6 weeks in Australia (2004/02/29 - 2004/04/10)

Hi,

this group was recommended several times and so I will have a try...

Two friends and I want to flee the (German) winter (February 29th till
April 10th 2004) and explore Australia. We intend to rent a car and stay
in backpackers.

I want to describe our planning status and ask for a discussion as well
as hints, tips, do's, don'ts...

_Flight_

The cheapest connection so far seems to be Frankfurt - (Bahrain) -
Sydney and back for AUD 1.477 (EUR 890). We do not stick to Sydney as
long as the destination is situated in the eastern part of Australia.
Are you aware of worthwhile alternatives?

Qantas offers a bidirectional flight including one free flight inside
Australia for AUD 1.921 (EUR 1.160) plus tax. Is the free inland flight
worth AUD 447 (EUR 270) or is it better to book this flight on-site?

_Accommodation_

As written above we intend to stay at backpackers. But we will also have
a tent at our disposal. Is it - in respect of the season - advisable to
book in advance, at least a few days?

_Car rental_

AVIS offers a Toyota Corolla (5 door, A/C, aut) for roundabout AUD 1.987
(EUR 1.200) for 42 days. Any alternative? What conditions are crucial?

_Route_

Not fixed yet. Personally, I would opt for a big round: Sydney, East
Coast, Cairns, Darwin, Ayers Rock, Adelaide and Melbourne - maybe with
an inland flight. Is this concept feasible within 6 weeks? Premises are
extensive sightseeing and safe driving. Everyone of us has a driving
licence. What about the wet season in the northern part?

As far as guidebooks are concerned I want to buy a Lonely Planet in
advance and road maps on-site.

All ideas and resources are greatly appreciated.

Eagerly looking forward to DU,

Michael

Michael,
The bits I can offer an opinion on a

Flight price. From Germany I doubt you'd get better. Malaysian often has
cheaper specials from Europe, but they don't fly to Germany as far as I
know.
Internal flights - the Qantas price looks good if you were to fly Sydney -
Perth. Generally Virgin Blue offers good internal flight prices, provided
you can book well ahead (on the net), and can accept that there are no
refunds or changes on the cheaper price category tickets. Qantas will often
match them with specials - and Qantas is a full service airline.
Booking ahead for accommodation February to April 10th: April 9th is Good
Friday this year - accommodation could be difficult from April 5th on; I'd
book that week.
Car: Budget, Thrifty, and Avis have the service coverage for your
itinerary - Abel or similar cheapy would probably give you a better quote,
but would only offer Auto Club service in out of the way places. You will
probably not need anything more - but......................
Maps etc: Join a German Auto Club - if you are not already a member. The
Auto Clubs in Austr (NRMA for NSW) provide excellent maps, Accommodation
Guides, route planning etc - and they all have (through the AAA) affiliation
with Auto Clubs throughout the civilised world.
Route looks good - though you are covering a lot of country - even given
that you will be here for about 10 weeks.
Wet Season: Stretches across January and February, but March/April are
usually OK - gets dryer as the year progresses.
Guide Book: Lonely Planet is an Australian company undoubtedly the best-
their Thorn Tree Forum is very useful:
http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/

.. Research the web also - there is a plethora of informative sites (and
quite a few downright misleading ones too, unfortunately).


Good Luck

Paul


"Michael Groll" wrote in message
...
Hi,

this group was recommended several times and so I will have a try...

Two friends and I want to flee the (German) winter (February 29th till
April 10th 2004) and explore Australia. We intend to rent a car and stay
in backpackers.

I want to describe our planning status and ask for a discussion as well
as hints, tips, do's, don'ts...

_Flight_

The cheapest connection so far seems to be Frankfurt - (Bahrain) -
Sydney and back for AUD 1.477 (EUR 890). We do not stick to Sydney as
long as the destination is situated in the eastern part of Australia.
Are you aware of worthwhile alternatives?

Qantas offers a bidirectional flight including one free flight inside
Australia for AUD 1.921 (EUR 1.160) plus tax. Is the free inland flight
worth AUD 447 (EUR 270) or is it better to book this flight on-site?

_Accommodation_

As written above we intend to stay at backpackers. But we will also have
a tent at our disposal. Is it - in respect of the season - advisable to
book in advance, at least a few days?

_Car rental_

AVIS offers a Toyota Corolla (5 door, A/C, aut) for roundabout AUD 1.987
(EUR 1.200) for 42 days. Any alternative? What conditions are crucial?

_Route_

Not fixed yet. Personally, I would opt for a big round: Sydney, East
Coast, Cairns, Darwin, Ayers Rock, Adelaide and Melbourne - maybe with
an inland flight. Is this concept feasible within 6 weeks? Premises are
extensive sightseeing and safe driving. Everyone of us has a driving
licence. What about the wet season in the northern part?

As far as guidebooks are concerned I want to buy a Lonely Planet in
advance and road maps on-site.

All ideas and resources are greatly appreciated.

Eagerly looking forward to DU,

Michael

That's a lot of driving, if you do it all by road. Without adding it up, it
looks to be about 12,000 kms, spread over 40 days, so about 300 km per day.
Here's some suggestions to reduce it and have a better trip.

In the Southern Hemisphere, its going to get colder down south, and April
can be quite cool.

So do the trip in reverse order, with the Southern bits first then up Syd -
Mel - Ade - Ayers - Darwin - Cairns.

The next stage is down the Qld coast, there might be 2000 kms of Barrier
Reef, but there's not much to see driving past it. So two choices are fly to
Brisbane (saving 2,000 kms) or Sydney (3,000 kms). If you have the time,
flying to Brisbane and hiring a car gives you access to some interesting
places on the drive - the Gold Coast if you like tacky or Byron Bay if you
like cosmic. You will also want a car in Sydney for some sightseeing.

HTH

Peter Webb






"Michael Groll" wrote in message
...
Hi,

this group was recommended several times and so I will have a try...

Two friends and I want to flee the (German) winter (February 29th till
April 10th 2004) and explore Australia. We intend to rent a car and stay
in backpackers.

I want to describe our planning status and ask for a discussion as well
as hints, tips, do's, don'ts...

_Flight_

The cheapest connection so far seems to be Frankfurt - (Bahrain) -
Sydney and back for AUD 1.477 (EUR 890). We do not stick to Sydney as
long as the destination is situated in the eastern part of Australia.
Are you aware of worthwhile alternatives?

Qantas offers a bidirectional flight including one free flight inside
Australia for AUD 1.921 (EUR 1.160) plus tax. Is the free inland flight
worth AUD 447 (EUR 270) or is it better to book this flight on-site?

_Accommodation_

As written above we intend to stay at backpackers. But we will also have
a tent at our disposal. Is it - in respect of the season - advisable to
book in advance, at least a few days?

_Car rental_

AVIS offers a Toyota Corolla (5 door, A/C, aut) for roundabout AUD 1.987
(EUR 1.200) for 42 days. Any alternative? What conditions are crucial?

_Route_

Not fixed yet. Personally, I would opt for a big round: Sydney, East
Coast, Cairns, Darwin, Ayers Rock, Adelaide and Melbourne - maybe with
an inland flight. Is this concept feasible within 6 weeks? Premises are
extensive sightseeing and safe driving. Everyone of us has a driving
licence. What about the wet season in the northern part?

As far as guidebooks are concerned I want to buy a Lonely Planet in
advance and road maps on-site.

All ideas and resources are greatly appreciated.

Eagerly looking forward to DU,

Michael