# Ireland to OZ, no planes thank you



## shootingstar (9 Nov 2010)

Is it possible to get a cruise to OZ? I cant stand flying, i`ll fly if i have to but i`d rather take a few weeks out and travel by ferry... 

has anyone done this or do they know where to go about doing this?


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## Berni (9 Nov 2010)

Don't know of a ferry, but you can do it by bus! http://www.oz-bus.com/


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## nai (9 Nov 2010)

[broken link removed]


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## Odea (9 Nov 2010)

I see that they camp in the outback on this trip. Do you like spiders?


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## Berni (9 Nov 2010)

Apparently by boat is a possibility, using cargo freighters. 
http://www.seat61.com/Australia-overland.htm


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## tosullivan (9 Nov 2010)

didn't Charley Boorman do a show on a trip from Wicklow to Australia by any means necessary and avoided flights as much as possible?


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## oldnick (9 Nov 2010)

NO CHANCE ! almost.

For many  years I had a small sub department of my travel business dealing with Oz. This question often arose. I never found a cheap and reliable way of doing it by land/sea -and I always asked whoever enquired to get back to me if they found a way. Nobody did.

If money, time , discomfort are no obstacle then it's possible - usually going overland to S.E. Asia -see Berni's post above, but  the boat part of the trip onward  is  difficult.


..once you get to the end of the land line whether Singapore, Bangkok, Hong-Kong or anywhere else where the train lines end there is no onward passenger service to Oz other than
- by super dear cruise ships (E.G. where you book a portion of say a round-the world cruise ,e.g. BKK-SYD).Obviously these should be booked prior to leaving ireland.
- *or,* and these can be much dearer than a flight ticket, a cabin on the irregular cargo ships,  and there are few that ever offer this service (try Perkins.com/au)
- *or *private tour groups such as the aforementioned oz-bus whose prices are phenomenal.
-*or* getting as far as Bali ,island-hopping from singapore, where you have a short  flight to Darwin. (actually this is the cheapest option of the lot)


Just arriving at an Asian port and catching a passing cargo boat to Oz is almost a  myth.

If you can get to and from Dub to Oz by land/sea for under five grand and in under six weeks each way i'd be amazed.

(having read what I've just written I forecast somebody now telling me they did land/sea  last year with no hassle....)


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## salaried (10 Nov 2010)

I love the research Nick, You are the don of travel agents, Great answer.


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## shootingstar (10 Nov 2010)

OMG  the whole thing sounds next to impossible and a complete disaster... Not to mention the financial impact it will have on me!!! Grrrr

I thought there would be a cruise or something similar that i could get and sail away out nicely to OZ over a 3-4 week period. No such luck.


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## Petermack (10 Nov 2010)

shootingstar said:


> OMG  the whole thing sounds next to impossible and a complete disaster... Not to mention the financial impact it will have on me!!! Grrrr
> 
> I thought there would be a cruise or something similar that i could get and sail away out nicely to OZ over a 3-4 week period. No such luck.


 
Well you can do a cruise that starts in Southampton and ends in Brisbane. P&O offer a 48 day cruise and the cheapest cabins begin in or around the €4500 mark. I´m not sure if there is a single supplement on top of that. The departure date is January 09th but the cruises get dearer the later in the year it gets.


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## oldnick (10 Nov 2010)

Salaried - tks for above comment. Sadly am no longer a travel agent - just a home gardener,decorator and grumpy old man who keeps finding leaflets from my wife with details of trips for single old people. Last leaflet she left was from Exit - a euthanasia outfit based in Switzerland !

Maybe I should accompany Shooting Star across Asia, unless she's considering taking hubby and three young adult kids, in which case she could buy the cheapest family cabin on a R.T.W cruise with 40 stops, including five in Oz.
There's some great deals now for under a hundred thousand euros per cabin !

last comment - if anyone is considering train to Asia never do it in Winter - it can be endless days of white blinding snow  from East Europe to Beijing, and stopping off en route in sub sub zero temperatures ain't fun.


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## Delboy (10 Nov 2010)

i got a train from Hong Kong to Brussels some years back!!! via Biejing, X'ian, Urumqui, Almaty, Tashkent (+ a few more towns along the silk route in Uzbek), Moscow, Berlin (via a customs hold up of 2 days in Belorus at the Polish border), Amsterdam and then Brussels. Took 2 months at a slow pace (incl 1 month in China).
Best trip ever

So a boat could be added in at either end, and you could even start the train section further south, in Vietnam for example


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## Petermack (10 Nov 2010)

Delboy said:


> i got a train from Hong Kong to Brussels some years back!!! via Biejing, X'ian, Urumqui, Almaty, Tashkent (+ a few more towns along the silk route in Uzbek), Moscow, Berlin (via a customs hold up of 2 days in Belorus at the Polish border), Amsterdam and then Brussels. Took 2 months at a slow pace (incl 1 month in China).
> Best trip ever
> 
> So a boat could be added in at either end, and you could even start the train section further south, in Vietnam for example


 

Sounds like some trip. Can you remembr what the cost was like ?


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## Delboy (10 Nov 2010)

it was in the early noughties that i did it and funnily enough, i found some receipts/brochures etc on a recent clear out of the attic
About 8k AUD each for trains/accomm/transfers/visas (big issue at the time) per person- I booked it from the Australian side at the time


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## Henny Penny (12 Nov 2010)

If u have a shovel u could start digging ... It might be quicker than going by boat!


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## thejuggler (12 Nov 2010)

The choices are a round the world cruise which takes ages
or fly but take in stages to break it up Dubai Singapore, Japan Oz
or and this is my preferred option

Fly business class with a bed and sleep your way through it


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## babaduck (27 Nov 2010)

Nick - do give the very lovely J my regards... she has the patience of a saint


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## oldnick (28 Nov 2010)

she's a lucky woman !
-and just in case someone complains about personal messages on this thread I'll mention Strand Travel of London; the world's leading travel agency for obtaining berths on cargo ships including to Oz.


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## Firefly (29 Nov 2010)

Berni said:


> Don't know of a ferry, but you can do it by bus! http://www.oz-bus.com/



What a great idea. Sounds like the very first thing I'd like to do when I retire!


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