OT: Art, Music, Literature, Media, and More! Part 1

[Captain_Caveman]

Planning a December vacation with the wife and kids (11yo and 8yo) in Australia and NZ. Would be 3-4 weeks long. I know plenty of people who have been there, but I haven't, and therefore have no idea what I am doing. Was thinking fly into Sydney, get a decent vacation rental in some beach town, and do the South Island of NZ. Fascinated by idea of going to Perth, but not sure I want to burn two extra days of vacation traveling to do it.

Thoughts from you Aussies, or anyone else here who has been? Thanks.

[Ed Pinkney]

Planning a December vacation with the wife and kids (11yo and 8yo) in Australia and NZ. Would be 3-4 weeks long. I know plenty of people who have been there, but I haven't, and therefore have no idea what I am doing. Was thinking fly into Sydney, get a decent vacation rental in some beach town, and do the South Island of NZ. Fascinated by idea of going to Perth, but not sure I want to burn two extra days of vacation traveling to do it.

Thoughts from you Aussies, or anyone else here who has been? Thanks.

Happy to give some tips/ideas. How are you planning on getting about and what sort of activities are you interested in?

Perth/West Australia is pretty nice, it is a long way from anywhere else though.

[Captain_Caveman]

Planning a December vacation with the wife and kids (11yo and 8yo) in Australia and NZ. Would be 3-4 weeks long. I know plenty of people who have been there, but I haven't, and therefore have no idea what I am doing. Was thinking fly into Sydney, get a decent vacation rental in some beach town, and do the South Island of NZ. Fascinated by idea of going to Perth, but not sure I want to burn two extra days of vacation traveling to do it.

Thoughts from you Aussies, or anyone else here who has been? Thanks.

Happy to give some tips/ideas. How are you planning on getting about and what sort of activities are you interested in?

Perth/West Australia is pretty nice, it is a long way from anywhere else though.

Down for whatever. Would probably rent our own cars in both countries.Would kinda just like to park and do nothing for a week in a beach town, before exploring the south island for a week. Open to anything the rest of the time.

[Ed Pinkney]

Planning a December vacation with the wife and kids (11yo and 8yo) in Australia and NZ. Would be 3-4 weeks long. I know plenty of people who have been there, but I haven't, and therefore have no idea what I am doing. Was thinking fly into Sydney, get a decent vacation rental in some beach town, and do the South Island of NZ. Fascinated by idea of going to Perth, but not sure I want to burn two extra days of vacation traveling to do it.

Thoughts from you Aussies, or anyone else here who has been? Thanks.

Happy to give some tips/ideas. How are you planning on getting about and what sort of activities are you interested in?

Perth/West Australia is pretty nice, it is a long way from anywhere else though.

Down for whatever. Would probably rent our own cars in both countries.Would kinda just like to park and do nothing for a week in a beach town, before exploring the south island for a week. Open to anything the rest of the time.

Cool, well if you are driving and just want to chill then Perth is probably off the table, as you said you will be in the car for a couple of days to get there. Some amazing beach towns around there though.

Sydney is a large, busy city so it is good for touristy stuff but it is not that different from lots of other big cities, and because it is not that old there isn't a heap of historical stuff to see. The harbour is pretty amazing and there is some interesting activities you can do (Harbour Bridge climb, Opera House, Taronga Zoo etc). If you are coming into Sydney and driving, then beach towns north and south of Sydney will give you some nice options and will be cheaper than Sydney itself.

North of Sydney around Newcastle and the Central Coast are some really nice spots. I haven't spent much time around there myself, but Newcastle, Terrigal, Port Stephens, Nelson Bay are all possibles.

South of Sydney there are some great places too. The area around Jervis Bay is great, amazing beaches, National Parks etc. I would definitely recommend around there as a good possibility. And further south is really nice too, heaps of small towns the whole way down the coast. I spend a lot of time around an area further south called Broulee, lots of nice beaches around there. Water temperature is still pretty cold in December south of Sydney if you care about that sort of thing, usually only around 20 degrees celsius. A little warmer north of Sydney but not by much.

The Blue Mountains are great too, its about an hour inland from Sydney. A bit like a smaller grand canyon covered in forest.

What sort of things do your kids like? I have a 13 and 11 year old, so I might be able to give you some suggestions for that sort of stuff too.

Cant help with New Zealand unfortunately. It is still on top my list of places to visit I haven't been to yet (along with Japan), but there are a lot of good camper van holidays you can do, and there are some cool bike riding holidays you can do as well.

[sam_I_am]

Manly Beach in Sydney and Bondi Beach which is beach town/suburb of Sydney are nice. Surfer’s paradise and Gold Coast are not to far from Sydney but I never went there. I flew up to Cairns and from there took bus tour thru rain forest down to kayaking trip on beach, to snorkeling/diving on Great Barrier Reef and to Kakadu national park. That was 20 years ago and was pretty undeveloped but I think it would be better now with kids.

Be careful driving long distances as rural areas don’t always have easy access to car repairs, gas stations etc - or at least they didn’t used to. It’s probably easier and better use of time to get cheap airline tickets if you want to go to Perth.

Also, Bill Bryson’s “Life in a Sunburnt Country” ( also retitled “Down Under”) is a must read before you go!

[Captain_Caveman]

Thanks, guys.

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

I just finished season 2 of the Wire. I was told that season 2 was the worst of the 5. Can anyone confirm? If this is true, then yaaay for me since I still enjoyed season 2. Downloading season 3 right now

[London2Boston]

I just finished season 2 of the Wire. I was told that season 2 was the worst of the 5. Can anyone confirm? If this is true, then yaaay for me since I still enjoyed season 2. Downloading season 3 right now

Yeah. It probably is. Season 3 and 4 are the strongest imo.

[Valid]

Anyone here into fishing? Used to fish quite a bit when I was younger. Stopped for like 12 years and now I'm back into it again. Been going nonstop lately.

[SuperDeluxe]

I've just finished binge-watching "The Break" (or "La Trêve"). Excellent Belgian crime series on Netflix, 10 episodes in total. Although the acting is not up to the quality standard set by the script/direction/photography, once you get hooked you are really hooked. So many potential suspects, and everyone in this small rural town seems to have something dirty to hide. Highly recommended.

[canman1971]

Planning a December vacation with the wife and kids (11yo and 8yo) in Australia and NZ. Would be 3-4 weeks long. I know plenty of people who have been there, but I haven't, and therefore have no idea what I am doing. Was thinking fly into Sydney, get a decent vacation rental in some beach town, and do the South Island of NZ. Fascinated by idea of going to Perth, but not sure I want to burn two extra days of vacation traveling to do it.

Thoughts from you Aussies, or anyone else here who has been? Thanks.

I have a buddy who actually biked Australia and Tazmania a year ago. He has a online journal/blog I can share with you if you’d like. I know your not biking but he’s pretty detailed so some info might be useful. He also has plenty of pictures and recommendations.

[sam_I_am]

I just finished season 2 of the Wire. I was told that season 2 was the worst of the 5. Can anyone confirm? If this is true, then yaaay for me since I still enjoyed season 2. Downloading season 3 right now

Yeah. It probably is. Season 3 and 4 are the strongest imo.

I actually loved season 2. For me season 5 has been a struggle.

[3D Chess]

Thanks, guys.

As a city, Melbourne >>> Sydney.

If you want chill beach mode, fly in to Brisbane, rent a car and head north along the sunshine coast / Noosa Heads & beyond, or south to Byron Bay.

[canman1971]

Planning a December vacation with the wife and kids (11yo and 8yo) in Australia and NZ. Would be 3-4 weeks long. I know plenty of people who have been there, but I haven't, and therefore have no idea what I am doing. Was thinking fly into Sydney, get a decent vacation rental in some beach town, and do the South Island of NZ. Fascinated by idea of going to Perth, but not sure I want to burn two extra days of vacation traveling to do it.

Thoughts from you Aussies, or anyone else here who has been? Thanks.

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=tS&doc_id=19071&v=58

Here is the link. It's actually pretty entertaining reading for anyone who wants to check it out.

[Captain_Caveman]

I just finished season 2 of the Wire. I was told that season 2 was the worst of the 5. Can anyone confirm? If this is true, then yaaay for me since I still enjoyed season 2. Downloading season 3 right now

Yeah. It probably is. Season 3 and 4 are the strongest imo.

I actually loved season 2. For me season 5 has been a struggle.

5th season lost steam, but it's all pretty stellar.

[SichtingLives]

Season 2 was great. It was just a curveball and some people have a hard time with that. To this day when I see any of those mfers I say AYYY SOBOTKA!! Or Ziggy you fn idiot!!!

[Sedale Threatt]

I just finished season 2 of the Wire. I was told that season 2 was the worst of the 5. Can anyone confirm? If this is true, then yaaay for me since I still enjoyed season 2. Downloading season 3 right now

Yeah. It probably is. Season 3 and 4 are the strongest imo.

I actually loved season 2. For me season 5 has been a struggle.

Same. I think Season 2 gets a bad rap because it's so unexpected. A bunch of the main characters from Season 1 are pushed into the background, allowing for an entirely new group with which to explore a different narrative. This undoubtedly bothers a substantial group of people expecting an extension from Season 1. But as Season 2 proves, Simon was never interested in doing a straight cops and criminals show. Above all else, The Wire is about the decline of the American city, of which industry is key.

Season 5 was still interesting for me as a former newspaper journalist, but it's definitely the weakest of the bunch. Otherwise, Seasons 1-4 are all pretty fantastic in my eyes.

[rickrolled]

This isn't necessary. Grow up. Canman

[Pacino62]

In 2018 we have people ignorant enough to run a prank centered around being homosexual and harassing guys until they make deragatory comments. This video is such offensive trash. I literally didn’t even chuckle once.

[rickrolled]

To each his own man, I found it to be hilarious, every one has a different sense of humor.