The on–off-on-off trip to Australia is on again. After our initial plans were killed by the wildfires and the stock show canceled we decided not to go. In yesterdays email Qantas had such a deal $459. + tax that we couldn’t refuse to quote the Godfather, so we booked. The dates were fixed by airline must have some empty planes. Now a couple of questions. We are now going for 15 days in late September. Not perhaps the best weather wise, we will be limiting our time to Sydney, area between it and Melbourne and Tasmania. We have been asked by ouor former hosts to visit some farms and most are in around the area west of Sydney and on down towards Melbourne. I need recommendations for: Accommodations 3* or other midrange places, hopefully self catering in Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart. At this point we are scrambling to get organized. Tentative plan is 2-3 days in Sydney proper, pick up the rental car and head west then south making our stops, 2 days in Melbourne fly to Tasmania then 4-5 days in Tasmania. Open to any and all suggestions, thanks in advance. jh
Oh Joanne, I'm so jealous. I saw that special yesterday and almost went for it. Congratulations for snagging the fare. I was seeing ~850 RT with taxes Seattle - Sydney in September. Yowza! That is great fare. Last time we went we paid ~$1050 in September and thought we were getting a bargain.
Fortunately, September is still the low season so you shouldn't have any problems finding accommodations and probably at a good rate. We didn't start planning our trip until June/July. Give Wotif a look although it is too soon to use it for booking but you can probably find some sites to directly check.
For mobiles - here are the big providers in Australia; Optus - www.optus.com.au Telstra - www.telstra.com.au and Vodafone - www.vodafone.com.au. We didn't get a mobile but I remember checking into it. I saw Vodafone is at the airport but I don't know if they sell SIMs there.
Hi Joanne, September is the beginning of our spring and the weather is usually pleasant during the day and cold at night. Tasmania will be cold both day and night.
This is the website that we use when booking accommodation for more than one night. They have self catering, which is what we also prefer.
Not sure about your sim card requirements as the provider I'm with is Telstra and we use roaming when overseas. I do know that all the providers have pre-paid mobile phone cards with some of their deals, so maybe you can also do this with your own phone and save money.
Elly
Posts: 1205 | Location: Western Australia | Registered: 27 March 2005
Hi JoanneH, September is the first month of spring so weather could be quite mixed getting colder as you head South.
The last two weeks of September are school holidays and the last weekend is a huge football final in Melbourne and accommodation will be very difficult. So if your plans put you in Melbourne then you should book now.
With only staying 2 or 3 days in most places go for the lower cost hotels or motels, self catering is not an option.
I am not sure whether there is a cell phone outlet at Sydney airport but there are plenty in the city and shopping malls. You should be able to buy a prepaid card but it may be easier to use public phones or the phones in your hotel room.
I would not recommend "roaming" because it connects via your country of origin and costs a heap. Only for emergency or sms.
Posts: 391 | Location: Melbourne, Australia | Registered: 16 January 2007
Imade it! Arrived yesterday, lovely sunny day, spent wandering the CBC and rocks area. got a little lost a time or two but thats what travel is all about.Cheap flights can be good - mine was not only left on time, good service and what I thought was fairly good time out the door at the airport. Suprised at the crowds everywhere, airport, city, did not realize the numbers in Sydney.
Sticker Shock: WOW are things expensive here. Place is great, great folks, lots to see and do but anyone coming should double their money. I stopped by Woolworths to get some grub for the apartment and I was shocked at the food prices. I never though much about food because the apartment I have in the CBC is only 149. a day fair for 2 bedroom place overlooking Darling Harbor. Entry to some of the venues was high as well. The zoo was 45.00 but well worth it, coffee a simple cup was 2.75 or if I wanted some kind of latte I could get it for 2.50. So as the old travel saying goes Half your clothes and double your money!
We have wind in Melbourne but nothing like in Sydney or Brisbane. We also don't have the dust. The dust is coming from the drought affected land in central Australia.
Joanne, I've been waiting for someone else to reply about the cost of things here but no-one has so I will add a bit.
When we travel to USA or Europe our dollar has been much weaker than at present, so cost for us has been nearly double until lately. It is much better now, but that means that your dollar doesn't go as far as it did - in Australia.
You will find that coffee in Melbourne is even more expensive - $3 - $3.50 / cup but it is so much better than American (sorry ). I drink "flat white" - Melbournians are proud of their coffee, but like anywhere it depends who makes it. Try some of the laneway cafes in Melbourne for a good cup.
Zoos and attractions are more expensive than USA but that may be because we don't have the population to support them.
I hope the dust in Sydney hasn't spoilt your sightseeing too much. Enjoy the rest of your trip. When are you in Melbourne?
Thanks for the coffee tip. I spent yesterday out in the wind and dust. Dust is nothing new to me as it often blows from disked fields were I live. I have another great day went to Bondi beach and took the walk along the water, had a great fish & Chips lunch something I could never get at home and spent part of the afternoon when the winds really started blow I just jumped on different bus's and road around the city. Thanks for the coffee tip. I get hopefully to Melbourne on Thursday next. I pick up the rental car early this am and head out but I understand there is quite a bit of snow in Mts. so plans may change. Thanks for asking
Jill is correct about our prices, but also consider this.....we don't tip in cafes and restaurants because staff earn a decent wage and don't rely on tips for a living.
That said, we do sometimes give a tip for exceptional service, but it is at your own discretion and it is no set amount.
Our prices in supermarkets also include GST (goods and services tax) for non-fresh food and other items. Other countries have the tax added on.
Entrance fees to attractions also have GST included in the cost.
Hope that helps to explain some of our costs. Good to hear you are enjoying your trip.
Elly
Posts: 1205 | Location: Western Australia | Registered: 27 March 2005
back in the world of the living just finished doing appx 2000KM Collector to Albuy, down to the coast, back up to Adelaide, up north of there then back to Mt. Gambier and down the coast rd to melbourne in 5 days. Zig ZAGING around the country roads exploring South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. Amazing country along the way. Loving it all but still in sticker shock..................
Hope you are having a great trip. Today and tomorrow 29/30 Sep will be great in Melbourne but maybe wet Thursday/Friday, weekend will be fine.
Don't quite understand your comments about food - having traveled a lot in Europe our prices are about half. However a year ago the Aussie dollar would buy only 60 cents US but has now increased to about 87 cents. The US dollar is losing value world wide. Can you buy a coffee retail in USA for under US$2.50?
Posts: 391 | Location: Melbourne, Australia | Registered: 16 January 2007
at drugstore with 2 refills in what aust is calling large. .98 at mc donalds plain coffee not fancy stuff, 7-11 that kind of place .99 normal cup size not large large is around 1.79-89
I'm back and working on trip report. Here is photo of dust storm I took at around 10am. I gave up trying to get a cup of black coffee american style and ended up learning to enjoy long whites. Food in stores seemed to me to be high and its just not the tax I understand that but things like the basics bread, eggs,cheese, fresh veggies etc.were almost double what I am paying at home. But then Australia does have a higher min wage than in US. That said 97% of the people were very nice, helpful and kind. The other 3% seem to be everywhere in the world
Welcome home Joanne. That is a great picture of the red dust storm Sydney.
We noticed the higher prices for food also when we were in Australia in 2006 but we had better exchange rate that somewhat equalized the prices. Besides the prices, it sounds like you had a great trip. I am looking forward to reading your report.
That dust storm was something, wasn't it. These are going to happen when we get high winds from the west until the west get rain to damp the earth down.
Prices are generally higher here than in the US (Try buying a car!) but I did not realise that basic food items were that much more expensive. They are cheap compared to the UK.
I would have thought that our long blacks were similar to cafe Americano, and we still have some Starbucks, though half of them here were closed down with the financial crisis. But I drink espressos or lattes usually and its been a long time since I've been to the US.
I am glad that most of us treated you well.
John "There are two types of problems: those that solve themselves, and those which you can do nothing about" Isabel Allende's grandmother
Posts: 1710 | Location: Mullumbimby, NSW, Australia | Registered: 26 March 2003
My sister-in-law travels regularly to US and says that our Long Blacks are the same as American black coffee but some of our cafes just don't serve it strong enough.
Glad you had a good time. We travel to Sydney again in January to join a cruise ship. Hopefully no dust storms.
Elly
Posts: 1205 | Location: Western Australia | Registered: 27 March 2005
). I drink "flat white" - Melbournians are proud of their coffee, but like anywhere it depends who makes it. Try some of the laneway cafes in Melbourne for a good cup.
