ozstamps

There have been 12 successful OzFests so far - in Sydney, (twice) Brisbane, Melbourne, Hobart Tasmania, Cairns Queensland, Adelaide South Australia, Darwin Northern Territory, Canberra in the ACT, Perth Western Australia, Alice Springs and Ayers Rock/Uluru – “The Red Centre” in 2014, and New Zealand in 2015.

There are no other large annual FT Doos outside the USA that have chalked up 13 years running on the same weekend.

Polling of FT'ers who attended the Bay Of Islands in NZ in May, and via many private emails seems to have decided that the choice for 2016 will be -

"Coolangatta - Gold Coast Queensland" Australia.

The location of which, for the benefit of our overseas members is shown in the map above – an hour or so drive south of Brisbane, and the location of accommodation will be the city of Coolangatta – airline code OOL - and this general area was once upon a time widely known as “Surfers Paradise”. It is on the state border between NSW and Queensland and is in Queensland.







Democracy rules supreme with all OzFest’s, and after several group emails with Itsalongwaydown and serfty and Mwenenzi - and most important, the Gold Coast ground organisers Lindsay (QF WP) and Vicki (Mrs QF WP) and Sarah (ozbeachbabe) and their highly paid assistants and volunteers, I have started this thread today to officially kick off OzFest #12.

This year a common access account for the ad-hoc organising committee titled “OzFest (OzFest Organisers)” was approved by the Flyertalk Community Director, and the early informational posts here in this thread will show as that account, so they can be edited at will by those involved.

As always, we will get a very good roll-out of attendees, made up as always, as history assures us, of a fair % of folks who stated early on they will "absolutely 100% not be coming to that location because .............."

Hobart had 40 members signed up - pretty amazing seeing only one attending was a local, Cairns saw 59 turning up - just beating out by 1 the then previous record attendance of any OzFest - number #2 in Sydney - 58 attendees.

Adelaide was a little too big, with 75 attendees, but not all of whom were active FT'ers, causing some issues. The slightly less accessible Darwin kept numbers down to previous sorts of levels - 44. Canberra had 51 "Platinums" show up. Perth had a surprisingly large number of Platinums - 59 - an equal record number of attendees - pretty amazing given the cost and distance of attending for most.

The "OzFest" threads here each have attracted between 35,000 and 57,000 page views - pretty outstanding records for any FT Doos anywhere. Each “OzFest” thread has ran to 750 to 1000+ posts.

OzFest Perth 2013 had near 50,000 page views, and 825 posts, so interest stayed high. The Red Centre had even more posts – about 900 of them, and this year’s NZ OzFest #12 has had way over 50,000 page views.

"The Red Centre" attracted a few less ‘Platinums’, as airline access was VERY limited, and costs very high, but the 37 FT'ers that took this reality on board - lots of them Americans - enjoyed the weekend, and were true OzFesters, to get there and back.

OzFest #13 right up in the Bay Of Islands got a very respectable 39 attendees, after several last minute cancellations, and despite the rather remote location chosen for the event.

The Gold Coast will be the reverse, with many carriers flying in to OOL direct, and it is a very short drive from Brisbane - only a hour or so south.

MargoZ and I will certainly be among the first confirmed starters to post, barring any calamities, and as with all the other Oz Fests, I'll be pleased to assist where I can, and if required.

I have attended all Australian OzFests, and certainly hope not to miss Number THIRTEEN.

Regrettably I do not have as much free time as I once did, and can't add very much to the mix, but the NZ based folks have it well in hand already.

Our ad-hoc Committee will be tracking attendees, and hotels, and flights, and activity sign ups etc in these early posts. These are incredibly time consuming to keep updated, and all attendees owe them a huge vote of thanks.

Serfty looks to be the “king of airline movements” for attendees to and from, and his most useful link to that aspect in past OzFests has helped lots of members buddy up for Cabs etc, and book seats together, and cut costs etc, and he has offered to do that again in 2016.

And hopefully we can once again call on the falconea’s to be name tag/table tag supremos, and we are well on our way! :d

Having ONE central hotel location that most folks use, is a VERY large plus I always feel. And it gives the organisers some leverage to extract a great group booking deal, instead of 50 FT’ers being like Brown’s cows, and all doing their own thing.

The Hilton Surfers Paradise seems the universally popular choice as “Hotel Central” as it has an Executive Lounge on the 15th floor, that many will quality to access, or can be guested into etc. I am sure Lindsay will try and negotiate a decent group rate, and advise later of any Hilton code to use, for those wishing to stay Hilton. @:-)

The May "Memorial Day" weekend seems very popular with USA based Flyer-talkers, and that is the weekend that was most favoured by far. We have bowed to that request, and again chosen that weekend - as we have for all other 12 x OzFests. Around half the attendees are US based at each OzFest.

That public holiday in the USA is Monday May 30, 2015. Remember if you LEAVE Australia on afternoon of Monday May 30, you ARRIVE back in the USA also early morning on Monday May 30.

Tons of time no matter where you live in the USA, to get back home, unpack, have an early night, and get organised for a day at the office next day etc.

As around 50% of attendees are American, TODAY actually sees the best $A/$US Exchange rate for SIX years – See for yourself! - http://ow.ly/Q1yj1


So pre-booking internal flights and hotels price in $A right NOW allows Americans to lock in that historic low rate. Any British attendees, the same advice applies – Sterling has strengthened near 10% in recent times. Depends if you are a gambler on it going lower - or not!

The weather for the past 12 "OzFests" has been in general, superb and sunny. Despite June 1 – the next day, being our official Winter start date. Even in Tasmania our most southern city, we were truly blessed with unusually nice weather.

We all thought Canberra and Hobart would be a weather challenge for sure, but the Saturday and Sunday gave quite perfect weather. Even NZ offered pretty amenable weather.

I get the feeling this as usual, may also turn out to be a very long thread.


Gentlemen ... please start your Engines .....................

Glen
.

ozstamps

Glen and Margo for starters!

Oz Fest

Attendees -
In order of post, PM & emails
Please PM Oz Fest any error's & omissions or email:- ozfest at mail.com (NOT gmail)

Count down clock

Platinum - Confirmed

1. QF WP BNE
2. Mrs QF WP BNE
3. QF WP mini # 1 BNE
4. QF WP mini # 2 BNE
5. Bundy Bear BNE
6. serfty MEL
7. Itsalongwaydown SXE
8. Sue Oz SXE
9. PeteJ CBR
10. fifa NSW
11. Mr fifa NSW
12. falconea MEL
13. Mr falconea MEL
14. Mr falconea-ette#2 BNE
15. Mr Falconea-ette#2_+1 BNE
16. CDKing BOS/ORH
17. tom911 SFO
18. JohnSydney2000 SYD
19. Fredd SEA
20. Mrs Fredd SEA
21. RestlessinRNO RNO
22. upup&away ORD
23. chckiwi CHC
24. Upperdeck744 CMH & HNL
25. krazykanuck IAH
26. kpc SYD
27. kpc_gf SYD
28. Jamier45 MME
29. JohnK BNE/SYD
30. DENchick BNE/DEN
31. storyteller BNE
32. ac777 Canada
33. Mrs ac777 Canada
34. JessicaTam MEL
35. pfbloom BOS/BTV
36. perk WLG
37. Ozbeachbabe
38. Ozbeachhunk
39. pethite MEL
40. samh004 OOL
41. samh004_+1 OOL
42. anat0l BNE
43. TEX277 HKG BNE
44. bschaff1

Gold Probable- Maybe
-

Silver - Interested
-

Bronze - can't make it

1. kirkwoodj HNL
2. ozstamps SYD
3. MargoOz SYD
4. efrem
5. spaceman
6. Mrs spaceman
7. gvdIAD IAD
8. g-day SYD
9. wijomas AKL
10. crankychick AKL
11. dedehans MLB
12. dedehans_+1 MLB
13. pethite_+1 MEL
14. tuapekastar MEL
15. lowjhg SIN
16. To Market to Market MEL
17. windycityf ORD
18. penegal MEL
19. corncob HOU/Aust
20. MikeMpls MSP
21. Mrs MikeMpls MSP
22. italdesign IND *** Gold
23. SQ421 CBR *** Gold
24. flospi Switz *** Gold
25. gwilli1 SYD *** Gold
26. SteveSYD SYD *** Gold
27. Danny1501 BNE/MEL *** Plat
28. bluesky BNE *** Plat
29. cathaana FRA/BNE

*** Been unable to contact. No reply to PM's


tom911 Trip report http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...l#post26657640
Jamier45 Trip report http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...own-under.html
Krazykanuck Trip report http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...l#post26709118

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Oz Fest

Activities & Who is doing what:

Registering & Paying for Activities
We have set up a web based reservation system to register and pay for activities --> Oz Fest 13 booking web link
The cost includes the fee Oz Fest pays to the booking service. This is about 3%. There is another fee of $0.30 when the attendee pays.

For who is doing what Google doc link for activities. Click activities tab.

Travel OOL airport to the Hilton ~45 minutes

All Activities
If you are going to all activities, including the Saturday dinner, please only select the first item (Au$151). No need to select any other option.

Friday Evening
18:30 dinner at the Seascape Restaurant, 4 The Esplanade, Surfers Paradise QLD 4217.
More details here in post 437
A short walk from the Hilton. They will do platters of entrees we can share aka the 'social platter' and then each person can choose their main course individually on the night.
Is a set price Au$59.00 for the meal. Please pay via the reservation link. Please pay for your own alcohol at the venue.
Note: We need to confirm numbers on Wednesday morning (25 May). If you register after that time you may or may not be able to attend. It will depend on the venue as to if they will accept more reservations from our group.

Saturday
The day bus trip on Saturday is to Byron Bay. Australia's most easterly point. Starting from the Hilton at 09:00 ~ 09:30 and return about 15:30.
We may need to limit numbers due to bus capacity
Cost for this day trip on the Oz Fest bus is $40.00 Please pay via the reservation link.

Saturday Evening
Oz Fest 13 official dinner 18:30 at the Kurrawa Surf Life Saving Club, Old Burleigh Road, Broadbeach QLD 4218.
Please make you own way to the venue.
From Cavell Ave station (143m from the Hilton) it is 5 stops to the Broadbeach North G Light Rail (tram) stop. This stop is handy to surf club. The translink travel planner indicates 11 minutes and a $3.35 fare on Go card.
From post 302 by kpc. The taxi fare calculator below estimates it will take 10 minutes and cost between $12-$17 to catch a taxi from the Hilton to Kurrawa. If we go 4 pax per taxi, it will be more convenient, quicker and possibly cheaper... http://www.taxifare.com.au/.

Please pay on the night to the venue. Please indicate your attendance on the reservation link, so we advise the venue how many will attend.

Sunday Morning
A tour, by Oz Fest bus, to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary
Where you have the option of having your photo taken with a koala. A great spot for lunch a short walk from CWS, is the Currumbin Vikings Surf Club, which has great views up and down the beach and is very close to Coolangatta Airport (OOL) for those people flying out Sunday afternoon. The Oz Fest bus may be able to do drop off's at the OOL airport, depending on times/schedule.
We may need to limit numbers due to bus capacity.
Cost for this activity including Oz Fest bus & entrance is is $50.00 Please pay via the reservation link.

Sunday Evening
Casual dinner at a local venue for those still in the Gold Coast. Will be organised on the day.

____________

tom911 Trip Report http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...l#post26657640
Jamier45 Trip report http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...own-under.html
Krazykanuck Trip report http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...l#post26709118


_____________

Oz Fest 13 takes place on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia on USA Memorial Day weekend from Friday 27 May 2016 to Sunday 29 May 2016 involving a full program of activities to show off the best of the Gold Coast’s culture, history and food..(yes! the GC has culture!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_East_Queensland

Over time this post will be have more information and links to other threads added.

________________
Update 08 April 2016
Sadly QF WP & Mrs QF WP are now not available to organise Oz Fest 13. See post 116.
The Oz Fest 13 CEO position has now been filled by a new volunteer ^ CEO = Chief Entertainment Officer.

Some local knowledge of the Gold Coast area a big advantage. On the ground experience with restaurants, possible local activities etc a big help. Assistance can be given with event registration web page set up, cost control & pricing of activities.
Able to herd cats & to use a bull whip are highly desirable (Really its not that bad!)

Oz Fest

Hotels
There are many hotels on the Gold Coast to suit all budgets
The Hilton, Surfers Paradise will be the “hotel central”
Google doc link for who is staying at which hotels.

Travel OOL airport to the Hilton ~45 minutes

Hilton, Surfers Paradise 6 Orchid Avenue, Surfers Paradise QLD 4217
QF WP & Mrs QF WP
kpc & kpc_gf
PeteJ
Jamier45
tom911
Fredd & Mrs Fredd
ac777 & Mrs ac777
JessicaTam
itsalongwaydown & Sue Oz
DENchick
restlessinRNO
perk
JohnSydney2000
falconea & Mr falconea
Mr falconea ette#2 & Mr falconea ette#2_+1
upup&away
Perthite
anat0l
krazykanuck
chckiwi

Crowne Plaza 2807 Gold Coast Highway, Surfers Paradise,
Upperdeck744
bschaff1

Jupiters
JohnK

Peninsula (4 blocks south of Hilton)
CD King (booked via AirBNB)

Sheraton
upup&away (30 May)
chckiwi (25 & 26 May)

St Tropez Restort 27-35 Orchid Avenue, Surfers Paradise
pfbloom

Marriott, Surfers Paradise
none

Please PM Oz Fest any error's & omissions or email:- ozfest at mail.com (NOT gmail)

On our weekend there are other big activities going on,
- Magic Millions race horse sales
- some others
These will put pressure on hotel rates, so book early.
Other Gold Coast events (courtesy of Tom911 ) http://www.visitgoldcoast.com/whatso....KX3SdccC.dpuf

This post will be updated from time to time and list where people are staying.

Oz Fest

About the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
(click on the blue links)

Gold Coast (Wikipedia)
VisitGoldCoast by Gold Coast Tourism (a not-for-profit, membership based, destination marketing organisation structured to promote the city as a leisure and business event destination through global consumer, trade, media and travel industry channels.)
City of Gold Coast (government web site)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_East_Queensland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Coast_hinterland

Travel
OOL airport to the Hilton ~45 minutes by road.
OOL to local area transport options
https://prioritytransfers.com.au/ as post 360 by itsalongwaydown ^

Go card
Go card is TransLink's electronic ticket to fast, easy and convenient travel. You can use it to travel on all TransLink bus, train (including Airtrain), ferry and tram services. in South East Queensland
http://translink.com.au/tickets-and-fares/go-card
http://translink.com.au/tickets-and-.../about-go-card
http://translink.com.au/tickets-and-...s-and-tourists

More information to follow (any people with detailed knowledge how this all works?)

Public Transport around the Gold Coast
Gold Coast light rail (tram)
information http://www.goldcoastlightrail.com.au...ht-rail-route/
google map https://www.google.com/maps/search/g...2.29z?hl=en-GB
Broadbeach station http://ridetheg.com.au/stations/broadbeach-north/
pdf link http://www.translink.com.au/sites/de...etwork-map.pdf

Getting to OOL
a) By Air
There are direct daily flights from many Australian and New Zealand airports and Japan
BNE airport is not far away from the Gold Coast. 59 miles ~ 100KM
Distance from OOL
OOL Gold Coast airport web site
BNE Brisbane airport web site
SYD Sydney airport web site

b) By Rail
There is a frequent rail service from Brisbane airport to/from Brisbane city and to/from the Gold Coast
http://www.goldcoastinfo.net/transpo...he-gold-coast/
Airport http://www.airtrain.com.au/
Brisbane to Gold Coast http://jp.translink.com.au/travel-in...old-coast-line

And more good information in post 192, post 193, post 194, post 195 and post 196 (for cheapskates)

post 209 for a stey by step guide

c) By Road
By road from the east coast. It is a long drive from the West or top end.
A short drive from Brisbane city by freeway. (59 miles ~ 100 km)

Other Gold Coast events (courtesy of Tom911 )
http://www.visitgoldcoast.com/whatso....KX3SdccC.dpuf

Other
The correct map of the world, with Australia where it really is (at the top)
Australia compared to the USA
Australia vs USA map
Australia vs Europe map

Oz Fest

Flights

Flight & airline information in the Google doc link Click on the flights tab.


Travel OOL airport to the Hilton ~45 minutes by road.

OOL airport to the local area transport options


Please PM Oz Fest or post your flight/driving/train information. Or email:- ozfest at mail.com (NOT gmail)
From that we make an assessment of how many will be activities. This helps planning

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Oz Fest

History Of Oz Fests click here for the map.SYD-BNE-MEL-HBA-CNS-ADL-DRW-CBR-PER-ASP-AYQ-KKE-OOL

Oz Fest 01: 2004 22 attended in Sydney [how it all started The very first]
Oz Fest 02: 2005 58 attended in Sydney
Oz Fest 03: 2006 28 attended in Brisbane
Oz Fest 04: 2007 47 attended in Melbourne
Oz Fest 05: 2008 38 attended in Hobart
Oz Fest 06: 2009 59 attended in Cairns
Oz Fest 07: 2010 71 attended in Adelaide
Oz Fest 08: 2011 44 attended in Darwin
Oz Fest 09: 2012 51 attended in Canberra
Oz Fest 10: 2013 59 attended in Perth
Oz Fest 11: 2014 37 attended in Alice Springs-Ayers Rock
Oz Fest 12: 2015 41 attended in Bay of Islands, New Zealand
Oz Fest 13: 2016 44 attended in Gold Coast

215 individual FTer's have attended Oz Fest 1 to Oz Fest 12 inclusive at an average of 2.53 per person

Up to and including Oz Fest 12
12 :-::-::-::-::-::-::-::-::-::-::-::-: FTer for attending all 12 previous Oz Fests
no one

11:-: FTer for attending 11 previous Oz Fests
ozstamps
restlessinRNO
QF WP
Serfty

10 :-: FTer's for attending 10 previous Oz Fests
Itsalongwaydown
Sue Oz
kpc
JohnSydney2000

9 :-: FTer's for attending 9 previous Oz Fests
To Market to Market
Fredd
Mrs Fredd
spaceman
gvdIAD
JohnK
MargoOz

8 :-: FTer's for attending 8 previous Oz Fests
Mrs QF WP
upup&away
Bundy Bear

7 :-: FTer's for attending 7 previous Oz Fests
chchkiwi
monitor
Franny
falconea
Mr falconea
jswong
Perthite

6 :-: FTer's for attending 6 previous Oz Fests
kpc_gf
fifa
pooch
tom911
BiziBB

Bundy Bear

I will be there, I might have suggested it in the first place a few months back.
I might have found a place for dinner on the Saturday night.

Itsalongwaydown

Up and running. Let's make this one great. ^ (aren't they all?)

ozflygirl747

I'm updating the photos in this post as it won't let me add them into post # 4.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Flyertalk-Ozfest-Red-Center-23/i-ZBBdWL9/0/M/20160418_154309-M.jpg

Above pic is of Currumbin Vikings Surf Life Saving Club - our Sunday lunch venue after the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. As our part entry to CWS is all day some of you may wish to go back after lunch if you're still in need of a pm animal fix.

QF WP

Saved for possible future use

QF WP

As mentioned already, Mrs QF WP and I will both be there - but no flights for this event as it's only 100kms down the road

PeteJ

Looking forward to attending. Please add me to the Platinum list.

ozstamps

No flights?

What's wrong with BNE-SYD-OOL ... think of the Status Credits.

A mileage run with a PURPOSE!