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OT: Australia Trip

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Re: OT: Australia Trip 

Post#61 » by Coln72 » Thu Sep 14, 2017 12:03 pm

Nah, they just store the dead bodies in the local bank :-?
Anyway, the best way the see South Australia is in the rear view mirror :nod:
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Re: OT: Australia Trip 

Post#62 » by chile » Fri Feb 1, 2019 8:48 pm

Bumping this topic. I have plenty of time to figure out a plan but letting others know you can fly out of Milwaukee to Sydney for low/mid 700's. My trip is late November/early December.

Initial thoughts are visiting Sydney and GBR at least. What other things should I be looking into? Someone mentioned Tasmania. Do I have to do Melbourne if I do Sydney? Skip Brisbane and do Cairns for GBR? We like mountain hikes, beaches (not big into partying), snorkeling, city centers/architecture. The usual... good views, unique architecture, land or sea, etc... The lady HATES spiders but I don't mind seeing them. I just need forewarning if I am going to a place that has spiders as big as my hand.
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Re: RE: Re: OT: Australia Trip 

Post#63 » by MartyConlonOnTheRun » Fri Feb 1, 2019 8:56 pm

stellation wrote:
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Come here in January when it's 10 degrees and there's 20 inches of snow on the ground and then tell me how much Melbourne sucks. Or come here in July or August when it's 90-95 degrees with balls-sticking-to-your-leg humidity.

If you're on the coast in Australia your weather is in the top 1% of the world.
I once travelled from Perth summer to NY winter. My body was in complete shock for two weeks, freakin painful.

I once went Berlin winter to Sydney summer, it had been below 0/killer wind chill leaving (which it had been for the past week) and I managed to land on a humid as all hell 40 degree day. I recall not feeling very well.

Sicne this thread was already bumped, I went from 100 degrees inside the office in Melbourne (literally 100 degrees inside the building because the AC wasn't strong enough) to a polar vortex of -20 or whatever in a matter of a few days. I literally got sent home in both places due to extreme weather-one for heat, one for cold in a week. Add in 17 hour jet lag and it is shocking the system.
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Re: OT: Australia Trip 

Post#64 » by MartyConlonOnTheRun » Fri Feb 1, 2019 9:04 pm

chile wrote:Bumping this topic. I have plenty of time to figure out a plan but letting others know you can fly out of Milwaukee to Sydney for low/mid 700's. My trip is late November/early December.

Initial thoughts are visiting Sydney and GBR at least. What other things should I be looking into? Someone mentioned Tasmania. Do I have to do Melbourne if I do Sydney? Skip Brisbane and do Cairns for GBR? We like mountain hikes, beaches (not big into partying), snorkeling, city centers/architecture. The usual... good views, unique architecture, land or sea, etc... The lady HATES spiders but I don't mind seeing them. I just need forewarning if I am going to a place that has spiders as big as my hand.

My very limited experience:
Melbourne was cool and easy to get around but it is weird that nothing memorable was there. You don't go back and say "oh I saw (insert opera house, scenic view, cool building, etc). I found it very easy to use the free tram throughout the city, botanic gardens for a good running spot, and lots of cool rooftop bars. If you aren't into drinking and not their for the Open, don't feel bad about missing it.

If you are into outdoors and don't have a ton of time, Blue Mountains is about 90 min-2 hours away from Sydney. Nice hikes and waterfall.

If you like to be outside and into history, I always recommend doing the 'free' walking tours in cities the first day. They are a great way to get your bearings, understand the historical background of the city, 1-2 'interesting' facts, and usually pointed out to a few bars based on budget. Usually pay 10-25 bucks depending on the area. Even if the tour sucks, you basically are walking the city in an organized manner for 2-3 hours.
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Re: OT: Australia Trip 

Post#65 » by jute2003 » Fri Feb 1, 2019 9:20 pm

chile wrote:Bumping this topic. I have plenty of time to figure out a plan but letting others know you can fly out of Milwaukee to Sydney for low/mid 700's. My trip is late November/early December.

Initial thoughts are visiting Sydney and GBR at least. What other things should I be looking into? Someone mentioned Tasmania. Do I have to do Melbourne if I do Sydney? Skip Brisbane and do Cairns for GBR? We like mountain hikes, beaches (not big into partying), snorkeling, city centers/architecture. The usual... good views, unique architecture, land or sea, etc... The lady HATES spiders but I don't mind seeing them. I just need forewarning if I am going to a place that has spiders as big as my hand.


Rumour has it that Aussiebuck can't handle his booze so if you get a few Fosters in him he'll start telling you about that one time with the pretty drop bear......
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Re: OT: Australia Trip 

Post#66 » by AussieBuck » Fri Feb 1, 2019 10:11 pm

chile wrote:Bumping this topic. I have plenty of time to figure out a plan but letting others know you can fly out of Milwaukee to Sydney for low/mid 700's. My trip is late November/early December.

Initial thoughts are visiting Sydney and GBR at least. What other things should I be looking into? Someone mentioned Tasmania. Do I have to do Melbourne if I do Sydney? Skip Brisbane and do Cairns for GBR? We like mountain hikes, beaches (not big into partying), snorkeling, city centers/architecture. The usual... good views, unique architecture, land or sea, etc... The lady HATES spiders but I don't mind seeing them. I just need forewarning if I am going to a place that has spiders as big as my hand.

Sounds like you've got things pretty well in order for a summer trip. Problem with Sydney for you though is the Sydney funnel web spider. Much like the locals they tend to be aggressive wankers and have quite a bite:

https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2017/02/worlds-deadliest-spider-the-sydney-funnel-web/
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Re: OT: Australia Trip 

Post#67 » by AussieBuck » Fri Feb 1, 2019 10:19 pm

jute2003 wrote:
chile wrote:Bumping this topic. I have plenty of time to figure out a plan but letting others know you can fly out of Milwaukee to Sydney for low/mid 700's. My trip is late November/early December.

Initial thoughts are visiting Sydney and GBR at least. What other things should I be looking into? Someone mentioned Tasmania. Do I have to do Melbourne if I do Sydney? Skip Brisbane and do Cairns for GBR? We like mountain hikes, beaches (not big into partying), snorkeling, city centers/architecture. The usual... good views, unique architecture, land or sea, etc... The lady HATES spiders but I don't mind seeing them. I just need forewarning if I am going to a place that has spiders as big as my hand.


Rumour has it that Aussiebuck can't handle his booze so if you get a few Fosters in him he'll start telling you about that one time with the pretty drop bear......

SLANDER!!

I can no longer handle the day after drinking but I can still put in a decent session. Also I'm not silly enough to **** with the drop bears, did try to pick up an Eastern brown snake once though, which I reckon I've talked about here at least once. :D

https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2012/07/australias-10-most-dangerous-snakes/
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Re: OT: Australia Trip 

Post#68 » by buckbeer » Sat Feb 2, 2019 5:59 am

Pictures of my trip last year to Melbourne and the great ocean road.

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Re: OT: Australia Trip 

Post#69 » by trwi7 » Sat Feb 2, 2019 6:08 am

Seems unsafe to just have your feet dangling out of a train. Then again, with all the spiders, snakes, sharks, dingoes and drop bears that's probably one of the safer activities in Australia.
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Re: OT: Australia Trip 

Post#70 » by trublu » Sat Feb 2, 2019 6:41 am

chile wrote:Bumping this topic. I have plenty of time to figure out a plan but letting others know you can fly out of Milwaukee to Sydney for low/mid 700's. My trip is late November/early December.

Initial thoughts are visiting Sydney and GBR at least. What other things should I be looking into? Someone mentioned Tasmania. Do I have to do Melbourne if I do Sydney? Skip Brisbane and do Cairns for GBR? We like mountain hikes, beaches (not big into partying), snorkeling, city centers/architecture. The usual... good views, unique architecture, land or sea, etc... The lady HATES spiders but I don't mind seeing them. I just need forewarning if I am going to a place that has spiders as big as my hand.

You're coming at the right time of year. We're just coming into summer then so the weather isn't too oppressive in Sydney yet. I'd go with Sydney as it has the historical architecture (around The Rocks), the beaches (Bondi and Manly are the best picks) and the mountain hikes (start with The Three Sisters at Katoomba) that you want. Melbourne is really nice, but if you've got limited time Sydney ticks all your boxes.

I haven't been to Tasmania myself, but if you are into historical stuff there are a lot of convict era buildings from the late 1800s (Hobart and Port Arthur) and Table Mountain offers some challenging hikes. All of my friends who have been rave about how good Tassie is.

As for the GBR, Cairns is definitely your go to spot. Hopefully the ground dries out over the next few months. I'm in Townsville and we've had about 36 inches of rain over the last 4-5 days. Cairns has had about the same amount. December is usually the start of the wet season, so it might be a bit damp, but the temperature is always around 90 degrees. The rain is actually a relief from the humidity and it gets the Barron Falls flowing, which are pretty spectacular. There are plenty of tour operators can take you out to the reef. A cheaper option is Green Island. You can get there by ferry in about an hour and the snorkeling is great. Plenty of coral and fish to see. There's a resort on the island that I've heard is really nice. There's great mountain biking and hiking trails around Kuranda too.

Just be aware that Australia is the same size as mainland USA, so the distances between all of the spots you've mentioned is massive. If you're flying then there's no problems because flights are readily available, but if you're intending to drive you'll have to plan. The drive from Sydney to Cairns is about 3 days if you want to do it comfortably (roughly 1600 miles). More if you spend a few days on the Gold Coast (just south of Brisbane).

Sorry, can't do much about the spiders. Hand sized one aren't all that common. Just watch out for the bird-eating spiders around Cairns. And has been mentioned, the funnel webs around Sydney. Oh, and beware of the river banks around Cairns because of the crocodiles.
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Re: RE: Re: OT: Australia Trip 

Post#71 » by stellation » Sat Feb 2, 2019 10:27 pm

MartyConlonOnTheRun wrote:
stellation wrote:
drone3 wrote:I once travelled from Perth summer to NY winter. My body was in complete shock for two weeks, freakin painful.

I once went Berlin winter to Sydney summer, it had been below 0/killer wind chill leaving (which it had been for the past week) and I managed to land on a humid as all hell 40 degree day. I recall not feeling very well.

Sicne this thread was already bumped, I went from 100 degrees inside the office in Melbourne (literally 100 degrees inside the building because the AC wasn't strong enough) to a polar vortex of -20 or whatever in a matter of a few days. I literally got sent home in both places due to extreme weather-one for heat, one for cold in a week. Add in 17 hour jet lag and it is shocking the system.

I remember being really knocked out for about a week in that Berlin->Sydney trip, the jet lag was major but it really was just a shock to the system to go between those wild temperature differences (with all the extra humidity that Sydney brings). I had a house with no a/c and a 5 year old who was super excited to see me (I'd been away for a week for the first time in his life) and I just remember lying on the ground, trying to play with him whilst also trying not to collapse dead.
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Re: OT: Australia Trip 

Post#72 » by stellation » Sat Feb 2, 2019 10:28 pm

AussieBuck wrote:
jute2003 wrote:
chile wrote:Bumping this topic. I have plenty of time to figure out a plan but letting others know you can fly out of Milwaukee to Sydney for low/mid 700's. My trip is late November/early December.

Initial thoughts are visiting Sydney and GBR at least. What other things should I be looking into? Someone mentioned Tasmania. Do I have to do Melbourne if I do Sydney? Skip Brisbane and do Cairns for GBR? We like mountain hikes, beaches (not big into partying), snorkeling, city centers/architecture. The usual... good views, unique architecture, land or sea, etc... The lady HATES spiders but I don't mind seeing them. I just need forewarning if I am going to a place that has spiders as big as my hand.


Rumour has it that Aussiebuck can't handle his booze so if you get a few Fosters in him he'll start telling you about that one time with the pretty drop bear......

SLANDER!!

I can no longer handle the day after drinking but I can still put in a decent session. Also I'm not silly enough to **** with the drop bears, did try to pick up an Eastern brown snake once though, which I reckon I've talked about here at least once. :D

https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2012/07/australias-10-most-dangerous-snakes/

For anyone wondering- whilst Australians absolutely will try to egg on their friends to pick up an Eastern brown, we do still think they're a **** idiot if they try to.
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Re: OT: Australia Trip 

Post#73 » by bizarro » Sun Feb 3, 2019 5:13 am

stellation wrote:
AussieBuck wrote:
jute2003 wrote:
Rumour has it that Aussiebuck can't handle his booze so if you get a few Fosters in him he'll start telling you about that one time with the pretty drop bear......

SLANDER!!

I can no longer handle the day after drinking but I can still put in a decent session. Also I'm not silly enough to **** with the drop bears, did try to pick up an Eastern brown snake once though, which I reckon I've talked about here at least once. :D

https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2012/07/australias-10-most-dangerous-snakes/

For anyone wondering- whilst Australians absolutely will try to egg on their friends to pick up an Eastern brown, we do still think they're a **** idiot if they try to.


Jesus. That's intimidating as hell. So many of those first 5 or 6 snakes looked exactly the same to the commoners' eye. How common is it to stumble upon these bastards?
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Re: OT: Australia Trip 

Post#74 » by trwi7 » Sun Feb 3, 2019 5:26 am

I've held been with alligators, tigers, lions, cougars and rattlesnakes. Australians ain't got **** on me.
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Re: OT: Australia Trip 

Post#75 » by stellation » Sun Feb 3, 2019 5:31 am

bizarro wrote:
stellation wrote:
AussieBuck wrote:SLANDER!!

I can no longer handle the day after drinking but I can still put in a decent session. Also I'm not silly enough to **** with the drop bears, did try to pick up an Eastern brown snake once though, which I reckon I've talked about here at least once. :D

https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2012/07/australias-10-most-dangerous-snakes/

For anyone wondering- whilst Australians absolutely will try to egg on their friends to pick up an Eastern brown, we do still think they're a **** idiot if they try to.


Jesus. That's intimidating as hell. So many of those first 5 or 6 snakes looked exactly the same to the commoners' eye. How common is it to stumble upon these bastards?

From that list I've had Eastern brown, copperhead and red bellies around our place in the 6 years we've been here (we do have a fair bit of bushland around us). I'd say we've probably averaged about 2 encounters each summer- that's not counting the instances where it's clearly the same snake we've seen recently who just isn't moving on.
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Re: OT: Australia Trip 

Post#76 » by bizarro » Sun Feb 3, 2019 5:34 am

stellation wrote:
bizarro wrote:
stellation wrote:For anyone wondering- whilst Australians absolutely will try to egg on their friends to pick up an Eastern brown, we do still think they're a **** idiot if they try to.


Jesus. That's intimidating as hell. So many of those first 5 or 6 snakes looked exactly the same to the commoners' eye. How common is it to stumble upon these bastards?

From that list I've had Eastern brown, copperhead and red bellies around our place in the 6 years we've been here (we do have a fair bit of bushland around us). I'd say we've probably averaged about 2 encounters each summer- that's not counting the instances where it's clearly the same snake we've seen recently who just isn't moving on.


When you say encounters do you mean: Honey, there's that snake over there. See him he's lying down and he's completely unawares.

OR

Holy **** there's that snake and we just stumbled onto it head on.
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Re: OT: Australia Trip 

Post#77 » by buckbeer » Sun Feb 3, 2019 6:25 am

Australia has lots of sheep and cows, that's pretty much the animals I see on the road. Gotta go to the zoo to see those "wild and dangerous" creatures, there's a pretty good zoo/safari near Melbourne.

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Re: OT: Australia Trip 

Post#78 » by buckbeer » Sun Feb 3, 2019 6:30 am

Got to see the Tasmanian devil when I was at the Gold Coast

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Re: OT: Australia Trip 

Post#79 » by highkick05 » Sun Feb 3, 2019 6:38 am

Yeah Great Ocean Drive is good in the right season. Just remember Melbourne is pretty much rain/hail/storm 24/7 - get good weather.

Checkout the top end though my friend. Darwin, Top of WA Karratha etc, absolutely stunning country.
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Re: OT: Australia Trip 

Post#80 » by Jez2983 » Sun Feb 3, 2019 8:20 am

Only just saw all you turds laying into SA. Having lived in this side of the country for about 6 months it's too hot and there's too many of you.

Feel free to continue not going to SA though. Quite happy for people to not realise how good it is.
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