paperwastage

well, i survived my trip

had delays/IRROPS both outbound to SYD and inbound to USA....

somehow managed to get on VA2 (LAX->SYD) instead of DL41 (both are same timing, 11pm->6am T+2 redeye), took DL40 back to LAX. snacks on VA were better, meals were a tossup

will probably do a full trip report sometime later... still recovering from my inbound trip (took about 30 hours from wakeup->SYD->LAX->...->NYC->home)

paperwastage

there's a mt wellington descent cycling tour available.... bus up, cycle down (did that)

was cloudy/foggy covering mountain pretty much all 3 days I was there, wasn't that much of view from top

why not drive to launceston (instead of driving back to hobart)? new city, there are flights to sydney



sydney was cold when I first got there (late June), but warmed up a little when I left (early July), was able to try surfing (wasn't good at it)


got that $680 trip as well... high five!

angra

Greetings - I just did a similar trip on the $680 special, and I wanted to add a firsthand agreement to the suggestion of putting off katoomba until later in the trip. Katoomba doesn't _have_ to involve tons of fairly intense walking, but from what I can gather of your interests, you'll want to do a physical visit.

For me, first day off the plane was pretty brutal, and if I'd tried to go to Katoomba, I'd have regretted it for sure.

My first day, I checked in to my apartment, took a short (1.5 hour) nap and then wandered around the CQ and Botanic Gardens area.

mandolino

Any beach town is great for what you have in mind - except for the school holidays and certain long weekends (festivals etc) when they get mobbed. Nothing like that coming up during your stay though.

Assuming you take the advice above and fly between Melbourne and Sydney, your choices on a 2-hr drive radius out from Melbourne are Bellarine Peninsula and Great Ocean Road (west) or Mornington Peninsula (east).

Lorne is probably the pick of them all, though you'll find more of a laid-back vibe further along in Apollo Bay. The drive between Lorne and AB is also the best drive of the GOR IMO. (I'm from that area and visit whenever I'm back in Australia). There are several nice towns between Queenscliff and Lorne if you don't want to drive that far. the iconic rock stacks known as the Apostles are further along again.

Mornington Peninsula is lovely too. It's hard to say exactly where the suburbs end and the resorts begin . Many farms and wineries etc along the central ridge of the MP. Bayside beaches are mostly developed, with some wild beaches and parks on the ocean side.

MP

GOR

Hema0911

Thank you. This thread is really informative. Id like to ask about tips to visit Snowy Mountain. I'll be in Sydney by July 21.
Its my first time travelling to Sydney and any tips for this winter month is appreciated. I'll be in Sydney for 10days
Thank you!

bensyd

What do you want to know? It's a six or so hour drive down to the snow. They call them mountains, but they are more like big hills. Very pretty in the summer though. Accomodation is expensive, as are lift passes.

Exec_Plat

As a ski nut, during a business trip to SYD, a mate and I drove down for a day of skiing. Other than the novelty of snow in australia, it was unimpressive. Agree w bensyd above- just hills, not dramatic mountains. But hey, DID ski in Oz!

Spent an afternoon and evening in canberra on on the way.

bensyd

Until the late 70's or early 80's you could actually drive your car right to the top of Kosciuszko, which kind of tells you what sort of "mountains" you're dealing with.

That being said, in summer it really is beautiful up there. There are plenty of paths on the main range, plenty of wild flowers and very few people. It's a great place to do a bit of hiking.

g8trgr8t

Been traveling and came back to check this thread. Thanks to all for the advice. I do have over 120k SPG points and even more Marriott. Perhaps I was too early on the Marriott search so will try again. I also found that my Virgin Atlantic miles can be redeemed Kaligo.com.

Once I get flights booked I will revisit to find best value. Have 1.2M AA miles but trying to get 5 to and from MIA to SYD in first or business is proving to be difficult at best. I see QF award flights on Expert flyer that AA apparently doesn't see. Willing to split group into 3 and 2 and use any or all of the 400k in united miles I have also. All suggestions / information on getting business/first saver awards is very much appreciated.

JClasstraveller

If you're not booking 353 days out (which is when QF opens up for its members), F and J awards Aus-US are tremendously difficult and often arise due to cancellations and QF's "generosity" at putting them back into the redemption buckets.

There are 3 main OW options now being LAX, DFW and SFO. HNL is also a possibility.

Leaving Australia at the end of June is a very bad time as that's when school holidays start and many Australians go overseas.

Going through BNE may help. You might also need to look at going through Japan or Hong Kong on JL or CX or more weirdly on LA through SCL.

Guvner067

I always thought Sydney was a beach town outside of Melbourne.

g8trgr8t

Thank you. Seriously considering employing a booking agent at this point. Frustrating that over 1M miles can't get us there even in J trying to book 330 days out.

CPMaverick

Any of the US majors have hotels in the major cities in Australia. As mentioned Accor is probably the most popular major non-US chain in Australia.

Outside the major cities, the main 'chain' options would be independents aligned with Best Western or Choice hotels.

number_6

From MIA you could get much better award availability going via Europe ... cost more miles and a longer trip, but some stopover possibilities and 100x better award availability. For example fly IB MIA-MAD and then on to SIN/BKK/KUL with easy availability to Oz. Lots of routing options and about 7 Oneworld airlines with flights (vs. 2 LAX-SYD or 4 trans-pacific). Consider flying QR and AY for example.

g8trgr8t

thoughts on JFK to Tokyo to SYD?