Australia

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DipsyChick

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It's the time of year for planning hols! May push the boat out this year and head to oz - does anybody have any recommendations or must sees? Would only be looking at spending 3-4 weeks there.

I did have a quick look in the keyposts but these seem to deal more with getting there.

Thanks !
 
You could do worse than reading Down Under by Bill Bryson. Lots of interesting out of the way (some very out of the way) places to see.
 
Huge country, you could do ONE of the following in a 3/4 week window. (also allow for a cople of days to get over jetlag to/from Oz.

Travel West Coast, Darwin to Perth - much less touristy than east coast but also more of a adventurous outdoor holiday. One of the last wildernesses on earth, Kakadu Park, nice beaches (Broome), diving at Ningaloo and Perth is a nice city. Weather be nice in May.

Travel West Coast - Sydney to Cairns - Main tourist trail in Oz, well developed infrastructure all along the way. Sydney, Gold Coast, Whitsundays, Fraiser Island, Barrier Reef and Cape Tribulation.

Travel South from Brisbane to Sydney to Melbourne - spend about a week in each, three very different cities with a lot of non city things to do just outside the cities. Gold Coast Beaches, Sydney harbour, Blue Mountains, Great Ocean Road, Melbourne culture.

I jsut listed a snapshot of what is available on each trip. I would suggest that you look into these 3 itineries and then go for the one that fits your interests best.

All 3 are fantastic, the only way you can screw up a trip to Oz is if you try to do too much in your time there. It should be a holiday and not an endurance race to try and cram everything in. Also do not forget that May is late Autumn in Oz.
 
I was there in 1997, and Adelaide is a great city. I second that idea of reading Bill Bryson's book. It's funny and will give you great ideas of things to see and do.
 
I spent 5 weeks in Darwin and wouldn't really recommend it. Nice to see but it's too isolated. If you only have 3/4 weeks, you want somewhere where you can cram in loads of things to go. We did a week in Kakadu while in Darwin and granted that was nice. We did every single trip that was going but got eaten alive with mozzies! The East Coast would be handy for travelling from town to town. My sister lived over there for 4 years and she absolutely adored Perth, she thought it was the nicest city in Oz. Whatever you do, book at least one if not two internal flights included in your ticket when you're booking. It's a lot cheaper that way and you won't regret it. New Zealand is meant to be lovely too if you could squeeze that in.
 
I did a trip over 10 months which started in Perth, went south west as far as Dunsborough for a week or two and then journeyed up the coast to Darwin.

The distances involved are enormous don't underestimate them.

You could start in Perth & Freemantle (lovely city and surroundings) then fly or drive&camp to Darwin, maybe with a stop off at Ningaloo to do some diving (excellent).

I second the opinion about Darwin, it's isolated with a tough climate and tough wildlife i.e. take crocodile warning signs very seriously. But if you really like wildlife and wildernesses I would focus on Darwin/Kakadu/Kimberley. It's very special and worth seeeing

Broome is in the Kimberley between Ningaloo and Darwin. Fascinating history of pearl diving and nice beach but not much to do otherwise, it's just a small town in the desert. If you're interested in history it's a must.

The area south west of Perth is lovely too - Dunsborough, Margaret River etc. Nice easy climate, wine making, camping, easy going holidaying area for Perth. Great for just relaxing. I really liked it. Some nice wreck diving on purposely sunk battle ships.

It depends what kind of holiday you want.
 
Definitely recommend Bill Bryson book - very entertaining and gives you a bit of an insight into Oz.

Would also recommend buying the Lonely Planet guide to Australia. When i was there i used it to get a feel for the places i was visiting (recommendations normally accurate) plus the first hundred pages or so provide an easy to read history of Australia.

I was there for a month in total - 1 week in Sydney (too long - beautiful city but 3/4 days is loads) and 3 weeks travelling from Cairns to Brisbane. Loved it, esp Fraiser Island
 
We flew into Brisbane then up to Cairns. Picked up a car at the airport and drove to Port Douglas where we stayed for 8 days. Drove back to Cairns and flew to Ayers Rock where we again picked up a car. Did the Rock, the Olgas and the Sounds of Silence Dinner out in the bush. Spent 3 days in the area. Drove to Kings Canyon for a night and took a helicopter trip to see the canyon. Drove to Alice Springs had a look round stayed the night and dropped off the car. Took the Ghan train down to Adelaide, cattle class but great fun, took 19 hours overnight. Five days in Adelaide - beautiful city then took a plane to Sydney where we stayed for 11 days. Too long, but we saw a lot of distant rellies.

Had 3 nights in Singapore on the way down to Oz and 3 nights in Bangkok on the way back.

Excellent holiday.
 
I did 3 weeks up the west coast of Oz from Perth to Darwin.
The rest of Australia was a poor second after doing this.
 
Musts...
Whitehaven Beach..there are beaches and there is this beach..
I suppose Ayers Rock
As Soy said the beaches in Broome & the sea is so warm !!!
Sydney Harbour Bridge, look at or walk it.As WarrenBuffet said 3/4 days is loads for Sydney
Good Party town.Melbourne Cup (Horse Race) or Formula 1 Grand Prix..
Cycle tour of the Wine Valleys outside of Adelaide
Play 'Two up' in any Australian casino
Sluming it in Airlie Beach
Magnetic Island
Bungee Jumping in Cairns
Swim at the Great Barrier Reef near Cairns
Buying a Tray of VB

Maybeeeees
Bondi Beach, just say you have been there and it is still not up to much..lol
Mullaloo Beach, Perth.
Ghan Train from Perth To Adelaide

Weather
Nov - March visit south of Brisbane
July - October/Nov visit north of Brisbane
That should get you going for starters...
 
nopotatos said:
I did 3 weeks up the west coast of Oz from Perth to Darwin.
The rest of Australia was a poor second after doing this.
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I am sorry but every part of Australia is as interesting as the little piece you travelled.
Haveing explored this amazing country on two holidays, first trip two months ,next trip three months.

My second trip I hired a camper van in Sydney and drove up the gold coast and sunshine coast where we spent St Patricks Day in a place called Coloundra.
In a camping site in Brisbane we met an Australian couple who told us "you must go to Rubyvale " to fossick for gemstones mainly sapphires so we took a detour in Queensland (added about 1000 miles ) on our planned itinerary and took part in the mad rush for the big GEM.
I left the camper van in Cairns which is a beautiful place and flew from there to Darwin where I spent five days and then hired a car and drove across the Northern Territory to Broome where on the way I did the helicopter trip across the "Bungle Bungle" and then flew to Perth where we were attending a family wedding.

First trip we drove across the Nullabor from WA and spent time in Melbourne which is magic and then flew to Tasmania for a few days.

My point is that Australia is vast and has such extremes in desert and Margaret River extremes the whole place is fantastic.
 
Guys, thanks for all the replies - unforunately looks like this isn't going to happen at the minute, but I'm filing all the info for the future! Thanks Again.
 
can you use aib debit card there,or should i get a visa card?i think,its cheaper to use a debit card.
 
Yes, you can use Cirrus but there's a charge of 3.5%. Much cheaper to get a Cr Card & preload it with funds.
Also wise to have yourself set up for Online banking. Then you can keep an eye on things as you travel.
 
16024 said:
I was there in 1997, and Adelaide is a great city. I second that idea of reading Bill Bryson's book. It's funny and will give you great ideas of things to see and do.
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Have to greatly disagree!! I lived in Adelaide for 3 months and christ I though I'd never get out. It's where people go to retire. the City centre is Dead at night...completely. There's a couple of places to go in the city but not many.

It's got plenty of churches and Pokies (slot machines that South Australia is plagued with in every pub) and not much else.

Wine regions od Clare and Barossa valleys are close by and so is the beach but apart from that, Avoid Adelaide !!!

Melbourne on the other hand is amazing, I wish I didn't have to leave. Something different to do every night, museums, cafes, theatres, restaurants, little bars, big overblown places, trams, people, culture...brilliant place.

People in W.A are the best, specially the ones out in the sticks (Esperance, Broome esp).

Drive thru the tropics in wet season...now that's cool.

Take piccies of rivers of rain running down Uluru and you're in the minority.

Can't comment on the East coast, wasn't there...that's my excuse to go back !!!
 
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