Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Australia

23 replies

mytartanscarf · 28/02/2015 13:18

Here is what I plan to do - get a flight to Sydney and stay in Sydney for 2 weeks then have a week in cairns for the GBR.

Has anybody done this and can you give me some tips and suggestions for things you enjoyed?

Also (shallow Blush) ideas for entertainment on long flight ...? I will be on my own!

OP posts:
specialsubject · 02/03/2015 11:33

what time of year will this be?

I have to say that 2 weeks in Sydney is quite a lot.

you don't need to worry about in-flight entertainment, all the planes now have seat-back TV with a huge range of TV, film, music etc.

mytartanscarf · 02/03/2015 13:03

Do you think so? I can adapt my trip easily - would you do one week in Sydney and two in GBR?

September :)

OP posts:
specialsubject · 02/03/2015 13:28

it's been a while, but after the initial 'wow, I'm in Sydney, look at that view' I found a couple of days enough to see views, parks etc. Could happily have spent longer in the Blue mountains though! I'm sure Sydney has plenty more to do and see, it just wasn't for me.

I'm not you, though, no idea on your interests. Suggest first stop is the library for a rough guide (Not the Lonely Planet which tends to be just a drinking guide) and see what interests you.

what are your GBR plans - liveaboard dive for example? Are you qualified?

notquitegrownup2 · 02/03/2015 13:40

You can easily get a train up to the Blue Mountains from Syndey, so make that part of your trip. I would suggest 8/9 days in Syndey, including two or three nights in the Blue Mountains, then fly via Uluru for a couple of nights, so that you can see the real outback and see sunrise there, then finish off with the week in Cairns, which is fabulous but quite expensive if you are 'just' diving off the reef (though do fit in a visit to Australia Zoo, too, if you like that sort of thing)

No need to worry about entertainment on the flight, if you leave the UK in the evening, as you sleep for the first 8 hours after meals etc have been dished up and then there are plenty of films to choose from. IME it all went quite quickly. Have you booked your flights already? Are you stopping off somewhere interesting? Singapore is a very civilised stopover.

HTH

mytartanscarf · 02/03/2015 15:54

I haven't booked them yet - was waiting for you lot! Grin

Thank you. I can't wait - this is all really helpful :)

OP posts:
PestoSnowissimos · 02/03/2015 16:10

Take the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly beach, t'is lovely there. There is an aquarium there aswell. You can catch the bus to Bondi beach (change at Bondi Junction I seem to remember.). Blue mountains are good too. I would also only spend a week in Sydney. Cairns is great too, take a catamaran to Green Island on the Barrier Reef for amazing snorkelling. From Cairns you should take a trip up to Cape Tribulation where the rainforest meets the sea. It's stunning, but you will have to stay overnight due to the distance involved. You can go horse riding in the sea there too, just fab.

mytartanscarf · 02/03/2015 16:41

Oh I'd LOVE that!

OP posts:
brittanyfairies · 02/03/2015 16:56

I did a similar holiday at Christmas and spent 3 nights/4 days in Sydney. It was wonderful. I think I could have done with another couple of days but that would have been about it - I never got to see any of the museums because the kids always wanted to do or go somewhere else. I would have loved to have spent longer in the Blue Mountains, we loved Scenic World but didn't get enough hours there at all (but we went on organised trip).

We caught the James Cook ferry to Manly and bought the 24 hour hop on hop off ticket, so used it on the Saturday afternoon to pop over to the zoo, and then on Sunday to pop over to Manly, and they weren't that strict about checking the times on the way back so we managed to get the boat back without having to pay.

I actually liked the James Cook boats because you got a guided tour around the harbour whichever direction you went in, so I found them really interesting.

But I do think about a week in Sydney would be long enough, it's a pretty small city.

I didn't get to do Uluru which I would also have liked to do, there are were flights there from Sydney and from Adelaide where we spent the majority of the holiday. But, it means I'm just going to have to go back to Australia to visit.

Have a lovely visit. For myself I didn't find the flight too bad, but my DS1 decided to spend the whole 15 hour leg from KL to Heathrow throwing up with air sickness. That was a bloody nightmare for me and the poor sods sat near us.

brittanyfairies · 02/03/2015 16:57

Oh and I will just say the train from Sydney airport to the city centre was brilliant. Cheap, fast, clean and stopped two minutes from my hotel (just the Travelodge) and it went via Circular Quay so you got to see the bridge and opera house within 30 minutes of getting off the plane.

BIWI · 02/03/2015 17:01

Do the Bridge Climb in Sydney - it's fantastic. You will have to book it in advance though, as it's really popular.

The aquarium is great, and also Taronga zoo

Take a boat trip round the bay - loads of them operating from Circular quay.

Go and have a drink at the 360 bar . It's fab at sunset too - so maybe go twice, at different times of the day.

We went from Sydney to the Whitsundays, but we went via Brisbane, so we could spend a couple of days at Tangalooma feeding the dolphins

Have a great time - you'll love it!

mytartanscarf · 02/03/2015 17:21

Oh my goodness - so excited!

So a week in Sydney - and yes to zoo/aquarium; I love animals - then - did someone mention Dolphins? Grin

OP posts:
brittanyfairies · 02/03/2015 17:44

mytartan I swam in the sea with dolphins in Adelaide. Every time we went out on a boat ride we saw loads of them, the most amazing experience of my life.

I think it's whale watching from Sydney - I think it starts around September October but I'm not too sure.

specialsubject · 02/03/2015 19:55

there's a walk from Manly along some splendid seashore - will look up where it goes.

cheapo alternative to the Bridge Climb is to go up one of the pylons. I've a great photo of bridge climbers from there, I waved and they all waved back!

I stayed in Manly, the ferry ride in is just wonderful. What a commute that must be!

Madcats · 03/03/2015 22:35

I've been to Oz a few times (family and work). I really don't enjoy a straight connecting flight in the Far East. I recommend a stopover both ways if you can squeeze in the time.

I also recommend using a proper travel agent rather than just relying on the internet if you plan to make a couple of internal flights. My local is "World Market Travel".

The Whales migrate down from GBR in September (Fraser Island/Hervey Bay are good QLD locations and run trips should have better info than my distant memory);

mytartanscarf · 04/03/2015 15:50

You lot are amazing Grin

don't suppose anyone fancies finding me a flight then? Grin

OP posts:
PestoSnowissimos · 05/03/2015 16:27

Try

Travelbag

HiccupHaddockHorrendous · 17/03/2015 21:16

Mytartan - ds and I are doing a similar trip in July/August and have just come here to look for pretty much the same info as you Grin

I've booked the main flights through trail finders (much cheaper than an independent travel agent) but need to add on a few more bits and pieces yet.

We fly into cairns, will work our way down to Sydney and fly home from there.

I've been looking up allsorts of stuff on GBR and just don't know where is going to be the best place to book/visit (going to start a new thread so as not to hijack yours!!).

I am so excited about going!!

mytartanscarf · 20/03/2015 17:20

You will have to let me know about it! My flights are now booked - seems very 'real'!

OP posts:
HiccupHaddockHorrendous · 20/03/2015 17:30

Woohoo! That's great!!

Are you having a stop over?

We've got 2 nights in Singapore on the way out but just a couple of hours on the way back.

Are you travelling alone or meeting up with friends/family?

It's such a big adventure! I feel like this is the start of my mid-life crisis (it's going to be a long one Grin) and already have plans for a longer trip in 5 years when ds leaves school!!

mytartanscarf · 20/03/2015 17:54

Haha I am having a sort of mid life crisis too. I'm just going alone Shock have a 17 hour Hmm stop in Singapore but have booked a room at the hotel there to nap and charge the iPad! It's 3 hours coming back which is fine.

I'm a bit worried about the flight!

OP posts:
HiccupHaddockHorrendous · 20/03/2015 18:13

You'll have a ball!!

I'm really looking forward to the flight Blush. My handluggage will be mostly filled with wool and crochet hooks BlushBlush and I can't wait to zone out infront of movie after movie Grin...especially after a few very busy months at work (to pay for it all!!!).

ajandjjmum · 21/03/2015 04:25

We spent three weeks in Australia a couple of years ago - three nights in Singapore on the way out and four in Dubai on the way back. Great trip.

Sydney - loved it, but it is a pretty small city. Enjoyed Manly and Bondi. Worth having a drink at the bar at the Shangri-la - fabulous view. Bridge climb was good. Haunted walk ok but not great.

Visited the wine area on a day trip but sadly didn't get to the Blue Mountains.

Stayed at Port Douglas in Northern Queensland - we weren't too impressed with Cairns. Barrier Reef trip was quite good but we loved our day with Daintree Safaris - Nick - a Brit, is so knowledgeable and really entertaining. He took us up to Cape Tribulation to see where the rainforest meets the reef.

Flew to Uluru. Good to have been although it was pretty commercialized and our guides weren't particularly good. Went on the Tali Wuru dinner - cost an arm and a leg but was an absolute highlight. Cocktails as you watch the sun go down, dinner with digeridoo and star talk before dessert. Just amazing!

You will have such a fantastic trip!

bigedd · 24/03/2015 12:57

Hi, my partner and I recently traveled from the UK to Brisbane with our 7/8 month old. I've created a blog post with some tips that we learnt, it might be of use to you...

bigedit.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/useful-tips-for-flying-long-haul-with.html

If you've got any questions, feel free to ask smile

@eddierthomas

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread