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"ET" wrote in message ... Someone suggested this itinery for us (5 adults 1 teen) totally new to Australia, any addition or subtraction? Any suggestion for mid-range accommodation? Thanks! Day 1 Thu Arrival in Melbourne at noon - Queen Victoria Market - Federation Square - Lyon St Carlton - Little Bourke Street - Chinatown - Crown Casino I think you will find it impossible to visit the Queen Victoria Market on your first day. Arriving at 12 noon you will be lucky to leave the airport at 2 pm and then you would need to book into your hotel/motel. The market on Thursday is open from 6 am to 2 pm. On Friday it is open from 6 am to 6 pm. Check out this website: http://melbourne.citysearch.com.au/E...7/73/98/1.html Day 2 Fri Melbourne - City Tour on Tram - Philip Island - Penguin Parade - Koala Conv. Cntr I don't know your mode of transport but to do the city "tour" on the tram and Phillip Island you will have to have your own transport. Bus tours to Phillip Island usually start reasonably early in the day and don't get back until late at night because the penguins don't parade until after dark. It is quite a distance from Melbourne to Phillip Island Day 3 Sat - Soverign Hill - Yarra Valley - Farm stay Sovereign Hill is actually two attractions. During the day it is a recreation of the gold diggings and the town of Ballarat and during the evening it is a sound and light show called "Blood on the Southern Cross." Both are extremely worth it to visit. Check out website: http://www.sovereignhill.com.au/flash.shtml This will also tell yuou that the daytime exhibition takes about 4 to 5 hours to see properly. This is in Ballarat and the Yarra Valley is on the other side of Melbourne. Doable but once again I would recommend private transport. Day 4 Sun - Great Ocean Road - 12 Apostles - Captain Cook's Cottage - Rialto Town Great Ocean Road is awesome, but would take two days at least to do it justice. If you were to take a bus tour of one day it will probably leave at 8 am and return sometime after 8 pm. Captain Cook's Cottage and Rialto Tower are both in the city. As you can see you have not allowed enough time in Victoria to do all the things on your itinerary, and I suggest you do some rethinking. I will leave someone else to say something about the Sydney end of the trip but I think there also you do not have enough time to do everything in the time allotted. I suspect you are just not aware of how large Australia is. Happy planning Gerrit - Perth |
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Our first visit to Australia: HK - Melbourne - Sydney - Canberra - HK (Feburary)
SNIP that which I am not qualified to advise
Day 5 Mon Fly to Sydney - Opera House - Harbour Bridge - Harbour Cruise - Monorail - Chinatown - Darling Harbour - the Rocks Phew, that will be a busy day. You might drop the Harbour Cruise, particularly if its not a nice day, as you will be making a ferry trip to and from Taronga zoo the next day, and potentially going to Manly by ferry the day after. Instead, do the fish markets in the same timeslot and have lunch there. Note there is a light rail system between China Town and the Fish Markets, sort of like a tram, one stop is the corner of Pitt and Hay (other end of the city from the harbour), so easy to slot the fish markets in. This free up time the next day. Day 6 Tue - Sydney Tower - QV Bldge - Paddy'd Market - Fish Market - Tarongo Zoo If by "Paddy'd Market" you mean Paddys Market near Chinatown, it is (a) closed on Tuesdays and (b) full of crappy merchandise - if you are looking for souveniers, lots of shops round Chinatown sell them far more conveiently and probably the same price. Day 7 Wed - Manly Beach - Royal Botanical Grdn - drive to Blue Mountain I would substitute Bondi for Manly, unless you really want another (quite long - 30 minutes) Ferry ride. Bondi is far closer, and a more interesting place. Walk around he headland on the path to Tamarama (about 1.5 kms) or even Bronte. Most beautiful walk I know of in the world. Tamarama is a full on scene itself. Come back and have lunch at the Royal Botanical gardens - theres quite a nice restuarant there, not too expensive, delightful location (I had my wedding reception their many years ago!). If you want to go to the blue mountains, you need to allow a full day - its 2 hours each way, and you have to get out and walk to really experience it. So chill out, or spend more time at the beach, or drive to Canberra that night.. Day 8 Thu - Drive to Canberra - War Memorial - Parliment or local tour Day 9 Fri early flight back to HK You know, I have been travelling to Canberra on business maybe once per month for 20 years (and last went and came back yesterday), but I have never stepped foot inside Parliament House, the War Memorial, or any one of the other attractions. I would imagine they are well worth seeing, however. |
#3
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SNIP that which I am not qualified to advise
Day 5 Mon Fly to Sydney - Opera House - Harbour Bridge - Harbour Cruise - Monorail - Chinatown - Darling Harbour - the Rocks Phew, that will be a busy day. You might drop the Harbour Cruise, particularly if its not a nice day, as you will be making a ferry trip to and from Taronga zoo the next day, and potentially going to Manly by ferry the day after. Instead, do the fish markets in the same timeslot and have lunch there. Note there is a light rail system between China Town and the Fish Markets, sort of like a tram, one stop is the corner of Pitt and Hay (other end of the city from the harbour), so easy to slot the fish markets in. This free up time the next day. Day 6 Tue - Sydney Tower - QV Bldge - Paddy'd Market - Fish Market - Tarongo Zoo If by "Paddy'd Market" you mean Paddys Market near Chinatown, it is (a) closed on Tuesdays and (b) full of crappy merchandise - if you are looking for souveniers, lots of shops round Chinatown sell them far more conveiently and probably the same price. Day 7 Wed - Manly Beach - Royal Botanical Grdn - drive to Blue Mountain I would substitute Bondi for Manly, unless you really want another (quite long - 30 minutes) Ferry ride. Bondi is far closer, and a more interesting place. Walk around he headland on the path to Tamarama (about 1.5 kms) or even Bronte. Most beautiful walk I know of in the world. Tamarama is a full on scene itself. Come back and have lunch at the Royal Botanical gardens - theres quite a nice restuarant there, not too expensive, delightful location (I had my wedding reception their many years ago!). If you want to go to the blue mountains, you need to allow a full day - its 2 hours each way, and you have to get out and walk to really experience it. So chill out, or spend more time at the beach, or drive to Canberra that night.. Day 8 Thu - Drive to Canberra - War Memorial - Parliment or local tour Day 9 Fri early flight back to HK You know, I have been travelling to Canberra on business maybe once per month for 20 years (and last went and came back yesterday), but I have never stepped foot inside Parliament House, the War Memorial, or any one of the other attractions. I would imagine they are well worth seeing, however. |
#4
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SNIP that which I am not qualified to advise
Day 8 Thu - Drive to Canberra - War Memorial - Parliment or local tour Ex RAInf, toured the War Memorial and Parliament houses many times while stuck in Canberra, Diggers took great pleasure in pointing out my name on the roll of the dead. It takes several hours just to walk through the buildings without really stopping to look at anything. About 280 Km Sydney-Canberra Traffic Hell getting out of Sydney, worse hell going into Canberra, 4 Hours each way, you're going to wish you had more time |
#5
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"Peter Webb" wrote in
: I've snipped both Peter's comments about Sydney and Gerrit's about Melbourne because I fully agree with them. I think that both Phillip Island and the Great Ocean Road are must-dos from Melbourne, but they are definitely both full-day tours at least. For Sydney, the Botanical Gardens are right beside the Opera House, and Circular Quay is between the Bridge and the OH, so you might consider doing the Opera House, Bridge, Rocks and Botanical Garden in one day (a long day's walking, that will tire you out nicely) and a harbour Cruise for a rest in between. I also agree that catching the ferry to Taronga Park Zoo is a good substitute for a Harbour Cruise. You need to allow at least a half-day to walk around the zoo. Day 8 Thu - Drive to Canberra - War Memorial - Parliment or local tour You know, I have been travelling to Canberra on business maybe once per month for 20 years (and last went and came back yesterday), but I have never stepped foot inside Parliament House, the War Memorial, or any one of the other attractions. I would imagine they are well worth seeing, however. This is the only part of the original itinerary I fully agree with. It is very much worth seeing both the War Memorial and doing a tour through Parlament House, and it's feasible to do both in a day trip, so long as you leave early. Remember that it's a 3 hour drive from Sydney to Canberra. On the whole, what you have planned isn't physically possible at the moment. Even if you rescale a bit you have a VERY busy schedule, which will leave you more tired at the end of your holiday than at the beginning. I would revise it to something more like this: Day 1 - arrive in Melbourne at noon. Explore Melbourne city. Wander around the Crown Casino after dark (to enjoy the lights and the flames), perhaps consider dinner in the region. You may even want to do the city tour on the tram first thing, to help get your bearings. Day 2 - Tour to Phillip Island (or self drive), remembering that you'll still want to be there at dusk for the Penguin Parade. This is really worth being there for. This will also give you time in the afternoon to look at things on the island like the Koala Centre (which I vaguely remember is also on the island), and Seal Rocks. Day 3 - Sounds as though you're actually doing a 2-day loop through Ballarat, which is possible if you have a car. I'm not sure you have enough time in a day to drive out of Melbourne and do Sovereign Hill and look at the Yarra all in one day. Day 4 - Possible to do, assuming you're starting from Ballarat but it's a long day. Day 5 - Won't be a full day if you're flying to Sydney. What are you doing about luggage during this day? Will you have a problem checking into your hotel? Perhaps spend the afternoon walking across the bridge, checking out The Rocks on the way to the Opera House (you'll need to allocate 2 hours if you want to tour the Opera House), and then wandering through the gardens on the way back to your hotel. Or take it easy and do some shopping in the QVB, China Town and Darling Harbour if you'd rather shop (tip: the only place in Sydney to buy authentic Aboriginal artifacts is Gavala in Darling Harbour). Day 6 - remember that the fish market is at its best early in the morning. Sydney Tower for the view. Perhaps substitute the Harbour Cruise with catching the ferry to the zoo. You can use whatever is left of the day to explore whatever parts of the city you wish - if you're not tired yet. Day 7 - Either go to the Blue Mountains for a full day, or go to either Manly or Bondi for a full day. There's plenty to explore at both. Day 8 - Canberra. Geodyne |
#6
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Million thanks to all for taking the time to review and reply our itinery.
We should have done our homework more carefully. Just returned from the library with a few more travel books but still, none of them offers as such good suggestions as yours. I will to come back for more ideas. |
#7
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In article RcgGd.83932$nN6.20650@edtnps84, AlmostBob says...
It takes several hours just to walk through the buildings without really stopping to look at anything. A walk through the entire building will take no more than half an hour. The problem is that you'll want to stop frequently to look at the exhibits, see the sound and light shows, and if you are there at the 5pm closing, the Last Post is played for the visitors assembled at the entrance. Spine-tingling. A great place and it never fails to move me. Allocate at least an afternoon to it. About 280 Km Sydney-Canberra Traffic Hell getting out of Sydney, worse hell going into Canberra, 4 Hours each way, you're going to wish you had more time Actually, it's freeway every inch of the distance now, or at least a tollway to Liverpool and freeway after. Take the trip in the morning and you can laugh at the commuters going the other way. I've done the trip city centre to city centre in just over two and a half hours, but admittedly that was early in the morning. Three hours is a reasonable time so long as you aren't mixing it up with commuters. Pre-freeway, it used to be a solid four hour trip with the worst part being the Hume Highway and Parramatta Road in Sydney, which was just awful. All that's bypassed now, and even the killer Lake George stretch is just a pleasant drive. Peter |
#8
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Actually, it's freeway every inch of the distance now, or at least a
tollway to Liverpool and freeway after. Take the trip in the morning and you can laugh at the commuters going the other way. I've done the trip city centre to city centre in just over two and a half hours, but admittedly that was early in the morning. Three hours is a reasonable time so long as you aren't mixing it up with commuters. 297 kms / 2.5 hrs = average speed of 119 Kms per hour. Naughty, naughty, naughty |
#9
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"Peter Webb" wrote in news:41eb183a
: 297 kms / 2.5 hrs = average speed of 119 Kms per hour. Naughty, naughty, naughty That's the requisite 1 km/hr under 10K over. ;-) Perfectly fine and for that matter normal on that road, even round the enthusiastic Police Officers at Goulborn. Geodyne |
#10
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I used to like the Goulburn police, every night for 6 months, after the
first time, when they did stop me and spend hours checking my story with my Unit CO, they let me speed (slightly) through town going to see my girl, coz I had to be back at Jervis Bay for reveille at 05:45. You can be really dumb at 19, really really dumb -- Ever wonder why evian Water is $3 for a half litre, spell Evian backwards _ "Geodyne" wrote in message ... "Peter Webb" wrote in news:41eb183a : 297 kms / 2.5 hrs = average speed of 119 Kms per hour. Naughty, naughty, naughty That's the requisite 1 km/hr under 10K over. ;-) Perfectly fine and for that matter normal on that road, even round the enthusiastic Police Officers at Goulborn. Geodyne |
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