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#939655 by mrsw
18 Nov 2017, 01:11
It's been a while since I posted anything too lengthy, but since I managed to snap up those ARN-SYD return flights in J in the recent Qatar sale (for £1300 each, would you believe?), I am in full planning mode, and thought I'd draw on your wealth of experience from you well-travelled lot for some feedback and pointers on my draft itinerary :blush:

It will be hubby and me travelling, both in our early 30s, spending 17 nights in Australia in total, and this is our first visit to Australia. Those that have suffered through some of my trip reports may remember that we enjoy a jam-packed itinerary, whilst not wanting to feel rushed, particularly as we both enjoy photography.

We narrowed down to 4 destinations: Sydney, Uluru, Cairns and Melbourne.

Day 1 - arrive in the evening, sleep
Day 2 - full day in Sydney
Day 3 - flight to Melbourne (flight time TBC as can be flexible - will be using Avios to redeem on Qantas)
Then 3 full days in & around Melbourne
Day 7 - Morning flight to Uluru (cash tickets on Jetstar as cannot find any miles redemption options). Hire car and spend next 3 days (including pm of day 10 and am of day 10) in Uluru
Day 10 - pm flight to Cairns (again redeeming Avios). Hire car and spend next 4 full days around Port Douglas/Palm Cove.
Day 15 - fly to Sydney (likely pm flight, redeeming Etihad Guest miles (from Amex MR) on Virgin Australia)
2 full days in Sydney
Day 18 – am in Sydney before flying out mid pm

Any feedback & pointers on this rough itinerary would be much appreciated indeed! I am particularly interested in your views on these 4 destinations, and whether the time I've provisionally allocated above represents a good balance.

Thank you!
#939667 by pjh
18 Nov 2017, 17:01
Wonderful place to visit.

3 days around Uluru may be a little much. There's the rock itself, a lot of red sand (some of which is still in the seams of my boots from 3 years ago) and not much else. One sunrise, one sunset and some star gazing and you're pretty much done. That said, with the hire car you should be able to get out to places that we couldn't fit in and the desert around should give some great photo opportunities.

Where are you planning to stay when there?
#939670 by DragonLady
18 Nov 2017, 21:48
This is 10 years old now ( Dragonbaby is now pushing 25!!) but might give you some ideas re Cairns/Port Douglas
http://v-flyer.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=17693
We used Calypso to dive on the reef and they're still going so that speaks volumes.
Australia is a huge country ( we've been back another 5 times since that trip) and the risk is to try and jam loads in ( I too am gulity of doing that) .Travelling in J won't take the jetlag or tiredness from travelling away completely ( I pity the poor souls who travel in Y).It's a LONG LONG way and you only have 17 days ( which dounds a lot but for a country the size of Oz isn't).
I think 3 days for Uluru is too much as others have said - how about Tasmania given you're heading to MEL ( it's fantastic :)) .
Virgin Australia is a great airline and Jetstar are fine too.

DL
#939682 by mrsw
19 Nov 2017, 17:01
Thank you pjh and DragonLady!

I was actually wondering whether 3 days at Uluru might be too long. Having checked reward flight availability, unfortunately the dates don't work if we were to reduce it (I'm relying on multiple reward flights for quite a few sectors to be simultaneously available, which is somewhat restricting). That said, since we will be renting a car at Uluru, we would like to also do the rim walk at Kings Canyon, as well as spending a bit of time at night doing astrophotography, so hopefully the 3 days will be quite fulfilling. Have just booked Emu Walk apartments, especially as Accor has a "private sale" on which makes this option not a huge rip-off.

On the other destinations, I'm particularly torn between Port Douglas vs Palm Cove. Melbourne is looking quite reasonable, perhaps due to it being shoulder season in May. For Sydney, we will have 2 Hilton weekend vouchers and an IHG free night that I wanted to take advantage of, but the Hilton options are actually quite limited, if not helped by a new Curio that is about to open.

Other burning questions that I have at this stage include (and I'm sure more will come as I continue with my planning):
Any particular areas of Sydney and Melbourne that would be good for a base?
Is Blue Mountains National Park really worth a visit?
Is it worth sqeezing in a bit of the Great Ocean Road when we are in Melbourne? is May a good time to do so?

Thank you again folks!
#939689 by pjh
19 Nov 2017, 19:25
mrsw wrote:Thank you pjh and DragonLady!

That said, since we will be renting a car at Uluru, we would like to also do the rim walk at Kings Canyon, as well as spending a bit of time at night doing astrophotography, so hopefully the 3 days will be quite fulfilling. Have just booked Emu Walk apartments, especially as Accor has a "private sale" on which makes this option not a huge rip-off.


We did a stargazing evening and it will stay with me always. As well as seeing the Southern Cross rise in the sky, we used some powerful telescopes and it was astonishing to see milky blurs resolve themselves into packages of stars.

mrsw wrote:Any particular areas of Sydney and Melbourne that would be good for a base?


For our first stretch we were in an apartment in the CBD just by Darling Harbour. We walked pretty much everywhere except when heading to Manley and then Bondi.

mrsw wrote:Is Blue Mountains National Park really worth a visit?


I would say yes, but we were able to put it in our itinerary as we didn't wander too far from Sydney. Apart from Uluru we kept our agenda to Sydney, Blue Mountains and the Hunter Valley as we were in Sydney over Christmas and New Year visiting our son who was out there and also some relatives.
#939696 by DragonLady
19 Nov 2017, 22:04
mrsw wrote:Thank you pjh and DragonLady!

I was actually wondering whether 3 days at Uluru might be too long. Having checked reward flight availability, unfortunately the dates don't work if we were to reduce it (I'm relying on multiple reward flights for quite a few sectors to be simultaneously available, which is somewhat restricting). That said, since we will be renting a car at Uluru, we would like to also do the rim walk at Kings Canyon, as well as spending a bit of time at night doing astrophotography, so hopefully the 3 days will be quite fulfilling. Have just booked Emu Walk apartments, especially as Accor has a "private sale" on which makes this option not a huge rip-off.

On the other destinations, I'm particularly torn between Port Douglas vs Palm Cove. Melbourne is looking quite reasonable, perhaps due to it being shoulder season in May. For Sydney, we will have 2 Hilton weekend vouchers and an IHG free night that I wanted to take advantage of, but the Hilton options are actually quite limited, if not helped by a new Curio that is about to open.

Other burning questions that I have at this stage include (and I'm sure more will come as I continue with my planning):
Any particular areas of Sydney and Melbourne that would be good for a base?
Is Blue Mountains National Park really worth a visit?
Is it worth sqeezing in a bit of the Great Ocean Road when we are in Melbourne? is May a good time to do so?

Thank you again folks!


Port Douglas over Palm Cove :)
Central areas for both ( I have family in MEL and still stay in the city :) ). Shangri La is my my fav hotel in Sydney :) :)
Blue Mountains is easy drive from Sydney.
GOR is massive ( we've driven it in it's entireity and a lot of it is REALLY boring :) ).
DL
#939785 by honey lamb
21 Nov 2017, 16:51
oldboy wrote:£1,300 each - what a brilliant deal

I got LHR-MEL for £1089 last year in a Black Friday sale on Garuda Indonesia.
#939790 by RobL
22 Nov 2017, 10:22
OK

We moved to Melbourne 11 years ago and have travelled extensively around Australia since living here. Don't forget the seasons are the opposite and autumn here in Melbourne is March/April/May - so you are on the cusp of winter. Pack accordingly - I know so many people who have come here thinking it is warm all year round.

Firstly - don't underestimate the amount of travelling you are planning while here (let alone the flight over). Whilst flying domestically here is a doddle - although as you are likely to have luggage and need to check that in you will need to allow extra airport time - it is still a chore. I always recommend people aim to do no more than 3 places in 3 weeks. We generally take visitors locally to the Grampians, the Alpine region of northern Victoria or Wilsons Promontory - all about 3 hours drive (west, north and south east respectively) from Melbourne and stay for a couple nights.

Sydney - Harbour Bridge, Opera House, ferry to Manly, Bondi. Blue Mountains is a long day trip and probably best seen in the summer when the eucalyptus haze is best (hence their name). For something different a visit to Goat Island - good photo ops with derelict ship building equipment and also convict history. My all time favourite, which we always do when in Sydney, is sitting at the Opera Bar watching the people and ferries pass by with the bridge in the background - but in May that would be weather dependant.

Melbourne - is a place to experience rather than see. Trams, laneways, restaurants, bars and events. There is even a Tramcar Restaurant (book in advance - cheesy but good fun and all the alcohol is included in the upfront price!) I am not aware of any famous landmarks - except the Great Ocean Road and how the tourism board gets away with promoting this amazes me. It has some interesting rock formations (12 apostles but some have eroded away and London Bridge but that fell down) but I have seen better elsewhere in the world.

Uluru we have been to 3 times. It is a big red rock in the middle of nowhere but does make for some very interesting photos and not just at sunrise and sunset. Star gazing as others have said is stunning. We were last there at Christmas 2016 and experienced 160mm of rain 12 hours - Yulara the resort was flooded, hotels leaked and the national park was closed! But we did get to see stunning waterfalls cascading of Uluru which is a very sight (always a positive) but didn't see the Field of Light (currently only running to March 18) which we had gone there for - to wet to get it. A couple of days is fine.

Port Douglas is lovely and relaxing, albeit large and spread out and will be busy with those from the south heading north for some warmth without the humidity. Prices will reflect that and so will restaurant reservations in town. A day trip up to Cape Tribulation is a good day out and can be self driven. A day on the Barrier Reef is a must too.

Whatever you decide to do I am sure you will enjoy yourselves and note it is not cheap here!
#939818 by mrsw
22 Nov 2017, 23:57
Wow HL - that is an astonishing deal!

@Rob - thank you so much for your detailed response. We've decided to go straight to MEL on our day of arrival, and will end up doing Melbourne, Uluru, Port Douglas/Palm Cove followed by Sydney at the end. A bit packed, but hopefully not overly stressful :) All the helpful pointers (re packing, weather, Blue Mountains etc) have all been noted and appreciated.
#939880 by honey lamb
27 Nov 2017, 02:40
mrsw wrote:Wow HL - that is an astonishing deal!


It was and it was an experience -over all a good one. I've done TR's on the outbound in the Other Trip Reports forum but still have to do the inbound. The reality is that it wasn't as seamless as other routes. The inbound especially required an overnight at our own expense in Jakarta whereas with Emirates, with a layover on similar length in Dubai in J, they provided accommodation.

With regard to Australia, we went there ten years ago on VS courtesy of my son Aer John who won the tickets in the VS golf Swingers competition at the tender age of 17. We went to Sydney via Hong Kong and really didn't enjoy it partly because, given the terms of the trip we had to go in July which is of course, their winter! It rained incessantly and we did the bridge climb (which I loved) in the rain! We had booked to go to the Blue Mountains but the temperatures were showing as -3C so we cancelled.

We were booked into the Shangri-La which everyone seems to rate but personally I hated it. We had booked hotel transfers to the hotel from the flight but got delayed in Immigration etc., and the driver had left. We then had to go through the difficulty of trying to get change/a phone card to phone the hotel and then wait till the driver who looked uncommonly like Ming the Merciless turned up. On arrival at the hotel, I told them of our plight. The response? "Too bad" A simple apology would suffice. The staff were unfriendly; a former V-Flyer (who I am still friends with and would rate) had her laundry destroyed by them; the pool was dirty and Aer John refused to swim in it - one of the reasons we had booked apart from recommendations was there was a pool. Its saving grace was its location, the bar at the top and the views of the Bridge and/or the Opera House and its nearness to Circular Quay.

We went to Port Douglas which I loved. We were only there a couple of days but we did a trip to the Great Barrier Reef, snorkelled - even a golden oldie like me although I was made to wear a life vest because of my (not as much as now) advanced years and took a helicopter flight over the Reef. On the second day Aer John golfed but I took myself off to a place called Shannonvale which drew me because there is a tiny village on the outskirts of my town with that name. They had a fruit winery which was rather interesting and I bought some rather delicious ones to friends here at home. A word of caution - one of my friends kept it for a suitable celebration some months (many months) later. It was undrinkable!! :mrgreen: I also visited a wildlife park where you could be photoed with a sleepy koala and hand feed kangaroos and wallabies

We returned to Sydney and this time stayed in the business area in the Sheraton. We were only there for two days but it was the best part of our stay in Sydney. However we had curtailed our trip and had been able to leave for HKG a day earlier such was our disappointment about Sydney.

OK, I need to be fair to that city and say in its defence:

1. We had to go in July. The terms and the conditions was that the flight could not be taken during the school holidays. The Irish secondary school holidays for those not taking public exams ends at the end of May/beginning of June which is midwinter in OZ. We pushed back as far as we could before the UK end of term.
2. We fell into the trap experienced by many people going from the UK/Ireland that, because it is south of the equator and not on the same latitude south as we are north, then it is going to be much warmer. It wasn't and the first thing we had to do was go and buy warm clothes. It's winter FFS!
3. What bits we saw were lovely and I know we didn't see it at its best.

I had been thinking I should give Sydney a second chance but a return to OZ was not really on the agenda but when Aer John texted me the details of the Garuda Indonesia flight I couldn't let it pass. This time I decided on Melbourne and I loved it. It was such a vibrant city and I just felt so much at home. We did so much - toured the Melbourne Cricket Club and later watched an Aussie Rules football game there; viewed the Botanic gardens; went to an F1 practice run before the Grand Prix; explored Federation Square; took the free trams in the free zone area; went on the Skydeck with its stunning views; the casino and so much more. We also went to St Kilda to meet a someone from our town who was living there and who used to travel together up and down to their respective universities/colleges.

During our stay in Melbourne we took a side trip to New Zealand (as you do!!) and so stay in two different hotels. I loved them both because they were friendly and helpful - certainly better than our experience in Sydney
#939885 by pjh
27 Nov 2017, 11:35
honey lamb wrote:We went to Sydney via Hong Kong and really didn't enjoy it partly because, given the terms of the trip we had to go in July which is of course, their winter! It rained incessantly and we did the bridge climb (which I loved) in the rain! We had booked to go to the Blue Mountains but the temperatures were showing as -3C so we cancelled.


When we went in the Australian summer we had to cancel our planned barbecue on the beach on Christmas Day as it bucketed down all day, and not in a Caribbean "liquid sunshine" fashion. More of a Manchester "this is one reason why Morrissey is a miserable git" fashion.
#940021 by mrsw
02 Dec 2017, 17:20
@HL - thank you for such a comprehensive response! Shame that the Sydney trip was underwhelming, but lovely to read your great experience in Melbourne. I'm really looking forward to exploring both cities :) Let the countdown begin!
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