? for you Auzzies - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

canucker · 09-16-2003, 09:04 AM

Hey there,

I'll try to make this as short as possible.

me + g/f + best friend + new wife are going to Australia Jan 04 Arriving the 20th in Sydney.

We have a friend that lives in New Castle 3 1/2 hrs drive north of Sydney? Is that correct? We do want to spend a few days with him as well. Anywho,

We have two weeks to explore the eastern shore of Australia and want to be in Sydney for Australia day (Jan 26).

So here is a rundown of what we want to do.

Sunshine Coast
Australia Zoo (gotta see the Croc Hunter ya know!!)
Gold Coast
Heron Island
Whitsunday Islands
and up to Cairns if we have enough time.

So whats the best way to do this? We will be renting a minivan etc, and staying in nice hotels so that won't be an issue.

Is there something I'm missing that we should see?
Something I should take out?
In the guide book it says to book hotels EARLY as they seem to book up during this time of year. Is this right? Or will we have no problems just driving up there and finding a hotel along the way?

Should we just go from Sydney and head north for a few days then come back down for Sydney Day? We are kinda screwed cuz Australia day is on the 26th wich is kinda right in the middle of the holiday so if we go north then come back south then we have to go north again trying to get to the reef and we will see everything again.

Any help would be appreciated,

Thanks in advance

ismark · 09-16-2003, 07:05 PM

by the looks of it you seem to be planning to drive all the time and not stop. The distances here are enormous and your plan Sydney - Cairns will take you the equivelant of New York to Miami. You will also be driving during the hotest part of the year which given the Australian sun could be a little overwhelming.

You are coming during the summer school holidays here and I would expect good hotels will need to be booked ahead. The motels along the way will be OK and will rnage from the good to the crappy, many will have vacancies. But its pot luck.

A better option might be to fly into Australia through Bribane, go to the sunshine coast from there, fly to Sydney from the Gold Coast and then motor to "Newcastle". (3 hours on the motorway sounds about right.

Back to Sydney for Australia day also sounds right, lots of events during the day followed by fireworks. If you can get a room at a hotel in Darling Harbor you will be right in the thick of it.

Hope that helps PM me if you need more

also check out

http://www.nsw.gov.au/Culture.asp

http://www.australia.com/home_US.aus...er=y&L=en&C=US

bundy · 09-17-2003, 12:11 AM

first of all...

its Aussies. the American fixation with the letter Z, is considered gauche in Australia.
j/k

also, its Newcastle - said like newcARSEtle.

ok, but seriously, if it were my holiday (which its not, so you don´t have to listen to this advice) i´d forget about southern Queensland like the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast. imho, they are cheesy, sleasy and ultra touristy. i´d swap them for Byron Bay and Lennox Head. you´ll meet great people, see absolutely stunning beaches and scenery as well as having a relaxed, laid-back (very Aussie) time.

but that inclusion may be a wee bit hard considering your vanning it, and want to get up to the Whitsundays and even Cairns, which i also thoroughly recommend.

like ismark said, it´ll be the hottest part of the year (and up there, it can get seriously unbearable)...

also, if you´re travelling north in a van, you´ll be tempted to go swimming in all of the pretty beaches along the way up the northern coast of Qld. but, you should not forget to look into Sea Wasp Seaon and factor that into your plans.

Quote:

Originally posted by AIMS (Australian Institute or Marine Science)

Box Jellyfish Season

The Box Jellyfish season across the top of northern Australia starts with the onset of the wet season, usually around October and lasts until April. Further south along the northern Queensland or northern Western Australian coast the season is usually from November to March. The Box Jellyfish sometimes appear further south and sometimes a few weeks beyond the official close of season before disappearing until the next wet season.

Always check with local authorities for advice before swimming in the ocean; otherwise wear fully protective clothing. Never swim on your own in isolated areas. If you are stung, your chance of survival or even getting yourself to the shore is virtually zero. The pain has been described as so excruciating that you will probably go into shock and drown, even before the full affect of the venom takes place.

i don´t mean to scare you, but thats an important factor. but this also depends on how far north you are heading.

ok, but thats enough of Qlds problems.

Australia Day in Sydney will be great.
again, like ismark said book yourself into a decent hotel in Darling Harbour (for that, BOOK NOW), and get into it.... strangely, in Sydney, most of our partying is done on or around the harbour.

have a great time, and don´t forget to tell us how you´re going.

Lunchbox7 · 09-17-2003, 05:28 AM

If you can spend a day in the Blue Mountains (1-2 hours drive west of Sydney). Its absolutely beautiful. But you do seem to be pretty full upwith your plans. I agree with Bundy. Gold coast etc are too touristy. The only aussies who goe there is during schoolies week. Unless your young trying to get some meaningless sex or an old person trying to cop some young meaningless sex dont bother. There are heaps better places to go to.

canucker · 09-17-2003, 07:41 AM

Wow, great info everyone. I have read quite abit about what you all have talked about in your posts. First off, I think I'm going to see if we can change our flights to arrive in Sydney the night before Australia day and then we can go from there. I'll post once I find that out.

I also don't think we have enough time to make it to Cairns so i think we will be sticking closer to "home". I would really like to make it to the Whitsundays and Heron Island if at all possible. So maybe what we will do is do the Australia day thing then fly up to Brisbane and rent a van from there.

P.S. I'm Canadian not a Yankee. Sorry for the spelling mistake.

Edit: I read my post and I couldnt make any sense out of it, so I fixed it.

ismark · 09-19-2003, 01:10 PM

thinking about it, Bundy and Lunchbox are right, unless you are school age or geriatric stay away from the Gold Coast etc. Its where people from the cold south of Australia retire. Yuck.

I believe Byron is great, they certainly make sexy swimming gear there

http://wickedweasel.com/oz/index.html

worth going there on the off chance of seeing one of their models or you could buy your g/f an outfit woo hoo, bark bark

If you are going north for the reef then you are better to fly direct from Sydney to Cairns and rent a van from there and forget Brisbane altogether

cheers

bing bing · 09-22-2003, 09:26 AM

why not come to melbourne for? ohh, that's right, it sucks. :/

bundy · 09-22-2003, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bing bing
why not come to melbourne for? ohh, that's right, it sucks. :/

melbourne doesn´t suck (it blows - j/k)

i really love Melbourne, its a great city, but i think in this instance its a little bit out of the way... i mean, when the majority of the journey is going to be in Qld.

canucker · 09-23-2003, 07:24 AM

Thanks for the replies people. Still unsure what we are going to do. Our friends (the wife) wants to just spend her time around Sydney for the two weeks we are there. (they are there a week before us). It's funny because she will be the first one to get antsy and want to start doing things.

So, with this being said, if the do indeed want to just sit around Sydney. (we for sure aren't, I'm not flying 26 hours or so to sit in one spot for two weeks). The g/f and I will just fly up to Brisbane and rent a car and hit Heron Island, the WhitSundays and whatever else we can get in there before our departure.

We are going to try and switch our flights so that we arrive in Sydney a night before Australia day so that way we don't have to come back to Sydney in the middle of our holiday.

Cheers,

ismark · 09-23-2003, 06:12 PM

Don't forget to allow for Jet lag and time change, we are a day ahead of you here...

I allow a day to get normal again, someone once told me that the lag effects are worse coming here than in the reverse

I certainly had no problems when I went to LA on the 17 hour flight but it did take a couple of days to really feel OK.

almostaugust · 10-01-2003, 08:37 AM

My advice is echoing much of what has been said above. The distances are HUGE over here, many people dont realize this. It really takes us a long time for us to get from place to place. Also, in summer it is very dry hot compared to most of the world. Queensland will be an oven probably- but you might want that (nice beaches etc). Definately check out the Sydney beaches and harbour. And if you are heading to the Blue Mountains and its a weekend, you can stop in at a local hotel and visit me or Lunchbox7 who work reception shifts at night on weekends. He has a laptop, so you can prob check this board too. All the best.

Mephisto2 · 10-08-2003, 08:50 PM

When you're in Sydney, drop me a line at tfp@netoma.com

I'll take you out to some good bars...

Mr Mephisto

canucker · 11-07-2003, 01:31 PM

Update for you,

We have managed to get our flights changed so that we arrive in Sydney Jan 25th. We will be hotelling it for two days then hitting the road from there. Maybe see some of you local yocal's there!!

Cheers mate (just practicing

)

waxeater · 11-17-2003, 09:17 PM

Every time I have international guests over to visit I immediatly take them out to my home range in the Blue Mountains and show them the least touristy places there.
If you want to do it all yourself, Katoomba is only 2 - 3 hours out of Sydney on the train and costs about $AUD20. Thats where ALL the tourists go. If you had a car you would be able to explore the more amazing parts yourself that most people don't see. Take the Grand Canyon walk from Blacheath, organize a Canyon tour with a difference (Bushwalking through a gourge in a wetsuit!!

You'll love it I promise!) See the Hartley Vale and have lunch in the Comet Inn, Jenolan Caves is a bit further out 3 - 4 hours from Sydney but well worth the trip!
Either way get yourself to the mountains. It will be cooler too, cause it's going to be a HOT summer this year!!

Newcastle is only 2 - 3 hours by car or train from Sydney. It is renowned mostly for its industry (Coal & Steel) but these have slowly faded away leaving just some beautiful beaches and great food and pubs (Beaumont st especially!!) Take a trip up to Nelsons Bay while your there to get away from it all and maybe have a skinny dip on a remote beach

Australia Day in Sydney - No drinking on the streets and if you want to see the crackers, get your spot EARLY!!!
Sometimes the more obscure places are the best places to see them from - Try Vaucluse or Balmain. I've always wanted to do a boat tour around the harbour but haven't yet.. I'd imagine that would be the best place.

In two weeks you will be lucky to get out of NSW/Sydney Area without flying around the country at extorsional cost and wasting a lot of time in and around airports. Stay in the Sydney area, there is a LOT more to do in two weeks here!

I'm a local and have lived in Blue Mountains, Newcastle and currently Sydney. I have also travelled the East coast quite a bit so I'd be happy to answer any further questions you have or al least try and point you in the right direction.

Have fun!!

09-16-2003, 09:04 AM	#1 (permalink)
canucker Crazy	? for you Aussies Hey there, I'll try to make this as short as possible. me + g/f + best friend + new wife are going to Australia Jan 04 Arriving the 20th in Sydney. We have a friend that lives in New Castle 3 1/2 hrs drive north of Sydney? Is that correct? We do want to spend a few days with him as well. Anywho, We have two weeks to explore the eastern shore of Australia and want to be in Sydney for Australia day (Jan 26). So here is a rundown of what we want to do. Sunshine Coast Australia Zoo (gotta see the Croc Hunter ya know!!) Gold Coast Heron Island Whitsunday Islands and up to Cairns if we have enough time. So whats the best way to do this? We will be renting a minivan etc, and staying in nice hotels so that won't be an issue. Is there something I'm missing that we should see? Something I should take out? In the guide book it says to book hotels EARLY as they seem to book up during this time of year. Is this right? Or will we have no problems just driving up there and finding a hotel along the way? Should we just go from Sydney and head north for a few days then come back down for Sydney Day? We are kinda screwed cuz Australia day is on the 26th wich is kinda right in the middle of the holiday so if we go north then come back south then we have to go north again trying to get to the reef and we will see everything again. Any help would be appreciated, Thanks in advance Last edited by canucker; 09-17-2003 at 07:48 AM..

09-16-2003, 07:05 PM	#2 (permalink)
ismark Crazy Location: Sydney	by the looks of it you seem to be planning to drive all the time and not stop. The distances here are enormous and your plan Sydney - Cairns will take you the equivelant of New York to Miami. You will also be driving during the hotest part of the year which given the Australian sun could be a little overwhelming. You are coming during the summer school holidays here and I would expect good hotels will need to be booked ahead. The motels along the way will be OK and will rnage from the good to the crappy, many will have vacancies. But its pot luck. A better option might be to fly into Australia through Bribane, go to the sunshine coast from there, fly to Sydney from the Gold Coast and then motor to "Newcastle". (3 hours on the motorway sounds about right. Back to Sydney for Australia day also sounds right, lots of events during the day followed by fireworks. If you can get a room at a hotel in Darling Harbor you will be right in the thick of it. Hope that helps PM me if you need more also check out http://www.nsw.gov.au/Culture.asp http://www.australia.com/home_US.aus...er=y&L=en&C=US __________________ The Grumpy Old Bloke

09-17-2003, 07:41 AM	#5 (permalink)
canucker Crazy	?? for you Aussies Wow, great info everyone. I have read quite abit about what you all have talked about in your posts. First off, I think I'm going to see if we can change our flights to arrive in Sydney the night before Australia day and then we can go from there. I'll post once I find that out. I also don't think we have enough time to make it to Cairns so i think we will be sticking closer to "home". I would really like to make it to the Whitsundays and Heron Island if at all possible. So maybe what we will do is do the Australia day thing then fly up to Brisbane and rent a van from there. P.S. I'm Canadian not a Yankee. Sorry for the spelling mistake. Edit: I read my post and I couldnt make any sense out of it, so I fixed it. Last edited by canucker; 09-17-2003 at 07:48 AM..

09-19-2003, 01:10 PM	#6 (permalink)
ismark Crazy Location: Sydney	thinking about it, Bundy and Lunchbox are right, unless you are school age or geriatric stay away from the Gold Coast etc. Its where people from the cold south of Australia retire. Yuck. I believe Byron is great, they certainly make sexy swimming gear there http://wickedweasel.com/oz/index.html worth going there on the off chance of seeing one of their models or you could buy your g/f an outfit woo hoo, bark bark If you are going north for the reef then you are better to fly direct from Sydney to Cairns and rent a van from there and forget Brisbane altogether cheers __________________ The Grumpy Old Bloke

09-23-2003, 07:24 AM	#9 (permalink)
canucker Crazy	Thanks for the replies people. Still unsure what we are going to do. Our friends (the wife) wants to just spend her time around Sydney for the two weeks we are there. (they are there a week before us). It's funny because she will be the first one to get antsy and want to start doing things. So, with this being said, if the do indeed want to just sit around Sydney. (we for sure aren't, I'm not flying 26 hours or so to sit in one spot for two weeks). The g/f and I will just fly up to Brisbane and rent a car and hit Heron Island, the WhitSundays and whatever else we can get in there before our departure. We are going to try and switch our flights so that we arrive in Sydney a night before Australia day so that way we don't have to come back to Sydney in the middle of our holiday. Cheers, __________________ Go hard or go home; Just don't go home hard.

09-17-2003, 05:28 AM	#4 (permalink)
Lunchbox7 Addict	If you can spend a day in the Blue Mountains (1-2 hours drive west of Sydney). Its absolutely beautiful. But you do seem to be pretty full upwith your plans. I agree with Bundy. Gold coast etc are too touristy. The only aussies who goe there is during schoolies week. Unless your young trying to get some meaningless sex or an old person trying to cop some young meaningless sex dont bother. There are heaps better places to go to.

09-22-2003, 09:26 AM	#7 (permalink)
bing bing Addict Location: Melbourne, Australia	why not come to melbourne for? ohh, that's right, it sucks. :/

09-23-2003, 06:12 PM	#10 (permalink)
ismark Crazy Location: Sydney	Don't forget to allow for Jet lag and time change, we are a day ahead of you here... I allow a day to get normal again, someone once told me that the lag effects are worse coming here than in the reverse I certainly had no problems when I went to LA on the 17 hour flight but it did take a couple of days to really feel OK. __________________ The Grumpy Old Bloke

10-01-2003, 08:37 AM	#11 (permalink)
almostaugust Junkie Location: Oz	My advice is echoing much of what has been said above. The distances are HUGE over here, many people dont realize this. It really takes us a long time for us to get from place to place. Also, in summer it is very dry hot compared to most of the world. Queensland will be an oven probably- but you might want that (nice beaches etc). Definately check out the Sydney beaches and harbour. And if you are heading to the Blue Mountains and its a weekend, you can stop in at a local hotel and visit me or Lunchbox7 who work reception shifts at night on weekends. He has a laptop, so you can prob check this board too. All the best. __________________ 'And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe Maybe this year will be better than the last I can't remember all the times I tried to tell my myself To hold on to these moments as they pass'

10-08-2003, 08:50 PM	#12 (permalink)
Mephisto2 Junkie	When you're in Sydney, drop me a line at tfp@netoma.com I'll take you out to some good bars... Mr Mephisto

11-07-2003, 01:31 PM	#13 (permalink)
canucker Crazy	Update for you, We have managed to get our flights changed so that we arrive in Sydney Jan 25th. We will be hotelling it for two days then hitting the road from there. Maybe see some of you local yocal's there!! Cheers mate (just practicing ) __________________ Go hard or go home; Just don't go home hard.

11-17-2003, 09:17 PM	#14 (permalink)
waxeater Insane Location: Sydney, Australia	Every time I have international guests over to visit I immediatly take them out to my home range in the Blue Mountains and show them the least touristy places there. If you want to do it all yourself, Katoomba is only 2 - 3 hours out of Sydney on the train and costs about $AUD20. Thats where ALL the tourists go. If you had a car you would be able to explore the more amazing parts yourself that most people don't see. Take the Grand Canyon walk from Blacheath, organize a Canyon tour with a difference (Bushwalking through a gourge in a wetsuit!! You'll love it I promise!) See the Hartley Vale and have lunch in the Comet Inn, Jenolan Caves is a bit further out 3 - 4 hours from Sydney but well worth the trip! Either way get yourself to the mountains. It will be cooler too, cause it's going to be a HOT summer this year!! Newcastle is only 2 - 3 hours by car or train from Sydney. It is renowned mostly for its industry (Coal & Steel) but these have slowly faded away leaving just some beautiful beaches and great food and pubs (Beaumont st especially!!) Take a trip up to Nelsons Bay while your there to get away from it all and maybe have a skinny dip on a remote beach Australia Day in Sydney - No drinking on the streets and if you want to see the crackers, get your spot EARLY!!! Sometimes the more obscure places are the best places to see them from - Try Vaucluse or Balmain. I've always wanted to do a boat tour around the harbour but haven't yet.. I'd imagine that would be the best place. In two weeks you will be lucky to get out of NSW/Sydney Area without flying around the country at extorsional cost and wasting a lot of time in and around airports. Stay in the Sydney area, there is a LOT more to do in two weeks here! I'm a local and have lived in Blue Mountains, Newcastle and currently Sydney. I have also travelled the East coast quite a bit so I'd be happy to answer any further questions you have or al least try and point you in the right direction. Have fun!!