Australia in August Any Tips?

crazyhazel

We have decided to visit Oz in August. I understand that Perth can be a bit unsettled and Cairns is very warm. Does anyone have any info on the best places to visit - Any recommendations on hotels or sights - Any codes for discounts on Hotels or Hire Cars Or anything at all about Oz that we should know. Thanks in advance

:beer:

blindman

crazyhazel wrote:

We have decided to visit Oz in August. I understand that Perth can be a bit unsettled and Cairns is very warm. Does anyone have any info on the best places to visit - Any recommendations on hotels or sights - Any codes for discounts on Hotels or Hire Cars Or anything at all about Oz that we should know. Thanks in advance

:beer:

Not asking much are you:rotfl:

Bob63

Perth was really nice and warm when I went there last year at the same time. Perth also has the advantage of having a really short flying time from here in comparison with somewhere like Sydney. Sydney to Perth is about 4 hours flying time, but from Perth you can get to Singapore in just 5 hours. If you are planning a big multi city trip then plan to have Perth as either your exit or entry point into Australia.

Sydney wasn't bad but I had been there before. It is a lovely city but I wouldn't recommend staying there more than a few days.

Canberra reminded me of central Croydon or Coventry so stay well away. Very ugly. Plus it was very cold.

Melbourne was wonderful but cold.

Adelaide was probably the nicest place I went to.

Mike

richardw

Worst month to go. Don't bother, it is winter.

martindow

Cairns is very pleasant in August (their winter) - it gets very humid in the australian summer.

Counting_Pennies_2

We went to Cairns in October a few years ago and it was baking, so going in August might be a bit cooler, hopefully!

We stayed one night at the place in the link below, it was heaven, it was self catering, with many restaurants on site, loads of pools and fairly close to the centre.
http://www.thelakescairns.com.au/

Not that I would recommend staying in Cairns longer than a night or two, not much to do there, much better to head to Port Douglas just a little further up the road, hire a car and enjoy the luxury of the place.

We used this website, which does booking last minute (I think up to a month before you go away) We had no problem booking last minute, and would recommend it for you in August as it is out of season, so you should get somewhere without any problem http://www.wotif.com/

The place we stayed in Port Douglas was below, but unfortunately it is closed for refurb.
http://www.rydges.com/hotel/0/RQPDUG/Rydges-Reef-Resort-Port-Douglas.htm
http://www.wotif.com/?country=1

There are however many nice places to stay in Port Douglas, such as the Outrigger, etc I would recommend having a look on the Wotif site and check out the different places.

Also if you do decide to do Port Douglas, you can then do nice day trips into the rainforest, from memory I think it is called Cape Tribulation. Personally I wouldn't recommend staying in the rain forest, it is very limited, all hotels and some travel agents in Port Douglas do day trips so you don't need to worry.

Also from Port Douglas, or Cairns you can do day trips to the Barrier Reef, well worth it even if you don't scuba dive or snorkle.

We then went on to stay in Manly to do the tour of Sydney. Manly is a great place to have as your base, as the Manly ferry goes every 20 mins or so and it is lovely to have a nice boat trip in past the opera house for each trip you make.

There are so many things to do in Sydney, our highlights were climbing the sydney bridge, opera, aquarium, Doyles fish restaurant in Watsons Bay, Manly Beach, (wouldn't bother with Bondi beach, the beach and the local area were quite a let down) the shopping malls are also quite nice to spend a day, it all depends how long you stay, we had 10 days there.

Then on the way home I would highly recommend a short break at Fiji, paradise!

crazyhazel

blindman wrote:

Not asking much are you:rotfl:

Well you don't get if you don't ask do you!!!

:dance:

sandieb

We stayed a couple of nights in Cairns but wouldn't do so again.

The Lakes resort mentioned by an earlier poster looked good when we walked past it.

We stayed a few days in York Apartments just north of Cairns - family run, very clean, just opposite the beach. I would definitely stay there again.

http://www.yorkapartments.com.au/

sandieb

Oh my previous post is a bit ambiguous.

What I meant to say was that we in fact stayed in Cairns twice. I wouldn't stay in the middle of Cairns again. However, the York Apartments are to the north and I most definitely would stay there again!

Green_Flagon

As a previous poster said, August will be the middle of our winter. The further south you go, the colder it will be. Tasmania, Adelaide & Melbourne will be pretty cold. Perth is likely to be chilly too. In Brisbane we get pleasant, warm days, a bit like early summer in the UK, and cool nights. The hottest state capital will be Darwin, but I find it oppressively humid, and there's not much to do there. Cairns has a nice climate, but is a bit of a dump. Port Douglas is absolutely lovely. The wet season is around January to April, so you won't hit that. If you're after warm weather, then Queensland is probably your best bet.

I'd disagree with the suggestion that Perth is a good entry/exit point. Perth is fine if you want to stay there, but it makes a lousy base for touring Australia. Perth is geographically totally isolated from the rest of Australia, and the airlines know it. Flying to the east coast takes about 4-5 hours, is expensive, and it is frequently hard to get where you want to go. You may be obliged, for example, to fly to Brisbane via Darwin. Driving is not an option unless you enjoy desert - thousands of kilometres of some of the most inhospitable land on earth. It's called the Nullarbour, from latin for "No trees", which says it all really.
If you want a base for touring, I'd choose Sydney. Biggest airport, most flights, and within striking distance of Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane. If you want to park yourself on a beach, I'd choose Cairns. By the way, don't swim in non netted enclosures on the tropical coast (Jellyfish).
Perth would be ok for a visit, but it may be cold and you'll be stuck there, and there's so much to Australia to enjoy! Port Douglas has lovely beaches, the Daintree World Heritage Listed Rainforest is just north, & you can visit the great barrier reef on a Quicksilver boat. It's a lovely part of the world.
The exchange rate is pretty good at the moment too, about 2.5 AUD to the pound. 6 months ago it was about 2.2. Dunno what it'll be in August, mind.
Hope this helps.
PM me if I can help more.

Best wishes,

Pete

crazyhazel

Green_Flagon wrote:

As a previous poster said, August will be the middle of our winter. The further south you go, the colder it will be. Tasmania, Adelaide & Melbourne will be pretty cold. Perth is likely to be chilly too. In Brisbane we get pleasant, warm days, a bit like early summer in the UK, and cool nights. The hottest state capital will be Darwin, but I find it oppressively humid, and there's not much to do there. Cairns has a nice climate, but is a bit of a dump. Port Douglas is absolutely lovely. The wet season is around January to April, so you won't hit that. If you're after warm weather, then Queensland is probably your best bet.

I'd disagree with the suggestion that Perth is a good entry/exit point. Perth is fine if you want to stay there, but it makes a lousy base for touring Australia. Perth is geographically totally isolated from the rest of Australia, and the airlines know it. Flying to the east coast takes about 4-5 hours, is expensive, and it is frequently hard to get where you want to go. You may be obliged, for example, to fly to Brisbane via Darwin. Driving is not an option unless you enjoy desert - thousands of kilometres of some of the most inhospitable land on earth. It's called the Nullarbour, from latin for "No trees", which says it all really.
If you want a base for touring, I'd choose Sydney. Biggest airport, most flights, and within striking distance of Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane. If you want to park yourself on a beach, I'd choose Cairns. By the way, don't swim in non netted enclosures on the tropical coast (Jellyfish).
Perth would be ok for a visit, but it may be cold and you'll be stuck there, and there's so much to Australia to enjoy! Port Douglas has lovely beaches, the Daintree World Heritage Listed Rainforest is just north, & you can visit the great barrier reef on a Quicksilver boat. It's a lovely part of the world.
The exchange rate is pretty good at the moment too, about 2.5 AUD to the pound. 6 months ago it was about 2.2. Dunno what it'll be in August, mind.
Hope this helps.
PM me if I can help more.

Best wishes,

Pete

Thanks for all the info Pete, it must've taken you ages to put all that lot down and I just wanted you to know that I appreciate it Cheers:beer: