Australia

[Hoon 0]

So the basic set up of the holiday is as follows:

 

Fly into Sydney, stay 6 nights (is that too long? We'd get out of the city to do vineyards, Blue Mountains etc., but does that still leave us too much time there? Or too little?)

 

Fly from Sydney to Adelaide, stay 1 night. The Adelaide thing is solely to drive from there to Melbourne, cos the wifey tells us it's an amazing drive, breathtaking scenery blah blah. (Is this true? Is it worth doing? Is there owt to see in/around Adelaide, or is one night enough?)

 

Stop one night on the drive to Melbourne, not sure where yet. Recommendations?

 

Get to Melbourne, stay there three nights (too long? too short? Owt to do while we're there?)

 

Fly to Brisbane. This bit is kind of just to get us on the next leg which is the Whitsundays, but we're planning on two nights in Brisbane (too long? too short? Owt to do, etc?)

 

Fly to Hamilton Island, stay there 5 nights. Has anyone been here? In Trailfinders it seemed like a toss-up between this place and Port Douglas (anyone been? Is Port Douglas better?) Can you get to the Great Barrier Reef from Hamilton Island or are we too far away?

 

Fly to Sydney, stay 1 night. This is basically just to get us back into Sydney so we can fly home.

 

Brisbane was shit I thought, just an identikit city plus most of it will be underwater now. If you like beaches and loud tacky shit go to Surfer's Paradise, its a more upmarket/better version of Whitley Bay. Byron Bay is nice n all if you can fit that in somehow.

 

Do a wine tour from Adelaide not Sydney. Barossa Valley & McLaren Vale are more or less on the doorstep. Loads of different tours to go on. Not much going on in Adelaide but seemed a nice enough place to spend a night or two. Have yourself some Coopers.

 

Blue mountains are worth a day or two. Its about 2hrs on the train from Sydney to the town where they are.

 

Sydney is a nice place, Kings X is where the decent nightlife is (Soho style) and obviously Bondi and Manley are the best beaches. Aquarium is pretty good too.

 

Melbourne is more relaxed than Sydney but there isn't loads of traditional tourist stuff to do but its a nice city. Brunswick St, Fitzroy is the best place for drink/food I thought. Try and get to the MCG for an AFL game.

 

We stopped in Mt. Gambier and Port Campbell (if you stop here go to the pizza place - absolutely lush) en route from Adelaide to Melbourne. Just outside Adelaide is a town called Hahndorf, nice little German-esque town - decent bait and beer available. The bit before the Great Ocean Road is nothing to write home about but the road itself and the scenery off it are worth it.

 

Didn't go to your other places so can't help there.

[Dr Gloom 21350]

My advice is to go to NZ instead, where you won't be subjected to floods, bushfires, lethal fauna and Aussies

 

definitely the worst thing about going down under. bad losers, bad winners, bitter about being a former colony plus they're mostly annoyingly good looking, tanned and with great bodies.

[Jan 0]

We were there for 3 weeks

 

Flew to Sydney for a week, then split the rest of the times between, Caines, Uluru (2 nights) and Brisbane.

 

We flew out via Hong Kong (2 nights) and back via Singapore (2 nights).

 

It was bloody fantastic....But British were and still are shite.

 

We got a quote from Travelbag and took it to Lun Polly and we ended up flying with Thompson with to days more and it stilled worked out cheaper.

[toughguymick@hotmail.co.uk 0]

I was thinking of going but I've been arrested for possession of cannabis don't know if they will let me in.

[BigAl 0]

The Whitsundays are great I did my open water diving course there, its about a 6 hour boat ride out to the reef but because of that the reef is in much better nick than at Cairns.

Fraser Island is worth a visit as well, the biggest sand island in the world with some amazing beaches and fresh water lakes.

Sydney is a great city and well worth spending a few days, the Blue Mountains are worth a trip also .

Darwin is very humid at certain times of the year, I used to live in Greece so I can handle the heat but Darwin is sweatsville.

The best thing about Oz is the wildlife there are so many species that can only be found in Australia.

[peasepud 59]

I was thinking of going but I've been arrested for possession of cannabis don't know if they will let me in.

Of course they will, get yourself away. Hopefully though we'll not let you back in.

[OTF 7125]

Fly into Sydney, stay 6 nights (is that too long? We'd get out of the city to do vineyards, Blue Mountains etc., but does that still leave us too much time there? Or too little?)

 

6 nights is a lot in Sydney if you're just staying in the city, but if as you plan, you're willing to travel a bit there's plenty to do. Blue Mountains is nice, and a straightforward drive from the city, or alternately not hard to get there by train. It's quite touristy and I haven't been there for 10+ years, but I've been there probably half a dozen times and it's a beautiful scenic area. If you're into bushwalking there's plenty of beautiful walks from easy to quite physically challenging (I'm not talking rrock climbing, but long walks down into valleys then lots of stairs on the way back up) if that's your thing.

 

In the city the Harbour is very nice, the rocks area at the foot of the harbour bridge on the south side is good for a morning stroll around the markets on the weekend (http://www.therocks.com/sydney-Shopping-The_Rocks_Markets.htm) can grab some breakfast lunch at one of the many places down that end of town. The Bridge Walk is quite spectacular, and even if you're a little wary of heights it's not too bad. Pretty expensive now from what I'm told, but it's something that you'll remember for a long time, so is worth doing. http://www.bridgeclimb.com/ It'd be a different experience to do it at night, but I'd recopmmend doing it during the day. It's a little cheaper during the week, so book if for a clear week day.

 

You can catch a show at one of the many theatres around the city. They're largely all within walking distance if you're staying in the city. If you're into eating there's quite a few good restaurants in varied places around the city. If you're into Italian food Leichhardt has an Italian forum with plenty of places to choose from. You'll need to get a bus from the city, or drive if you're hiring a car, though it's not far at all. China town in the city has some good places to eat, but can be hit and miss in terms of value and quality. There's a great Vietnamese place in Surry Hills (not far from city centre) called Red Lantern, can definitely recommend it, though it's a little pricey. There's some decent places to eat at darling Harbour as well, but they tend to be pricey. http://www.darlingharbour.com/sydney-Accom...Restaurants.htm Chinta Ria is a nice Asian Restaurant there though last time I went there was a little bit of a wait for a table and you couldn't book.

 

The casino (Star City - whicch is going to be rebranded the Star) is not too exciting. There's a few good restaurants there and a decent buffet. They also have a theatre there so it's a nice self contained place where you can grab dinner catch a show and have a bit of a gamble afterwards if that's your thing. Maybe watch a Toon game on the big screen If you wanted to watch some football late at night in the city there's loads of places to do so (Premier League games are generally on anywhere from 9:30PM to 6AM), Cheers Bar on George St (pretty much the main street of Sydney) is not bad and gets pretty packed when there's good matches on.

 

You should also visit the Royal Botanical gardens in the city, has some nice views of the harbour and is a good place to partially escape the noise and hustle of the city.

 

You should also catch a ferry from Circular Quay to one of several destinations - Manly beach is touristy, but not bad. I'd recommend Freshwater Beach over Manly though you can cruise by Manly on the way to Freshy as it's just to the North. You could also catch a brief ferry to Fort Denison (on Sydney Harbour), the ticket includes a guided tour of the former penal site come Fort. You'll be able to see Fort Denison from the Botanical Gardens.

 

Bondi beach is of course a very popular tourist destination, and you might want to go there just to say you have, though you'll probably have a better time at other beaches around the city.

 

If you're into wine (I drink it but am not an enthusiast) the Hunter Valley is a couple of hours drive from Sydney. I've not been there so can't really comment.

 

Fly from Sydney to Adelaide, stay 1 night. The Adelaide thing is solely to drive from there to Melbourne, cos the wifey tells us it's an amazing drive, breathtaking scenery blah blah. (Is this true? Is it worth doing? Is there owt to see in/around Adelaide, or is one night enough?)

 

I've been to Adelaide a couple of times, but it was a long time ago when I was a kid. Not a bad place, much smaller than Sydney and Melbourne but there-in lies some of its charm. There's not a heap to see in Adelaide itself, check out the CBD... The Barossa Valley is only 45 minutes drive from Adelaide and I'd say is the most influential wine producing region in the country. Given you'll have a car already I'd probably shave a day off Sydney and give yourself a day to see the Barossa instead. There's also some nice historic coastal towns an hour or so south of Adelaide (Victor Harbour, Strathalbyn) where you could spend a relaxing day.

 

I've done the great ocean road drive, but only as a kid obviously not driving, so don't remember the specifics of it, just that it was quite picturesque. In South Australia (the State where Adelaide is) near the border with Victoria there's Mount Gambier which is a nice region with a picturesque lake as well as caves. The drive from Adelaide to Melbourne takes about 8.5 hours with limited stops. So if you split that in two by staying somewhere around the middle you should be able to have plenty of stops where you please along the way.

 

Stop one night on the drive to Melbourne, not sure where yet. Recommendations?

 

Get to Melbourne, stay there three nights (too long? too short? Owt to do while we're there?)

 

Melbourne's quite a nice city, definitely has a different feel to Sydney, but that could be because I'm from Sydney so it feels more like home (though I don't live anywhere near the city). The theatre life in Melbourne is a little better than Sydney IMO so if that's your thing there should be a fair few options. There's also loads of restaurants in Melbourne with some particularly popular places being Lygon Street which is packed with Italian restaurants and cafes. There's some good Asian restaurants in their China Town district along Little Bourke Street. The streets in Melbourne are easy to navigate and they have a tram system that will get you around pretty easily. There's a few tourist trams that run a set circuit that you can hop on and off for nix. Shopping is apparently pretty good in Melbourne, but that's definitely not my thing. The Bourke St Mall has the big department stores (David Jones and Myers) more exclusive labels can be found on Chapel St. Melbourne is a cafe city, with plenty of places to stop and grab something to eat with a coffee. A good breakfast at a cafe can set you up for the day.

 

I'd probably spend a night extra in Melbourne and shave one off Brisbane..

 

Fly to Brisbane. This bit is kind of just to get us on the next leg which is the Whitsundays, but we're planning on two nights in Brisbane (too long? too short? Owt to do, etc?)

 

In truth I don't know much about Brisbane. Have been there but only on the way through to go elsewhere. Don't think anything in particular stands out as something to see there, so I'd chop it down to one day there on your way to the Whitsundays.

 

Fly to Hamilton Island, stay there 5 nights. Has anyone been here? In Trailfinders it seemed like a toss-up between this place and Port Douglas (anyone been? Is Port Douglas better?) Can you get to the Great Barrier Reef from Hamilton Island or are we too far away?

 

I've not spent enough time up there to comment on this part of the country.

 

Fly to Sydney, stay 1 night. This is basically just to get us back into Sydney so we can fly home.

 

So there you go. Any help would be greatly appreciated. People I've spoken to say we should go to Cairns (which would be possible if we did Port Douglas instead of Hamilton Island). What's the verdict on Cairns? Are there any other cities/towns that are must-sees that are completely passing me by? Or are we trying to do too much?

 

Apart from the Great Barrier Reef and Great Ocean Road trip you're really only seeing cities, so it would be good it you could get up towards Kakadu/The Katherine/Uluru/Darwin. It will be very hot at that time of year though and you'll become extremely well acquainted with loads of bloody annoying flies, though it's definitely worth it.

Edited January 25, 2011 by OzToonFan

[Billy Castell 0]

Don't go to the outback, or you'll be raped and killed by some illiterate Mungo who is married to his sister. Or some spider or snake will poison you.

[The Fish 10460]

Don't go to Boldon, or you'll be raped and killed by some illiterate Mungo who is married to his sister. Or some spider or snake will poison you.

[Guest]

Fly to NZ, hunt down my ex-lass and execute the mother of all cunt-punts and I'll happily contribute towards your extra leg-room seats.

[trophyshy 7060]

I've half drafted something mate, snowed under with all these idle days on the dole.

[Gemmill 42786]

Oz Toon Fan, thanks very much. When you want to know about Australia, Toontastic delivers. I feel much more informed now than before, so ta to everyone that's helped.

 

Gonna go through all these links this week, work out what we want to do and go back and see what price Trailfinders can sort out at the weekend.

[catmag 336]

There are a few little travel outlets around Circular Quay where you can book a day trip to the Blue Mountains at reasonable prices. The one I did also went to a wildlife reserve on the way and we stopped to do some boomerang chucking and have a picnic. It might work out cheaper than having it incorporated into the holiday.

 

Oh and make sure you watch Wolf Creek before you go cos it's dead reassuring

[Monkeys Fist 41370]

 

Sexy natives mind.

[Guest alex]

Kimmy, look at me

[OTF 7125]

It's spelt 'moi' Alex.

 

Even though they're from Melbourne in the show they most embody the mentality of Queenslanders in Australia.

[Monkeys Fist 41370]

 

Has he found the perfect snag yet?

[Ken 119]

Oztoon has it pretty spot on. Visit Harry's Cafe De Wheels especially if your wife is conservative with food. Pies and mash like what you get in pommyland but better of a much higher quality. Tetsuya's has been voted the best restaurant in the world, but has a waiting list going back about three months so you'd have top book before you came. It is worth it though, even to the most timid of palettes. The Red Lantern is owned by a mate of mine, got his own TV series about Vietnam, and obviously Vietnamese food, but absolutely lush and nothing out of the ordinary, just mention Mrs Waltern if you speak to Luke, or Darren Barnes.

 

Glow worms are something to look at as a tourist in Brisbane, they are worms on cave walls that glow brightly if you didn't pick up the meaning to begin with. Your wife would love that I reckon.

 

Don't waste your time in South Australia, not one minute, but spend more time in Northern Territory, the nights out in the outback are something to remember for a lifetime, trust me.

 

A quick summary this, take it into consideration though.