Sydney: we stayed in "the rocks" section, the historic area right by the harbor and downtown. Perfect spot that is within walking distance of everything. Did the usual tourist stuff with the opera house etc. Also did the bridge climb. http://www.bridgeclimb.com HIGHLY recommend it, a tremendous experience that you shouldn't pass up.

Outback/Uluru/Ayers Rock: https://www.ayersrockresort.com.au/?gclid=CN2-v9utz8ECFcNQ7AodBW4ALA

not a lot happening here(not an outdoorsman). Visited the Rock for a sunrise and history tour, did a camel back ride through the desert and sounds of silence dinner which were pretty cool. Incredible experience seeing the sky out in the desert. We stayed for two nights but one would probably be plenty especially with kids. It's a 4 or 5 hotel complex and that's It, basically a very small town in the middle of nowhere. And if you don't like flies, do not go, they attack as soon as you get off the plane onto the tarmac and do not stop until you leave.

Cairns: cool city. Snorkeled the barrier reef and did a rainforest tour. http://www.billytea.com.au/?gclid=CIv9-PCxz8ECFSgV7AodGT8AaQ Plenty of touristy things to do, lots of fun.

April seemed like a perfect time. Temps in Sydney and Cairns were in the 80s. Not too hot but still able to swim with comfortable nights. The outback was sweltering, but didn't expect anything less. Would go back in a heartbeat if finances allow it in the future.

eta: One other note if it matters, stuff is expensive so don't be shocked at a $20 cheeseburger. (I'm not a standard elite fbg ;) )

.

 
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Sydney is comfortable in winter; Melbourne can get cold. Great Barrier Reef area should be fine.

How you divvy your time there is dependent on what you like and if you're travelling with kids or not.

I've been to Sydney a few times and a couple times to Melbourne. Friends who lived there for years strongly recommended Port Douglas up near Cairns, but I never got up north.

You'll have a great time. If you want a little back history on Australia, Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country is a good read.

 
Lived there for five weeks 15 years ago. Cairns is a must if you are into scuba. Sydney is awesome and where I lived for four weeks....recommended. Went drinking a kot in rocks area and got a lot of free drinks....till that damn us carrier showed up....freaking sailors. Did the bridge climb unsanctioned....couole of us got drunk and climbed it and peed off the top. Not sure how we survived that. Played rugby a lot. Thought I was a badass before that trip, I was humbled a bit.

Was actually at the botanic gardens when they filmed mi3 and saw cruise.

They are more athletic per person that us, and their girls aren't as conservative.

 
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Went almost 2 years ago...loved it.

Depending on if you had time, I'd recommend going to New Zealand as well. If you do end up going to NZ I'd recommend renting a car to drive from city-to-city -- since the cities aren't nearly as big as Australia it makes driving on the other side of the road much easier, with the big bonus from that being that you can see the beauty of NZ.

 
Got back 9 days ago.

Screw Cairns. Port Douglas is where it's at. Cairns is Australia Bro country. Tropical Queensland is awesome. Did three nights in Port Douglas.

There are very few hotels and tons of timeshares rented out as apartments. Therefore, you don't get daily room service. I stayed at a place called Cayman Villas which was a short walk to the Marina and to 4-Mile beach.

Did two tours to the barrier reef. Sailaway was awesome. Quicksilver was a tourist trap.

Do extra days for the rainforest. Can either do something like Kuronda, which was a tourist trap, or Daintree. We stayed at a place called Silky Oaks which is a resort in the rainforest, your room is in the forest, those crazy turkeys wandering around and right on the Daintree river which is one of the few croc free rivers around.

Did a few days in Sydney which were underwhelming after Trop Queens. Any questions, shoot a PM.

 
get a radiation suit or maybe a suit of armor and travel around wearing it. everything there will kill you. you even have to check the toilet when taking a dump so that the most poisonous spider in the world doesn't crawl out from it and bite your balls.

 
jamny said:
We were considering Australia before deciding on South of France for our trip a few months ago. After doing research, I decided that 10 days just wouldn't be enough. If we were going to make that insanely long trip from NY, it would most likely be once in a lifetime so we wanted to fit New Zealand in too.

Australia is about the size of the US, so if you are planning on going from Melbourne to Sydney to the Great Barrier Reef, think of it as New Orleans to Atlanta to Boston. That's a lot of ground to cover. Here's Australia over the map of Europe.

Without New Zealand, which everyone says is a must, 14 days minimum, imo. 3 weeks would be ideal.

And as much as I'd like to see Ayers Rock, it doesn't seem like it's worth the effort.
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damn northern bias

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Blank-map-world-south-up.png

 
I live in Australia, but am probably less useful than people who have visited here on vacation. I live in Adelaide, I've only ever been to Sydney. We had a Port Douglas trip planned a couple of years ago, but I broke my leg a couple weeks before. Anyway I hear Port Douglas is awesome.

I live in Adelaide. It's a great place to live, but there's really no reason to visit here unless you're big into wine. There are some very nice beaches, but obviously that's not unique to Australia. I'm not totally sure what Sydney weather is like in the middle of winter (which is when you're talking about coming) but based on South Australian weather, coming in the winter seems like it would eliminate a lot of the better activities. It gets dark early (starting around 5ish), and the nights can get pretty cold. Not New England cold or anything, but it can get down to around freezing at times. The main thing would be that you'd have less beach time if that's something you think you'll spend a lot of time doing. Other than that, I can't give too much info.

All of my vacation time is spent visiting the US and my kids are still too young for domestic trips. ####s expensive, so be prepared for that. My parents' jaw hit the floor when they saw how much a 2L bottle of Diet Coke costs. In the summer months, I usually find one or two red back spiders in the shed out back, which are dangerous, especially to young kids.

And obviously, you know, sharks.

 
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No joke, koalas are pretty dangerous. They can be aggressive and do indeed have claws. We had one show up one day in a tree in the parking lot at an apartment we used to live on. The neighbors said it dropped out of the tree at one point and charged at them.

 
PatsWillWin said:
No joke, koalas are pretty dangerous. They can be aggressive and do indeed have claws. We had one show up one day in a tree in the parking lot at an apartment we used to live on. The neighbors said it dropped out of the tree at one point and charged at them.
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#### australia

 
Thanks everyone! Great feedback so far. I'll check back later with more comments.

We will have our 3 kids ages 17, 19, and 21.

 
kutta said:
Thanks everyone! Great feedback so far. I'll check back later with more comments.

We will have our 3 kids ages 17, 19, and 21.
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Your 19 year old can legally drink and your 17 year old will probably not get carded at liquor stores (bars he/she will be more likely to be).

 
on our list - deciding if Ireland, etc happens first. My biggest issue is we can only travel in the summer right now, and I really didn't want to go in the Aussie winter.

 
Judge Smails said:
on our list - deciding if Ireland, etc happens first. My biggest issue is we can only travel in the summer right now, and I really didn't want to go in the Aussie winter.
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Same boat here. Summer is about it for us, but we really want to go, so we are biting the bullet. But as I said earlier, we love getting out of the Phoenix heat, so we are good with cool weather.

 
kutta said:
Judge Smails said:
on our list - deciding if Ireland, etc happens first. My biggest issue is we can only travel in the summer right now, and I really didn't want to go in the Aussie winter.
Click to expand...
Same boat here. Summer is about it for us, but we really want to go, so we are biting the bullet. But as I said earlier, we love getting out of the Phoenix heat, so we are good with cool weather.
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Loved Ireland. Highly recommend it.

 
kutta said:
Judge Smails said:
on our list - deciding if Ireland, etc happens first. My biggest issue is we can only travel in the summer right now, and I really didn't want to go in the Aussie winter.
Click to expand...
Same boat here. Summer is about it for us, but we really want to go, so we are biting the bullet. But as I said earlier, we love getting out of the Phoenix heat, so we are good with cool weather.
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Been to both. Both are kind of places I could see moving to (language, culture), but neither is that 'exotic' in terms of food, history, society etc (relative to other foreign countries). As an American, you'll feel right at home and get to enjoy a new scenic place without ever feeling threatened, which is great.

Not bringing this up to dissuade from these locations as both are awesome. Just pointing out this difference in case you had unique tastes in what you are looking to get out of a vacation.

 
Gawain said:
Got back 9 days ago.

Screw Cairns. Port Douglas is where it's at. Cairns is Australia Bro country. Tropical Queensland is awesome. Did three nights in Port Douglas.

There are very few hotels and tons of timeshares rented out as apartments. Therefore, you don't get daily room service. I stayed at a place called Cayman Villas which was a short walk to the Marina and to 4-Mile beach.

Did two tours to the barrier reef. Sailaway was awesome. Quicksilver was a tourist trap.

Do extra days for the rainforest. Can either do something like Kuronda, which was a tourist trap, or Daintree. We stayed at a place called Silky Oaks which is a resort in the rainforest, your room is in the forest, those crazy turkeys wandering around and right on the Daintree river which is one of the few croc free rivers around.

Did a few days in Sydney which were underwhelming after Trop Queens. Any questions, shoot a PM.
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Sounds awesome. So maybe we should start in Sidney and then head up North to the Great Barrier Reef? The Rainforest sounds very cool. Where did you fly into if you didn't start in Sidney?

 
PatsWillWin said:
I live in Australia, but am probably less useful than people who have visited here on vacation. I live in Adelaide, I've only ever been to Sydney. We had a Port Douglas trip planned a couple of years ago, but I broke my leg a couple weeks before. Anyway I hear Port Douglas is awesome.

I live in Adelaide. It's a great place to live, but there's really no reason to visit here unless you're big into wine. There are some very nice beaches, but obviously that's not unique to Australia. I'm not totally sure what Sydney weather is like in the middle of winter (which is when you're talking about coming) but based on South Australian weather, coming in the winter seems like it would eliminate a lot of the better activities. It gets dark early (starting around 5ish), and the nights can get pretty cold. Not New England cold or anything, but it can get down to around freezing at times. The main thing would be that you'd have less beach time if that's something you think you'll spend a lot of time doing. Other than that, I can't give too much info.

All of my vacation time is spent visiting the US and my kids are still too young for domestic trips. ####s expensive, so be prepared for that. My parents' jaw hit the floor when they saw how much a 2L bottle of Diet Coke costs. In the summer months, I usually find one or two red back spiders in the shed out back, which are dangerous, especially to young kids.

And obviously, you know, sharks.
Click to expand...
We live in Phoenix and we LOVE getting out of the heat in the summer. One of our best vacations was to Alaska a few years back. We don't have any issues with the cold weather in the middle of July. In fact, we look forward to it.

 
So it sounds like we should consider the following:

1. Sidney - this seems like a no-brainer. We need to spend a few days here.

2. Port Douglas - it seems like the general consensus is that this is the place to check out the GBR

3. Rain Forest - I believe this is near Port Douglas

4. Melbourne - I'm going to need some info on whether or not this is worth it. I'm not sure we would have time for both Sidney and Melbourne

5. New Zealand - still looking into it. Any more comments on New Zealand?

That seems like the basics. Now I need to figure out where to fly into and out of (I'm thinking Sidney, but I'm not sure) and how many days to spend in each place.

 
Another thought just hit me. What about doing a cruise? Seems like a cool way to see things and most of the places we would visit are near the coast anyway. We did an Alasakan cruise and everyone loved it.

 
Melbourne is cool city for sure, but depends what you are looking for. If you are looking for good food, theater, museums, nightlife, etc. then Melbourne makes sense. If not, I'd skip. I was there in July and it was pretty cold. I don't recall anything particularly remarkable about Melbourne outside of typical city stuff. They are pretty serious about their Aussie football there. Closest equivalent city I can think of vs. North America is Toronto or Montreal.

 
Brony said:
Melbourne is cool city for sure, but depends what you are looking for. If you are looking for good food, theater, museums, nightlife, etc. then Melbourne makes sense. If not, I'd skip. I was there in July and it was pretty cold. I don't recall anything particularly remarkable about Melbourne outside of typical city stuff. They are pretty serious about their Aussie football there. Closest equivalent city I can think of vs. North America is Toronto or Montreal.
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Would you pick Sidney over Melbourne?

 
kutta said:
Brony said:
Melbourne is cool city for sure, but depends what you are looking for. If you are looking for good food, theater, museums, nightlife, etc. then Melbourne makes sense. If not, I'd skip. I was there in July and it was pretty cold. I don't recall anything particularly remarkable about Melbourne outside of typical city stuff. They are pretty serious about their Aussie football there. Closest equivalent city I can think of vs. North America is Toronto or Montreal.
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Would you pick Sidney over Melbourne?
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Yes. Sidney is like taking the best of San Diego (weather, beach) and San Francisco (natural beauty, city amenities). Great city.

 
Brony said:
kutta said:
Brony said:
Melbourne is cool city for sure, but depends what you are looking for. If you are looking for good food, theater, museums, nightlife, etc. then Melbourne makes sense. If not, I'd skip. I was there in July and it was pretty cold. I don't recall anything particularly remarkable about Melbourne outside of typical city stuff. They are pretty serious about their Aussie football there. Closest equivalent city I can think of vs. North America is Toronto or Montreal.
Click to expand...
Would you pick Sidney over Melbourne?
Click to expand...
Yes. Sidney is like taking the best of San Diego (weather, beach) and San Francisco (natural beauty, city amenities). Great city.
Click to expand...
OK. Cool. Thanks.

 
Brony said:
kutta said:
Brony said:
Melbourne is cool city for sure, but depends what you are looking for. If you are looking for good food, theater, museums, nightlife, etc. then Melbourne makes sense. If not, I'd skip. I was there in July and it was pretty cold. I don't recall anything particularly remarkable about Melbourne outside of typical city stuff. They are pretty serious about their Aussie football there. Closest equivalent city I can think of vs. North America is Toronto or Montreal.
Click to expand...
Would you pick Sidney over Melbourne?
Click to expand...
Yes. Sidney is like taking the best of San Diego (weather, beach) and San Francisco (natural beauty, city amenities). Great city.
Click to expand...
Agreed. My daughter (no pics) lived in Sydney for a year after college, and I thoroughly enjoyed my two week visit there.

A trip to Featherdale (http://www.featherdale.com.au/ ) is great to get up close to koalas, kangaroos, and wallabies (and other animals as well). You can get there via public transportation, but it takes a couple of transfers. A neat way to see the animals, though.

Another popular trip is a day trip to the Blue Mountains just NW of the Sydney suburbs (images: https://www.google.com/search?q=blue+mountains&biw=1600&bih=751&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=0r5XVIK0OYaqyATJmIHwAw&ved=0CE0QsAQ ) The small group guides are very entertaining.

If the weather is warm, your kids would enjoy a trip to Bondi Beach or, maybe better, a ferry ride across the harbor and over to Manly Beach. The ferry ride is a great way to see the harbor, the bridge, and the opera house. If you all enjoy a hike, there's a fantastic coastal walk along the cliffs and beaches starting at Bondi Beach and heading south for several miles (you could walk one way and catch a bus back into the downtown area).

Traveling south, the coast includes the twelve apostles (images: https://www.google.com/search?q=australia+twelve+apostles&biw=1600&bih=751&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=tb9XVLTDEczpoASivoL4AQ&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAg )

 
tri-man 47 said:
If the weather is warm, your kids would enjoy a trip to Bondi Beach or, maybe better, a ferry ride across the harbor and over to Manly Beach. The ferry ride is a great way to see the harbor, the bridge, and the opera house. If you all enjoy a hike, there's a fantastic coastal walk along the cliffs and beaches starting at Bondi Beach and heading south for several miles (you could walk one way and catch a bus back into the downtown area).
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Totally agree on the Bondi to Coogee walk. One of the more scenic walks I've ever done. Loved it.

 
Flew JFK-->Syd-->Cairns. Cairns also has Reef excursions and trips into the rainforest, but it's a lot more Spring Breakesque (and as a tour guide told me) "there's a lot of Asians because that's where the casinos are." There weren't big tour buses in Port Douglas, which was nice to keep down the hordes of people away.

Mossman Park is much closer to Port Douglas than Cairns, but there's opportunities to do Rainforestie stuff along the coast.

If it's important to any members of your family to actually get to hold a koala (this was big thing for my wife) you have to go to Queensland, as NSW passed some law fairly recently forbidding koalas to "work."

I would have loved to go to New Zealand, but I think that it's going to require at least four more days for your trip. I was in Sydney in October and it wasn't warm. The ferry was a great way to see the city. If you buy an i-venture card, don't buy it in the airport, you can save $20 or $30 bucks a piece buying once you're in the city.

The Opera House was a lot smaller than I thought it would be. The bridge was a bridge, I don't see people gushing over the Throg's Neck. The Sydney Aquarium was pretty good and we ate on the harbor for all our dinners.

Seems like any cruise is going to be a two week affair. If you'd be able to take a third week to stay on the ground, I think it would be cool, but not sure you'd see as much as you wanted to if you were tethered to the ship for your whole time there.

 
Brony said:
tri-man 47 said:
If the weather is warm, your kids would enjoy a trip to Bondi Beach or, maybe better, a ferry ride across the harbor and over to Manly Beach. The ferry ride is a great way to see the harbor, the bridge, and the opera house. If you all enjoy a hike, there's a fantastic coastal walk along the cliffs and beaches starting at Bondi Beach and heading south for several miles (you could walk one way and catch a bus back into the downtown area).
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Totally agree on the Bondi to Coogee walk. One of the more scenic walks I've ever done. Loved it.
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:goodposting:

 
tri-man 47 said:
Brony said:
kutta said:
Brony said:
Melbourne is cool city for sure, but depends what you are looking for. If you are looking for good food, theater, museums, nightlife, etc. then Melbourne makes sense. If not, I'd skip. I was there in July and it was pretty cold. I don't recall anything particularly remarkable about Melbourne outside of typical city stuff. They are pretty serious about their Aussie football there. Closest equivalent city I can think of vs. North America is Toronto or Montreal.
Click to expand...
Would you pick Sidney over Melbourne?
Click to expand...
Yes. Sidney is like taking the best of San Diego (weather, beach) and San Francisco (natural beauty, city amenities). Great city.
Click to expand...
Agreed. My daughter (no pics) lived in Sydney for a year after college, and I thoroughly enjoyed my two week visit there.

A trip to Featherdale (http://www.featherdale.com.au/ ) is great to get up close to koalas, kangaroos, and wallabies (and other animals as well). You can get there via public transportation, but it takes a couple of transfers. A neat way to see the animals, though.

Another popular trip is a day trip to the Blue Mountains just NW of the Sydney suburbs (images: https://www.google.com/search?q=blue+mountains&biw=1600&bih=751&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=0r5XVIK0OYaqyATJmIHwAw&ved=0CE0QsAQ ) The small group guides are very entertaining.

If the weather is warm, your kids would enjoy a trip to Bondi Beach or, maybe better, a ferry ride across the harbor and over to Manly Beach. The ferry ride is a great way to see the harbor, the bridge, and the opera house. If you all enjoy a hike, there's a fantastic coastal walk along the cliffs and beaches starting at Bondi Beach and heading south for several miles (you could walk one way and catch a bus back into the downtown area).

Traveling south, the coast includes the twelve apostles (images: https://www.google.com/search?q=australia+twelve+apostles&biw=1600&bih=751&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=tb9XVLTDEczpoASivoL4AQ&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAg )
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Blue mountains was where I was attacked by a leech. :lmao: Was still nice though.

 
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