Who's travelled around Australia?
 

My 2 are looking to book to go to Australia for a month next year (not that I'm jealous!)

For those of you who've been which travel company's etc did you use and how did you get around.

They're looking to fly in and out of Melbourne and go to Adelaide hiring a camper van to get around.

Re: Who's travelled around Australia?
 

Take twice the money you plan to!

A very nice lady in our village has just returned three months early from a 6 month, round Australia biking trip because of the exchange rate. And she's a Barrister! She's not short of a few bob.

It seems Oz isn't the cheap destination it used to be.

8 quid for a beer in the outback!

C

Re: Who's travelled around Australia?
 

+1 Australia is much more expensive than it used to be, and prices in Melbourne are pretty much on par with London.

The drive from Melbourne is a corker though....check this out:

http://www.melbourne.visitorsbureau....-adelaide.html

My parents have just flown back to Melbourne and they couldn't believe how cheap London was because of the exchange rate....should give you some idea about how expensive it is there now.

What month are they flying out? If they are going for the Oz summer then Melbourne will be awesome. If they get chance they should fly up to Brisbane with virginblue (cheap internal flight operator) for the beaches and more chilled out attitude. :D

Re: Who's travelled around Australia?
 

I've just returned a couple of days ago from Brisbane. Totally awesome country.

Pretty expensive at the moment.

I also have a friend who is travelling up the East Coast using coaches and trains, I can ask him for advice if you need.

Re: Who's travelled around Australia?
 

Spent c. 3 weeks touring NSW and Queensland earlier this year in one of these:

http://www.apollocamper.com/camperva...re-camper.aspx

Awesome fun! We picked the 4x4 as we knew we wanted to spend some time on Fraser Island (sand island only accessible by 4x4), and I must say I was quite impressed with what it could cope with off road.

A 4x4 certainly isn't essental if you're sticking to regular tar/gravel roads, but it's a whole lot cooler that your average camper, and it means you do hunt out opportunities to get off the beaten track a bit more.

Ours came with a picnic table and chairs as well, which are well worth getting a spart of the deal.

A few tips:

• You WILL want aircon, so with any camper you need to plug into a camp site each evening
• Take bug spray. Lots of it!
• Think about how you load your stuff while you're driving - generally on the floor in the middle is good as it doesn't slide around in transit and the van handles waaaay better.

Hope they have a fab time!

Re: Who's travelled around Australia?
 

8 quid for a beer. Someone was telling porkies. Beer is dearer than the UK, but not that much more unless the GBP is worth about the same as the peso. We survived the global economic meltdown relatively unscathed, so with all of the doom and gloom maybe it is not a good time to visit.

A month is not long enough to get "around" Australia. It is still a big country.

Re: Who's travelled around Australia?
 

I went around the country with some family a few years back. We flew to Perth for a couple of days, flew to Adelaide, stayed for a week or so then hired a car and drove to Melbourne. After that we went to Sydney, Brisbane (where we have some family), Alice Springs (and Uluru), Cairns and Port Douglas. I can't remember the exact order.

We generally stayed in the city centres and used our feet or public transport to get around. For the Melbourne to Adelaide part, I really recommend hiring a car and driving on the Great Ocean Road! The views are unbeatable!

Re: Who's travelled around Australia?
 

A month is all the time they have got - gutted for them!!!!!!!
There are areas they are visiting for personal reasons and so the route from Melbourne to Adelaide suits.
They are off there in July

As usual the org has an answer for everything thanks xx

Re: Who's travelled around Australia?
 

The answer to your question is "Captain Cook" :thumbsup:

What's my prize? ;-)


[And yes, I know that Who's on first base :-)]

Re: Who's travelled around Australia?
 

I've been three times now (ooh get me! :) ) and I love the place. First time I went was ten years ago and it was cheap - almost three dollars to the pound and prices weren't high over there. Second time was about 4 years ago and it had got more expensive due to exchange rate getting worse and their inflation. Last time I went was a couple of years ago and it was very expensive. I never paid $8 a beer like someone above said but prices were around equivalent to London prices everywhere :(

I booked flights with trailfinders and then booked everything else myself. If they're on a tight schedule they may want to book some things before they leave in order to guarantee dates, etc, but generally, unless you go to Melbourne during F1 week or Sydney during Mardi Gras, etc, you'll be able to do most things without booking too far in advance and there should be places available to stay.

Last time we went we hired a camper van for a week or so from Britz, who were good and about the cheapest we could find for what we wanted. In addition, I've flown around using the VirginBlue airline and also the Greyhound buses (I assume they're both still going).

In summary, easy to get around, easy to find places to stay, they'll have a whale of a time, but they might want to take a couple of credit cards. Oh, and they want want to come back either ;)

Re: Who's travelled around Australia?
 

July? That is mid winter down south. This year has been miserable in Adelaide. Spring or early summer would be better if they can swing it.

Re: Who's travelled around Australia?
 

Carty, what inflation? Good exchange rates (for us) and inflation don't usually go hand in hand. Inflation has been low and in the last decade the AUD has climbed out of the 70's to reach parity with the USD last year. It has once again dipped below 90, but it is still strong. That is what is going to hurt a tourists budget.

Re: Who's travelled around Australia?
 

My best bit of advice tell them to go t total.
When i was in Perth at the start of the year it wasn't unusual to pay $10/12 a pint and a case of beer was about $40. On the crap exchange rate it was about £8 a pint. My brother couldnt believe i could buy a crate of beer for that back in tesco's.
I have only done the west coast so not much help im afraid

Re: Who's travelled around Australia?
 

Just tell them to save their money and buy a ticket to London. There is so many Australians here, I sometimes forget where I friggin live.

Re: Who's travelled around Australia?
 

Matt, I don't know the actual inflation rates for Oz over the last ten years, but for example, first time I went (around '98-'99) a Maccies or Subway in a food hall was about $3-$4, which at the time was about £1-£1.50 or something (for a complete meal) fast forward to now and how much are you paying for a value meal in McD's? $6-$7? that's double the actual price, which coupled with the drop in exchange rate for £ to $ makes Oz about 3 times as expensive for a UK worker as it was ten years ago in terms of food prices. Please feel free to challenge me if you think I'm wrong but this is how I recall it :)

Do you still get the $0.30c ice cream in McD's?

Don't get me wrong mate, I'd move there in a flash if my wife would go but you can't deny it's got more expensive for the visiting tourist?! :)

Re: Who's travelled around Australia?
 

Take a trip to Wolf Creek. It's that nice you may never come back.

I'd also recommend a good travel guide book. Such as "Surviving The Outback" by Tracy Andrews.

Re: Who's travelled around Australia?
 

I lived in Sydney for 1.5 years and then took off 4 months, bought a campervan and did this:

http://jessluke.blogspot.com/ (starts Oct 2008)

One of best holidays I have ever been on! Never finished the blog, because we got lazy, but basically we headed back up the coast to Sydney, sold the van for $1500 more than we bought it for and flew to NZ (which is where I still am)

Re: Who's travelled around Australia?
 

Yes, it is more expensive for a visiting tourist, but it is for the reasons already mentioned. It has absolutely nothing to do with inflation as suggested and everything to do with the current strength of the economy or to put it a little more succinctly, the sh**y state of your own. :)

Re: Who's travelled around Australia?
 

Bought a camper van in Adelaide, had an awesome 3 weeks taking it up to Sydney where we sold it for $500 more. The Coast Road was wicked.

Re: Who's travelled around Australia?
 

By inflation I simply mean the prices have gone up - which they undeniably have - it's not an attack on your economy! :p