Thread: Australia May 05

Hi Al,
Thanks for the ETA info as I am getting a little confused about the whole procedure. I did check online and there was a charge. My husband checked with his airline travel department but they said they no longer issue the visa or eta's.
Our next step I guess is to check with United and see if they will do it for us since we will probably try them first to get to AUS. We are going to get some back up passes from Quantas for both getting there and for SYD-Cairns and possibly back.

Looks like we will be staying at Peppers Palm Bay on Long Island for our anniversary. It looks real nice <expensive though> and it is not as expensive as Hayman Island. Peppers was recommended to us by an online company escortedtoursaustralia.com I believe. Sure hope Schute Harbor is not too far from the Cairns area.

If anyone knows of a good car rental place <guess we have nixed the RV idea for expense> in Sydney/Cairns let me know.

Also thinking maybe an apartment in Port Douglas and midway between SYD and Cairns would be a good base so doing some more searching for good deals.

I sure do see the reason most people go thru a travel agency as it requires alot of research!!

Al - I believe you work for Quantas - thought Wednesday might be a good day to try to get out of LAX on either UA or QA. Any opinion?
Thanks to everyone for all your help.
Soon to be in AUS - Kathy

Hi Kathy,

Hope your arrangements are all falling into place. I have just checked the QF flight loadings for you on Wed 4th May - the QF12 and QF108 both have over 150 seats.

We stopped at both Port Douglas and Airlie Beach last month while on a cruise - the beach at Port Douglas was COVERED with seaweed. May is probably a better time of year to go as there are stingers between November and April so you can't swim in the ocean except in the enclosures during that time. Airlie Beach is fairly close to Shute Harbour and has a lovely man-made "beach" right on the beach (so does Cairns now).

Another popular place and one of my favourite places is closer to Brisbane - Noosaville which is right on the river with lots of nice restaurants and a really nice park area along the riverfront with lots of free gas bbqs. Its a really nice place if you like boating, sailing, jetskiiing and hiking and there is plenty of reasonably priced accommodation at this time of year.

I don't think you will have a problem getting accommodation at that time of year. Are you looking for a hotel or apartment/holiday house type of accommodation?

Have a great holiday.

Vicki,

Thanks much for the QF load info. Sounds like the 4th we stand a good chance. My husband is going to check loads on UA also on that day.

I had not read anything about Noosaville but it sounds nice. I will type it into google and see what comes up.

Yes we will probably mostly get hotels. I thought possibly in SYD and up around Port Douglas maybe an apartment so we could cook some meals and save a few $$. I think those would be good bases for a few days in each to kinda venture forth from. Want to do Daintree RF, skyrail and train, Mossman Gorge, and possibly Cape Trib if we can fit it all in.
In Syd of course the opera house, harbor, city and the Blue mountains so maybe 3 or 4 days there.
Thanks again.

Thinking also about 2 days on Magnetic Island would you recommend it?

Kathy,

We didn't stay in Port Douglas so I can't recommend any accommodation there - last time we were on the cruise so we just had a look around. We've stayed in Cairns before and hired a car and driven up to Port Douglas, Mosman Gorge and the Daintree during the day. Cairns is much bigger than Port Douglas.

We also stayed on Magnetic Island many years ago - there are some old WW11 forts you can hike up to. We hired a moke for the day which was fun.

The Blue Mountains are very scenic; there are lots of bushwalks and a steep scenic railway and skyrail etc plus lots of craft and antique shops.

With Sydney hotels generally they are cheaper on the weekend. If you are looking at staying in the centre of Sydney there are quite a few hotels and places to eat around Darling Harbour.

With the exchange rate you should get good value for money!

Hello everyone,
Wow the time is getting close. Hoping May 3 or 4 works out for us getting on United or Quantas.
Quantas sounded real good from what Vickie said of course I am sure the loads have filled up more by now.
Checked with some customer service people and looks like United can do ETA's for us for $25 a piece. Just want to get it done!

Thanks so much for the tidd website I had never heard of it. I have been checking out some hotels. Some do not seem to respond to email requests for availability (maybe that means they are full?) but the Sebel Hawksbury has near the Blue Mountains and the DeVere Hotel at Potts Point has rooms so we will probably try those. Have tried emailing the Coconut Beach Rainforest and the Ferntree Rainforest at Cape Trib but have had no response from either one in a couple of trys...? Anyway, I think I will print the info on all the hotels and take it with us as maybe we can stop by and check for rooms on the day we need them.
Will keep researching until the final hour. Any more tips are always welcome. Looks like we will be there from 5/3 or 5/4 (whichever is better chance to get on) until 5/28 or 5/29.
So excited!!!
Kathy

Hi Kathy,

Another site that might be helpful is www.wotif.com.au (unfortunately they aren't as cheap or as good as they used to be) but they have last minute rates on hotels.