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#21
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On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 17:57:54 GMT, "AlmostBob"
wrote: |Otway National park, colac, Ballarat- saving time?? That road would break a |snakes back. Yeah - not the dirt track! The one I took (just checked the map) was OK a couple of years back, from Skenes Creek through Forrest to Colac. There's another from Lorne via Winchelsea. The first sections are winding, but sealed, and I was in a motorhome at the time. I wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere, so winding roads were preferred, not avoided:-) According to my map there is also a sealed road from Lavers Hill via Ferguson and Gellibrand, and also direct north from Port Campbell via Cobden. Cheers, Alan -- |
#22
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"ET" wrote in :
ET, my two bits on top of Alan's advice. Thanks for all the suggestions and here's our revised plan. Must arrive & leave Sydney at dawn (5 am!). Skipped Canberra & Yarra or Hunter Valley winneries or split group... can't possibly please all! Further comments welcome. Day 1 Thur Arriving Sydney at dawn - taxi to city centre (hotel); leave baggage at city centre hotel - Sydney Explore Bus - whole day city tour - major attractions - dusk - Sydney Tower - evening - dinner - back to hotel Do you have any ideas about which hotel in Sydney you're planning to stay at yet? Also, you might want to check what time Sydney Tower closes. Which month are you considering doing this? That will dictate how much sunlight you have in each day as well. By the way, to check out hotels and such, have a look at www.lastminute.com.au and www.wotif.com.au - both will have specials carried by various hotels. Because we live in the outer suburbs of Sydney, we stay in the Corus Hotel or the Travelodge in the city if we're planning a late night and don't want to drive home. We've always enjoyed it, although it's more convenient than a place to stay for great views. What is your budget for hotels? Day 2 Fri Sydney - morning: Darling harbour, monorail, Chinatown, etc. - noon: Ferry to Torango Zoo (or Manly Beach only if time allows) - evening - dinner - back to hotel Depending on where you're staying, I'd suggest walking to Chinatown, cathing the monorail or walking to Darling Harbour (it's a nice walk from Chinatown) and then catching the ferry from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay - this will take you under the bridge and give you a totall different perspective. Well worth it. If you're going to Manly instead of the zoo, a day trip ticket will cover you for all of your ferry rides. If you're going to the zoo, you can buy a ticket that will get you on the ferry to the zoo, give you a cable-car ride to the top of the hill and you can then walk downhill all the way through the zoo back to he ferry terminal, with different vistas of the harbour all the way. It's a lovely trip out that I always take my overseas visitors on. Day 3 Sat Blue Mountain - early morning: pick up car, drive to Blue Mountains - whole day at Blue Mountains - lodging in Blue Mountains (any suggestion?) Again, what's your budget? If you want to make the most of the view and you have a car, I'd recommend Peppers Fairmont resort in Leura - http://www.peppers.com.au/site.asp?siteid=9. Or the Hydro Majestic in Medlow Bath, or Lillianfels in Leura for real pampering and to blow the budget. However I advise against this - your flight is leaving too early the next morning. See below. Don't leave too early in the morning - try to leave a little after 9am to miss the worst of the peak-hour traffic. As for sight-seeing, you would want to drive down George St to Parramatta Road (remembering that this road will be stop-start traffic, but there's really no better way yet) and then onto the M4 to the mountains. There's really not much to see before Wentworth Falls, so drive straight there, allowing 2 hours or so. The most popular places to look at are Wentworth Falls in Wentworth Falls, the Three Sisters in Katoomba and Govetts Leap in Blackheath. Stop for morning or afternoon tea at the Hydro Majestic in Medlow Bath (between Katoomba and Blackheath), and try dinner at a restaurant in Leura - a lovely mountain village town. Day 4 Sydney - Melbourne - early morning: drive to Sydney Airport; return car If you're flying out in the mornings I would advise you to make you trip to the mountains a day trip only, because the traffic along the M4 to the city each morning is a *nightmare*. I strongly recommend against your attempting that. On top of that, there is a very high chance of an accident closing the freeway down (a very regular occurence) and causing you to miss your flight. Instead, do the mountains as a day trip (a perfectly do-able and pleasant day, many Sydney-siders do this on the weekends), come back to your hotel in the city in the evening and relax with breakfast before catching your flight. It's much less stress. - fly to Melbourne - noon: Arriving Melbourne Airport; pick up car - drive direct to Phillip Island - Koala Conservation Centre & Penguin Parade, etc - lodging in Phillip Island (any suggestion?) I can't recommend anywhere to stay, but this is a reasonable and pleasant plan. You'll get to San Remo aroudn 4-4.30 pm so it might be tight getting to the Koala Centre before it closes, but you'll be there in time to relax and enjoy the penguin parade. Day 5 Melbourne - morning: drive to Melbourne city centre - hotel - City Tour by tram / walk (should we drive around or leave car at hotel?) - evening: Italian dinner in Carlton or dinner on tram or Crown Casino - lodging in Melbourne Melbourne has excellent public transport, so I would leave the car at the hotel. Day 6 Great Ocean Road - morning drive to Port Campbell Nat Park, 12 Apostles, etc - afternoon - evening in Port Campbell Nat Park (helicopter tour recommended?) - lodging in Port Campbell Nat Park nearby hotel The 12 Apostles are the most famous of the Great Ocean Road, and also the most heavily visited. The other sights in the area - London Bridge, the arch, Loch Ard Gorge and The bay of Islands are also beautiful and well worth a visit. Also, be aware that you will be standing on the edge of the southern ocean and it is very likely that there will be a strong, cold wind. Bring along warm, wind-proof jackets for this part of the trip or you are likely to be very uncomfortable. This is true even in summer. I'm going to recommend a variation to your trip to reduce the amount of driving you're doing. If you're interested in Australia's gold-mining history, then driving to Ballarat and Sovereign Hill is a good idea. If you read up on the shipwreck history of the Great Ocean Road and find that interesting you may like to extend your drive on this day past Port Campbell to the larger town of Warrnambool (about 1 hour's drive further on, stopping to see the sights) and spend that night and the next night there. This will also get you a little off the main international tourist track. The next day you could have a look at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village (which also has a light and sound show, based on the many shipwrecks that have occurred in the area) and go 15 km to the east of Warrnambool to Tower Hill, which is a koala preserve. This gives you a second chance to see koalas if you weren't sucessful on Phillip Island, and a chance to see them in the wild. If you were to stay in Warrnambool, I can recommend Lady Bay Apartments, which give you self-catering facilities - you might be tired of restaurant food by this point (although I can also recommend restaurants in the area as I am familiar with the area). From Warrnambool you can drive to Melbourne along the main freeway in less than 3 hours. Day 7 Ballarat / Soverign Hill - morning drive back Great Ocean Road up to Ballarat / Soverign Hill There are more direct routes than back along the Great Ocean Road, such as through Colac. I think this has been mentioned. - day tour + evening light spectacular - lodging in Ballarat Day 8 Melbourne - Sydney - morning drive to Melbourne Airport; return car - fly back to Sydney Airport; check in airport hotel - still time to go to Bondi Beach by Bay Explorer Bus (or Manly Beach by ferry)? Bondi is closer, but depending on what time your flight arrives you definitely have time to get to Bondi (or even Manly if energy permits). It might be nice to have dinner there, by the sea. - evening return to airport hotel Day 9 Sydney - Hong Kong - dawn: fly back to HK Geodyne |
#23
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In article , Peter Webb
says... 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 286.92 km according to Whereis.com http://tinyurl.com/62pqu At 110km/hr that's 2 hours 36 minutes 31 seconds, which is just over two and a half hours. Actually, most of that road is probably good for 150 km/hr or more apart from the twisty bits northbound past Goulburn and southbound on the Federal Highway north of Lake George. I certainly have no difficulty setting the cruise control at 120 km/hr. The police don't jump out and give chase or send me rude letters at that speed. Pete |
#24
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In article , Alan says...
How long ago was that? I still remember being on duty at Fairbairn (RAAF Canberra) the night your lot burnt all the Skyhawks down there in the late '70s. Actually, we sold the Skyhawks to the Kiwis. It was the Trackers that were burnt. I used to do that run to JB from Canberra through Kangaroo Valley when my wife did the cork and fork course at Creswell. Some great scenery, but not what I'd call a good fast road. |
#25
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On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 21:46:28 +1100, Peter wrote:
|In article , Alan says... | | How long ago was that? I still remember being on duty at Fairbairn (RAAF | Canberra) the night your lot burnt all the Skyhawks down there in the | late '70s. | |Actually, we sold the Skyhawks to the Kiwis. It was the Trackers that |were burnt. | |I used to do that run to JB from Canberra through Kangaroo Valley when |my wife did the cork and fork course at Creswell. Some great scenery, |but not what I'd call a good fast road. I stand corrected - they were trackers. I was with the VIP (34) Sqn at the time - the Minister (Jim Killen) was not a happy passenger from Canberra to Jervis bay that day:-) I travelled a few of the rougher roads around that area over Christmas; interesting dirt stretches included Tumbarumba-Holbrook, and later Bombala-Candelo. Left a hub-cap back there somewhere, but some wonderful stretches of high-country bush. Anyway, rambling OT - cyu. Cheers, Alan -- |
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