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 ;)