Australia May 05

We are planning our first trip to AUS early
May 05 for 3 weeks for our 25th Anniv.

We want to see SYD/Cairn and ? We love rock
hounding, snorkeling, hiking, etc.

We are thinking about renting a camper van for
2 with toilet/shower <must haves> Maybe stay
a night or two out on an island for the anniv.

Any info you can pass along would be great.
I am wondering about weather temps for that
time of year and best way of getting there.
My husband flys for Skywest (United/Delta Connection) and we are only a couple hours from
Los Angeles.

Also wondering if RV parks would have to be reserved ahead of time or would be available
to just drive into so we do not have to plan
it day by day. We would like it to be a
relaxing trip but see as much of AUS as poss.
Any info you can pass along would be appreciated.
Thanks Kathy

Hi Kathy,

May is a good time to be up around Cairns as it will be hot but not too humid and is out of NSW/QLD school holidays. When you are up that far north it is warm all year around. In Sydney it would be cooler as it is autumm at that time of year.

What is rock hounding? I haven't heard of that before.

It is a LONG drive from Sydney to Cairns - over 2,000 kilometres.

I don't know much about renting campervans - perhaps if you look at the Avis/Britz/Hertz/Budget etc sites.

We have stayed in caravan parks over here - mainly in cabin accommodation - I always like to have accommodation booked but at that time of the year you should be okay. There are also lots of motels and holiday houses. With the exchange rate it will be quite good value for you. There is a chain of caravan parks "Big4" <a href="http://www.big4.com.au" target="_blank">http://www.big4.com.au</A> and another site <a href="http://www.familyparks.com.au/" target="_blank">http://www.familyparks.com.au/</A> that might be helpful but I can't really recommend any one way or another. You would have to price it all as it might be cheaper to hire a car and stay in cabin accommodation or similar.

Hope this helps, Vicki http://www.nonrev.net/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

Hi Vicki,

Have you visited Australia often? Or are you from there?? I really appreciate your information. Rock hounding is
going out looking for rocks! We belong to a group called the diehards, all with a great interest in rocks and geology. We get together as often as possible and go out on field
trips in the desert or to mines to find Tourmaline, Geodes, Crystals and any other beautiful rocks or just interesting pieces. It is great exercise and if you love the outdoors like we do it is very peaceful. Our dogs love to go on the outing too!

I have read that Coober Pedy has Opal mines and
since we have never looked for Opals I know we
would probably have a great time. Not sure
how we would get there though as we will be
flying into Sydney and possibly flying up
to Cairns and then renting an RV. We don't have
it all planned out yet. As you said it sounds like the places we want to visit are long stretches apart. I know I would love
to see the AUS rainforest too. We love hiking
camping and backpack stuff so that is why I was leaning towards renting an RV rather than having
to make a hotel reservation for each night and have our trip all planned out. We tend to be spontaneous and if we hear about something interesting would like to be able to investigate it rather than be scheduled somewhere. Do not know if that would be doable in AUS though not sure of last minute availability and such.

Anyway we are just in the beginning of planning this trip. I have purchased a couple of travel guides on Australia to kinda help us decide what we want to see.
Thank you for the RV park sites you included I have already checked them out.
Australia seems to have so much to offer that is
right up our alley that my head is reeling trying to figure this all out.

Thanks again for your words of wisdom. It sounds like the weather will be nice for snorkeling in Cairns and we will bring a jacket for Sydney.
Kathy

I think some countries prohibit the export of natural artifacts and this may include the rocks you collect, so check the laws before bringing back items like that.

Plus your baggage may get an overweight surcharge if it's full of rocks! http://www.nonrev.net/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

Try this to find campers for rent:
Australia RV Rentals

http://www.nonrev.net/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gifHi Kathy, I am from Australia.

I haven't been up to Cooper Pedy yet although I know people who have and thoroughly enjoyed it. Years ago I've been gold fossicking out at Hill End though didn't find too much gold.

Do you enjoy going through caves? The Wombeyan Caves (south of Sydney) or Jenolan Caves (west of the Blue Mountains - lots of hiking trails there) might appeal to you and have lots of interesting rock formations although none you can take for souvenirs!

Further north from Cairns is the Daintree rainforest - you can do cruise tours there.

It is a lot of driving - it all depends how long you have and how much driving you like, but to drive Sydney to Cairns would take approximately three full (ten hours) days driving.

As you are coming in an off season I don't think you'd have much trouble getting accommodation especially during the week.

Hi Vicki,

Finally found my way back to this site as I lost my password.

Anyway, although we have not done much cave exploration other than a couple in South Dakota your suggestions sound right up our alley. We do love to hike and were planning a visit to the blue mountains.

I realize that Sydney to Cairns is a very long drive so I am thinking we will hangout for maybe a week in Sydney and do blue mountains and a few other places and then fly from Sydney to Cairns and rent the rv and meander our way back. Would love to see rainforest and of course the great barrier reef for snorkeling.

We have at least the 9th thru the 29th and depending on my husband's line bid for May we are hoping to add some days on at the beginning or end of the month.

Someone told me we not only need a passport but a visa is that true? Sure hope we have enough time to get that done. Guess I better get on it. Since my husband will not know until mid April what his line for May will be I am glad to hear that we most likely could find a room on short notice. I do want at least part of the trip with reservations in place including the RV so we know we have that.

I appreciate all your help.....Am so looking forward to this wonderful trip.
Thanks, Kathy

Kathy, G'Day.
It's true that all visitors to Oz require a tourist visa. This can be processed on line through the CRS systems very quickly and easily at no cost. Check-in staff can do it as well, but it's best to have it done and in your booking once your booking is in place in the CRS.

As for RV's, the best option will more than likely be Britz. Specialists in that field down here.

Cheers.

Hi again,

A couple more questions....has anyone heard of
escortedaustraliatours.com? Wondered if they are a good company. They have an interesting 17 day reef and rainforest tour I was looking at. I thought it might be another option for us. It mentions quad accomodations though and since my husband and I are on our anniversary don't think we want to "share" a room. It does sound like it has alot of things we would enjoy.

Also, any thoughts on a day of the week that it might be easier to get out of LAX to SYD the first week of May . My husband flys for Skywest and so United is probably our best option. Although I think they have only one flight a day so other options as a back up might be necessary. Also Al mentioned our visa could be processed on line through the CRS system. How do we go about doing that? He is a pilot so does not work at all with the ticketing system for the airlines. He normally just has one of the gate agents list us on a certain flight.... Anyway, as you can see we have not taken much advantage of the nonrev benefits he has. We are definitely newbies....

Thanks for all your help everyone!! Hope to hear from you soon.
Kathy

Kathy,
Normally when you contact your staff travel office to arrange your tickets to Oz you can ask them to make the online visa request at the same time .. should only take a minute or two.

On another matter as your hubby flys for Skywest perhaps he could supply some answers to the
"Wannabe questions" topic in the General Discussions forum.

You can apply for an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) online thru the Dept of Immigration: <a href="http://www.eta.immi.gov.au" target="_blank">http://www.eta.immi.gov.au</A>. It costs AUD 20 and will be issued immediately; when you checkin for your flight the airline's passport reader is linked to the government's database.

I don't believe they are free under any circumstance. My airline can issue them thru the CRS but there is a charge of EUR 15 for it.

Regarding flights I took QF from LAX to SYD last September. They offer an afternoon departure (1pm) a few days per week that tends to be less crowded since more people prefer the late evening departures. I flew midweek and we had only 80 pax in Y on a 747-400, and arrived into SYD the following night at 8pm. No lines, right into a taxi, and at the hotel by 8:45pm for a good night's sleep.

UA has only 2 flights to SYD (LAX and SFO) and they always seem full! Plus, my company has a ZED agreement with QF so it was $84 each way vs. ID90 on UA of over $200 one way (both before taxes).

Plus, in addition to 2 or 3 SYD flights, QF has service from Brisbane and Melbourne, and direct flights thru Auckland. There's a HNL flight too if you want to stop off there (but flights between LAX and HNL are tough). BNE might work out for a better return if you're up in Queensland. Was going to try that one myself but opted to fly from CNS back down to SYD for more wide-open flights the day I flew out.

Another little thing...if you don't sleep on planes (like me) I prefer QF since you have your own tv with choice of movies at the seat unlike UA.

Two more airline options people don't always consider: Air Canada and Hawaiian Air both serve SYD from HNL (the AC flight is a stopover enroute from Vancouver, but you can fly just the HNL-SYD leg).

I spent a few days in SYD, then flew to Alice Springs, then Ayers Rock, then Cairns, then home via SYD. To give you an idea of distance all the domestic flights were 3 hours (except Alice to the Rock; about 45 mins). I did all the trips on QF ZED tickets and made all the flights I wanted. Their staff were generally very pleasant toward non-revs (a bit less so at SYD, but that's expected). There are QF offices in each city where you can inquire about latest availability and a dedicated non-rev line within Australia to call for listings, etc.

For hotels you might want to check out Accor Hotels (www.accorhotels.com) since they have good deals for airline staff. They are pretty well represented in Oz and we found some good deals. The Sofitel in Sydney was a special treat - 75% off rack rate and the place had just finished a total refurbishment. Even then it was a splurge but worth it. If you go to Ayers Rock the only game in town is Ayers Rock Resort (in fact they ARE the town...). Rates are high but email their reservations centre to inquire about 50% off rates at their properties for airline staff (www.ayersrockresort.com.au).

You can apply for an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) online thru the Dept of Immigration: <a href="http://www.eta.immi.gov.au" target="_blank">http://www.eta.immi.gov.au</A>.
It costs AUD 20 and will be issued immediately; when you checkin for your flight the airline's passport reader is linked to the government's database.
I don't believe they are free under any circumstance. My airline can issue them thru the CRS but there is a charge of EUR 15 for it.

Do not go to the website. Any agent and any airline can issue them through the CRS within a minute, FOC. Until now, I didn't believe there was any fee charged by Airlines, but it looks like some of them add their own fee, as per the above. The Oz Govt charges NO fee to obtain the visa. The website mentioned has it's own "handling fee" but it is not a fee for the actual visa.

My carrier issues them on a daily basis, totally free and with minimum wait time. We also do several ETA's daily at check-in for the flights to here if the pax don't have them already. Again, a quick, painless 1 to 2 minute procedure through the check-in system.

Cheers/Regards.

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. http://www.nonrev.net/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

NO worries. I used to work for QF, but I saw the light and defected a couple of years ago ! Can't help you with exact loads, but I know people there that can supply me with the info.
The lovely Vicki has already taken care of that part of the problem for you anyway.

As for the ETA, not sure if you are listed with UA as a nonrev if they can do the ETA, but I can't see why not. If they can't do it over the phone through Res, then they certainly should be able to do it at check-in on departure for you. Hopefully there is a UA lurker somewhere here that knows for sure and can advise you.

Cheers!

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!

Kathy,
Try checking out www.tidd.com.au as they often have good travel industry deals for accomodation etc in Australia.

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!!! http://www.nonrev.net/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif
Kathy

Kathy,
I noticed that www.medinaapartments.com.au are no longer in the TIDD list. They used to offer a good travel industry rate .. might be worth an email.

http://www.nonrev.net/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gifHi 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.

Vicki,

I have checked out the wotif.com site and am taking some printouts from it also.

If you have a chance I'd appreciate it if you could check Quantas loads LAX-SYD on May 3 and 4 again for me and see how it is looking. I do not know of anyway to check it myself.

Thanks again for all your and everyone else's help who replied to my many questions about this trip. Off we go....
Kathy

http://www.nonrev.net/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gifHi Kathy,

Have checked both the QF12 and QF108 on those dates and both have lots of seats.

Enjoy your holiday - have lots of fun!

Hi Vicki,

I am emailing from Sydney! We made it with
no problem and are having a wonderful time.

We have checked loads for our return flight on
United on/around 5/26 and the flight is overbooked in coach.

If you get a chance would you please check Qantas loads for me on 5/24, 5/25, 5/26. We wanted to stay until 5/26 or 5/27 (as long as possible) but I have to make sure I am back to work on 5/31. Getting a little nervous and flights toward the weekend seem to be fuller.

I appreciate all your help.
Thanks,
Kathy

Hi Kathy.
To close off another avenue for you, AC that week has nothing available in front or back cabins on SYD-YVR daily service.
If QF are as bad as UA and AC (which is possible as it's the first of the Alaska cruises from SEA/YVR and many groups go at this time as it's much cheaper cruise rate) check HA who have 4 flights per week SYD-HNL. If you can get to HNL it's a start.
Cheers.

Hi Kathy,

Glad you arrived without any dramas and are enjoying your holiday.

Have checked those flights for you; the following are showing plenty of seats- on the 24/5 the QF107 and QF11, on the 25/5 the QF11 , on the 26/5 both the 107 and 11 and on the 27/5 the QF11 looks the best and then QF149 and QF175.

So relax and enjoy the rest of your holiday and have a good trip home!