AMAZING AUSTRALIA
NOVEMBER 2013
ok better late than never but here it is
This was the tour of a lifetime of which we loved every minute, it all began in the beautiful city of Perth landing shortly before midnight, the weather throughout our stay in Perth was lovely very springlike and our hotel the Travelodge was very centrally located, just a short walk to the left would take you into the shopping centre and to the right to the Waca cricket ground whilst a similar walk to the rear of the hotel would take you to the waterfront and the Bell Tower etc, the city sightseeing took place that afternoon and those who have friends in Perth as many of us do the best time to meet them would be on the second evening after Freemantle which I fully recommend and on the last day if your prepared to give Yanchep a miss as I did or after the tour even as you return to the hotel around five, if your into night life it's best to head for Northbridge where you'll find ample bars and restaurants
Alice Springs - was very dry and hot and the hotel DoubleTree by Hilton was a lovely hotel and provided free wifi in the lobby, it was about a 25 min walk into town where some of us had a meal at Bojangles bar and got a taxi back, the bush bbq was ok but nothing special though still glad I went as spotted our first kangaroo here and we returned to the hotel about ten then some of us were up at 4 for the dawn hot air balloon ride where we travelled way out into nowhere for an hours balloon ride followed by a champagne breakfast, this was the one optional you could pay for by credit card and was a lovely experience though didn't see any kangaroos as we floated over the bush and outback maybe it was too early for them and they were having a lie in, we returned to the hotel around half past eight in time for our AS sightseeing tour and then straight onto the Western McDonnell ranges which requires a little energy or you can just soak up the sunshine around the hotels pool if you wish
Ayers Rock – this was the first of our long day coach travels with a 8am departure our second earliest departure of the trip unless you were up for that balloon flight or the following mornings sunrise at AR, our earliest departure was 7.30 the day we left for Melbourne, being just 21 in our group it was nice as we all had our own seat on the coaches and there were stops today at a camel farm and an early lunch with arrival at the outback pioneer around 2.30 to drop bags off before taking us straight of to Uluru National Park for a tour returning about 5 then at 6.30 a real treat as one of the highlights of the tour the Sounds of the Silence Dinner set in open dessert, superb evening
Cairns – was probably the most humid place we came across, it was hot and sticky and tended to rain in the afternoon which tended to be more like tropical downpours, loved the many tropical birds we came across here and the hotel was a 25 min walk or so to the centre where you'll find lots of shopping and bars etc but it's a pleasant walk along the waterfront where you'll pass lots of joggers, the Great Barrier Reef day was a great day out, the Catamaran out to Green Island took around 50 mins and was lovely, none of us continued to the pontoon so stayed on the island where there is plenty to do, walks, sunbathe, snorkel, glass bottom boat, relax by the pool, we had two tables booked for lunch, you can even take a helicopter ride if you wish, we were back at the hotel by half past five and that evening our TM took us for a super pub meal at a locan pub then the next evening we went next door to Charlie's for a buffet meal but the hotel also do snacks etc then we had the Kuranda trip which was really excellent a fab time was had by all and highly recommended where you can cuddle a cuddly koala and enjoy stunning views from a cable cars over the canopy of the rain forest and a scenic railway ride back
Sydney – was most peoples favourite place, sit on the left hand side of the plane for stunning views of the harbour bridge and opera house, the hotel Travelodge Wynard was in a super location and very easy to walk to about anywhere with lots of bars close by and the Rocks just a ten min walk, you will see plenty of the Opera House and Bridge both on the city tour and the optional cruise and will be dropped off there after the cruise to further explore at your leisure, we took a leisurely walk back to the hotel through the Botanical gardens and on through downtown Sydney, a perfectly safe city with so much to see, a few of the group took the ferry over to Manly Beach the one day which was really nice, another must do trip is the Blue Mountains, do not miss this, which included a visit to Fetherdale wildlife park and more stunning views from the cable cars with glass bottom and enjoy your ride on the world's steepest railway in scenic world, the weather in Sydney was gorgeous throughout after the rain on arrival, we also saw many joggers and cyclists here, some of the group did climb the Harbour bridge during our time in Sydney which was actually after the harbour cruise that they took this opportunity
Sydney was followed by a two day coach journey up to Melbourne split up by a night in Canberra, there was a visit to a sheep station on route with a barbecue which was nice though thought the visits to Parliament House and the war museums rather boring and the second day of our travel on to Melbourne included a lunch stop at Ned Kellys birth place Glenrowan lunchtime entertainment from Lazy Harry before arriving in Melbourne around tea time
Melbourne – takes some getting used to as has a very european feel to it,, there are many restaurants near the hotel so spoilt for places to eat, it was about a 20 min walk to the Tram lines and the waterfront but the city did grow on me, went up the Eureka tower and on the Edge, make use of the free circle line trams, no 35, though when we got on one it actually broke down so we had to get off and get on another, I also made my way down to the MCG did a stadium tour and there was a match on there, Victoria vs South Australia so when the guide dropped us back in the foyer after our tour I just sneaked back inside and watched some cricket, it's a huge stadium then after I walked down the road to watch a football match which was great, most of the group went to the penguin parade which I gave a miss to but the highlight of our time in Melbourne was the included Colonial Tram Dinner on the last evening, what a fantastic way to end our tour, such fun was enjoyed by all, super food wine and beer
all the hotels were excellent and in a reasonable location and all had very good buffet breakfasts hot and cold with ample there to suit everyone, our Tour Manager was Ian Magnell who was really good though maybe at times he could have been a little better organised but to be fair he only does this part time and his knowledge of Australia was exceptional, he took us for many meals or recommended us places to eat, I would give him 8/10 on the whole, the only thing I didn't like about OZ were the flies, they were a nuisance pretty much everywhere, the only places that were fly free were Cairns & Sydney, don't recall any in Canberra either actually but by Glenrowan and Melbourne they were back in force
so on the whole if anybody is thinking of booking this tour I would say YES go for it it's a 10/10 and it is as they say several holidays rolled into one as every state was so much different
Dave
