What if you lived in Australia?

[Grey Wolf]

Originally Posted by winebeavis

Gidday mates.

So if a person were to visit Australia, say in a few weeks, and fly into Sydney but wanted to go to other places instead of hanging out in Sydney the entire time? Is it advisable to rent a car? Are there high speed trains going to Victoria or is it easier and cheaper to fly? Is there public transport that makes getting around completely unnecessary. Fodor's doesn't seem to address this in my version.

Sorry Mate,
The High Speed Train has been a topic for years and is still just that a Topic..
In fact the Powers that Be can't even agree to build a HST system from Sydney to Canberra, less than 350km, go figure..
Flights between Sydney and Melbourne are often and fairly cheap if you shop around, (Qantas & Virgin are my Picks),
[Not Tiger Air, Grrr]..
Though if you have the time and are comfortable driving on the Left hand [RIGHT] side of the road, I would recomend the drive. Sydney to Melbourne is around a 10hr drive on pretty much Freeway most of the way. I have found Thrifty Car Rentals to be the best of the bunch with good deals for 3 day or weekly car hire, they provide good quality late model sedans and SUV's.

Mate if you PM me I will be more than happy to give you some ideas for an enjoyable drive tween the two main cities, (I'm based in NSW but lived in Canberra till recently)... MMmm though I did get lost going to the local shop yesterday.
Anyway the offers there and enjoy your trip to OZ..

Proposed High Speed Train..


Thrifty's Best..


Qantas Upgrade..

[HugoHackenbush]

Originally Posted by winebeavis

Gidday mates.

So if a person were to visit Australia, say in a few weeks, and fly into Sydney but wanted to go to other places instead of hanging out in Sydney the entire time? Is it advisable to rent a car? Are there high speed trains going to Victoria or is it easier and cheaper to fly? Is there public transport that makes getting around completely unnecessary. Fodor's doesn't seem to address this in my version.

Depends entirely on what you want to see, WineBevis, and of course how long you have. If you want wine, I'd suggest a trip to Melbourne. Lots of nice wineries nearby. If you plan on doing the Great Barrier Reef, I'd suggest a trip to the Whitsunday Islands. The rain forests around Cairns are nice as well.

Just for comparisons, Australia is as large as the US, but with a population roughly that of Florida. Hopping on a plane is kind of required.

Me? I spent 3 weeks traveling all over. Air travel was hit and miss, but that's travel for ya.

[deepsepia]

@winebeavis

Highly recommend the drive from Melbourne to Sydney. Takes you through some amazing and varied country -- the Victorian high country, pretty much Oz's only high alpine terrain, with great wine and food on the way (Yarra Valley), then to the coast, where you'll find the most amazing beaches other world in places like Jervis Bay. You also get a feeling for Australian history, the Gold Rush country . . . "Snowy River" (as in "the man from") is on this route

A lot depends on time of year. It can pour rain on the coast, and that's no fun, so look at what it's going to be like when you're planning to go. If its December, further south is better (and Tasmania is great)

By contrast, Queensland is fantastic right now, in Oz winter. It's swimming weather, warm and dry, but in their summer it's pretty miserably hot and humid (think Houston in August) and swimming is potentially lethal, what with the "stingers"

Just Outside of Sydney, the Blue Mountains are worth a trip, beautiful, great hiking, good food. That's an easy trip -- you don't even need a car, there's a train that takes an hour or two.

Lotta great country to explore; Sydney and Melbourne are both great cities, but get on the road and you'll have some fun. Aussies do a lot of car camping . . . Easy, safe, cheap[er] and you'll meet all kinds of folks at a campground . . .

[winebeavis]

Thanks all.

Here's the story. I will be in Australia this time next month. Never been there in my life and don't know what to expect. But this trip, like all foreign travel, I will keep an open mind and accept that things are going to be different. Hell, I expect it do different from the U.S. If I wanted it to be like the U.S., I would stay here. A little bit of adventure and figuring things out is always part of the fun. But avoiding stupid things I try to do. If a local has tip to keep me from doing something stupid, I'm more than willing to heed his advice. This has helped me out tremendously in the past. So I thank everybody for helping out. Your tip and hint are appreciated.

I have 10 days not including travel. The schedule is still flexible. But here are the preliminary thoughts. Mrs. WB has to go to Queensland and is leaning toward the beaches of the Sun Coast or further north in Cairns for beaches and reef and snorkeling. That is probably 4 days. She has friends in Brisbane so I'm really going to let this be her call.

I want to go to wine country. Exactly which wine country is the question. I'd prefer to add this to the Melbourne/Victoria few days. Greywolf says it's a 10 hour drive. But I need to research further if greywolf just drives slow by choice or because of necessity. That seems like a long time to me. It's the equal distance from Dallas to Houston and back. Which for long stretches I can drive 160 KPH (100 MPH) but seemingly be parked in traffic for long period when hitting urban areas.

Sydney, I'm excited to see, but it's going to bookend the trip. We fly in to it we fly out of it. We want to see it. I hope three days is enough.

I have promised one VEF member that I and Mrs. WB will join him for a drink or coffee or soda while we are in Oz. That is firm and will happen. I look forward to that.

Thanks everybody for the great hint and tips. Typing through this has kind of help put this together.

[effCup]

Not sure what the open road speed limit is in Oz (100kph?, 110kph?), but reasonably sure it's less than 160kph. My feeling is that for a holiday of that (relative) brevity (it's not "short" but you're visiting 3 states so kinda 3 holidays squeezed into 1--& that's just an observation not a criticism), I'd fly rather than spend a fair chunk of it driving between Syd & Mel. The exception would be if there were several things along the way you wanted to stop off & visit, e.g. for argument's sake (wine-obsessive that I am): Canberra region wineries, Rutherglen region wineries (!), Goulburn Valley (Nagambie Lakes) region wineries (most notably Tahbilk but there are others)... actually, not sure quite how much of a detour that last might be--a little? Such would, however, be a different sort of holiday/journey: a touring/stopping-around one rather than a here-to-there one.

A car would be useful in Melb. for touring about (Yarra Valley wineries, Mornington peninsula wineries, Geelong... etc.). Hmm, is there a pattern forming here? Yes, OK, there might be some non-winery places to visit as well.

OTOH, you might like/want the scenic aspects of the driving/stopping. I vaguely recall others (not on vef) saying there's a tourist train that goes round the coast between Syd & Mel (maybe depending on season?), but that's a holiday about the journey (& train), so different criteria, etc. Haven't done it so maybe a bad suggestion, I dunno. Would definitely be a slower journey.

Melb. has (had?) some pretty good wine shops, thus reducing some of the travel. Then it might become a squeeze of time: how many bottles can one drink/taste in n days, etc.

[blondifan]

Hope you enjoy your visit winebeavis.
It's being particularly wet across the southern states atm, hopefully that will pass soon, but forgo renting a convertible. I also heard, recently that the 'booze busses' have been relatively active in Vic, as well as here.
Maybe it's got something to do with revenue for the forthcoming elections?

Possibly trains, as effCup just suggested wouldn't be a bad plan at some stage?
I'd imagine fnding a Des might not be that easy?

Highway speed is 110kph in Victoria, unless otherwise marked. And 'bone up' on 'box turns' (if you wanna go right, do it from the left hand lane in the Melbourne CBD).

[HugoHackenbush]

Originally Posted by winebeavis

I have 10 days not including travel. The schedule is still flexible. But here are the preliminary thoughts. Mrs. WB has to go to Queensland and is leaning toward the beaches of the Sun Coast or further north in Cairns for beaches and reef and snorkeling. That is probably 4 days. She has friends in Brisbane so I'm really going to let this be her call.


Sydney, I'm excited to see, but it's going to bookend the trip. We fly in to it we fly out of it. We want to see it. I hope three days is enough.
.

One thing to bear in mind regarding snorkeling. Unlike the US and the Caribbean, the reefs of the Great Barrier Reef are far off shore, and a 90 minute boat trip out is not unheard of. So relax on the way out and back and save your effort for the reef. It will be well worth your time. I have been scuba diving all over the world, and nothing beats Australia.

Do beware of the infamous box jellyfish. Don't go wading unless the beach is netted, and even then be careful. They are deadly. Seriously.

In Sydney try the Mercantile Pub, down in the Rocks district. Best Steak Diane ever.

[Estreeter]

Originally Posted by HugoHackenbush

In Sydney try the Mercantile Pub, down in the Rocks district. Best Steak Diane ever.

And when in Sydney, if I remember correctly, Don't go too any of the pubs in Paddington, You might make a few male friends all of a sudden, and then a few more male friends And then a few more

[effCup]

Might come in handy. I forgot Beechworth (e.g. Giaconda). Good thing you don't have time to go to Great Western (Grampians/Pyrenees), Bendigo, Heathcote...

[Estreeter]

Originally Posted by effCup

Good thing you don't have time to go to Great Western (Grampians/Pyrenees), Bendigo, Heathcote...

I've posted all those places in sweaty's world tour thread, but as for Beechworth, try this and don't eat before you go