Hi everyone,
    My boyfriend and I are planning our next vacation, and we're thinking of Australia.  Could anyone give me some advice on the best spots to go?  I appreciate it greatly! Thanks.

See if you can fit in the scenic walk from Perth to Alice Springs - I'm sure FussBudget'll be along soon to fill in some details ;)

See if you can fit in the scenic walk from Perth to Alice Springs - I'm sure FussBudget'll be along soon to fill in some details ;)

hehe - that use to be the standard insult we made to school teachers.


Neebs. Hi.  Glad to help.

We have people from most states on this forum and I have lived in all the states except Northern Territory so feel free to ask anything.

To give the appropriate info let us know whether you are planning the standard "2 weeks, see two cities" holiday - or whether you are looking at spending a decent amount of time exploring.  Also handy if you can tell me whether you are nature lovers, architectural lovers, water lovers, summer lovers, winter lovers, animal lovers, history lovers, etc etc cos that can really define which cities suit you best.

Major things to know that most tourists dont take into account- distance - its a long long way to many things. Dont laugh - Japanese tourists actually fly into Sydney thinking Uluru (Ayers Rock) is somewhere near the airport !

Weather: Gotta pick your months.  If you dont handle humidity well then summer (Nov-Mar) is not a good time to visit Western Australia or Queensland.  Fuss can tell you the good QLD months. 

WA's best months are August September - usually blissfull temps between winter and summer range - wildflower season - everything looks pretty. We have a very hot summer from Dec to Mar - a mix of hot dry days and steamy humid days.  Our winter is mild - rains at night - cool fresh and sunny during the day. Perth is a laid back city with some pretty things to see plus just 4 hours south are about 1000 vineyards in a gorgeous forresty pocket of the state - lots of great walking tracks and some of the most stunning beaches you will ever lay your eyes on.  In the northwest - a 2 to 3 day drive - we have unusual mountain ranges called Bungle Bungles, awesome gorges in Karrajini National Park, stunning coral reefs where you can swim with Whale Sharks (the size of whales but technically a shark).

Victoria - early summer (Sept/Oct/Nov) is better than Jan-March.  BUT - they also have a stunning winter if you want to check out the skiing in the high country - between May and Aug - sometimes as late as Sept (and can be snowfall as early as April). Melbourne itself is filled with some excellent historical sites that have been well maintained. Also famous for its brand direct shopping - us girls will fly there from anywhere for a good shopping week !!  A really good day trip that I recommend to all is along the Great Ocean Road.  The bus companys all run daily trips and in all its about a 14 hour day - but totally unforgettable. 

Sydney NSW - personally I like it any time of year - December can be unpredictable - steaming hot days followed by cold stormy days etc.  I usually holiday there round May and October most years. From Sydney and Canberra you can also drive down the the NSW snow fields during the same months I mentioned under Victoria.  Sydney of course has the "icons" - the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Also has some stunning gardens in the city.  The Rocks area in the harbour is steeped with history.  2 hours west are the Blue Mountains and they have some scenic lookouts that should be experienced - and nearby - Jenolean Caves - some of the most stunning caves I personally have ever been in.

Adelaide, South Aust.  They too have a hot but generally dry summer. famous for churches and vineyards. There is also an amazing Shark museum (cos its the shark death capital of the world - even tho Perth trys to steal the title every now and then !!).  SA also has the unusual town of Coober Pedy - where I spent time as a kid - everyone lives underground - even the church and hotel is underground - has to be experienced !! 
From Adelaide you can do an amazing train trip up the centre of Australia to see ALice Springs and Ayers Rock and The Olgas and Kings Canyon etc etc then continue on the train up to Darwin. 

Darwin NT - has two seasons - wet and dry. The Wet is monsoonal. Not a good time to visit. And now while I type this I have forgotten which season comes when !! Its all nature up there.  Crocs, huge rivers, massive cliffs and gorges.  Amazing place.

Tasmania - for history lovers and winter lovers - the ideal place. Perfect for winter hiking, exploring many original convict ruins etc. Filled with gorgeous little bed and breakfast style hotels.

Check out this webpage I built for some American fans of an actor whose website I run. Basically ignore all the guff on the right regarding his movie locations. On the left is just dozens of links to tourism sites for all the states, public transport info, coach and train info, weather info, interesting places to see - all kinds of stuff that I thought would help them plan holidays. 
http://tomburlinson.homestead.com/travel.html

Dont think this one is on there - its for the train companys around Aus - not standard city trains - luxury trains that cross the country. An awesome experience. 
http://www.gsr.com.au/trainways/index.htm

Hope that gives you a taste for it and gets you started on some planning.  There are a bunch of us here to answer any questions so just keep popping back to this thread.

feel free to PM me and I will give you the links to my personal photo albums wher I have some great tourist shots of places I really recommend.

have fun :)  Planning holidays is my fave thing in the world.  can you tell ??  ;D

Don't forget, try some of the local quisine like Vegemite ;D

  Hey MannixGirl...Thank you so much for taking the time to give me plenty of information to get started with.  When I get home from work I will check out the links you sent. 

  Being able to see the wildlife is very important, also good beaches.  Are their Great White Sharks around ? Yikes!!  I'm very excited, I can tell it is a beautiful country.  I'll get back with ya later, thanks again---Neebs

Recent news reports are focusing on 'educating' foreigners on how powerful Aussie rips can be, as they usually come from countries with no surf. A 'rip' is a strong undercurrent htat is usually about twenty five metres or so off shore and accounts for many deathes each year. Sharks are like crocodiles, there are embarrassingly few attacks each year, but talking them up draws in the tourists. I wouldn't be worried about them during vacation.

Generally tourists see more of Australia in a week than most Austrlaians ever od in their life. There are numerous bus tours that take you around to all the highlights and numeorus backpacking destinations if you're up for it. Sydney's pretty much just a mass of people among a mass of skyscrapers if you venture outside of Sydney Harbour. I've visited Melbourne and it's more cultural with more arts venues et al.

Canberra is definitely a great tourist spot, it's vast and clean.

But to play it safe I definitely suggest you visit URALLA, look out for the guy on the scooter.

Recent news reports are focusing on 'educating' foreigners on how powerful Aussie rips can be, as they usually come from countries with no surf. A 'rip' is a strong undercurrent htat is usually about twenty five metres or so off shore and accounts for many deathes each year.


I watched that report on rips the other night - was very interesting - specially the way they used the purple dye to show you how that pocket of water was totally seperate to al the water around it.
I agreed with the guy that said it wouldnt take much to have an educational brochure in hotels and backpackers inns, even in hire cars maybe.

Canberra I agree - very pretty city. I did a hot air balloon ride over it two years ago (month before the tragic bushfires) and its got some gorgeous architecture and gardens to fly over and its one of just a couple of cities in Aus where balloons can take off right in the city and fly over it.


Generally tourists see more of Australia in a week than most Austrlaians ever do in their life.

I guess that I am a lucky Australian - lived in every state except NT, lived in every capital city cept Darwin, lived in hundreds of country towns in each state. And have visited hundreds of others.  The only place I really need to git off my butt and go see is the NT.



Hey MannixGirl...Thank you so much for taking the time to give me plenty of information to get started with. When I get home from work I will check out the links you sent.
Being able to see the wildlife is very important, also good beaches. Are their Great White Sharks around ? Yikes!! I'm very excited, I can tell it is a beautiful country. I'll get back with ya later, thanks again---Neebs


No a prob at all Neebs - I love promoting my country !!  The Tourism Department really should give me a commission !!!!
OK wildlife - I recommend avoiding the main city zoos - they tend to be filled with animals that can be found in every zoo around the world.  But just out of most cities you can find wildlife parks that specialise in australian animals.

In Perth we have The Maze - great guy who builds amazing huge mazes - but has also built up a personal zoo of koalas, roos, emus, parrots, lizards, snakes etc. And its still the cheapest place in Perth.
http://www.themaze.com.au/
we also have
http://www.cohunu.com.au/ a Koala park - but very expensive - geared towards the bottomless wallets of the japanese tourism industry.
and http://www.cavershamwildlife.com.au/
If you like water wildlife - we have http://www.aqwa.com.au/main.asp which is a walk thru aquarium and according to my 3 American friends who went thru it - better than any they had seen in Florida and the US west coast !!.

In Adelaide there is
http://www.traveldownunder.com.au/South_Australia/Adelaide_Hills/Cleland_Wildlife_Park.asp
http://www.traveldownunder.com.au/South_Australia/Kangaroo_Island/index.asp
http://www.warrawong.com/  - a stunning sanctuary.

In NSW - in Dubbo - there is an awesome open plain safari style zoo - excells in breeding endangered species. My favoruite zoo on the entire planet. http://www.zoo.nsw.gov.au/ (it shares the website with Taronga Zoo - its on the harbour in Sydney).
Sydney has a couple of big aquariums. I suggest you avoid the one in Darling harbour as it is a cheap and nasty set up - again to satisfy the Japanese tourists. It has endless queues, is very expensive and has hardly any fish in it. 
Instead I recommend the Manly Aquarium - that way you get to go on a nice harbour cruise to get there. http://www.oceanworld.com.au/ (they do shark dives there to prove they dont eat everyone !!!).


Oh here is the link for the Jenolean Caves I mentioned in the other post
http://www.jenolancaves.org.au/


Beaches - well here I will be totally biased.  WA has the best !  Dont believe what the others tell you hehehe.  We have stunning clean sand, no poisoness jellyfishes like QLD does, less sharks than SA ;) , and our beaches never end - we have a coastline of approx 4000km and its all beach !

This is where I took my American friends and they just couldnt believe the beaches and stunning scenery
http://www.calm.wa.gov.au/national_parks/previous_parks_month/walpole_nornalup.html
http://www.southernforests.com.au/product/listing.asp?id=22
http://www.southernforests.com.au/product/listing.asp?id=17
I have some great pics but they feature my friends so they dont want their faces on the net - if you PM me I will give you the link to them.

ok thats enough links to keep you occupied !!!  When the gang in the rest of the states drop by they will have some more for you.

Come to the Blue Mountains. It rocks. You can camp with kangaroos.

http://www.bluemts.com.au/

You can go here too:

http://www.jenolancaves.org.au/

Come to the Blue Mountains.


Every time I read a line like that, it reminds me of that song by the Scared Weird Little Guys - Come To Australia; You Might Accidentally Get Killed :D

Gotta be Sydney ! :D

Seriously, BMG has certainly given you lots of great info to go on and has generally covered all areas.....and...as she's travelled a lot more than me  :-[  I can't really think of anywhere else...

You may call me biased...but I don't think you can go wrong in wherever you decide to visit, neebs25  :) 

Best of luck with it all  ;)

So Neebs - whats the progress !!!

How many weeks do you think you will be able to get down here for ?

If you go to Perth be sure to check out the Belltower. It looks even better than in the photos. And its only $5 for entry! Doesen't matter that you can get a better view at Central Park, its just not the same! A real landmark to rival the Sydney Harbour bridge or opera house :-)

So Neebs - whats the progress !!!

How many weeks do you think you will be able to get down here for ?



  Hey BMG!  Well, I've gone to my travel agent and got many books of things to do etc....  I never realized how big your country is.  One of the things that sounded good was to take a train across the country.  I read a little about it and it sounds nice.  I would hate to go and not be able to see everything (well most) that I want to see.  My boyfriend really wants to do a great white shark dive, but have'nt been able to find much information on it.  We're still undecided on exactly what we're gonna do, but this vacation is'nt for months anyway.  I want to thank you again for your help.  If you know of any great white shark diving  information please let me know.  Thanks a lot, Happy Valentines Day!

    neebs

Depending how long you have here...give Canberra a miss. It's not a bad place but when you have the option of going to Byron bay and Cairns, Sydney, Melbourne, Ularu and Kakadu, why would you waste time going there? It's inland so no beaches, it's our capital city so it is great for museums but damn, to come all the way here to look at a bronze statue...eh! there are much better things to do. Check them all out on the web first, there are great places in each state to see the little fury animal or 2 and also chech out Tasmania.
Good luck and bon voyage!

Try to get to the Great Barrier Reef.  It is beautiful.

If you go to Perth be sure to check out the Belltower. It looks even better than in the photos. And its only $5 for entry! Doesen't matter that you can get a better view at Central Park, its just not the same! A real landmark to rival the Sydney Harbour bridge or opera house :-)


Not sure where you live but I am assuming this statement is a joke ?  The Bell Tower is considered the biggest waste of taxpayers money in WA history. 
Central Park ? are you referring to the building on St Georges Terrace ?





Hey BMG! Well, I've gone to my travel agent and got many books of things to do etc.... I never realized how big your country is. One of the things that sounded good was to take a train across the country. I read a little about it and it sounds nice. I would hate to go and not be able to see everything (well most) that I want to see. My boyfriend really wants to do a great white shark dive, but have'nt been able to find much information on it. We're still undecided on exactly what we're gonna do, but this vacation is'nt for months anyway. I want to thank you again for your help. If you know of any great white shark diving information please let me know. Thanks a lot, Happy Valentines Day!

neebs


Hey Neebs :) 

The Indian Pacific train trip across the country from Perth to Sydney is indeed an experience.  (http://www.gsr.com.au/trainways/index.htm) I see they are now organising guided tours using the trains and then day tours.
My mum recommends that if you do it - you choose the Red or Gold Sleeper Cabin packages.  The Gold also includes your meals.
She said if you choose the "seat" option - without a cabin - aside from sitting up for four days and nights - your food isnt included and you cant take your own on board - so you could find yourself spending $50 - $100 per day just on food and drink. Much cheaper to get the sleeper cabin that includes all meals.

The only place I can find who does Shark Dives is the Manly Oceanarium in Sydney - http://sharkdive.oceanworld.com.au/  It looks fun !!!!

If you do end up doing the trip on the Indian Pacific - and end up in Perth at either end of the journey - you and your hubby would be more than welcome to stay at my place and use it as a base to do your day tours from etc. I live a 10 minute walk from the city centre so all the day tour buses leave from nearby.
If you PM me I will get your mailing address and post you some day tour brochures. I can get my friend in Melbourne to send you some from her area. Particularly the "Great Ocean Road" which I am positive you will love.

neebs, I am a humble Brit (OK, Pom) and I won't attempt to add anything to what the native Australians have told you.

All I can say is that my wife and I toured around Australia for 6 weeks 14 years ago (pre children!) and had a fantastic time.
I'd certainly recommend the bus tours that someone else referred to, all the drivers we had were really friendly and knowledgeable.
I'm really envious of your trip neebs, wherever you go you'll meet great people and see a fantastic country.

I remember visiting the Jenolan Caves BMG, that really brings back happy memories :)!

neebs, I am a humble Brit (OK, Pom) and I won't attempt to add anything to what the native Australians have told you.

All I can say is that my wife and I toured around Australia for 6 weeks 14 years ago (pre children!) and had a fantastic time.
I'd certainly recommend the bus tours that someone else referred to, all the drivers we had were really friendly and knowledgeable.
I'm really envious of your trip neebs, wherever you go you'll meet great people and see a fantastic country.

I remember visiting the Jenolan Caves BMG, that really brings back happy memories :)!


They are indeed an amazing collection of caves arent they Maddog.  And I agree - anytime I have done a day tour with the various bus companies - I always get the most amazing drivers who have a story to tell for every location and they keep you really entertained.
Dont forget to come back post children - when they all move out and "empty nest sydnrome" kicks in. Over here its called "The Baby Boomer Caravaners".  Estimates say there are currently 1.4 million people aged 50 - 70 spending 12 months or more travelling around Aus with their caravan.
So see - you can plan another trip in years to come hehehehe !!!
What states and cities/towns did you get to see on your trip ?

What states and cities/towns did you get to see on your trip ?

Hi BMG - that's amazing about the baby boomer caravanners, I'd love to be in a financial position to do that in my later years!

At the risk of boring everyone else, our itinerary on our last visit was:

1. Perth city and then Safety Bay, WA (to stay with my wife's uncle and aunt).

2. Uluru and the red centre - I climbed Uluru (formerly Ayers Rock) but I believe that's frowned on now.

3. Cairns / Barrier Reef / North Queensland

4. Brisbane & the Gold Coast (to stay with my cousin and her husband who emigrated in 1986).

5. Sydney & the Blue Mountains (including the Jenolan Caves!)

I really would have loved to visit Melbourne and South Australia too but there's a balance to draw between taking in the places we did see and doing more travelling and trying to cram more in, even though we had 6 weeks.

Hi BMG - that's amazing about the baby boomer caravanners, I'd love to be in a financial position to do that in my later years!

I really would have loved to visit Melbourne and South Australia too but there's a balance to draw between taking in the places we did see and doing more travelling and trying to cram more in, even though we had 6 weeks.


Funnily - Its unlikely that I will be a Baby of Baby Boomer Caravanner as I spent the first 6 years of my life in a caravan travelling all over New South Wales and bits of QLD, SA and VIC. Ive done the caravanning and Ive done the travelling round Aus!  My retirement (providing I win powerball) will be one cruise after the other - constantly on the ocean doing round the world trips !!!!!

You got 4 states into your 6 weeks - impressive indeed.  You will have to do Melbourne , SA and Tassie during your BBCT (Baby Boomer Caravanning Trip hehehe) in the future.

What did you think of my city Perth ?  Its doubled in size in the past 14 years but the main Touristy bits are still much the same - the Swan River, Freo, Kings Park etc.

Yep people are no longer encouraged to climb Ayers Rock/Uluru. Its basically tantamount to stepping on graves in a cemetary. But back when you and billions of other tourists did it - it was still "owned" by the Australian government. Now that it has been handed back to its traditional owners they prefer to educate and encourage no climbing.  Its still done of course - as tour groups still package it into their trips - but the caretakers encourage visitors to not do it.  The newest way to see it is by small plane or helicopter - an awesome way to photograph it, plus sunrise and sunset photography trips.

I wish I could find the award winning photo taken a few years ago during a huge storm - the rock was a grey purple and covered in waterfalls.  Stunning.  If I find it I will pop it on this thread.