Oz Fest

There have been 13 successful Oz Fests 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, New Zealand in 2015 and the Gold Coast in 2016

Democracy rules supreme with all Oz Fest’s, and after several group emails with Ozstamps, Itsalongwaydown, Oz Beachbabe, serfty, JessicaTam, Mwenenzi and with good input from some locals, Newcastle, New South Wales has been chosen.

The location of which, for the benefit of our overseas members is shown in the map linked– about 2 hours or so north of Sydney by road or train. The airport NTL is served by several airlines from SYD, MEL, OOL, BNE and regional NSW.



The May USA 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 13 x Oz Fests. Around half the attendees are US based at each Oz Fest.

That public holiday in the USA is Monday May 29, 2017. Remember if you LEAVE Australia on afternoon of Monday May 29, you ARRIVE back in the USA also early morning on Monday May 29.

Oz Fest 05 Hobart (2008) had 40 members signed up - pretty amazing seeing only one attending was a local, Cairns (2009) saw 59 turning up - just beating out by 1 the then previous record attendance of any Oz Fest 02 (2005) in Sydney - 58 attendees. Adelaide (2010) 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 (2011) kept numbers down to previous sorts of levels - 44. Canberra (2012) had 51 Platinums show up. Perth (2013) 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. Oz Fest in the The Red Centre (2014) 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 Oz Festers, to get there and back. Oz Fest 12 (2015) right up in the Bay Of Islands of New Zealand got a very respectable 41 attendees, after several last minute cancellations, and despite the rather remote location chosen for the event. Oz Fest 13 Gold Coast (2016) had 44 attendees. With airlines flying in to OOL direct from main Au airports and it was a very short drive/train from Brisbane - only a hour or so south.

The Oz Fest threads here each have attracted between 35,000 and 57,000 page views - pretty outstanding records for any FT Do’s anywhere. Each Oz Fest thread has ran to 500+ posts. Oz Fest 10 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, Oz Fest 12 in 2015 in NZ had way over 50,000 page views.

A common access account for the ad-hoc organising committee titled “Oz Fest (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.

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

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.

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

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 13 Oz Fests has been in general, superb and sunny. Despite June 1st , 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 amenable weather.

As usual, may also turn out to be a very long thread.

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Oz Fest

Attendees -

Oz Fest 14 takes place in Newcastle, NSW, Australia on USA Memorial Day weekend from Friday 26 May 2017 to Sunday 28 May 2017

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

Count Down Clock

Platinum - Confirmed (in order of confirming will attend including PM & emails)

1. Itsalongwaydown SXE
2. Sue Oz SXE
3. JessicaTam MEL
4. Fredd SEA
5. Mrs Fredd SEA
6. JohnSydney2000 SYD
7. doug_wescott MEL
8. fifa NSW
9. Mr fifa NSW
10. kpc SYD
11. kpc_gf SYD
12. restlessinRNO RNO
13. ac777 Canada
14. BOB W ANC
15. chchkiwi CHC
16. JohnK BNE / SYD
17. Mrs JohnK BNE / SYD
18. Bindibuys NTL
19. Bindibuys_+1 NTL
20. rxgeek CMH
21. rxgeek_+1 CMH
22. storyteller BNE
23. spaceman IAD
24. Austin787 AUS
25. perk WLG
26. upup&away ORD
27. jswong WLG
28. serfty MEL
29. GrjApp USA
30. smitty06 ORD
31. bdnyc NYC
32. tom911 SFO
33. Viridianne BNE
34. QF WP BNE
35. Mrs QF WP BNE
36. monitor NYC
37. Frantic NYC
38. Efrem BOS
39. everywhere SYD
40. Princess fiona NTL
41. Shrek NTL
42. Bundy Bear BNE

Gold Probable- Maybe
Silver - Interested

Bronze - can't make it

1. marbe166 CGN
2. tom911's_friend #1 SFO
3. tom911's_friend #2 SFO
4. pooch SYD
5. drron BNE
6. Mrs drron BNE
7. falconea MEL
8. Mr falconea MEL
9. CDKing BOS / ORH
10. anat0l BNE
11. tuapekastar MEL
12. nichojo SYD
13. Perthite MEL
14. Perthite_+1 MEL
15. gvdIAD IAD
16. ozstamps SYD
17. MargoOz SYD
18. penegal MEL (see note below) tarnished Cu again
19. Awesom Andy SYD
20. Awesom Andy_+1 SYD
21. bluesky BNE
22. boxo MRY
23. ozbeachbabe BNE
24. ozbeachhunk BNE

___
Note
penegal’s real status for all FT & AFF do’s:- Copper - I won't know until the last minute as work may get in the way or I may have to fly to SIN or somewhere else for one reason or another or I just can't make up my mind.
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Oz Fest

Activities & Who is doing what:

Register and pay for activities here:- On line site to book activities
Link to Who is attending events

Note:
"Main events" $115 Friday night dinner, Saturday all day Hunter Valley wine tour by bus, Saturday Oz Fest dinner & Sunday RAAF Fighter World museum tour, including bus from Crowne Plaza. Excludes Sunday evening causal dinner.
Please do not pay for individual events if using the "Main events" selection.

If you want to go to all events please pay/register for "Main events" and the "Sunday dinner". Many people travel on Sunday afternoon, so is additional. Sunday dinner usually has a 35%-50% attendance at best.

Or select the events you want to attend.

Please register for events which do not have a pre payment. It does help with planning and advising venues of attendance. As below, Saturday night has a finite number of seats available for the Oz Fest group.

The Oz Fest team has based costs on people attending activities based on known flights and the history of similar activites attended at previous Oz Fests. Due to commitments the Oz Fest team has made/will make to suppliers/vendors no refunds are possible, unless another person takes your place. The cost includes the fees (~2.75%) Oz Fest pay to the trybooking web site. There is a small additional fee paid by you when you book.

Friday 26th May.

Pre dinner drinks for those interested at xxxx.

Casual dinner to be held at The Landing Bar & Kitchen . Start time 1930
There is no reserved seating for this dinner and it is pay as you go.
Address:- 1 Honeysuckle Drive, Newcastle NSW 2300. Can easily walk the 210m (3 minutes) from the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Saturday 27th May.
Day trip to Hunter Valley
Bus pickup from Crowne Plaza area (other locations if necessary) for a day trip to the Hunter Valley wineries.
This is a prepaid event with a cost of $90pp. Price includes transport, lunch and winery entrance/tasting costs.

Wine trip details are now available in post No 223.

Saturday Evening
Pre dinner drinks for those interested at the Battlesticks Bar associated with Scratchleys Sea Food Restaurant.
Address:- 200 Wharf Road, Newcastle NSW Australia. A 500m (7 minute) walk from the Crowne Plaza (both on Wharf Rd).

Dinner at 2015 Scratchley’s Sea Food Restaurant. Confirming for this is necessary but no pre-payment is needed. Pay at the venue. We have a finite number of seats and most probably cannot get extras. Order off the main and dessert menus.

*** This restaurant is, I am told, by far the best around BUT it has limited Vegetarian options on the main menu. If this is a problem to you then please advise and we’ll get something sorted out.


Sunday 28th May.
Free time to recover from Saturday night and/or Newcastle city farmers markets ( people can do their own thing) or Blue Door Cafe (no split bills) near the Crowne Plaza.

Afternoon
At (time to be advised) there will be a bus pickup to head out to RAAF Fighter World.
The bus requires prepayment of $25pp and admission is pay as you go at $12-$15pp.
This is adjacent to RAAF Base Williamtown at Newcastle Airport, on the opposite side to the civil airport (NTL).
There is a cafe at Fighter World for those who may need a snack or drink.
We plan to have two ex RAAF fighter/test pilots as tour guides. (They were Qantas Captains later in life) Time at Fighter World will be 2–2.5 hrs as needed then back into Newcastle for a rest/relax before the farewell (casual) dinner.

**** Subject to people's departure times it is planned to depart Fighter World and head back to Newcastle via the Domestic Terminal.****

Sunday Evening
Pre dinner drinks as and when required individually.

Casual dinner to be held at the Honeysuckle Hotel. Start time 1930
There is no reserved seating for this dinner and it is pay as you go.
Address: Honeysuckle Drive, Newcastle NSW 2300. Not far from the Crown Plaza (450m - 6 minutes)

Edit
Tom911's Oz Fest 14 photos

Oz Fest

About the Newcastle, NSW, Australia (click on the blue links)

General
Newcastle is New South Wales' second-most populous city (behind Sydney). With a population of about 540,000 residents, Newcastle maintains a small-town character while offering a variety of big-city amenities. The town's growing arts scene, blue-collar roots and laid-back attitude make it a charming alternative to Sydney if you're travelling to NSW.

Newcastle accommodation gives you a base point for exploring the region. The city is surrounded by water, making it a great summertime destination for wannabe beach-goers. Walk along Darby Street, Cooks Hill or Newcastle East to enjoy funky cafes, browse local boutiques and whet your appetite for window shopping. Whatever you choose to do, it will become apparent that Newcastle offers just as many exciting things to see and do as its bigger-city counterparts.

Things to do in Newcastle
Much of Newcastle's claim to fame lies in its beautiful coastline. The city is home to eight beaches, with Newcastle, Nobbys, Merewether and Bar beaches being the most popular. Fishing and surfing, in particular, are great activities to enjoy on the beaches of Newcastle. Whether you're looking to cast a line or catch a wave, you'll find plenty of companies offering equipment for hire.

Pull up a seat along the harbour to enjoy views of the fishing boats, ships, ferries, yachts and kayaks that grace its waters. Newcastle is a hub of activity, and you won't want to miss the exciting sight of large freight ships pulling into the harbour.

Newcastle also offers a variety of cultural attractions you should definitely check out. Fort Scratchley was built during the Crimean War to offer protection, and saw action in World War II in fights against Japanese war ships.

Christ Church Cathedral is another must-see. Towering above the city, the iconic place of worship is slightly minimal in design, but its position atop Newcastle and its gorgeous stained-glass windows make it worth a visit.

If you're a nature lover, head to the Hunter Wetlands Centre. Home to more than 200 different species of birds and animals, the area is a unique opportunity to explore the region's wilder side. Hire a canoe for an up-close look at the wetlands.

Weather in Newcastle
Newcastle enjoys good weather on a year-round basis. Its location is conducive to warm winters and hot summers, with temperatures peaking at around 30°C/86°F at the height of the warm season (January). In the winter months, the temps dip to a mild daytime high of about 17°C/62°F.
(above is an extract from http://www.visitnsw.com/destinations...area/Newcastle)

Links
Newcastle Wikipedia
Visit Newcastle
Visit Newcastle maps & guides
Visit NSW Newcastle
Newcastle LonelyPlanet
Local Newcastle attractions
FighterworldPublic Transport in and around Newcastle
Newcastle Buses & Ferries
more information later

Airport to the City (Crown Plaza)
Bus
From http://www.newcastleairport.com.au/transport/bus
http://www.pscoaches.com.au/Timetables
http://www.pscoaches.com.au/SiteFile.../Route_Map.pdf Download bus route map
Bus route 130 131 Goes from Airport down Hunter St (about 40 minutes). Make sure you are going to the city:not the other way away from the city/airport
Merewether cross's Hunter. Crown Plaza is on Merewether & Wharf (a few minutes walk)

Taxi
From https://www.taxifare.com.au/
From Newcastle Airport, Williamtown, New South Wales to Crowne Plaza Newcastle, Wharf Road, Newcastle, NSW
$60 - $85 26km - 28 minutes

Down load this. Has a map of the city (zoom in)
http://www.visitnewcastle.com.au/ima...lemapguide.pdf

Getting to Newcastle NTL
a) By Air
Newcastle NTL airport web site
Airlines to/from NTL Flights to/from SYD, BNE, OOL, MEL and some regional NSW airports
JQ from MEL OOL
VA from BNE MEL
QF from BNE
ZL from SYD Taree
FP from Canberra, Sydney, Ballina/Byron Bay, Dubbo & Coffs Harbour

Edit. NTL SYD by air as this TR http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...l#post28209661

b) By Rail
From Sydney Central to Broadmeadows, then by connecting bus
Sydney trains tickets
Sydney Opal public transport tickets (Would like more info from a SYD or NTL local)
NSW rail select fare Add Central Station & Newcastle Station, Scott St, Newcastle. About 2:50hr with Opal fare $9.80 (fare can vary)
Central Coast & Newcastle Line timetable
Download Central Coast & Newcastle Line timetable
Download intercity map
Transport NSW info & planning

From Sydney Airport to Broadmeadows, Newcastle then by connecting bus
Directions to Broadmeadow from Sydney Airport $23.40


From post 128 courtesy of Bundy Bear
==
You can pick up the Opal card at the airport train station, tell them where you are going and they will suggest an amount to add to the card.
Double that if you will use the train to train back to Sydney and then some more $ for local Newcastle & Sydney public transport if needed.
Please note you can only buy an Opal card using Mastercard or visa unless you visit a 7 Eleven or Woolworths grocery shop where American Express is accepted.

$19.61 from Airport International to Newcastle.

Train from airport into Central and then change to the long distance trains.
Usually the suburban trains come into the higher number platforms and the intercity (Newcastle depart from the lower number platforms.

http://www.sydneytrains.info/ For timetable information, Central Coast and Newcastle Line.
Trains to Newcastle from Central run every 30 minutes; example 12:15 and 12:45pm.
Journey for the 12:15pm arrives at 2:51pm so almost 2:45 hours.

Please note the train only goes to Hamilton. The 3 stations Wickham, Civic and Newcastle were closed in December 2014. Wickham will be reopened at the end of 2017 where it will become a major interchange for buses and light rail.
===

c) By Road
Sydney to Newcastle google map 168 km/104 miles taking about 2:15hr, depending on traffic. As some Sydney locals will be driving to Newcastle, they may be able to give a lift to some.

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

Hotels
There are many hotels to suit all budgets
There are no Hilton, SPG Starwood or Marriott chain property's in Newcastle
Link to Accor hotels in Newcastle area. In Australia the Accor chain has the most rooms
Link to Choice hotels in Newcastle area

Here is an (Excel spreadsheet). Click hotel tab Google doc link

Crown Plaza (IHG) [web site]
Merewether St & Wharf Rd, Newcastle NSW 2300
(hotel central)
- ac777
- doug_wescott
- monitor & Frantic
- tom911
- restlessinRNO
- spaceman
- Austin787
- GrjApp
- JessicaTam
- Fredd & Mrs Fredd
- rxgeek & rxgeek_+1
- Itsalongwaydown & SueOz
- kpc & kpc_gf
- bdnyc
- QF WP & Mrs QF WP
- fifa & Mr fifa
- JohnSydney2000

Mercure Charlestown web site
109 Madison Drive, 2290
- JohnK & JohnK_+1

Local ~home
Bindibuys & Bindibuys_+1
Princess fiona & Shrek


Novotel Newcastle Beach (Accor) [web site]
5 King Street Newcastle NSW

ibis Newcastle (Accor)(web site)
700 Hunter Street Newcastle

Noah's On the Beach (Choice Quality Hotel) [web site] & [2nd web site]
Cnr Shortland Esplanade and Zaara Street , 2300 Newcastle

Travelodge [web site]
12 Steel St, Newcastle NSW 2302

Newcastle Central Apartment Hotel [web site]
741 Hunter Street, Newcastle West NSW 2302
Offer 1, 2 and 3 bedroom spacious apartments

___
Wotif(Expedia) for Friday 26 May to 29 May

Oz Fest

Flights
Flights are listed in an online google doc link (excel spreadsheet). Click the flights tab at the bottom.
Google doc link

Oz Fest

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

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
Oz Fest 14: 2017 42 attended in Newcastle

224 individual FTer's have attended Oz Fest 1 to Oz Fest 13 inclusive at an average of 2.64 per person
As up to and including Oz Fest 13
13 :-::-::-::-::-::-::-::-::-: FTer for attending all 13 previous Oz Fests
no one

12 :-: FTer for attending 12 previous Oz Fests
QF WP
restlessinRNO
Serfty

11:-: FTer for attending 11 previous Oz Fests
Itsalongwaydown
JohnSydney2000
kpc
ozstamps
Sue Oz

10 :-: FTer's for attending 10 previous Oz Fests
Fredd
JohnK
Mrs Fredd

9 :-: FTer's for attending 9 previous Oz Fests
Mrs QF WP
Bundy Bear
gvdIAD
MargoOz
spaceman
To Market to Market
upup&away

8 :-: FTer's for attending 8 previous Oz Fests
chchkiwi
falconea
Mr falconea
Perthite

7 :-: FTer's for attending 7 previous Oz Fests
fifa
Frantic (Franny)
jswong
kpc_gf
monitor
tom911

6 :-: FTer's for attending 6 previous Oz Fests
BiziBB
Mr fifa
ozbeachbabe
pooch

Oz Fest

post 8 spare for later
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ozstamps

Sorry for the time taken with this folks, but quite a lot of emails, and a lot of ideas to toss around.

See you there.

We all owe a huge vote of thanks to Mwenenzi for the great background work above, re Hotels and attractions etc, and more important, tracking superbly who is doing what. Still have no idea how he does it so well. ^

Glen

ozstamps
MargOz
.

JessicaTam

Count me in!

Efrem

Thanks for all your work in getting this set up!

I'd like to say Platinum, but let's leave it at Gold until I have plane tickets. (A round trip on VA will get me to 1MM on Delta.) This will be #6 for me, so next year I might be on the Frequent Attendee list, too.

See you all in May, mates!

Fredd

Thanks to the planners! ^ Please record Mrs. Fredd and me as Platinum.

krazykanuck

Well in that case, I won't be making a return appearance

Actually I've already expended my vacation time to other events and the near complete lack of J/F saver seats is the nail in the coffin. Maybe 2018, especially if the Aussie gateway is posted early enough to snag good seats at T-11 months.

JohnSydney2000

May I reply Platinum please.
Happy Travels. John.

doug_westcott

Put me down as Platinum please