Reccomendations for holiday to Australia

[lynchbhoy]

Folks, tried to search for the old Oz thread but the search keeps returning an 'error message'.
Unless someone can find and resurrect this for me , I'd appreciate some more/same info on Oz.
A very close pal of mine (not on the board) is thinking of going there for a holiday over Christmas.
The plan is to go to Sydney, Cairns (Port Douglas he has been told is better than cairns), Melbourne and maybe perth. Retuning home and stopping off at either singapore or hong Kong pref (his plan is to do a bit of shoping along with his missus - are these places any good?)

Where would be the good areas to go in each to stay?
Any tips on self catering places or good hotels to go to.
Normally he likes 5 star accomodation, but I think for 3 to 4 weeks he would be looking at places that average out at 100-150 euros a night (less pref if it is a good clean place in a good area and self catering).

Any other tips or must do's/must see's ?
appreciate any info.

[blewuporstuffed]

Folks, tried to search for the old Oz thread but the search keeps returning an 'error message'.
Unless someone can find and resurrect this for me , I'd appreciate some more/same info on Oz.
A very close pal of mine (not on the board) is thinking of going there for a holiday over Christmas.
The plan is to go to Sydney, Cairns (Port Douglas he has been told is better than cairns), Melbourne and maybe perth. Retuning home and stopping off at either singapore or hong Kong pref (his plan is to do a bit of shoping along with his missus - are these places any good?)

Where would be the good areas to go in each to stay?
Any tips on self catering places or good hotels to go to.
Normally he likes 5 star accomodation, but I think for 3 to 4 weeks he would be looking at places that average out at 100-150 euros a night (less pref if it is a good clean place in a good area and self catering).

Any other tips or must do's/must see's ?
appreciate any info.

thats a hell of alot of tavelling for 3-4weeks
melbourne /perth/cairns all at complete oposite ends of the country

[lynchbhoy]

Folks, tried to search for the old Oz thread but the search keeps returning an 'error message'.
Unless someone can find and resurrect this for me , I'd appreciate some more/same info on Oz.
A very close pal of mine (not on the board) is thinking of going there for a holiday over Christmas.
The plan is to go to Sydney, Cairns (Port Douglas he has been told is better than cairns), Melbourne and maybe perth. Retuning home and stopping off at either singapore or hong Kong pref (his plan is to do a bit of shoping along with his missus - are these places any good?)

Where would be the good areas to go in each to stay?
Any tips on self catering places or good hotels to go to.
Normally he likes 5 star accomodation, but I think for 3 to 4 weeks he would be looking at places that average out at 100-150 euros a night (less pref if it is a good clean place in a good area and self catering).

Any other tips or must do's/must see's ?
appreciate any info.

thats a hell of alot of tavelling for 3-4weeks
melbourne /perth/cairns all at complete oposite ends of the country

thats why he wants info - so he can decide if its worth going to four places or just doing three.

his missus is intent on seeing sydney. He wants to get a relaxing week on a beach somewhere at least. Prob has to visit relations in melbourne. So its either perth or port douglas if not both.

5 hour flight from sydney to perth ...think he reckons that he can stop en route home in perth...

[stephenite]

Sydney is a grand city, but once you move away from the harbour and the eastern suburbs beaches there's not a whole lot to it, plenty to do in it's surrounds like the Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley etc.

Cairns and Port Douglas are definitely worth a visit, the amount of rain forest and wild life treks you can do up around Daintree river and Cape Tribulation are awesome, proper Aussie wilderness. Port Douglas has that touch of coastal class

Melbourne is a great city, more 'European' than the others but at the end of the day a city is a city in my view.

Ask Aerlik about Perth, that's his stomping ground.

[lynchbhoy]

Sydney is a grand city, but once you move away from the harbour and the eastern suburbs beaches there's not a whole lot to it, plenty to do in it's surrounds like the Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley etc.

Cairns and Port Douglas are definitely worth a visit, the amount of rain forest and wild life treks you can do up around Daintree river and Cape Tribulation are awesome, proper Aussie wilderness. Port Douglas has that touch of coastal class

Melbourne is a great city, more 'European' than the others but at the end of the day a city is a city in my view.

Ask Aerlik about Perth, that's his stomping ground.

Thanks Stephenite!

[blewuporstuffed]

would agree with stephenitet here re: sydney the harbour etc is great, a few days to sightsee round thereand then get out and see the rest of the country.
the blue mountasin are fantastic
melbourne would be my favourite city in australia, dependant on the time of year of the trip there should be plenty of good sporting events on and the MCG is worth a visit

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

I love Melbourne, such an amazing place, not as obvious as Sydney but it gets into your soul. Love the view from Southbank across the Yarra.

If you have a spare day or 2, rent a car an drive the Great Ocean Road. The lighthouse of "going round the twist is along here"

I went to see the penguins on Phillip island, thought I wouldn't be into it, but an enjoyable day.

Go to Ballarat and you end up in an Australian kind of Bunratty Castle scenario (but I think better) where you can experience Bush/Frontier life in the days of the likes of Ned Kelly, I loved it. The Eureka riots/revolt took place close by, the Irish were at the heart of this kickoff and often seen as the catalyst to Australian Nationhood.

Up in Cairns you can get daytrips to Tully to do White Water Rafting, one of the best places in the world for it is the Tully River. Amazing to be on a River in the middle of the Jungle/Rainforest.

Another daytrip it Mission Beach to skydive from 14,000 feet, I did in my Mayo jersey, one of the greatest experiences of my life,, the views are amazing

Alot of People like Perth, but I wasn't overally impressed, the West Coast is amazing, but you probably won't have time for it. You might have time for a day trip to the Pinnancles, a petrified forest in the desert.

[The Subbie]

Agree with Stephenite, Sydney could really be seen in 4 or 5 days with a few good nights thrown in there

Katoomba and the blue mountains 1-2 days, Kangaroo Valley,Jervis Bay, green patch beach in particular and a few other places that are good south of Wollongong could be done in a few days and then head for Hunter valley which could be done in a few days.
Another good trip and its not too harsh on the pocket is up to the Hawksbury river and hire a houseboat for a few days, think cruising on the Shannon in better weather and more stunning scenery, its just under two hours drive out of Sydney to Wisemans Ferry, where you pick up the house boats, it would be on the road to Hunter Valley

Fly to Melbourne cos the drive down there is'nt all that good.
O aye Lynchboy,tell yer mate to take a box of Lyons for me, good man,thanks

[lynchbhoy]

Thanks Chaps,
I'll tell him subbie !

[Declan]

Stephenite's spot on - Port Douglas, Daintree just unreal

[aidanmcg33]

If looking for a relaxing beach break, it would be worth their while going on a cruise around the whitsunday islands. These usually go for around 3-4 days and there are many different boats to go on from party boats to family ones. We went on the solway lass which was good craic but quiet enough too which suited.
Sydney is well worth a visit and you could take herself to the Lindt Cafe in darling harbour. They do tours once a month which can be good if you time it right. Sydney aquarium is also good and the Blue Mountains were spectacular. Didn't think I would enjoy them as much as I did. Did the bridge climb which was good but the Cycle tour was brilliant and i think it is the top rated sydney attraction on tripadvisor

Melbourne is really good and the MCG is worth a visit. I would avoid the Neighbours tour as it's not really worth the money.
We were in australia for 5 weeks and found melbourne sydney and whitsundays enough to cover in that time and not too far to fly between them either.
We didn't go to perth or cairs as we thought they would be too far away for the timespan we had.
If she is interested in shopping she could go to Chadstone shopping centre, its huge! possibly one of the largest in the southern hemisphere, but a lot of stuff in australia is expensive so shopping might be a better alternative on the stops coming home.
Hope that is of some help.

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

Cheapest place to buy an i-pod is Australia.

[Dinny Breen]

Jaysus lads there is a West Coast to Oz as well...

[Lady GAA GAA]

One way flight to somewhere without internet access, good luck.

[onefaircounty]

Spent a week in Peerth visiting mates, was good but they all said it's a city that's brilliant to live in but not very tourist orientated.