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Single traveler in Australia for two months

Single traveler in Australia for two months

Old Jul 7, 2008, 11:51 pm
  #1  
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Montreal/Canada
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Single traveler in Australia for two months

I will be in Australia for two months (Jan/Feb 2009). I have booked accommodation in Melbourne (Fitzroy) for the last two weeks in January and accommodation in Sydney (Newtown) for the last three weeks of February. This will be my first Mardi-Gras.

The rest is up in the air. I am thinking Alice Springs (Uluru), Brisbane and the Cairns area....maybe even one week on the south island of New Zealand. I am aware of the long distances....I am canadian so I am used to it. Does anyone have any experience with flight passes (Qantas, Virgin Blue etc.) for visitors from outside Australia?

I am looking forward to this extended vacation...but don't really know what I am getting into. Sounds like fun and I hear the people are super friendly :-:. If any other FTs are planning a trip down under in Jan/Feb 2009, feel free to message.
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Old Jul 8, 2008, 12:26 am
  #2  
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
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Welcome to FT

A Qantas domestic Airpass is only available with a Qantas international sector. I would firstly add up the value of a QF package(international sector and domestic flight value) then add up cheapest international flight on any carrier and look on the internet sites for QF and Virgin to price your domestic sectors. Feburary is a dead month travel wise you may get some great sale fares.

You will love Aus. Let me know if you need any help. I live a few Km's from Newtown...great suburb!

CJ

Last edited by Cedar Jet; Jul 8, 2008 at 12:32 am
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Old Jul 8, 2008, 4:44 pm
  #3  
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Palm Springs area
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Definitely go to the South Island of New Zealand, it is beautiful. We rode the TranzAlpine train from Christchurch to Greymouth, and then rented a car and drove to Queenstown. The variety of landscape and climate in such a small area is amazing. We purchased intra-NZ airtickets directly from the Air New Zealand website and got cheap fares.
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Old Jul 9, 2008, 12:06 am
  #4  
 
Join Date: May 2005
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The best advice I received before my trip to Oz was to bag Uluru and go to Tasmania instead. Absolutely f***ing amazing, and unlike anywhere else in Australia. Next trip, I'm doing the slow tour down from Launceston to Hobart.

If you do go to Hobart, try to be there on a Saturday morning for the Salamanca Market. Lots of junk and tourist tat (like any public market), but some great, high-quality items you won't readily find elsewhere. I still love the Henk Berg briefcase (though really more of a messenger bag/murse) I bought there.
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Old Jul 9, 2008, 2:38 am
  #5  
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Originally Posted by excentrus
I will be in Australia for two months (Jan/Feb 2009). I have booked accommodation in Melbourne (Fitzroy) for the last two weeks in January and accommodation in Sydney (Newtown) for the last three weeks of February. This will be my first Mardi-Gras.

The rest is up in the air. I am thinking Alice Springs (Uluru), Brisbane and the Cairns area....maybe even one week on the south island of New Zealand. I am aware of the long distances....I am canadian so I am used to it. Does anyone have any experience with flight passes (Qantas, Virgin Blue etc.) for visitors from outside Australia?

I am looking forward to this extended vacation...but don't really know what I am getting into. Sounds like fun and I hear the people are super friendly :-:. If any other FTs are planning a trip down under in Jan/Feb 2009, feel free to message.

I don't know how old you are but you remind me of myself from a few years back. As someone who is originally from Montreal as well, here was my trip report on FT for an extensive trip in the South Pacific:

The South Pacific Odyssey

The report is quite long, you can skip the parts that don't interest you and read some of the pertinent parts on travel specific in Australia and NZ. I had been to Australia many times prior to that trip, for instance, I did skydiving solo on my 20th birthday in Gold Coast and some other pretty crazy stuff. However, this one is the longest and most extensive. Keep in mind you are going during the Austral Summer, which means the central desert part of Australia such as Alice Springs will be incredibly hot.

When this was written, the GLBT forum at FT doesn't exsit yet if I remember correctly. In any case, I assume you are looking for some gay specific advice which this report does not really address because it was formatted for a general audience. I know it may come across as somewhat shocking today but the word gay used to be controversial even on FT.

You are going as a single traveller, there are few things to keep in mind between the cultural difference of Australia and Quebec. Australians are generally very friendly and gay travellers should not experience any severe outward homophobia in general. Nevertheless, it is a country that is somewhat behind the time overall with respect to gays because for the longest time it has had a conservative government that enjoyed trashing gays on national media and the country actually decriminalized homosexuality not until late 80's or early 90's only. I felt that outside of big cities such as Sydney, a lot of gays are still very much in the closet. Just keep in mind gays can be found everywhere even outside of the cities but be mindful that different people have different comfort zone, there is definitely certain degree of stigma in Australia which is generally not as blatant as in Quebec.

In my opinion, flight pass is not generally a good idea because you can get some pretty good one-way deals on Qantas.com and etc. Plus, if it means you need to fly QF on the way over and pay more for it, then it is definitely not worth your while. Is there anyway you can get yourself some reward tickets on Qantas? Did you book your inter-continental flights already? Here is a tip I can share with you. There is probably an abundance of people here on FT with piles of QF points sitting in their account, waiting to be used. The reason is about 5 years ago, there was a FT magazine sale that can net them QF points from the SPG conversion and some people bought massive amount of duplicate magazines for the sake of getting QF points. Back then, they seem like good deals. Then QF suddenly devalued its program and lots of people were stuck with massive amount of points that are pretty useless. I advised people against that deal on MilesBuzz back then but people were blind by the taste of trying out BA Concorde for little money and this is what happens. There are still a lot of people with these QF points around, I know at least one. You may be able to get them to trade with you for a firesale if you offer something they find useful, just know that their cost base is low but they aren't desperate either. If this is not possible, my advice is check out the Qantas forum, ask the more experienced members there how to shop for some Round Australia cheap fares using a series of one-way bookings. My knowledge of QF and Oneworld is out of date since it's been a while since I have left Oneworld, which is very different to what you see in my trip report posted above.

Hope you had an awesome time and enjoy the South Pacific.
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Old Jul 9, 2008, 2:48 am
  #6  
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
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Originally Posted by Guava
Nevertheless, it is a country that is somewhat behind the time overall with respect to gays because for the longest time it has had a conservative government that enjoyed trashing gays on national media and the country actually decriminalized homosexuality not until late 80's or early 90's only. I felt that outside of big cities such as Sydney, a lot of gays are still very much in the closet. Just keep in mind gays can be found everywhere even outside of the cities but be mindful that different people have different comfort zone, there is definitely certain degree of stigma in Australia which is generally not as blatant as in Quebec.
yeah, look, i think you are kinda right - it really depends on where you are, your behaviour and if you throw it in peoples faces.

don't stop being yourself but - being a flamer in the outback isnt a good idea.

i wouldn't say we are behind the times, because time is a human creation, it's just not something that some parts of our culture will accept, just like they wouldn't accept it in Alabama, USA - but on the bright side, we're more tolerant than say Iran, that is so certain that there are no Persian homosexuals...
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Old Dec 6, 2008, 10:37 pm
  #7  
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Thanks folks, It's all firmed up..I am flying from LA to Sydney (late December) with a four day stop-over in Papeete (Air Tahiti Nui). Then on to Chistchurch for a 9 day trip around New Zealand's South Island...organized by, get this, Hostelling International. That should be a riot ...it has been years since I experienced the "hostel" ambience. I then fly back to Oz. Melbourne for two weeks then up to Cairns/Port Douglas for one week, then back to Sydney for three weeks.
I appreciate the feedback....and am getting excited about this two month trip. Finally the Qantas/Virgin Blue flight passes weren't necessary as I got great rates on a variety of carriers by booking early.
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