mishkira

Hi to everyone on this forum,

We will be travelling to Australia (on BA metal as we need to use BA miles - apologies ) for 3-4 weeks around Xmas 2005 (that is Dec'05-Jan'06).
Dueto very limited flight availability (for miles) we will have to book the flights almost 12 months is advance i.e in January 2005 - obviously we will have enough time to read Lonely Planet and other sources about what to do and where to go... But I surely rely on FT community views of course.

Below you might see some very boring and traditional questions but may I ask your views/suggestions:

In/Out route - Melbourne or Sydney? Any principal difference/warnings?

Around the country - how to travel to minimise cost and maximise miles ? . Any special "passes" on QF? I am BAEC member - do I need to get on QF FF programme to get to extra benefits?

Theme - generally backpacking with once week splash on a nice hotel. We want to see Sydney (for NY), Perth (friends), Outback/Ayers Rock, nice beaches & snorkelling (no sharks please) - the rest is we are open for any suggestions ...

As we will be travelling between end Dec and end Jan - is there any difference to take north-south or sount-north direction on the east coast to avoid any weather extrems (although hot weather is fine with us)?

I will be checking this thread quite regularly next months (also to lift it up to the "visible" part of the forum - can we make it sticky? ) so hope your recomendations will be useful to everyone planning their 1st trip down under

Thanks for your help, cheers and a Merry Xmas to everyone!

thadocta

Welcome to the QF board - but perhaps you might be better off wandering over to the Australia & NZ forum over on FT Travel and asking the same questions there. Most of us Qantas people pop in there from time to time, but you also get a lot of non-Qantas people also in there, and they may possibl;e be able to answer your questions a lot better.

Dave

number_6

You can book on QF using BAEC miles; it is just a different type of award, and maybe BA won't be the first to suggest that you fly QF instead of BA! You can also book fairly elaborate routings with multiple stopovers in Australia using your BA miles; for example you could travel LHR-SIN-MEL-PER-AYQ-BNE-SYD-BKK-LHR as an example (this may or may not cost more BAEC miles, it all depends on the type of award you redeem, so check the BAEC rules). Lots of research to do if you want to maximize your BAEC benefits! You can read the rules on the britishairways.com web site if you haven't already. My recommended trip for you would be LHR-SIN-PER-AYQ-SYD-MEL-LHR as the airline award. You could then build on those stopovers.

og

And, if you run out of award options, don't forget that QF are currently running some quite attractive specials (but not through to the time you want to be here). The specials crop up from time to time - usually targetting slack times. At least you'll get an idea of the types of prices.

Basically, summer in north Oz will be hot and tropical. Summer in the south can be just as hot (if not hotter) but less humidity (especially MEL and ADL). SYD is just perfect all the time (but I live there so I know...).

Most of Oz will be on the move / holidays from late December to end January (coincides with summer school holidays). Expect the worst if trying for cheap accommodation in popular beach areas.

If you intend to do a lot of driving, get familiar with the distances. Isolated remote inland driving on dirt roads is not recommended in summer unless you know exactly what you are doing and have made adequate preparations.

Sounds like a great trip and you'll have fun doing the research.

NM

Keep in mind that December/January is the peak of summer, and it will be HOT. Perth and Melbourne tend to be high temperatures but a dry heat. Sydney will be slightly lower temp but more humid. Go further north and surprisingly the temp is often lower, but the humidity is even higher. In Brisbane we often refer to a day as 90/90, meaning 90 degrees and 90% humidity.

Another thing to keep in mind is beaches and snorkeling at that time of the year. The further north you go the more problems there are with singers and box jellyfish etc in summer.

For the best beaches in the world (other places may be as good, but nothing better in my opinion), head to Queensland. The Gold Coast will be busy with tourists and holiday makers as it is our school summer vacation time. The Sunshine Coast (60-90 mins drive north from BNE) is less crowded and the beaches excellent. And these beaches all have shark nets and there has not been a shark attack on a Qld netted beach since the nets were installed (must be 30 years ago now). But please remember to only swim at a patrolled beach and swim between the flags. The only places people get into trouble are when they are not swimming between the flags.

I am not a diver or big into snorkeling, so can't make too many suggestion in that space. But do your research specifically for good places at that time of the year. What is a great place in August/September may be a no-go-zone due to stingers in mid summer.

Some other suggestions:

When in Melbourne, take a day or two to drive along Great Ocean Road. Its worth the trip.

A trip to Sovereign Hill (about 90 mins drive from Melbourne) is also a great day out.

Craigo

I know that you Queenslanders are a bit behind the times, but this is ridiculous. We've been using Celsius for temperature since 1972!!! I suppose you also talk about rainfall in points and inches too - that's been obsolete since 1974!

I was in primary school at the time of the metric changeover, so I learned Imperial measurements in 3rd class and metric in 4th class. The only Imperial measurement I can relate to now is my height in feet and inches (6'1") but I prefer the metric 184cm. All the other Imperial measurements are gobbledegook to me. (Oh, I'd better be careful, that American who doesn't know the meaning of words might have a hissy fit and think that I eat Vietnamese ).

og

"And these beaches all have shark nets and there has not been a shark attack on a Qld netted beach since the nets were installed (must be 30 years ago now)".

Sadly, many many sharks and other species are snagged in the nets and needlessly die each year. I'm all for keeping sharks away from humans on / near beaches, but not for needless loss of endangered species through poorly designed nets.

honu

Totally agree, og. Also, some nets create rather poor snorkelling conditions because only tiny critters can go through.

Snorkelling in Oz is just awesome, even in places that aren't worldwide famous for it. There are so many different sharks, and the majority of them have much more to fear from us than us from them. If you snorkel not too far from shore, in waters that have good visibility and during daylight hours, chances of shark attacks are greatly reduced (and they're pretty small to start with). This is as true in Oz as in Hawai'i, Florida, Mexico, etc. Also, and I don't know how statistically accurate this is, it seems to me that you're more at risk if you're surfing or swimming than if you're snorkelling or diving (perhaps this is just wishful thinking).

So, anway, the GBR is, of course, awesome, but in Dec.-Jan. there is a chance of rain, which could reduce the visibility. Also, it's always at least 1.5 hrs fast boat ride out of CNS (or Port Douglas), more if you're further south, so you probably wouldn't be able to do that too many times (possible cost and time constraints). Northern QLD is not that great for snorkelling just off the shore, and at this time of the year you might have to stay on the beach anyway because of the stingers invasion (Nov.-Apr.).

Farther south, the stingers cease to be a problem. If you're around Sydney, there are lots of beautiful beaches (with and without nets) where one could be snorkelling right off the beach. The water is warmer in Jan. than in Dec., but don't expect tropical temperatures: around Sydney and the South Coast 19 C to 24 C is more like it. I'm a wimp, so for me that's wetsuit temperature. One very nice area south of Sydney is Jervis Bay, great not just for snorkelling, but also for walking, bird-watching, etc.

Actually, pretty much all along the NSW coast there are good snorkelling spots. The best strategy is to check with locals as you travel. They'll be able to tell you which beaches are best for snorkelling and which for surfing, which ones have strong currents and which are more protected, if a bull shark has been sighted recently, etc.

I'm sure you'll enjoy your visit!

ThePope

As for Hotels, check out sites like wotif.com.au, lastminute.com.au & readyrooms.com.au now to see what cheap hotels might be like for this time next year.
4/5 star business hotels can be very cheap at this time of year (not many business travellers), but might not be in the most exciting locations.

NM

Well, 30/90 does not sound as good, and when talking to UK and USA folks, they seem to understand the old scale for temperature.

But I most certainly have found that Americans struggle to properly understand some metric measures - especially time, but that is another topic altogether .

mishkira

Many thanks to everyone for initial input!

It seems discussion about metric and non-metric measures can crip into every tread

What about Xmas and New Year celebration? Best place(s) to be? Best things to see? Worst tourist traps to avoid?

Thanks folks!