Planning trip to Australia

[usman19]

It's always been on my bucket list to go but ever since Covid started it was put on hold. Been saving up for a few years as i know its expensive. I hear they allowing tourists to go again.

Just wondering if anyone has been there, ideally from the UK and can tell me the best place to go to as only going for 2 weeks. I don't think i'll have the money to travel all over.

So any pointers can help to help me get started to prepare would be great with best time to go to etc, local customs

 

[Mr. Daystar]

All I can say is this. They are home to 7 out of 10, of the worlds most venomous snakes, and 2 of the most venomous spiders, which by they way, should be having a population explosion due to the recent wildfires. So basically, shake your clothes and shoes out before you put them on, and don't runaround bare foot.

I used to want to go there, but as I've gotten older the desire just sort of faded. I do how ever since I used to drive for a living, I've always wanted to drive one of those Australian Road trains, and a Michigan road train, and a real train.....a really long heavy one, with like 4 locomotives.

But yeah, have fun, I hear they have a lot of hot chicks over there, and they out number the men and remember is you're on the ocean, they still have gigantic Great White sharks, and a metric shit ton, of jelly fish.

 

[usman19]

But yeah, have fun, I hear they have a lot of hot chicks over there,

So i see and hear if Angela white has anything to go by.

I watch Neighbours and Home and away which is Australian soaps. The babes on there are great. Zima Anderson who plays Roxy is my fave babe

 

[Pornfan99]

I'm about to leave for a vacay. But, I went there in .. 2003. Great trip. I can share more thoughts, in early May.

For now: I hit Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide. Sydney's Bondi Beach had hotties full nude. And plain Jane's with DDs-plus scattered about. The old prison was cool. Melbourne had a good contemporary (?) art museum. In Adelaide I did a full-day bus tour of some vineyards, including Jacob's Creek. The old copper mine boss' house was a good tour.

 

[tvstrip]

I've lived there, so I think I can help too. I don't have too much experience in Western Aus, but I've been everywhere else.
Coming from the UK, one big advantage you have is that as long as you have your international license, you have the option to rent a car, since driving will be a breeze. Driving in the outback or along the Great Ocean road can be quite an experience! (as long as you don't hit a kangaroo!)

#1 Tip though is: Buy the local HIGH SPF sunscreen and literally slather yourself in it every hour (or as frequently as you can).
You. Will. Burn. Out of all the "S's" that can kill you there, all the snakes, sharks, spiders, stingrays and scorpions have nothing on the sun and skin cancer.

Also, the typical world map actually makes Australia look a lot smaller than it really is. The place is FREAKING HUGE. Without Alaska, the US is only 20% bigger than Oz. So you really have to factor in travel time unless you plan to stay in one city.

Aside from that, what you looking for? Nature? Rainforests? Beaches? Rocks? Swimming/Diving? Aboriginal culture? Modern Culture? War history? Nightlife? If you only have 2 weeks, you'll need to plan out every day because there is so much to do.

 

[tvstrip]

That other thread reminds me: What about a pilgrimage to the Neighbours shooting locations? Pick out your favourite scenes, track them down and check them out IRL?

That's what I did with the Matrix, Mission Impossible 2, Mad Max, Thin Red Line and other movies filmed there, as well as the Studio Ghibli films which are based on a lot of locations there too. It's pretty cool seeing those places, and the selfies you take there will be conversation pieces for everyone you know!

 

[usman19]

I've lived there, so I think I can help too. I don't have too much experience in Western Aus, but I've been everywhere else.
Coming from the UK, one big advantage you have is that as long as you have your international license, you have the option to rent a car, since driving will be a breeze. Driving in the outback or along the Great Ocean road can be quite an experience! (as long as you don't hit a kangaroo!)

#1 Tip though is: Buy the local HIGH SPF sunscreen and literally slather yourself in it every hour (or as frequently as you can).
You. Will. Burn. Out of all the "S's" that can kill you there, all the snakes, sharks, spiders, stingrays and scorpions have nothing on the sun and skin cancer.

Also, the typical world map actually makes Australia look a lot smaller than it really is. The place is FREAKING HUGE. Without Alaska, the US is only 20% bigger than Oz. So you really have to factor in travel time unless you plan to stay in one city.

Aside from that, what you looking for? Nature? Rainforests? Beaches? Rocks? Swimming/Diving? Aboriginal culture? Modern Culture? War history? Nightlife? If you only have 2 weeks, you'll need to plan out every day because there is so much to do.

I only plan on going to one city as said due to time/money and resources as i feel each city has alot to offer that you can easily spend 2 weeks in 1 place.

Well despite what was said earlier about the nude beach babes in Sydney, as much as that is tempting i'm not much of a beach person, don't have that beach body and not looking to do swimming and watersports. More into checking out sites of interest, modern and historical. I don't drink (straight edge out of choice), so nightlife is not a big thing for me but don't mind going to local pub/bar for normal alcohol beverages. Nature i don't mind or rainforests so long as it's nothing that means getting dirty and long hikes.

My observation is probably skewed and doesn't show the full picture due to the aussie soaps that we see (neighbours and home and away). From what i've seen on the show, Sydney where Home and Away is filmed is very beachy so that be a good place to go for the beaches etc, and Melbourne where Neighbours is set probably has more sight seeing. I could be very wrong, and based on this alone maybe Melbourne more my scene?

 

[usman19]

I know you shouldn't believe everything in the media, but they say Australia is a very casually racist place like how the States can be. I don't know how true that is. Maybe not for tourists but definitely people who live there of another ethnicity.

Being British of a Pakistani background, i don't know how friendly people are towards people like us, and if people like us are there in masses. Not that this is a major factor if not many live there. Having halal/indian spicy food is not a problem so can eat other things.

 

[Pornfan99]

Oh, yeah - like tvstrip mentioned - get high SPF sunscreen. The day i went to Bondi, I burned. I didn't account for my time on the open-air water taxi on the way there.. On they way back - I already knew I over did it, and stayed by the bar / under deck. One good thing: they sell Tylenol with codeine over the counter! I took those to fall asleep, after literally dousing myself in Solarcaine spray.

 

[tvstrip]

I know you shouldn't believe everything in the media, but they say Australia is a very casually racist place like how the States can be. I don't know how true that is. Maybe not for tourists but definitely people who live there of another ethnicity.

Being British of a Pakistani background, i don't know how friendly people are towards people like us, and if people like us are there in masses. Not that this is a major factor if not many live there. Having halal/indian spicy food is not a problem so can eat other things.

It is true that Aussies are racist, but probably not much more than any other country. It has a pretty diverse population, but one thing you'll notice, especially in Sydney is that the ethnic ghettos are more defined than most countries in the world. You're used to Chinatowns, but Sydney in particular has ethic enclaves for basically every nationality. I've found that each reflects the stereotypes of that race - Little Tokyo is a low-crime residential neighbourhood with expensive houses, Germantown has some of the best desert shops in the city.... and the ghettos where the Vietnamese and Aboriginals live are crime-ridden places you will want to avoid at all costs.

This also speaks to the diversity of the country, it is a country of immigrants (imagine the inbreeding if all they had were British convicts LOL). The influx of non-whites gave rise to anti-immigrant and racist political parties, most notably the Australia First Party. During election time it can be tense depending on how active these parties are campaigning. I've also heard of Japanese people being harassed on ANZAC day, but on the other hand, so many things are free on that day everyone is generally in a good mood.

But in general I'd say you are safe. But like you said, the casual racism is noticeable, and it's more culturally acceptable to make racist comments, so be prepared for that.

 

[usman19]

What kind of acceptable racist comments would they say? Would thought they would get called out for this?

 

[tvstrip]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/15/australia/australia-racism-media-christchurch-attack-intl/index.html

You tend to see more of it on regular media than you'd expect in places like the US/UK/Canada etc. And not just on Fox-type networks. They are being called out on it more often, which is progress.

Within hours of 50 Muslim worshipers being killed at two mosques, Australian far-right politician Fraser Anning had released a statement on what he called the “real cause” of the attacks.

This, Anning claimed, was “the immigration program that allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place.”

Two days later, Anning appeared on the popular Sydney breakfast radio show “Kyle and Jackie O,” telling KIIS FM listeners he condemned the gunman but insisting that “countries that have Muslim immigration” also have “an escalation in violence.”

And that's just on mainstream media, so you can imagine what you might hear from the average Aussie bloke on the street. It's not like rampant racist attacks, but more about casual comments (like negative stereotypes about crime) which might get you some judgmental stares elsewhere. But all that in itself might be a interesting experience too, like I mentioned, it's not likely you're going to face physical violence because of your race.

Another interesting topic more suited for the politics board is how the Lindt Cafe siege gunman wasn't negotiated with at all, and Sydney forces just jumped straight to killing him.

 

[tvstrip]

But moving on to more positive stuff, a "must see" for Sydney is the bridge walk. Make sure you book ahead of time & pray for good weather. I got a time right at sunset, which gave me a view of sun, sunset and dusk views of the skyline which you can't get anywhere else, so if you can book that time slot, I'd highly recommend it.
https://www.bridgeclimb.com

It's not the cheapest thing, but worth every dollar.

 

[usman19]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/15/australia/australia-racism-media-christchurch-attack-intl/index.html

You tend to see more of it on regular media than you'd expect in places like the US/UK/Canada etc. And not just on Fox-type networks. They are being called out on it more often, which is progress.


And that's just on mainstream television, so you can imagine what you might hear from the average Aussie bloke on the street. It's not like rampant racist attacks, but more about casual comments (like negative stereotypes about crime) which might get you some judgmental stares elsewhere. But all that in itself might be a interesting experience too, like I mentioned, it's not likely you're going to face physical violence because of your race.

Another interesting topic more suited for the politics board is how the Lindt Cafe siege gunman wasn't negotiated with at all, and Sydney forces just jumped straight to killing him.

I heard about that on tv here, was disgusted by this. Think he was with 2 other people, 1 guy and 1 woman. Dunno their backstories. Saying that they went to New Zealand i dunno how things are really like over there with the same comments i mentioned but the Kiwis are more tolerant of other cultures than their Aussie counterparts. I could be wrong and they might be just as bad or worse.

Incidents like this always makes worldwide news, but never hear much of these incidents going on for the whole world to hear about but the UK, the whole world would hear about us.

 

[usman19]

But moving on to more positive stuff, a "must see" for Sydney is the bridge walk. Make sure you book ahead of time & pray for good weather. I got a time right at sunset, which gave me a view of sun, sunset and dusk views of the skyline which you can't get anywhere else, so if you can book that time slot, I'd highly recommend it.
https://www.bridgeclimb.com

It's not the cheapest thing, but worth every dollar.

View attachment 963613

Beautiful and yes expensive wow. Cheaper alternatives would be appreciated if there any. I know money would need to be spent.

 

[tvstrip]

Beautiful and yes expensive wow. Cheaper alternatives would be appreciated if there any. I know money would need to be spent.

Keep in mind that's AUS$, so you're starting at around 140 pounds? The way I look at it is, if you're spending all that money to go down there, you'll want to make it worth your while.

Have you thought about staying at a hostel? You'll save TONS compared to a hotel, and they give discounts for longer stays like a week. Even at couple day's stay you'll easily save the amount of the Bridgeclimb.

Backpacking is huge in Australia, so there are many hostels to choose from.
The Sydney YHAs are really clean and modern, and only cost about $10-20 more a night than some of the dingier places and well worth it. Lots of reviews and pictures out there, so you can see what you're getting into.

 

[usman19]

Keep in mind that's AUS$, so you're starting at around 140 pounds? The way I look at it is, if you're spending all that money to go down there, you'll want to make it worth your while.

Have you thought about staying at a hostel? You'll save TONS compared to a hotel, and they give discounts for longer stays like a week. Even at couple day's stay you'll easily save the amount of the Bridgeclimb.

Backpacking is huge in Australia, so there are many hostels to choose from.
The Sydney YHAs are really clean and modern, and only cost about $10-20 more a night than some of the dingier places and well worth it. Lots of reviews and pictures out there, so you can see what you're getting into.

It's been a back thought yet. Hoping the hostels are those of a single room and not sharing with others like some places. I say that cause i want some privacy in my down time for catching up with TV, and some obvious porn. So having good wifi is a must. Dunno if you can get good package holidays with a hostel than hotel. Is it cheaper to buy it separate?

Backpacking is not really my thing as want some luxury for a medium budget

 

[Chopper3000]

I'd go when the Big Bash is on at least. Forget anything about how much things cost. If you want to go just go, never let the cost influence things or you'll never go anywhere.

 

[tvstrip]

It's been a back thought yet. Hoping the hostels are those of a single room and not sharing with others like some places. I say that cause i want some privacy in my down time for catching up with TV, and some obvious porn. So having good wifi is a must. Dunno if you can get good package holidays with a hostel than hotel. Is it cheaper to buy it separate?

Backpacking is not really my thing as want some luxury for a medium budget

Also lots of college-age hotties from around the world stay in Hostels, so if you're the social type, you'll get to mingle with them in the common areas, and maybe even share expenses with them if they're interested in doing the same activities you're doing anyways.

 

[usman19]

I'd go when the Big Bash is on at least. Forget anything about how much things cost. If you want to go just go, never let the cost influence things or you'll never go anywhere.

That some cricket?