Australia- Help??

Incapuppy

tanith - it might be a subject for a separate thread, but I am sure that I have heard of travel companies for single travellers that 'pair them up' roomwise for trips so that everyone avoids the single supplement charge. Not ideal I know, if you don't hit it off with the person you are sharing a room with. Other than that, perhaps there are some travel forums out there for single travellers where you could 'meet' someone else in the UK with similar travel plans as yourself and you could then travel together?

Failing that, what are your OH's reasons for refusing to fly? If he is frightened of flying could it be worth looking at one of those one day courses they hold at airports designed exactly for the purpose of helping people overcome their fear of flying? I hear that they can be quite successful.

tanith

Incapuppy wrote: »

tanith - it might be a subject for a separate thread, but I am sure that I have heard of travel companies for single travellers that 'pair them up' roomwise for trips so that everyone avoids the single supplement charge. Not ideal I know, if you don't hit it off with the person you are sharing a room with. Other than that, perhaps there are some travel forums out there for single travellers where you could 'meet' someone else in the UK with similar travel plans as yourself and you could then travel together?

Failing that, what are your OH's reasons for refusing to fly? If he is frightened of flying could it be worth looking at one of those one day courses they hold at airports designed exactly for the purpose of helping people overcome their fear of flying? I hear that they can be quite successful.

Thanks Incapuppy for all the useful suggestions I will investigate the pairing up thing.. OH is scared to fly and every single solution has been suggested to him but in truth he is so scared that he won't even contemplate a solution, he just does not want to be 'up there' ... Much as I love him its a bone of contention.. but I actually gave up trying to persuade him to seek a solution as it was making him feel so bad that he just couldn't do it , even for the love of me....

tanith

noggin wrote: »

I think you are all quite right, were talking about a good few thousands of pounds and it would be a lot easier if i could enlist the help of DH to save.
I could add my suprises in at a later date by booking the snorkelling and arranging re newing of vows without DH knowing...

Thanks for all your advice, i will involve DH and kiddie winks now and enjoy the build up together x

noggin I'd love to know what their reaction is when you tell them what you are suggesting...:T Please come back and tell us and how your plans are going...

Ningaloo

I was lucky enoug to get out to Oz in 2006, we visited Sydney and climbed the bridge and took local tours of the area by bus - we were very jet lagged though and I would have loved to spend more than a few days, we then went to Ayres Rock for a few nights...this was magical, we dined at night in the bush whilst we were shown what stars and constellations we were looking at...I have never seen so many stars and shooting stars in the sky....you can climb Ayres Rock but you are discourgaged and people have lost their lives doing so...its very steep (some people were climbing on all fours!) and has sharp bits of rick sticking out all over. We then flew onto Perth and the Margaret River area for a bit of shopping and a wine tour...which was fab. We then drove up to Coral Bay and Ningaloo Reef and saw many turtles, sharks, fish arounf the coral there. To be honest we crammed alot in and really only scratched the surface...Australia is a dream holiday and we would love to go back but it is expensive...just getting out there on a flight is £750+ each. Good luck and I hope you make it out there...it is as great as everyone tell you.

sweetpeas_2

tanith wrote: »

noggin I'd love to know what their reaction is when you tell them what you are suggesting...:T Please come back and tell us and how your plans are going...

well, it went like this- DH: mouth dropped open and he straight away picked lap top up and started hunting for destinations, places to visit, asked if id bookmarked any pages (which i obviously had... )

DS said- "what? round the underneathe of the world?!"

DD just sniffed (she is 2... )

so, thank you very much for telling me to tell them, im so glad i did now :D

tanith, look into the pairing thing... if all else fails ive got an extra big suitcase i can squeeze you in... :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

we've decided... to probably stop on hayman island (off coast of queensland) looks proper GOREGOUS and can do snorkelling trips to great barrier reef :T


thanks for all your help people, i will defo update when we get it booked and let you know the exact plans... even if it isnt for a while yet

x

tanith

noggin my son went to OZ for his pals wedding in December they were in Sidney and surrounding area.. he said it was amazing... they also went to a place called Fraser Island , they had a 4 x 4 and actually camped out on the beach, (its all set up for you ) for 3 days... they said that was out of this world... take a look http://www.fraserisland.net/ he said its something not to be missed if you are going to the area...

Skint_Catt

Fraser Island can be very 18-30's in that all the young backpackers gfo out there.

I certainly wouldn't miss Sydney (min 4/5 days) nor a trip to Uluru (Ayers Rock) but if I was going again for a short trip (7 months last time!) I don't think I'd bother with Melbourne or Adelaide (though they're both nice).

tummy_tank

We stopped at hayman island to pick people up on a diving/ snorkelling reef trip. It is very expensive to stay there. hamilton island is more kids orientated i believe. We stayed in an apartment at airlie beach (backpacker area) but apartments were too expensive for backpackers. they were lovely and had a roof top spa tub. we did all our water based trips from there. i loved sydney,its a must do. we stayed with friends in perth and had a great time, swan valley winery tour a highlight. we are going back in nov. my best advice is to book flights as early as possible for the cheapest deals usually 330 days in advance we secured a good deal on flights that way. have a fab time

peawack

Just got back from Oz, and we are all depressed !
We used Travelmood, again, and cannot fault them. We stayed in Sydney, but flew up to Hamilton Island, it was fabulous. We will go there again.
You can fly direct with Jetstar to Hamilton, and if you register on their website they will e-mail you with offers on a regular basis. We flew to Hamilton from Sydney for about £40 each way.
Also went on a great wine week-end to Mudgee, a three and a half hour drive through the Blue Mountains.

finallydebtfree!!

I went to Australia in 2005, I travelled up along the coast of Queensland from Brisbane to Cairns and it was amazing, my only regret is that I didnt go for longer! I spent a lot of the time travelling as we drove ourselves.

We managed to fit in a lot though, I enjoyed Australia zoo just outside of Brisbane and a camping trip on Fraser Island which included a swim in Lake Mckenzie.

We also stopped in Airlie beach for a couple of nights on a family site with a pool which was a nice change from the hostels and tent we had been staying in.

Snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef was amazing! We took a day trip on a catamaran which took us to 2 different spots to snorkell.

I would love to go back one day and visit Sydney and Ayres Rock, any room for another little one in that large suitcase? I can babysit so you and your OH can enjoy the evenings! :rotfl: I can recommend the champagne sunset evening cruise from Airle Beach (although in our case it was to cloudy to see the sunset :rolleyes: but the champagne was good! )

Have a good time organising your trip! thats all part of the fun!