Down Under?

Has anybody gone to Australia (HM or just vaca)? Any suggestions on where to go, what to see??

We're thinking of doing ~1week in Australia, 1 week in Fiji....

Never went to Australia, but would love to go. My parents said there is a nice cruise that goes out of Los Angeles and sails to Australia and FIJI, other place to. My mom said it is a month long cruise. Just a suggestion!

what would you like to know? I used to live there. but a word of advice. if you go, a week there and a week in fiji is too short. I would just spend the two weeks in australia. and if you decide to stop in fiji, take two or three days there. or just skip it.

there is way too much to do in australia.

where do you want to go? sydney, the great barrier reef? melbourne? fm me. I can give you loads of info.

I went to Australia for my HM. It was absolutely fantastic. I agree that one week is too short esp since it takes you quite a bit of travel time.

We went to Sydney, Great Barrier Reef, Ayers Rock, and Melbourne.

Wish i could go back - there was still lots more to enjoy!

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Posted by Mrs.CM

FH and I were thinking of Australia also. Is two weeks enough time to do Australia and New Zealand? Or should I attempt to try for more time?

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My recommendation would be to attempt for more time.

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Posted by libride

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Posted by Mrs.CM

FH and I were thinking of Australia also. Is two weeks enough time to do Australia and New Zealand? Or should I attempt to try for more time?

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My recommendation would be to attempt for more time.

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Thank you! I am going to try!

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Posted by Mrs.CM

FH and I were thinking of Australia also. Is two weeks enough time to do Australia and New Zealand? Or should I attempt to try for more time?

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if you go to new zealand - make sure you goin swimming with the dolphins - i did it in kiakora and it was amazing- swam with a pod of 200 dolphins in the wild - they run it year round and limit the number of people to a boat

i lived in Australia for a year and did my MA there. I lived in Sydney. FH is Australian and we are moving there after the wedding.

I would do 2 weeks in Australia only if you do not want to be rushed. I think that doing Australia and NZ is a bit too much in 2 weeks time, IMO.

Sydney is great! I lived there in a student area by UNSW called Randwick, about 10 minutes outside the city centre. Randwick is really, really cute and a nice place to go if you would like a good Thai/noodle bar place to eat. I would suggest, Chopsticks and Chao Praya. Around the corner is a place called Sea Horse, which FH ate at a few times and loved it. In the city centre there is the opera house, the harbour bridge, the rocks etc. touristy place, but nice. If you want a nice view of the harbour bridge while you eat, I suggest a seafood restaurant called Doyle's in Watson's Bay. $100 (AU $$) and you get a seafood platter that has so much on it. For dessert, you MUST MUST MUST MUST go to Max Brenners in Double Bay. It is a chocolate bar. enough said. I am hungry can you tell??

Some good beaches are Bondi (pronounced Bon-die) Beach, but I preferred Coogee (said coo-jee), maybe b/c i lived down the block from there. Also if you want to take a train ride down check out Cronulla beach. There was a race riot there in December, but things have cleaned up. Botany Bay is a nice place to take a walk as well. In Bondi, there is a great mall there, if you want to shop.

A few hours outside Sydney is the Blue Mountains, very pretty to see. Also there is a wine valley called Hunter Valley, which I heard is very very nice. In the Blue Mountains there is a cave called Jenalla (spelling?) caves at on the ride there is where i saw the kangaroo in my avatar. I got to hand feed him that was cool.

I havent travelled around much except to the Great Barrier Reef and to Canberra. Canberra is the capital and there really is nothing there. We went to a tulip festival there in September called Floriade, that is the only time i would suggest to go to Canberra. FH proposed there.

The Great Barrier Reef is amazing!!! We stayed in Cairns, but that is kind of not a HM place to go. I would suggest Port Douglas. The reefs there are better there, too- so I have heard. Also right near the reefs is a rainforest. FH and I took a great tour of the rainforest, with a knowledgable guide.

Now for the rest of Australia, I will tell you what I have heard from friends and my FILs. First off all people from Sydney say Melbourne is a hole. They have this wierd rivalry- kind of like NY and NJ. But I have heard it is a cosmopolitan city, with art stuff and things like that. Ayers Rock is a bit in the middle of nowhere, but I want to go there someday. Adelaide is known as the city of churches. My old roommate was from Darwin, he said it wasnt too nice. It was destroyed in WW2 then a major cyclone destoyed it a few years after that. Check out some aboriginal villages as well. I think there is a good one near Ayers Rock. I heard there really isnt anything in Perth, but the wine region of Margaret River is beautiful. FMIL and FFIL were there a few weeks ago and loved it.

Also remember that Australia is the same size as the US, but with a lot less population. They do not get a lot of rain there and the centre is basically all desert. So travelling isnt as easy as it is in Europe where one can just hop on a train. You have to fly everywhere. the distances are too great.

This is probably way too long, so if anyone has specific questions about Australia, please feel free to FM me. I am sure FH or I can answer the question for you!

I have been there twice. I have family there. My advice is to go to Sydney. It is a beautiful place. IMO I would stay longer than a week though b/c the jet lag will kill ya.

Go you will have an amazing time.