Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Another Australia Travel Info Request

I am planning to visit Australia solo next month (November). Some portions of the trip are already set, though there are a few items I would appreciate some feedback on. Flying into SYD and out of Brisbane (lodging in both of those areas is already reserved). Rather than trying to hit most of the highlights with a lot of one-night stays, I decided to aim for 3 nights in most places. My plan is to fly between major points and, other than in Sydney, rent a car in order to be able to explore a bit outside of the urban area and do some scenary and animal photography. Thanks for any suggestions or comments on the following:

A. 3 nights in (on?) Tasmania--leaning toward flying in and out of Launceston; there seem to be some nice B&B's around Ross and that would be a somewhat central location for visiting the state.

B. 3 nights in the Blue Mountains--leaning toward a B&B. Earlier searches have turned up a host of these properties in this area with no obvious way to distinguish the good places.

C. 3 nights in Cairns area. Not interested in a beach or "strip" hotel, etc. A convenient property a little bit out of town or in a smaller town is not a problem. Planning to go out to reef on day after arrival if weather appears good (saw a FT recommendation to check sunlover.com.au).

As for price, I would consider rates at or above $200AUD/night to be a splurge. Not saying I wouldn't do it for the perfect place, but my preference would be somewhat below that, even if it meant being a few km further away.

(My regrets to those in or from Melbourne, Perth, or Uluru and other locations who cannot imagine that someone on his first visit to OZ would miss those points. With only a ~2 week visit, there was no way I could see all the highlights.)

D. Any particular websites which seem to have decent prices on rental cars for the area that those of us in the US may not have much exposure to?

E. What and where to look for self-service laundry facilities (called laundromats in parts of the US, etc.).

Again, thanks in advance for your thoughts.

TRRed

Personally, if this is your first trip to Australia I would not spend 3 days in the Blue Mountains. In fact, I would skip them all together.

I think it will be much better to spend the time at Uluru but of course this will be significantly more expensive. Otherwise, I would spend this time maybe at Fraser Island or the Whitsundays. Or spend more time in Cairns and go up into the rain forest.

3 days Tasmania is fine. The highlights there is Cradle Mountain, Freycinet National Park at the east coast, Hobart, Launceston, Port Author and the Gordon River area in the west. If you only have 3 days I would most probably to Cradle Mountain and Freycinet and for this stay one night near Cradle Mountain and two nights near Freycinet.

Agreed that Blue Mountains while nice are not worth the time for a trip like this -- much better to spend 6 days in Tassie (also cheaper). Or go to somewhere really special, like Wilsons Prom (SE of melbourne). Only reason to go to Blue Mountains is to get away from Sydney within driving distance :)

My partner and I just returned from 2 weeks in OZ and our trip was similar to what you had planned.

Blue Mountains - we just rented a car and made a day trip out of it - it was really pretty but you'll see more beautiful mountains (IMHO) in Tassie.

We had 4 days in the Hobart area of Tasmania. Didn't make it to Launceston but spent one day driving around the Tasman PN and Port Arthur, one day hanging out in Hobart (Saturday at the Salamanca Mkt is a lot of fun), and one day going up Mt. Wellington, visiting Richmond, and driving over to the Huon Valley. We had a GPS with our car and it was great.

We spent 3 days in Cairns and stayed at the Pullman Reef Hotel & Casino - big rooms, not expensive (got a discount), good location. We don't snorkel so we spent one day walking around town and driving up to Kuranda and our second full day we spent driving up to Cape Trib (with a detour down the Daintree River)...it's a gorgeous area.

Have a great time!

Thanks for the comments thus far. I will rethink the planned visit to the Blue Mountains.

Cheers.

TRRed

One option you have in tassie would be to fly into Launceston and out of Hobart. This would give you the opportunity to spend one day at cradle mountain, one on the east coast and one down at Port Arthur. If you do cancel your trip to the blue mountains there is a lot to see in tassie so could be worth adding on an extra day or two.

If you are looking for a reasonably priced (normally can get a room for less than 150 AUD) but ok hotel in Hobart the Grand Mecure Hadleys Hotel is in the city centre (not much goes on there after 5) and within walking distance of Salamanca (where lots of Restraunts and a Saturday market are). There are also lots of good cheap B&B's all over the state as you mentioned.

Thanks for the comments thus far. I will rethink the planned visit to the Blue Mountains.

Cheers.

TRRedThat same three days probably works out to just enough time to visit Uluru and empty the rest of your bank account. That's our plan for our mid-November trip. The Blue Mountains and Cairns were on the itin at first, but it became clear that we were going to see too much of the insides of planes and not enough that was truly unique to Australia.

From what many say, two nights in Uluru is just about right, unless you want to go big and do a lot of driving around and spend maybe four or five.

Guess we'll get to compare notes about our November trips afterward!

If you like wine, don't forget about a visit to a few wineries. Tassie wines are excellent IMHO and they generally keep them all for themselves so you won't see them anyplace else.

There are a few wineries very close to Hobart airport, so they are certainly not out of the way. You can go for a loop around the Derwent and Coal river valleys in less than a day and see many of them. A few offer delicious lunches to enjoy with the food.

Of course there are many other wine regions in Australia that are excellent, and plenty of them are easy to get to from the big cities. I mention the Tassie region just because many people don't know about them.

Thanks for the comments thus far. I will rethink the planned visit to the Blue Mountains.

Cheers.

TRRed
If you hire a car you can make a good trip to the Blue Mountains from Sydney in a day and see all the most important sites. There are also numerous bus tours that will do it for you. The train runs to and through the Blue Mountains, but unfortunately the stations are in the town centres whereas the views etc are generally not.

I've rethought the Blue Mts. and decided to follow the above counsel and drop them as an overnight. And I still don't see good (economical) options for using part of that time to Uluru; with flights, car, and non-dorm hotels, it looks like it could be $1,500 (USD). I think I will use one of the 3 planned Blue Mt. days for an extra day in Tasmania. For the other 2 day, any words of wisdom between the 3 alternatives below?
A. 1 extra day in both Sydney and Cairns (total of 4 days each).
B. 2 days in Melbourne
C. 2 days in Adelaide

Continuing thanks.

TRRed

I would go for option A. Next time you come back you will do MEL, Great Ocean Road, Adelaide, Kangaroo Island and Uluru but this time I would the places you have on your list properly and not add more.

I would go for option A. Next time you come back you will do MEL, Great Ocean Road, Adelaide, Kangaroo Island and Uluru but this time I would the places you have on your list properly and not add more.

I would also go option A. However that is relying on the fact that you will come back to Australia in the future!!

We stayed at Il Palazzo in Carins last July. The rooms are spacious and they are a block back from the Esplanade, so quieter yet convenient. The Night Market is a few steps away and it's a 15 minute walk to the Reef Terminal. The nice thing is there is a full kitchen and ensuite washer/dryer. We did all our laundry since it was the halfway point in our trip. They get high marks in Tripadvisor.com and we paid about $180/night.

I'd PERSONALLY spend the extra 3 days in tassie. PPL seem to think you can do alot in 3 days - only if you are manic ADHD and spend ALOT of time in your car. 6 days gets you an either an easy drive down the east coast, or 3 days around Launceston a day driving the goat track that is the Midlands Highway and 2 days in Hobart.

For the other 2 day, any words of wisdom between the 3 alternatives below?
A. 1 extra day in both Sydney and Cairns (total of 4 days each).
B. 2 days in Melbourne
C. 2 days in Adelaide
Of the options you've given, I'd opt for [A], bearing in mind that it is not Cairns itself that is interesting but the Reef and the surrounding countryside (Atherton Tablelands, Port Douglas environs, Daintree, etc, etc).

[B] would be a possibility, especially if you want to do the Great Ocean Road.

I wouldn't personally opt for [C] (no offence to Adelaide intended).

Or go with TIMP's suggestion of extra days in Tasmania. (I'm probably biased, but it is wonderful.)

Above all, don't fret it. :) As a good friend of mine always says about travel: "you can't see everything, but everything you see will be interesting."

I've decided to go with option A, which gives me 4 nights in each of Sydney, Tasmania, and Cairns. I'll still working on lodging in Tasmania and Cairns, so please keep the suggestions coming (and thanks for those previously posted). My flight out of Hobart is 6:05 AM (no other FF tics connecting to CNS, though I will continue to check), so I want something easy for the previous night or that I can drop the car off the previous night and take a shuttle to HBA, but at least most that list shuttles seem to start around 6.

Everything is booked. Thanks for the comments in this thread and another contemporaneous one.

Another questions: Should CDs purchased in the US work in Australian rental cars? I know at least some DVDs are region specific, though I don't recall hearing about problems with CDs. No need to bring if they don't work. Again, thanks.

Everything is booked. Thanks for the comments in this thread and another contemporaneous one.

Another questions: Should CDs purchased in the US work in Australian rental cars? I know at least some DVDs are region specific, though I don't recall hearing about problems with CDs. No need to bring if they don't work. Again, thanks.

CD's will work fine.

Everything is booked. Thanks for the comments in this thread and another contemporaneous one.

Another questions: Should CDs purchased in the US work in Australian rental cars? I know at least some DVDs are region specific, though I don't recall hearing about problems with CDs. No need to bring if they don't work. Again, thanks.

By law, DVD players in Australia must be region code free. Some aren't which technically is not allowed.
So all your CDs and DVDs should play in Australia with DVDs having some more technical aspects to it.

For your Cairns sojourn I would consider staying in somewhere like Palm Cove (15-20 min North) where most accommodation is near beachfront (eg Oasis Apartments, about $150 per night) and you can walk to restaurants. We stayed there two years ago and enjoyed trips to the Daintree, Kuranda Railway and snorkelling. We didn't even hire a car as most tour organisers will pick you up and return to your apartment. Just remember it will be hot in December and it could rain (2008 December rainfall was 20cm).
A day in the Blue Mountains is always fun and you can relive your youth with some exciting rides http://www.scenicworld.com.au/. The scenery is more dramatic limestone gorges than "mountains" and the scale is amazing. Erosion of the gorges created Fraser Island (which is 110km long and about 1000km North). If you are energetic you can take the train down,walk across the valley floor and climb 1000 stairs back up to the Three Sisters.

For your Cairns sojourn I would consider staying in somewhere like Palm Cove (15-20 min North) where most accommodation is near beachfront (eg Oasis Apartments, about $150 per night) and you can walk to restaurants. We stayed there two years ago and enjoyed trips to the Daintree, Kuranda Railway and snorkelling. We didn't even hire a car as most tour organisers will pick you up and return to your apartment. Just remember it will be hot in December and it could rain (2008 December rainfall was 20cm).
I'd second this about where to stay, since Cairns itself is nothing special. Some of the little places to the north are lovely.

A day in the Blue Mountains is always fun and you can relive your youth with some exciting rides http://www.scenicworld.com.au/. The scenery is more dramatic limestone gorges than "mountains" and the scale is amazing. Erosion of the gorges created Fraser Island (which is 110km long and about 1000km North). If you are energetic you can take the train down,walk across the valley floor and climb 1000 stairs back up to the Three Sisters.
Or, if you're feeling less energetic, you can climb down the 1000 steps from the Three Sisters, walk along the valley floor, and take the Scenic Railway up.
:rolleyes: