Australia Holiday

ooberandy

Hi,

I'm off to Australia between 7th to 27th November 08. I'm looking for advice on best/ cheap hotels, hotel passes & car hire. Plus any other advice as to what to do would be useful.

I'm planning on 3 nights in Sydney, then flying to Brisbane for a further 3 nights. Would then spend about a week driving up to Cairns to spend the rest of the time there.

I would be grateful for any advice.

Cheers
andy

tummy_tank

Hi, i'm going on the 8th nov! My advice would be if you can splash the cash to stay at the Shangri-la in Sydney in a grand harbour view room do it, the views took my breath away, fab photo's from the bedroom window.It wasn't as expensive as i thought through Royalties RBS and gold medal travel. if not go to their bar at the top ?35th floor and have a drink in the evening the views are spectacular, the restaurant is good too up there.
We stayed at the Holiday Inn in Brisbane, typical room large with good views. it is next to the rail station that takes you to and from the airport (very good service). We flew internally with Virgin blue slight hiccup but had to fly to Mackay airport instead of Proserpine Airport they did transport us to our destination though, very cheap like ryanair but sorted out the problems unlike Ryanair!
Hope you have a great time

MKS

Hi
We found the cheapest one way car rental price was from DriveNow.com.au. We paid Aus$198 (approx £90) for a weeks hire for a Corolla automatic last November, picking it up at Melbourne and dropping it off at Adelaide after driving the Great Ocean Road. They gave us a free upgrade when we picked it up. I booked it a few months before we went for approx £20 more and when I re-checked later saw it had come down in price, so just cancelled and re-booked! They have a no cancellation fee policy. If you have one, take your own SatNav as they were expensive if you wanted to hire one. They are great when you just want to drive and explore.

For internal flights, register with Virginblue, Jetstar and Quantas. They all have regular sales. We paid Aus$29 each for flights fron Sydney to Melbourne.

Hotel-wise, we used Travelodge (much better standard than here), Best Western, Majestic, Radisson and Novotel. Do a hotelscomparison.com or hotelscombined.com search for the best price. Book the accommodation, if it's a good price - I always try to use hotels which operate a 'no cancellation fee' policy than can cancel and re-book if I can get it cheaper. Think about self catering. We stayed at The Lakes Resort (http://www.thelakescairns.com.au) just outside of Cairns - it was superb. Last year we stayed at the Rockford Novotel Resort ( http://www.novotel-pcr.com.au/) in Palm Cove (between Cairns and Port Douglas)- again superb accommodation. This has the added advantage of having a washing machine etc. When booking hotels etc try and go through Quidco for extra savings.

In Sydney, we went to the Blue Mountains by train and Explorer ticket - allows you to hop on, hop off at different places. ( http://www.cityrail.info/fares/link_tickets.jsp) That was much cheaper than the excursion price and allowed us to see what we wanted to rather than be whisked round on a coach and not seeing so much.

A restaurant that we visited at Kings Wharf was James Squire. The food was fantastic and not expensive by city standards, portions were good as well. (http://www.jamessquirebrewhouse.net/) See the menu page. It's a brewers and they have an enormous range of beers.

Ditto in Cairns. We drove to Cape Tribulation/Daintree ourselves and had so much more time than on an organized tour. We also went to Kuranda by ourselves. If you want to go up by the train, it only goes up a couple of times in the morning. If you go on this, ask for window seats for the best views. The Skyrail operates all day. Most of the shops in Kuranda close early afternoon. In our opinion, a must-do is The Rainforest Habitat just outside of Port Douglas. (http://www.rainforesthabitat.com.au/about/prices.htm) We got the 4 park pass which we felt was good value. The Butterfly Sanctuary is actually in Kuranda and the Rainforestation is near there as well. The all parks pass includes everything at the Rainforestation, even the Duck Tour. Morning is the best time to go as all the coaches descend in the afternoon and it gets mobbed, We also visited a coffee plantation - Coffee Works,(http://www.arabicas.com.au/) I think it was about Aus$9 but that included a tour, loads of coffe and tea tasting as well as chocolates (milk, plain and white). I am not fussed with chocolate but the Lemon Myrtle and Lime and Black Pepper were fantastic. We drove into the Highlands and the Tableland and saw totally different sides of North Queensland. We came across the 'Out of the whey' cafe ( http://www.cairnsdining.com/review_52.html) ( http://www.mungallicreekdairy.com.au/) It really was as the review reads - totally different to Cairns and very cool - when we was there it was 17c as opposed to Cairns 28c.

We did the Green Island trip to the Barrier Reef and were a bit disappointed. It was very commercialised and the coral was not the same varied colours that we had seen the previous year when we took a trip that took us to two different locations on the reef. IMHO one of the best BR locations is Lady Elliot Island which is at the other end of the BR. It is situated between Brisbane and Rockhampton. We splashed out and had a day trip by air when we stayed nearby in Bundaberg. It cost Aus$160 each and it was worth every penny. Flying in to the Island was a view I will never forget. It is an eco conservation island and not commercialised at all. (http://www.ladyelliotislandresort.net/) It's a small island that you can walk around, paddle in the sea amongst the coral, snorkling etc. Lunch is usually included. The coral that we saw here were brilliant colours - just as I had always thought it would be. Excellent day out.

I found that the Australian forums on Tripadvisor were a good place for info.
HTH. I am sure you'll have a fantastic time.

soulboy_2

I'm off to Brisbane/Sydney/Adelaide on Feb. 8th (for three weeks), and was wondering if anyone could advise me on best and/or cheapest travel insurance to buy - single trip, or annual (we'll definately have at least one other holidays in the next twelve months).

Cheers ... soulboy

ooberandy

I think i'll take your advice to have a drink in the Shagri-La, were on a little bit of a budget to start with & trying for somewhere a little cheaper.

I'll be checking the car hire place out, that seems like a great price!

ooberandy

MKS - Wow. This is a far more comprehensive response than i thought i would get. Many thanks for taking the time to put it together.

I've just managed to book into the Lakes Resort in Carins & your recommendation adds to those i've previously heard.

I'll be investigating all the links you supplied with the girlfriend.

Again, many thanks, its greatly appreciated

crazyhazel

If you get the chance go to the Hunter Valley Wine Region - small area of vineyards excellent. See if you can stop off at Fraser Island - World Heritage Site - another excellent. We stayed at Hervey Bay for a few nights at the Outrigger - you can negotiate a good rate if you state you dont need the room cleaned every day!! whale watching should still be rife then I think and that is a definite must. Have a great holiday:beer: