[NA] Australian vacation - recommendations

[jaybee]

As the title says, I got free tickets to go anywhere AA flies and decided to go to Australia - Sydney to be exact.

Yea, I know its winter but avoiding tourist season is part of the attraction for me.

So... yea... not into the whole touristy thing but will of course hit up some obligatory spots. Going to get a rental car and will have about 8 days in country to get out and about. Looking for any off the tourist grid things ya'll may have found in your own travels or maybe some feedback on those prepacked deals where they pick you up at your hotel and take you to the Blue Mountains deals.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Sac Arrow]

While you're in Sydney, check out The Rocks, lots of good eating and drinking establishments there, particularly the Fortune of War saloon. And Bondi Beach - topless beach, @mscard88 would approve. Funny thing though as you get out of the main city of Sydney, the smaller cities and towns almost resemble the typical United States Midwest (if you can get past the kangaroos and koala bears.)

It's a long drive but the Barossa Valley is a cool winery crawl region. The Hunter Valley less so but it's closer.

 

[jaybee]

While you're in Sydney, check out The Rocks, lots of good eating and drinking establishments there, particularly the Fortune of War saloon. And Bondi Beach - topless beach, @mscard88 would approve. Funny thing though as you get out of the main city of Sydney, the smaller cities and towns almost resemble the typical United States Midwest (if you can get past the kangaroos and koala bears.)

It's a long drive but the Barossa Valley is a cool winery crawl region. The Hunter Valley less so but it's closer.

Not sure how good the scenery will be in winter time...

 

[Cap'n Jack]

What @Sac Arrow said. Also include the Blue Mountains if the weather is nice- nice scenery there, but I see you have that covered. If the weather is cloudy, find something else to do. The botanical garden has some interesting birds.

 

[mtuomi]

Blue Mountains is easy to DIY, no need to get a package deal. Just hop on a train from Sydney to Katoomba and buy a day pass for the circle line bus that drives around the area. It's definitely worth seeing, but make sure you have good weather. No need to prebook or anything, just check the weather and go.

 

[jaybee]

Blue Mountains is easy to DIY, no need to get a package deal. Just hop on a train from Sydney to Katoomba and buy a day pass for the circle line bus that drives around the area. It's definitely worth seeing, but make sure you have good weather. No need to prebook or anything, just check the weather and go.

That is some good info.

The package deals I was looking at were showing a cable car ride, I'm assuming that can be done all on its own.

 

[Anymouse]

As the title says, I got free tickets to go anywhere AA flies and decided to go to Australia - Sydney to be exact.

Yea, I know its winter but avoiding tourist season is part of the attraction for me.

So... yea... not into the whole touristy thing but will of course hit up some obligatory spots. Going to get a rental car and will have about 8 days in country to get out and about. Looking for any off the tourist grid things ya'll may have found in your own travels or maybe some feedback on those prepacked deals where they pick you up at your hotel and take you to the Blue Mountains deals.

Thanks,
Jeff

Be careful with that rental car. Driving on the other side of the road takes some getting used to. Left turns and U-Turns can really screw you up.

 

[Sac Arrow]

Not sure how good the scenery will be in winter time...

Oh. Right. There is that. Then again, the high beams will be at their peak, for those so inclined.

Be careful with that rental car. Driving on the other side of the road takes some getting used to. Left turns and U-Turns can really screw you up.

Actually roundabouts screwed me up more than anything else for some reason. Plus you end up turning on the wipers a lot during right turns.

 

[mscard88]

While you're in Sydney, check out The Rocks, lots of good eating and drinking establishments there, particularly the Fortune of War saloon. And Bondi Beach - topless beach, @mscard88 would approve. Funny thing though as you get out of the main city of Sydney, the smaller cities and towns almost resemble the typical United States Midwest (if you can get past the kangaroos and koala bears.)

It's a long drive but the Barossa Valley is a cool winery crawl region. The Hunter Valley less so but it's closer.

Boobies for the gazing eh? Think my wife has always wanted to visit that country. Ahem...

 

[mtuomi]

That is some good info.

The package deals I was looking at were showing a cable car ride, I'm assuming that can be done all on its own.

Yep, they (cable car and the scenic railway) cost a bit but are worth it.

 

[flyingron]

We did Australia in the beginning of July, their winter, and lots of it were still hot. We did Sidney, climbed the bridge, took a Beaver seaplane tour. Then went up to Brisbane and got checked out in a 172 and then did a two week flying tour out to Uluru and Alice Springs and back. We then went up to Cannes and spent a few days on a live aboard dive boat (taking a jet ranger out to the boat).

 

[jaybee]

We did Australia in the beginning of July, their winter, and lots of it were still hot. We did Sidney, climbed the bridge, took a Beaver seaplane tour. Then went up to Brisbane and got checked out in a 172 and then did a two week flying tour out to Uluru and Alice Springs and back. We then went up to Cannes and spent a few days on a live aboard dive boat (taking a jet ranger out to the boat).

Did they let you rent with an FAA license? Would love to fly out to Alice Springs

 

[Pilawt]

While you're in Sydney, check out The Rocks, lots of good eating and drinking establishments there, particularly the Fortune of War saloon.

We stayed at the Mercantile Hotel on George Street in The Rocks a couple of months ago. Enjoyed it and the whole neighborhood; lots of history and atmosphere. The ferry terminal, railway station, Opera House and Harbour Bridge are all a short walk away.



If you use the Domestic Terminal at the Sydney Airport, check out the Qantas Historic Gallery on the second floor. In addition to cool exhibits, it has a panoramic view of the approach end of 16R. There's also a replica of Qantas' first aircraft, an Avro 504K, in the domestic ticket lobby downstairs.

 

[cessna182b]

As the title says, I got free tickets to go anywhere AA flies and decided to go to Australia - Sydney to be exact.

Yea, I know its winter but avoiding tourist season is part of the attraction for me.

So... yea... not into the whole touristy thing but will of course hit up some obligatory spots. Going to get a rental car and will have about 8 days in country to get out and about. Looking for any off the tourist grid things ya'll may have found in your own travels or maybe some feedback on those prepacked deals where they pick you up at your hotel and take you to the Blue Mountains deals.

Thanks,
Jeff

Go to New Zealand instead!. Seriously, I have worked in, and travelled over much of both - and would go back to NZ sooner than OZ. Nothing wrong with Australia,
but to me it would be a great place to live - but you wouldn't want to visit. It's too far away for one thing. Another is that, to me it has magnificent beaches - and
little else. The Great Barrier Reef is beyond compare - but remember, it's winter, and the reef is off Northern Queensland - not NSW. The distances are huge. The
cities are nice (and enormous) - but there are miles and miles of nothing much in between. NZ is more user-friendly (and Green!; OZ is mostly desert). Just my .02.

Dave

 

[jaybee]

Would love to NZ but I missed the last flight of the season from American Airlines (free tickets for employees...)

I could ZED fare while in OZ but my travel partner cannot so, OZ it is this time around.

I can always non-rev in the future, been really busy couple of years here. I hope to have more time money after I upgrade to Captain. I got to retrain for the Air National Guard first though.

 

[Pilawt]

Driving on the other side of the road takes some getting used to. Left turns and U-Turns can really screw you up.

The "hook turns" required for right turns (right turns are made from the furthermost left lane) at many intersections in the Melbourne Central Business District are fun to watch, too.



Even if you don't drive ... get used to walking on the left side of hallways and sidewalks. And for Pete's sake, LOOK RIGHT!!! before crossing a street. More than one tourist has been done in that way.

 

[flyingron]

Did they let you rent with an FAA license? Would love to fly out to Alice Springs

I had a letter of authorization to fly a VH plane on my US license. Some of our group actually got Australian licenses issued on the basis of their US licenses but we didn't start out on the paperwork early enough for that apparenlty. There's now a security card you need to fly into most airports, that's changed since we were there, so I'm not sure what the requirements settled down to being.

 

[colojo]

And for Pete's sake, LOOK RIGHT!!! before crossing a street. More than one tourist has been done in that way.

I went to Sydney back in 2006 and I remember they had signs at the crosswalks reminding tourists to look right first before crossing.

 

[djpacro]

Some of our group actually got Australian licenses issued on the basis of their US licenses ..... There's now a security card you need to fly into most airports, that's changed since we were there, so I'm not sure what the requirements settled down to being.

It has all changed now. Our CASA has always been harder to deal with than your FAA and getting the licence of certificate of validation is the easy part https://www.casa.gov.au/standard-page/converting-overseas-licences The hard part is getting the security card which is required just to exercise the privileges of the licence, let alone getting access to an airport.

I live in Melbourne and visiting Sydney for a few days next month - expect it to be pleasant weather but I'd rather be going to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.

 

[flyingron]

I think we are saying the same thing. Getting the certificate or even an Aussie license wasn't difficult. I got in right before the security cards went into effect (in fact, we were told that the company we were involved with was going to give it up over the security card issue). However, I've talked to tour operators subsequently, and while you have to have the security card, and you need to start that paperwork EARLY on your planned trip, the guvvies backed off on the requirement that the applicant be in country to do it.

 

[GRG55]

Years ago I was taking a walk on a pedestrian path that followed the beachfront in Perth. Heard a cyclist ring a bell behind me, so I moved right. Bell rang again, so I moved further right. Bell rang one more time and a voice said "Yer supposed to move to the left mate".

 

[gkainz]

Years ago I was taking a walk on a pedestrian path that followed the beachfront in Perth. Heard a cyclist ring a bell behind me, so I moved right. Bell rang again, so I moved further right. Bell rang one more time and a voice said "Yer supposed to move to the left mate".

saw the same thing just walking around ... as the American and the Aussie approach each other, both sidestep to their right ... and again and again until you're off the curb and into the street.

 

[Skip Miller]

I strongly recommend "In a sunburned country" by Bill Bryson as a travel guide. The book is funny enough to keep you laughing even into the night. Also useful enough for me to recommend it a dozen years post-visit. -Skip

 

[flyingron]

Oddly, when driving my only problem was I kept turning on the windshield wipers when trying to make a turn.

I wasn't supposed to be driving, but the guy I was travelling with and I kept instinctively going to the wrong sides of the car so we just gave up and let me drive.

The other issue we had there was ordering coffee. We were not getting the hang of tall blacks and flat whites so we figured we'd just pop into Starbucks, but they had been similarly "aussie-fied."

 

[hankrausch]

Cockatoo Island in the harbor was interesting to me, it was a shipyard for since forever, before that it was a prison Now you can walk through these vast buildings where they used to refit ships. In fact you can buy a hop on hop of ferry ticket that takes you to a lot of cool places in the harbor, the zoo, an old fort. Take one out to Manly beach which should have some awesome body surfing in the winter waves. You can also buy a museum pass which allows you to visit a certain number of museums which we found to be a bargain. If you go out to Manly you really need to take a walk out on the headlands there are old forts from WW2 and also a quarantine camp they ran until 1981! It has a real "Lost" feel to it, it is an abandoned village kind of the like the Dharma initiative. They would quarantine the passengers and crew of ships if someone had a contagious disease. There is a sandstone cliff there where people would carve their names and ship's names. One was the Lusitania. Another stop on the hop on hop off ferry is an awesomely creepy amusement park that will provide you plenty of nightmare material. And has been mentioned don;t miss the Blue Mountains!

 

[jaybee]

I was definitely looking at that hop on off ferry, glad to hear some feedback on it.

I got till end of June to figure it all out. Thank you everyone.

 

[Pilawt]

I was definitely looking at that hop on off ferry, glad to hear some feedback on it.

On that subject, we happened upon a famous member of the fleet on our recent visit:



There is apparently an ongoing saga regarding that name ...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...scandal/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.0e9c5bb951a6

 

[cgrab]

When I lived in DC and people would come visit, I would tell them to take the hop-on-hop-off tourist bus around at least once. Make sure you get a good talkative driver. There are so many little things that you would miss by yourself. I would do the same thing on the first day in Sidney. I did go to AUS for work and was in the outback at the missile range. We were in Adelaide for a day. There is a statue there dedicated to the city planner with this excerpt from his diary.

"The reasons that led me to fix Adelaide where it is I do not expect to be generally understood or calmly judged of at present. My enemies however, by disputing their validity in every particular, have done me the good service of fixing the whole of the responsibility upon me. I am perfectly willing to bear it, and I leave it to posterity and not to them, to decide whether I am entitled to praise or to blame."

Got to love it when a guy puts his neck out.

 

[Pilawt]

When I lived in DC and people would come visit, I would tell them to take the hop-on-hop-off tourist bus around at least once. Make sure you get a good talkative driver. There are so many little things that you would miss by yourself. I would do the same thing on the first day in Sidney.

That's what we did, and we're glad we did. https://www.bigbustours.com/en/sydney/sydney-bus-tours/

No talkative driver, though; just a pre-recorded and sometimes repetitive, but informative, spiel through the earbuds they provide (or bring your own for better audio quality). Take both loops; it doesn't cost any more and it's worth the time. If you're staying in The Rocks, you can buy tickets in their storefront on the ground floor below the Circular Quay railway station, and catch the bus on George St. nearby.

 

[Sac Arrow]

Who would have thought "Quay" was pronounced "key."

 

[Cap'n Jack]

You may be able to get discounted tickets to the Sydney Sea-life aquarium and the Wildlife Syndey Zoo, next door. The wild life zoo isn't the large zoo across the harbour, but concentrates on Australia wildlife. You have the chance to pet a 'roo. The Featherdale wildlife park is on the way to/from the blue mountains and has approachable local animals too. You will need to pay for pictures with a koala and you won't be able to hold them at any of the places.

 

[mtuomi]

Who would have thought "Quay" was pronounced "key."

Just as they do in English language, imagine that! Before you guys bastardiSed it

(ref: in England, Torquay).

English language really has no standard to pronounce things. Such as, you live in Houston, TX, but your favorite part of NYC is SoHo (South of WHAT street?)

 

[jaybee]

Well the big trip starts tomorrow. I wasn't going to do it originally because it is such a long drive but we decided last minute that we can't go all the way to Australia and not dive the Great Barrier Reef. So looking for any recommendations on that as the advertised ones that pop up on Google are all the way up in Cairns was hoping to find something a little further south. Thanks, Jeff.

 

[Pilawt]

Have a good trip!

 

[Sac Arrow]

Well the big trip starts tomorrow. I wasn't going to do it originally because it is such a long drive but we decided last minute that we can't go all the way to Australia and not dive the Great Barrier Reef. So looking for any recommendations on that as the advertised ones that pop up on Google are all the way up in Cairns was hoping to find something a little further south. Thanks, Jeff.

I did the barrier dive in Cairns, and frankly, it was anticlimactic. The reef is mostly dead, few fish, and visibility was okay but not great. Bring your dive card if you have one. Even if you don't dive, they will still give a crash course on the way for those who need it, but they have to stay tethered to an instructor.

 

[jaybee]

I hear ya I'm not into all the touristy **** however I went to a job interview with the helicopter operator out in the Grand canyon once, didn't go see the canyon because I thougth I'd save that moment to share with my wife... Didn't get the job and got divorced and still haven't seen the Grand canyon. So despite my hatred for tourist **** when I'm somewhere like these places from now on I do it.

 

[Pilawt]

Here's something to study on the flight over ...

http://www.koalanet.com.au/australian-slang.html

 

[jaybee]

Vacation coming to an end, what an amazing place thanks for all the advice.

More pics to follow when I get home. Good WiFi by American standard is hard to come by.

I paid to have my phone on through Verizon...

Connection is spotty and weird, can barely get on sometimes in the city of Sydney yet I uploaded a video of a trail I was hiking on while in the middle of nowhere...

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Vacation coming to an end, what an amazing place thanks for all the advice.

More pics to follow when I get home. Good WiFi by American standard is hard to come by.

I paid to have my phone on through Verizon...

Connection is spotty and weird, can barely get on sometimes in the city of Sydney yet I uploaded a video of a trail I was hiking on while in the middle of nowhere...

Looking forward to your pictures.

As for WiFi, most of the world doesn't have "Good WiFi by American standard". Many hotels do have decent WiFi; some places charge for a decent connection. Holiday Inn is a "preferred provider" where I work so I'm invariably at one of those if reasonably convenient.

As for the phone, voice seems to work well. Data- another story (via AT&T). I've seen locals have excellent data connections in many places and I can't get boo at the same time and location; I suspect we are put to the bottom of the priority queue.

Both situations vary a lot by country.

 

[Sac Arrow]

I made the mistake of not getting an International calling plan the first time I went to Sydney. I played hell negotiating a two thousand dollar cell bill down to a more reasonable number. That was several years ago. I'll probably be making a trip to Melbourne at some point, probably launching from Vietnam. Either way, between the hotels and the offices, I have good enough wifi that I won't need to use the local cell network. We all have iphones, so we just do Facetime voice to communicate locally and between countries.