Another Australia Thread!

Smurf71

Bob_the_Saver wrote: »

One tip, Car/camper hire in Oz seems to run by the day or part thereof. 10am monday to 9am next monday always seems to be 8 days.

Yeah-I noticed that myself when doing some research for the car hire.

Many thanks for the advice so far-all great tips and greatly appreciated. :T We would like to spend more time in and around Melbourne, so maybe we'd be better doing an escorted tour for the Great Ocean Road.

The fact that its schoolies week when we are in the Gold Coast is a bit of a nightmare by the sounds of things!

Smurf71

mrposhman wrote: »

You may be better to book a tour along the Great Ocean Road. Its a fantastic drive and you will lose out on some of this through driving.

Hiya,

The trip you describe sounds great, particularly the helicopter ride and the winery tour. Do you remember offhand which company provide it?

Actually think I found it- http://www.tourstogo.com.au/tour.1704

And I think this is the one you specifically mentioned. http://www.wildlifetours.com.au/2daytour.asp Both tours are very similar
Many thanks!

mrposhman

Smurf71 wrote: »

Hiya,

The trip you describe sounds great, particularly the helicopter ride and the winery tour. Do you remember offhand which company provide it?

Actually think I found it- http://www.tourstogo.com.au/tour.1704

And I think this is the one you specifically mentioned. http://www.wildlifetours.com.au/2daytour.asp Both tours are very similar
Many thanks!

Just searched for that and found it about the same time as you. Thats the one that I went on. I found it really good as it was a lot more personal. The tour guide specifically found out as much as he could about all of the different sets of people in the group and was generally very informative about the whole tour.

The helicopter ride isn't included in the price but is well worth the additional money. We actually had quite a dull day when we went (was there in April) but really wierdly, when the helicopter took off the sun came out providing us with some amazing photos and even more wierdly was that as soon as we touched back down, the sun went in again so seemed like it was just for us.

We also paid extra for a double room at Halls Gap, basically you stay in a hostel but it was the best hostel I've ever stayed in. There were communal rooms where there were bunk beds, but me and the missus paid extra (I can't remember how much but it wasn't much) and we got a private room with a nice double bed!!

Smurf71

Many thanks for this! Dont mind paying extra for the ensuite bathroom at all. And I'll definitely do the helicopter ride if I can, looks brilliant!!

Great advice-thanks again.

loveabargain13

One stop should definitely be to Coolangatta, beautiful beaches, excellent Surf Clubs at Rainbow Bay, amazing food at reasonable prices.
I went to Noosa last year which is on the Sunshine Coast and I'd say I was disappointed, the time before I went Hasting Street was cute little boutiques really arty /beachy vibe but now its got so commercialised and over priced, the little boutiques are no longer and its lost its character, so next time I'm definitely going back to Coolangatta!

mrposhman

Smurf71 wrote: »

Many thanks for this! Dont mind paying extra for the ensuite bathroom at all. And I'll definitely do the helicopter ride if I can, looks brilliant!!

Great advice-thanks again.

I can't remember if there was an ensuite but definately a double bed which is nice after a long day on a bus!!:D

Smurf71

loveabargain13 wrote: »

One stop should definitely be to Coolangatta, beautiful beaches, excellent Surf Clubs at Rainbow Bay, amazing food at reasonable prices.

Mate of mine said the exact same as you. Didnt think much of Noosa but loved Coolangatta. So its definitely on the list of places to do.

Many thanks for this.

loveabargain13

Hey thats ok, I'm hoping to go out the end of the year and travel, I stayed at BellaMare in Coolangatta but there are loads of holiday rental places, Twin Towns is also in Coolangatta, I think you can just walk in, have a drink, play at Keno and have a great roast!

Yeah its a shame but Noosa is totally over-rated now and very pricey, its like the place to be seen, but I wouldn't say I'd rush back now.

matchfacts

My other half and I spent all of March in Australia on our honeymoon - you're in for a treat!!

The two-day GOR trip above sounds great. Wish I'd found it before we went out. The only ones we found dropped you off en route on day one and picked you up to follow the rest of the route on day two - basically a one-day trip in two days - so we did a one-dayer. The only problem with an organised trip is that some places you'll enjoy more than others and yet you can't just stay there longer - if you drive yourself then you can. By the way we saw 9 wild koalas on the GOR trip (@Koala Cove, Kennet River), a friend of mine said he never saw a wild one until his 4th trip to Australia.

While in Melbourne I too would recommend the Penguin Parade that's mentioned above. Fantastic! We paid a little extra for the Penguin Plus experience and you really were close enough to touch them, which was amazing.

We didn't end up doing any driving, but I had looked at http://www.sydneymelbournetouring.com.au/ for some route information.

For accommodation we planned everything in advance from a number of the usual websites but http://www.not1night.com.au was a new one to me that I used for 10 nights in Melbourne.

Finally, a friend of mine told me not to get as far North as Brisbane and not go a bit further to the Great Barrier Reef. Thankfully I listened. Only went as far as the Whitsunday Islands, but snorkelling on the reef was one of the greatest experiences I've ever known.

Smurf71

matchfacts wrote: »

Finally, a friend of mine told me not to get as far North as Brisbane and not go a bit further to the Great Barrier Reef. Thankfully I listened. Only went as far as the Whitsunday Islands, but snorkelling on the reef was one of the greatest experiences I've ever known.

Thanks for all of the advice! :T

Regarding Brisbane, we are actually flying in there but will probably spend only 1-2 nights in the city before hiring about and touring the Gold Coast. Will head south of the city towards Surfers Paradise etc, rather than north of Brisbane.