Australia travel advice

Soldato
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Perth has a "local Flu"

There is an extremely good chance you will get it.

Just letting you know it aint all rosy.

Have fun and stay away from Northbridge !!

[Edit]

No one mentioned Yanchep ?
Scarborough was our fave beach. Be aware of City beach. From the shore the sea immediately gets quite deep. That's not the problem, it's the very strong side rip. What happens is you enter full of enthusiasm and strength and swim out where the sea then goes up onto a LARGE sandbar which is knee deep. You then wade out into the deeper stuff (you can see the colour change to a deeper blue) and doing yer surfin.

When you've had enough and are genuinely knackered you then want to go back to shore..... But... You forget that deep bit with the VERY strong side rip next to the beach.


~ <-- Your towel on the beach..... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> where you make shore !! (other way round actually ie: Northerly current)

Cottesloe is where the Bogans hang out.

How do I know this stuff ?

Clue.. (Early 70's)

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And.. Funny School memory (Fourth post down)

http://archive.atomicmpc.com.au/forums.asp?s=1&c=1&t=103023&p=40

Also worth going to the lookouts at Lesmurdie Falls.. And checking out the Girlies at Kalamunda Pool / Bibra Lakes.

Drag Racing at Ravenswood
 
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Soldato
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I did Perth to Canberra in a VW Combi back in 82. I don't think your average pom actually comprehends the distance.

Oh..It was bloody hot too. No air-con ..Well..The window was the air-con I suppose but that just let in hot air !!
 
Associate
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It's probably easier if you say what your budget is, then I can give you a reasonable idea of what you could do on it. Also indicate if you are dead set on certain experiences, such as swimming with Whale Sharks? The fact you can stay with friends whilst in Perth will help a lot!

As a rough guide take the price of things in the UK then double or triple it to get an idea of what you'll spend. The one obvious exception to this is Petrol which with the current exchange rate is probably similar to the UK.

Beer will probably be the biggest killer to your budget, especially at bars.
Well i'll be honest and say am treating this as more as a chance to relax, hang out with friends and enjoy the time away, then a must see everything of Australia trip.

So far i've centered my trip around Perth and want to visit things like the art gallery of Western Australia, the Aquarium of Western Australia, kings park and Perth zoo.

But i do want to visit at least one other city, maybe Sydney to see the bridge and Opera house. And i like the idea of going somewhere and camping.

I'm not the sort of person who is interested is seeing a big rock in the middle of nowhere or going out every night and drinking.

Now in terms of budget, i'd say around £2000-£3000.

Thanks

James

So do you think my budget of £2-3k is ok? That's not including flights they are already paid for already.

Thanks
 
Associate
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So do you think my budget of £2-3k is ok? That's not including flights they are already paid for already.

Thanks

I think you'll struggle to be honest, especially if you want to include a trip to another city.

If you were just hanging around Perth you would probably be ok, because I assume you won't need to pay for any accommodation whilst in Perth.

From your list of things, I would say skip Perth Zoo, and go to Caversham wildlife park instead. Also the Aquarium is ok, but not a patch on the Blue Planet aquarium in Ellesmere Port (if you've ever been there). Get yourself a pair of slip on fins, snorkel & mask (from the UK) and snorkel your legs off.

As said already, the biggest hit on your budget would be boozing with your friends - 7 quid a pint is normal here.
 
Man of Honour
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Your £2-3k will only work if you literally expect to spend 3 months sitting in Perth doing not much else. I can't understand why you'd want to do this. You've presumably spent a large amount of money on your flights, and you are now going to spend a total of 48 hours on planes flying to the other side of the world where you still stay for 3 months. Spending all of this in more or less a single city because you get free accomodation sounds like a massively missed opportunity.
 
Man of Honour
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Business class?!

Epic fail. Business Class if you are minted is all very well but it seems he will have spent an absolute fortune on his flights and as a result is now severely budget limited as to what he can actually do when he gets there.

Seems like absolute madness. Spend so much money on flying to Australia that your budget wont allow you to actually SEE Australia properly when you get there :(
 
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OK, thanks for the info everyone.

In answer to your question, the flights have been paid for by someone else. The reason behind the business class is because i'm 6ft 4in and of a large frame, it's for comfort and the experience.

And my idea for this time away is not to be traveling about every other week, seeing essentially the same things in different cities. It's about seeing friends, enjoying the time about from personal issue here in the UK (I could have made this clearer in the OP, sorry) and to see and experience some of what Australia has to offer if that mean staying in Perth then so be it. I'm sorry if this seems like a waste of time to some people but some peoples idea of fun, enjoyment, relaxing is not the same as others.

Thanks
 
Associate
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Look, each to their own, if you need time away from the UK for personal reasons and your primary goal is as you say to chill with friends, then you're doing the right thing.

For the record Business Class is awesome, which airline are you flying with?
 
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Look, each to their own, if you need time away from the UK for personal reasons and your primary goal is as you say to chill with friends, then you're doing the right thing.

For the record Business Class is awesome, which airline are you flying with?

Qatar, was suppose to go on the 787 Dreamliner but it's been grounded :(
 
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OK, thanks for the info everyone.

In answer to your question, the flights have been paid for by someone else. The reason behind the business class is because i'm 6ft 4in and of a large frame, it's for comfort and the experience.

Thanks

You seem to have grown 2" since you wrote your blog, at this rate you might need 1st class by March.

I have been to Australia a couple of times backpacking (12 and 10 years ago) for a month at a time and the 1st time, there was $3 to the £.

The thing is, it sounds like sitting around is cheap, but if you're not traveling about you will become bored and unless Aussie TV has improved immeasurably over the last 10 years, you would rather sit and poke cocktail sticks in your eyes than spend more than an hour or two watching that (Apologies to our Oz cousins for any offense).
So you are left with going out, down the pub and at the reported and staggering cost of £7 a pint, that will eat your budget up quickly.

Anyway, Perth is a lovely city and I am sure you will enjoy it, so good luck to you.

PS - Another shout out for The Lucky Shag Bar, glad to hear it's still there.
 
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You seem to have grown 2" since you wrote your blog, at this rate you might need 1st class by March.

I have been to Australia a couple of times backpacking (12 and 10 years ago) for a month at a time and the 1st time, there was $3 to the £.

The thing is, it sounds like sitting around is cheap, but if you're not traveling about you will become bored and unless Aussie TV has improved immeasurably over the last 10 years, you would rather sit and poke cocktail sticks in your eyes than spend more than an hour or two watching that (Apologies to our Oz cousins for any offense).
So you are left with going out, down the pub and at the reported and staggering cost of £7 a pint, that will eat your budget up quickly.

Anyway, Perth is a lovely city and I am sure you will enjoy it, so good luck to you.

PS - Another shout out for The Lucky Shag Bar, glad to hear it's still there.

LOL, i missed the 4 out and didn't press the shift key. I am tall but also lost 8 stone over the last 18 months or so, so why now have a nice flight.
 
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Soldato
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Ok I'm officially jealous. I've only been on a long haul flight to the west coast of america and in economy class it was loooooong and uncomfortable. Business should be fine though I believe they let out of your seats to stretch your legs too there too. If you can make a stopover somewhere my advice is do so, it breaks up the journey. I know you want to make it there as quick as pos but you do arrive feeling better for a break. A bit like a long car journey, really.
 
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What about a greyhound bus pass? I have been looking at them, they seem to do most of the popular routes and there are plenty of options. Not sure if anyone here has used them before though.
 
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Ok I'm officially jealous. I've only been on a long haul flight to the west coast of america and in economy class it was loooooong and uncomfortable. Business should be fine though I believe they let out of your seats to stretch your legs too there too. If you can make a stopover somewhere my advice is do so, it breaks up the journey. I know you want to make it there as quick as pos but you do arrive feeling better for a break. A bit like a long car journey, really.

Getting out of the seat should be an issue plus the seat pitch on Qatar Business is something like 78" as they are lay flat seats :)

I have a short (2hr) stop in Doha.

I quite agree, Qatar have the best Economy class I have traveled on, so I can only imagine their Business Class is superb.

The youtube reviews i've watched would agree with you.
 
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