Marion F
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(Member) (Topic Starter)
Six of us did the Dubai stopover prior to the Amazing Australia tour. I've noted some of the problems we had, in a previous review. Overall, we had a wonderful time in Dubai, although we seriously underestimated the cost of living and were constantly running out of money and having to borrow off each other! We had an excellent city tour which gave us a very good introduction to the city. This was supposed to be a half day tour, but went on until 3pm, and was probably the best City tour I've ever been on. We didn't have a tour manager in Dubai, but the six of us enjoyed finding our way round and organising things by ourselves. Between us we had afternoon tea at the 7* hotel, had dinner at the tallest building in the world, watched a fountain show, and found our way around using taxi, metro and monorail.

We had another problem at Dubai airport. On checking in, we were told that the flight was over-booked and we would have to wait and see if any other passengers volunteered to go by a later flight. Not having a Tour Manager with us, we were left to fend for ourselves. A couple of our number found a suoervisor and insisted that we should go on our planned flight, as we were joining a group. After a very stressful wait, we were told that we could get on the flight, and were given vouchers of approx £20 each in compensation for the delayed check in.

We flew into Perth, and were taken to the Travelodge which was in a good location but which seemed a bit basic in comparison to the very nice hotel we'd stayed at in Dubai (the Hyatt Place Dubai). We had a welcome meeting where we met our Tour Manager, Brian Croft, who went through the optional excursions available to us.

We were now a group of 27, which was a manageable number, and we were all able to get to know each other - some sooner than others. Brian Croft was absolutely brilliant and really made the holiday for most of us. He was incredibly well organised, and the tour ran like clockwork. On the first day, he gave us all a schedule showing the timings, excursions and flights for every day.. He was a lot of fun and looked after all of us very well, including having to cope with a lot of sickness in the group. You couldn't hope for a better Tour Manager. He's a star.

We enjoyed Perth, and those of us who had opted to do the excursion on the Swan River and to Fremantle loved it. We had a nice wander round the market, and an excellent fish and chip lunch by the harbour.

We then flew to Alice Springs. We enjoyed seeing the Flying Dictor and School of the Air, but the town of Alice Springs itself was a little intimidating, with drunken Aborigines hanging around, some of whom shouted at us. Our hotel, the Hilton Doubletree, was on the outskirts of the town and was very nice. We had a brilliant evening with a bush barbecue, where we tried our hands at throwing boomerangs. We tried damper, which was made from flour, salt and water, and was cooked in the bonfire. This was surprisingly nice as a dessert eaten with honey. The unlimited beer, wine and soft drinks were an added bonus! Unfortunately it was a cloudy night and we couldn't see the stars.

Our next stop was at Uluru (Ayers Rock). We saw this at sunset in conjunction with a 'Sounds of Silence' dinner. This was a fantastic experience, watching the sunset while sipping sparkling wine and being entertained by a young chap on the didgeridoo. The dinner itself was an excellent buffet. The lights were turned off and we were given a talk on the constellations we could see. The following morning, we had an optional 5.15 departure to see the sunrise over Uluru. Virtually all of us opted to do this, and it was amazing to see it change colour as the sun rose. We then went back to the hotel for breakfast, and then went off again to see the base of Uluru with its caves and Aboriginal paintings. Our hotel, the Outback Pioneer, was a little disappointing,with no safes in the rooms and no free wifi.

We then flew to Cairns. Our hotel, the Mercure Harbourside, was very good, and some of us were lucky enough to have rooms with sea views. Cairns was a lovely town and I think we all enjoyed our stay there. The highlight was a catamaran to the Great Barrier Reef where we moored alongside a pontoon, and were able to snorkel, look at an underwater observatory, or go on a semi submersible which didn't actually submerse. Some of us went on a helicopter ride over the Great Barrier Reef which gave us some wonderful views. While staying at Cairns we were also able to go on the Kuranda Railway and see the rainforest, which was a fantastic experience. We also did a river cruise with the intention of crocodile spotting, but they were remaining determinedly out of sight.

Our last three locations were Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. Sydney was all you would expect, and a couple of intrepid members of our group did the bridge walk where you actually walk over the top of the bridge. We enjoyed a relaxing harbour cruise. Our Hotel, the Holiday Inn Old Sydney, was in a very good location in the old part of the town and within walking distance of the bridge, opera house and shops. We were also able to visit the Blue Mountsins, including going down into the forest area on the worlds steepest incline railway, and a wildlife park.

It was interesting to see Canberra, being the capital, but there wasn't a lot to see apart from the Parliament House and a war museum. Our hotel, the Mercure, was excellent and we had rooms with lovely little patio areas.

Our final stop was Melbourne. We flew there from Canberra. However that meant that we arrived too early to check into our hotel, so we were taken on a coach trip around what appeared to be the worst, run down, slum areas of Melbourne. This gave us a dreadful first impression of the city. We felt that it would have been much better to have done the journey by coach, and enjoyed the scenery, arriving at our hotel in time to check in. Our hotel, the Travel Inn, was at best "tired". The restaurant and bar were shut on Saturday and Sunday. The rooms just had showers, no baths. It was situated close to Lygon Street which was good for restaurants and cafes, but was quite a long walk from the main shopping centre. There was a small swimming pool, but the water was too cold for most of us to venture in. There were only 2 sun loungers and a couple of tables with chairs.

About half of us did the optional trip to Phillip Island to watch the Penguins cone in from these. This was once again a magical evening and not to be missed.

Our farewell dinner was on a Colonial Tram, the interior of which looked a bit like the OrientvExpress. We had a fabulous meal with unlimited wine, and it was a wonderful experience made even more special by our fantastic Tour Manager Bruan Crift who helped make the whole evening a lot of fun.

This holiday truly was 'amazing', and a few of us are in regular touch on Facebook. Some of our number have gone on to do the New Zealand add-on, or Singapire stopover. We would love to do another tour of Australia, visiting parts that we were unable to get to in this tour. Thanks very much to my lovely fellow companions, and especially to Brian Croft who looked after us so well, and worked so hard to

make it a truly memorable tour.

nixon
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Marion

great review, shame you had a bit of a nightmare at Dubai airport, it's at times like that you do NEED a manager, so I am glad you got help from someone. Reading you report brought back memories of OZ to me, it sure is a great country, I to have been lucky enough to see Ulluru at sunset and sun rise, I also took a helicopter flight over the rock and the Olga's sounds like you had a great time.

Cindy

1981Kedi
(Member)
Great review. So glad you enjoyed the majority of the trip. There always seem to be some disappointing hotels on tours - we also had a 'tired' hotel in Melbourne! - and I hope JY take notice as we pay a lot for these holidays and expect a decent standard of hotel, preferably in a central position.

I had spent time on Saturday looking at my old emails from an independent trip to Australia in 2010 - stop off in Singapore, and then visiting many of the same places as you and I also stayed at the Holiday Inn at The Rocks in Sydney - I still remember the view from the rooftop pool - of the Opera House and Bridge. Then yesterday I went through all my photos! With your review this morning it was like a three day holiday in Australia! Thank you! 🙂

Annieb1
(Member)
Marion, thank you for a thorough and interesting review. I'm off on this same trip in just over three weeks time, and the New Zealand add on too, so this review was very welcome.

Tell me, how do you live out of a suitcase for five weeks? (I know your trip was a little less).

BGray
  • (Member)
(Member)
Hi Marion,

Many thanks for your review, I hope to do this tour over the next couple of years so I read it with great interest.

Happy travelling!

Bob

nixon
  • (Member)
(Member)
'Annieb1' wrote:

Marion, thank you for a thorough and interesting review. I'm off on this same trip in just over three weeks time, and the New Zealand add on too, so this review was very welcome.

Tell me, how do you live out of a suitcase for five weeks? (I know your trip was a little less).

Annie

Take a tube of travel wash for the smalls!!!!!,there will be washing and drying machine in some hotels, so when you know the hotels for definite then go online and Mark which ones have this facility, keep the washing at the top of the case and once there get to the machines quick as others will have the same thought! Sometimes you need tokens from receptions others cash money..just pack for 10-14 days...if you can use the bathroom goodies that are provided that cuts down on weight.

Cindy

Gran
  • (Member)
(Member)
'BGray' wrote:

Hi Marion,

Many thanks for your review, I hope to do this tour over the next couple of years so I read it with great interest.

Happy travelling!

Bob

Thanks Marion, for reviewing the tour. I am going on a same tour on 11th next month.

Dyuti

katy1717
(Member)
Hi Marion, thanks for the comprehensive review. Although there seem to be one or two below par hotels, I wouldn't let this put me off as overall it seems you had a great experience. Shame about the problems in Dubai, should be something JY can sort out for the future, seems you didn't let this stop you from getting to do everything. I'm hoping to do this trip (or the longer Travelsphere Oz trip) in 2016 or 2017 (so many other things to fit in this year).

Katy

the_baron1
(Member)
Hi Marion,

Great review, thank you.

Totally agree with you about the Hotel in Melbourne. I mentioned it my feedback to JY a couple of years ago and also reviewed it on trip advisor. Don't think they were impressed with my review as the comments back from management were negative in fact. (trip advisor that is).

Eric

Marion F
  • (Member) (Topic Starter)
(Member) (Topic Starter)
'nixon' wrote:

'Annieb1' wrote:

Marion, thank you for a thorough and interesting review. I'm off on this same trip in just over three weeks time, and the New Zealand add on too, so this review was very welcome.

Tell me, how do you live out of a suitcase for five weeks? (I know your trip was a little less).

Annie

Take a tube of travel wash for the smalls!!!!!,there will be washing and drying machine in some hotels, so when you know the hotels for definite then go online and Mark which ones have this facility, keep the washing at the top of the case and once there get to the machines quick as others will have the same thought! Sometimes you need tokens from receptions others cash money..just pack for 10-14 days...if you can use the bathroom goodies that are provided that cuts down on weight.

Cindy

Hi Annie

I found it quite easy to live partly out of a suitcase, though we had 3 or 4 nights in some hotels. The first tip is to keep some clothes in the kind of netting bags which you can buy for use in a washing machine. These have been discussed elsewhere on the forum. I used one bag for underwear and socks, another for light coloured tops, and another for dark coloured tops. You just simply lift the bags of clothes in or out of your suitcase, instead of having a lot of loose clothes all over the place in your suitcase.

I just did hand washing of underwear and tops in my bathroom, on the days when we had at least a couple of nights in a hotel, and hung it over chairs on the balcony to dry. In that climate, it dries overnight. Irons and ironing boards were in the rooms.

Other members of our group either used the hotel laundry service, or did it themselves in the hotel laundrette. None of us had any problems.

Hope this helps.

Marion

1981Kedi
(Member)
Annie

Just a thought - when you pack do leave some space in your suitcase for the souvenirs you will accumulate on your journey :)

Have a really great trip!

Annieb1
(Member)
Thanks everyone for tips.

11th March is fast approaching!

Solotraveller
(Member)
Hello Marion

I'm glad to see you enjoyed the trip as much as I did. I did things rather differently, as I arranged my own excursions at each place we stayed at, so I was able to meet locals and other travellers as well as spending time with the Just You group. In fact there were some days on end when I hardly met anyone from the group at all! But, that said, I really enjoyed the times when we did meet up in the evenings and on the included trips. I even managed to see people who'd gone on to New Zealand, when they had their free day in Wellington!

I have lots of happy memories of the trip and I'm sure other people do too.

All the best

Independent Ann

jackyhopley1
(Member)
Hi Marion

great review, I was wondering how you did on this holiday so was pleased to see your review:thumbup:I am thinking of doing this holiday next year.

jacky hopley