Australian travel tips......

[ThreeCatNight]

Oh great and worldly fellow DUers.....
My wife and I have finally made a big decision. Neither of us are getting any younger (49-46) and we have build up a nice equity in our home. We do not have children, so have no one to leave this to, so.....
We have decided to look into taking a 2 week trip to Australia!

This is still in the beginning of planning stage, so I could use all advise I can get.
Has anyone here ever done this? I am budgeting this for around $10,000.

I know it would probably be cheaper to do this myself, but going thru some travel agent or group would probably be the way I want to go for ease and security.

Any and all help/advise/warnings/suggestion/anecdotes/horror stories would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

TCN

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Don't try flush a koala

just. don't.

But enjoy the trip!! Someday I would love to go to Australia - my third grade teacher did a month there the year I had her, she switched teaching positions (though we had a teacher from somewhere else), so we studied Australia all year long. I fell in love with it!

And I've met some Aussies, and every one of them is damned nice, pleasant, and intelligent.

[JanMichael]

11. You write incredibly well for a third grader!

and a boy to boot!

;)

[northzax]

19. that's cause they only let the good ones out

you should see the ones they keep at home!

[rooboy]

2. A good place to start...

http://www.tourism.australia.com/

[ThreeCatNight]

7. Was there last night...Thanks

[trotsky]

3. Quantas. Never crashed. ;-)

:)

[ThreeCatNight]

5. My wife has never flown further than an hour....

but I have flown to Barcelona.
That was in the good old days of smoking sections. May have to have a patch or two, or just sleep the whole flight.

[meegbear]

4. If you go into a bar ...

If you are drinking from a glass and you are done drinking, do not turn the empty glass over and place it on the bar, as some do here.

In Australia, that means you're challenging anyone in the bar to fight you.

[ThreeCatNight]

6. Advise taken...Thanks.

[radwriter0555]

8. 10K will net you a first class holiday. You can spend half and do twice as

much, such as stop off at Thialand or Hong Kong or some other amazing, exotic destination along the way. That said, My FAVORITE travel planner is Gate One Travel... Here is their Oz package...

http://www.gate1travel.com/australia-travel/

I've referred many people to them and use them again and again myself. They're TOPS.

[ThreeCatNight]

9. Does that include airfare?

That is a big expense right there.
Hard to find a non stop from Kentucky to Sydney. :)

[radwriter0555]

13. You'll have to change planes in Chicago I believe

since it's an international flight.

Gives you the chance to leg stretch and yes, they include airfare.

Check the website and give them a call.

[ThreeCatNight]

14. The only problem is.....

We want to visit Ayer's Rock and Alice Springs too. Still seeing if they offer those.

[NewJeffCT]

15. Try a specialized travel agency

We were able to get 2 round trip air tickets from Hartford, CT to mainland, China (we flew into Beijing & out from Shanghai) and also get a week-long tour that included another flight in China itself, 7 nights at good hotels, and all meals included. We booked through a Chinese travel agency in NYC and it was like $2,300 for both of us.

[ThreeCatNight]

17. I trhink we will probably go that route....

the agency route that is.
Kinda out of the way to visit Oz thru China.

[NewJeffCT]

18. I realize that

But, there may be similar agencies for Australia, or you can try to book a trip to Australia through the Chinese agencies.

[ThreeCatNight]

21. I know...I was just joking.....

[Submariner]

10. No tipping

When I visited OZ a few months ago and went to lunch with some folks from our Sydney office, I started to leave a tip for the waiter but was told by the other 10 people, "Oh don't do that, we don't tip in OZ". So there is a savings for you.

[ThreeCatNight]

12. Cool for us....

sucks for the servers though.

[northzax]

20. not really, they make a living wage instead

of the pay-for-service we have here.

If I were you, and I ain't, I'd fly through LAX to Sydney (what, four-five from Louisville to LA and then another 15 to Sydney? no problem, drink lots of water, GET UP AND WALK AROUND, DVT is a bitch)

Spend a few days in Sydney, it'll help you get acclimated to the time change. Take a ferry tour, wander the opal district, be a tourist in the Rocks, climb the Bridge, go to Bondi. Then go up to the reef for a few days (fly, OZ is huge) and then to Uluru, swing over to Perth and then come back to Sydney for a trip to the Wine Country.

Oh, hit the southern reef, and go to Fraser Island, rent a 4x4 and tool around. good time. be aware, however, that the island has three of the world's four most poisonous snakes, and the two most poisonous spiders. but they almost never bite tourists. And watch out for Sharks.

Read "In a Sunburnt Country" by Bill Bryson.

[ThreeCatNight]

23. Thanks for the heads up, I'll keep my head down....

This is gonna be so damn much FUN!!!!!

[NewJeffCT]

16. For the flights...

I would recommend getting some advil or similar painkillers... it's sometimes pretty cramped on a plane for a long time - I got some severe neck pain when I dozed off in an odd position on our flight to China.

Make sure you get up & stretch / walk around every once in a while, too.

[ThreeCatNight]

22. I was thinking more along the lines of Vicodin and booze. :)

[ThreeCatNight]

24. Self indulgent bttt....nt