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OT : I'm coming to Australia

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vlietinho
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OT : I'm coming to Australia 

Post#1 » by vlietinho » Tue Nov 13, 2012 1:51 pm

I was just reading Garb's OT topic about coming to Milwaukee, while I just booked a trip to Australia. :)

So I thought I might as well ask for some advice over here, since some Aussies still remain here

We're flying to Sydney (after a stopover in Thailand for a week), somewhere early Februari and we will return in March (one week Thailand, three weeks Australia)

I plan to go to Ayers Rock, and to do some snorkling at the great barrier reef. Although I havent made arrangements yet.

The rest is still blank

Are there things I really must see?

Any tips? Do's or dont's ?
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Re: OT : I'm coming to Australia 

Post#2 » by White+Purple » Tue Nov 13, 2012 5:27 pm

Sydney, Ayers Rock and the Great Barrier Reef are all tourist-friendly so you won't have any problems. Australia is very expensive though so do your homework on what prices will be. And those three places are all three-hour flights from each other. Australia is a big place. :)

Watch out for drop bears, don't trust anyone called Shazza and don't feed the bunyips.

Have fun!
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Re: OT : I'm coming to Australia 

Post#3 » by AussieBuck » Tue Nov 13, 2012 8:04 pm

I haven't been to Ayers rock but it is only a big lump sticking out of the ground a thousand miles from anywhere else.
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Re: OT : I'm coming to Australia 

Post#4 » by Garbs_7 » Tue Nov 13, 2012 9:48 pm

I live in Perth, Western Australia and if time / money wasn't really an issue then it would be worth coming across the country to visit. Could spend a couple of days in Perth and Especially Fremantle which is a really cool place and a nice tourist spot. Down south is great where you have Margaret River which is some of the best wine country in the world and amazing beaches / surf.

Most people don't make it over to W.A. though because its a bit far and expensive to add onto the trip. If you are only doing East Coast definitely check out Melbourne which is my favourite city. Make sure you check out an AFL game too.

I've been to Darwin which was fun, a good tourist spot to see wildlife like and crocodile parks etc
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Re: OT : I'm coming to Australia 

Post#5 » by adam10 » Tue Nov 13, 2012 10:07 pm

Come to Melbourne to watch the one and only Johnny Flynn... :lol:
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Re: OT : I'm coming to Australia 

Post#6 » by Nebula1 » Tue Nov 13, 2012 10:27 pm

When I visit Australia, I intend to tour the vineyards.
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Re: OT : I'm coming to Australia 

Post#7 » by blkout » Tue Nov 13, 2012 10:48 pm

I used to live like 15 minutes from the vineyards in NSW, nice enough but all the locals are inbred so watch out for that.

This is a good site for finding festivals and events and such based on the date you want http://www.eventfinder.com.au/

You've got most of the tourist things down, Queensland has a lot of theme parks and stuff that might be worth checking out while you're up that way. Sydney has the obvious ones (harbour bridge/opera house etc) in late February there might be some football games on you could go and watch (NRL, AFL I guess if you can stomach it).

If I were coming here for a holiday once that stuff is out of the way I'd just wander around the city, find some cool bars/restaurants and be part of the culture or whatever. There's always resorts and spas and whatever but I'm not really into that kinda thing personally, I prefer just pretending to be a local for a few weeks.
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Re: OT : I'm coming to Australia 

Post#8 » by Nebula1 » Tue Nov 13, 2012 10:50 pm

blkout wrote:I used to live like 15 minutes from the vineyards in NSW, nice enough but all the locals are inbred so watch out for that.


:lol:

I do love your Shiraz so I'd risk it.
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Re: OT : I'm coming to Australia 

Post#9 » by blazza18 » Tue Nov 13, 2012 10:50 pm

We can't call it Ayers rock anymore can we ?


You have to go to the gold coast and visit the theme parks. They're all good.
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Re: OT : I'm coming to Australia 

Post#10 » by Whiteman » Tue Nov 13, 2012 10:51 pm

I'm no Aussie but I'll butt in anyway.

One of the things about Australia is that it's a pretty big place, especially by Dutch standards.
Are you planning to travel within Australia by plane? If so, you could spend a day or two to see Ayer's rock - it's a lot more interesting than the average lump-sticking-out-of-the-ground. The Olga's are nearby as well, also worth seeing (just as impressive imho).
If you want to experience the outback a little, you could do a longer tour with a group and guide - for example Darwin - Ayer's Rock or Adelaide - Alice Springs. The National parks in the North like Kakadu are also great (if it's the right time of year).
Otherwise it might be easier to just stick to the east coast - it's very easy to fill 3 weeks between Sydney and Cairns. The Whitsunday Islands are gorgeous, Fraser Island has lots of sand, near Cairns the rainforest borders the beach etc etc
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Re: OT : I'm coming to Australia 

Post#11 » by Garbs_7 » Tue Nov 13, 2012 10:52 pm

Nebula1 wrote:When I visit Australia, I intend to tour the vineyards.


I don't drink wine but apparently South Australia and the South West of W.A. is the best wine country in Australia.
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Re: OT : I'm coming to Australia 

Post#12 » by blkout » Tue Nov 13, 2012 10:54 pm

blazza18 wrote:We can't call it Ayers rock anymore can we ?


You have to go to the gold coast and visit the theme parks. They're all good.


Yeah I think it's Uluru now. Meh
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Re: OT : I'm coming to Australia 

Post#13 » by vlietinho » Wed Nov 14, 2012 8:20 am

White+Purple wrote:Don't trust anyone called Shazza and don't feed the bunyips.

Have fun!


I'll try to remember that :-)

Garbs_7 wrote:If you are only doing East Coast definitely check out Melbourne which is my favourite city. Make sure you check out an AFL game too.


Yeah, I was planning to see some kind of sports game.

blkout wrote:This is a good site for finding festivals and events and such based on the date you want http://www.eventfinder.com.au/


thx!

Whiteman wrote:Are you planning to travel within Australia by plane? If so, you could spend a day or two to see Ayer's rock - it's a lot more interesting than the average lump-sticking-out-of-the-ground. The Olga's are nearby as well, also worth seeing (just as impressive imho).
If you want to experience the outback a little, you could do a longer tour with a group and guide - for example Darwin - Ayer's Rock or Adelaide - Alice Springs. The National parks in the North like Kakadu are also great (if it's the right time of year).
Otherwise it might be easier to just stick to the east coast - it's very easy to fill 3 weeks between Sydney and Cairns. The Whitsunday Islands are gorgeous, Fraser Island has lots of sand, near Cairns the rainforest borders the beach etc etc


Yeah, we're planning to do it by plane otherwise it will take way too long. I heard good stories about the WhitSundays as well. Might go check them out


I'm not a wino but the misses is, so we'll probably do some vineyarding too :lol:

Thank you all for the input!
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Re: OT : I'm coming to Australia 

Post#14 » by brettski » Wed Nov 14, 2012 9:57 am

I've done a bunch of trips up to the Great Barrier Reef (I live on the Gold Coast and previously Brisbane).

If you're going up that way I would probably recommend Palm Cove or Trinity Beach. They're about 10 minutes north of Cairns. One thing you should know is that Cairns is that it doesn't have beaches, it has mud flats. Going 10 minutes north you get these quiet more secluded little town ships full of resorts opposite beautiful beaches lined with palm trees. It also has the Daintree Rainforrest nearby and the Daintree River (crocodile cruises). Oh and a Casino in Cairns if you're into that sort of thing.

Alternatively you could try one of the Whitsunday Islands like Hamilton Island but they're far more expensive. I did a week at Palm Cove in a furnished 2 bedroom unit, went to the supermarket and stocked up on food etc so that it wasn't too expensive a holiday.

If you go diving or snorkeling my recommendation would be one of Green Island or one of the floating pontoons. Stick to those rather than going in off one of the island beaches because they use small outboards to ferry people to the beach which churns up sand and reduces vision underwater. The pontoons tend to be in deeper water where the ferry's and catamarans can't churn up sand. Similarly Green Island has a nice long pontoon that all the boats dock at well away from snorkeling areas.

Gold Coast is very touristy and has some fun amusement parks http://www.goldcoast.com.au/gold-coast-theme-parks.html
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Re: OT : I'm coming to Australia 

Post#15 » by tasball » Wed Nov 14, 2012 10:14 am

Don't listen to all these Mainlanders -

Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2013 publication has named Hobart (Tasmania) one of the Top 10 cities in the world to visit in 2013. Hobart is ranked at number 7 in the publication and is the only Australian city on the list.
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Re: OT : I'm coming to Australia 

Post#16 » by AussieBuck » Wed Nov 14, 2012 10:29 am

tasball wrote:Don't listen to all these Mainlanders -

Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2013 publication has named Hobart (Tasmania) one of the Top 10 cities in the world to visit in 2013. Hobart is ranked at number 7 in the publication and is the only Australian city on the list.

To be fair he did say he was coming to Australia and not Tasmania.
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Re: OT : I'm coming to Australia 

Post#17 » by vlietinho » Wed Nov 14, 2012 10:42 am

As a Dutchman I should go there probably since it's named after Abel Tasman, the Dutchy who discovered it..
Oh wait, we Dutchies discovered Australia as well ;-)
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Re: OT : I'm coming to Australia 

Post#18 » by vlietinho » Wed Nov 14, 2012 10:45 am

tasball wrote:Don't listen to all these Mainlanders -

Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2013 publication has named Hobart (Tasmania) one of the Top 10 cities in the world to visit in 2013. Hobart is ranked at number 7 in the publication and is the only Australian city on the list.


Amsterdam is second on that list and I wouldn't want to be found dead there.

Hobart looks like a nice city though, but it might be a little off route
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Re: OT : I'm coming to Australia 

Post#19 » by White+Purple » Wed Nov 14, 2012 11:57 am

Whiteman wrote:Are you planning to travel within Australia by plane? If so, you could spend a day or two to see Ayer's rock - it's a lot more interesting than the average lump-sticking-out-of-the-ground. The Olga's are nearby as well, also worth seeing (just as impressive imho).

+1

The National parks in the North like Kakadu are also great (if it's the right time of year).

+1. Right time of year is May to August though unfortunately.

Otherwise it might be easier to just stick to the east coast - it's very easy to fill 3 weeks between Sydney and Cairns. The Whitsunday Islands are gorgeous, Fraser Island has lots of sand, near Cairns the rainforest borders the beach etc etc

+1, but anywhere north of Brisbane will be hot and humid in Feb/March. Conversely the weather in Melbourne/Tasmania will be spectacular.

Garbs_7 wrote:I don't drink wine but apparently South Australia and the South West of W.A. is the best wine country in Australia.

+1 :)
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Re: OT : I'm coming to Australia 

Post#20 » by blkout » Wed Nov 14, 2012 12:18 pm

Tasmania :rofl:
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