Australia

Gave up Sydney on my list and added Australia, as I have decided to include more of Australia in my trip in November. My trip planning is finally coming together. I have decided to visit Sydney, Brisbane, and Cairns.

Sydney
-seeing Australian Ballet at Opera House
-seeing Sydney Symphony at Opera House
-day trip to the Blue Mountains
-day trip to the Hunter Valley
-Sydney Aquarium
-Harbour Bridge Pylon
-The Rocks Market
... more sight seeing!

Brisbane
-Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
-day trip to Australia/Steve Irwin Zoo

Cairns
-Day trip out to the Great Barrier Reef
-Day trip to rainforest
-Butterfly preserve?

I have my hotels and flights lined up, so it’s just filling in the blanks and booking the tours. I am looking forward to it… if I could just wrap my mind around the 14 hour flight!

Taking any and all suggestions from seasoned travelers and locals.

- Great Ocean Road (near Melbourne)
- Little Penguins and Koala Sanctuary at Phillip Island (near Melbourne)
- Melbourne – Great place for food, bars, and coffee shops
- Great Barrier Reef – We went with Wavelength to learn to snorkel on the outer reef. They only had a small number of people in the boat so we got some undivided attention to help us get comfortable with snorkelling and the water.
4. Port Douglas – if you go to see the reef, I recommend you fly to Cairns, but go to Port Douglas for your accommodations. Cairns is very touristy. Port Douglas isn’t. It’s a comfortable, warm place to stay.
5. Ayres Rock and King’s Canyon

I just got back from a 3.5 week visit. My expectations were really surpassed.

The wildlife here is really amazing, and there was lots I did not expect. The bird life was incredible – an abundance of parrots, cockatoos, lorikeets, and all sorts of other beautiful birds in the wild. There are so many of them that people there took no more notice of them than we take of pigeons. The huge numbers of flying foxes in Cairns and Sydney (flocks of them flying overhead, and thousands roosting in the trees) was also a surprise.

I really enjoyed the food and drink, as well. As far as beers go, I really liked Coopers, Toohey’s, and Carlton Draught. (Cascade and VB were pretty good, as well. I didn’t care for XXXX – tasted like cheap American beer to me. Sorry Queensland.) Pie in Australia means meat pie, which were everywhere, and about the only cheap eats around, which suited me just fine, as they were usually pretty good.

The US dollar does not go far there, at all. A beer usually runs around $6-$7 a bottle, and a “cheap meal” is considered to be $20.

My favorite cities, overall, were Adelaide and Melbourne. My favorite places we visited were the Adelaide Botanic Gardens (best I’ve ever been to), Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary, Melbourne Story exhibit @ Museum Victoria, Aldgate Pump Hotel (pub outside Adelaide with amazing food.. try the venison pie), Observatory Hill in Sydney (for amazing night-time view of the city, and lots of giant bats), Telstra Dome (for Aussie Rules Football), Cooper’s Ale House in Adelaide, Federation Square, the Wildlife Dome in Cairns, and the Rocks area of Sydney.

Not sure what the calling is but it is there.
Maybe the architecture of Sydney.
Maybe I just want to see a kangaroo in the wild.
Maybe I just want to sit on the beach and experience the waves.
Maybe to take in a new culture, the food, the drinks, the music, ands the arts.
Maybe jus to learn how to throw a boomarang!
Thougth about catching a blues concert in Melborne and have to research the taste ofustralian beers.
Mybe to taste the wine in the wine country.
Maybe I can find time to go fishing.
Maybe to see the natural beauty of the land.
Maybe I just need to go and find out why it calls me.

11 Years ago I went to visit my younger brother (In Brisbaine) & my birthfather (in Queensland). We spent Christmas with my dad. It was awesome & we had heaps of fun. It was also great to talk with my dad & get several things off my chest which I had issues about.

I have friends who live there, specifically in Qld and Vic. I want to see Uluru (Ayers Rock). I want to live with the aboriginals (for a week or so) and learn their their ways, hear their stories, experience their culture. I want to see koalas and kangaroos in the wild. I want to pet some wombats.

I want to see the Sydney Opera House. I want to experiences the places Australians love that maybe aren’t too well known by tourists. The beaches. The great expanse of brush.

I want to eat vegemite sandwiches. Tim Tams with coffee. A proper fish and chips.

Most of all, I want to spend time with my friends—who all have funny accents.

We went to this really cool zoo while I was in Australia. I don’t think it was the actual Crocodile Hunter’s zoo but it was a pretty cool place. The animals were pretty free, kangaroos were just wondering around and the cages of the animals were minimally sheltering. Well, someone made some kind of weird noise… and all of a sudden the emus burst from their cage and began chasing us around. The friend I was there with is absolutely terrified of birds, and I have to say I’ve never laughed so hard in my life.

ive lived here my entire life. born in melbourne ive travelled around the country a little, to queensland when i was 6, the sunshine and relaxed atmosphere, for what i remember was amazing. to sydney 3 times, twice with a good friend and once for a cultral art tour for school, very inspiring. a little face paced but very upbeat place. and an 11 day tour of central australia as a camp for secondary school. environmentally untouched, a little hard to adapt too but very beautiful. and my melbourne.. amazing people, for the most part, the opportunities are endless and atmosphere contagious.. although i cant wait to travel the rest of the world.. i know this will always be where i feel safest. at home. xo

I lived in Laidley, Queensland in 1985, and I’d like to go back and visit. From what I’ve heard it’s completely suburbia now, which would be very odd. I know I wouldn’t recognize it at all.

I’ve got tickets! I will land on in mid Nov.