Australia travel advice

[bulb66]

Hi everyone,

In a little over 9 weeks i'll be flying to Perth Australia from 3 months and was hoping the OcUK forum might be able to offer some advice.

This is the first long haul flight I've been on since i was 9 (now 29) and to be honest i don't remember any of the last one. I should say that as this is a one off trip (Just visiting friends, but it's a long way to make it a regular trip) as such i'm flying business class and very much looking forward to it.

What i'm looking for advise on is money, sightseeing, transport etc.

So Money, What is the best way to take/spend money over there? How much should i take?

Sightseeing, What are some must sees in Perth and can you suggest somewhere to take a trip to in the rest of Australia?

Transport, whats the best way to get around Perth and between other city's?

And any other advice or suggestions for me?

Thanks

James

 

[bulb66]

Thanks TommyV have looked at your blog and am going to do my own to. I'll get back to you with some questions thanks.

Thanks

 

[bulb66]

I should say for the most part i'll be staying with friends to the bulk of accommodation will be sorted.

 

[bulb66]

Good point, I shoulda just said check the blog

Although there are no pics there, will do it eventually

I did think is was a bit odd for there to be no pics, would be good to see them

Can think of any question right now as i'm still trying to decide where to go and what to see, but i will get back to you, thanks.

 

[bulb66]

Apply for a Halifax Clarity credit card. Use it for all purchases and ATM withdrawls. It will be a better deal than using prepaid passport cards, or changing money at a bureau de change. It's also more secure and more convenient.



Perth is the only city of any reasonable size on the West Coast. It is the most isolated city on the planet and closer to Singapore than it is to the capital of Australia.

So, if you want to see the other big cities, fly.

Thanks Fox,

I've been looking at loads of info of credit cards, pre-paid cards, travelers cheques and it's confusing, lol.

But I've read that the Halifax Clarity credit card is good and have applied for one today, thanks. Can you explain how this would work with regards to withdrawing cash from an ATM, is it basically like a purchase which i then pay off? and do you if most ATM's charge a fee? Thanks

And thanks for the tip, will take a look at internal flights. is it worth booking anything now or wait until i'm there?

Thanks

J

 

[bulb66]

Only commenting on this thread cos I'm jealous. Amazing place and amazing things to see and do. My top 5 would be.

Cairns
Port Douglas
Atherton Tablelands
Sailing on a tall ship in the Whitsundays
Art galleries in Brisbane.

Also read some history. It's so recent you can touch it.

Enjoy it!

Will do

Just for laughs you've got to have a beer in "The Lucky Shag" bar off Riverside Drive (it's actually a good night out too on a weekend). If there's cricket on go spend the day there it's a good day out with a few mates. Rot Ness is a good trip, make sure you book as turning up on the day is quite risky. Margaret River wine trips are a good day out. A picnic in Kings Park can be nice. Cottesloe Beach is a cool place, I would expect you'll spend a few days at the bech, so make sure you try them all out for all the gorgeous "scenery"

A flight to Sydney shouldn't cost the earth and worth it to at least see the tourist bit there.

Thanks will look at internal flights, any suggestions on who?

Talking of beer, you have to go to little creatures in Fremantle (south Perth)

https://littlecreatures.com.au/

If you get up to broome, Masto's is a must and ask for a Chango.

Thanks, will check it out.

 

[bulb66]

Go scuba diving and take condoms.

Is that a youthamism and will i need the condoms while Scuba diving, lol

Always nice to be independent of public transport. I like to buy an old van one can also sleep in that on a foam mattress.- naturally one can sell this on leaving Oz. I like the southern corner of WA. Busselton and down to Albany. (Lockie Leonard was shot in Busselton another excellent Oz children's series)
Getting there. Best airlines Etihad, Emirates, Sinkers and Malaysian - Naturally you will be looking for wifi check with the airline before booking. Dick Virgin should get his finger out in that direction!
Keeping in touch: Take a mobile that is unlocked and get a sim card in OZ - look fpor free wifi spots to ring home - free.
Don't forget its a long way from Wa to the Eastern states - across the Nullarbor Plain. If driving at dusk/night watch out for them Big Reds all wipe out the front of a car! roos get more hoppy at dusk! Getting a job is a good idea if staying longer- get to know the natives not just people like yourself transient backpackers et al.

I've already booked flights with Qatar Airways, at the moment it's just a 3 month visit, but i'm open to staying longer if i like it over there.

J

 

[bulb66]

Some things to do around Perth:
* Cycle, Perth has some fantastic cycle paths all through the city, it's the best way to see the place imo
* Rottnest hire a bike & snorkle, just don't miss the ferry back
* If you already have your dive qualifications or want to get them - diving with dolphindive fremantle is recommended.
*Caversham Wildlife Park - if you want to get up close with some of the native wildlife (nothing dangerous)
* Outdoor cinema at Kings Park - Experience Kings Park during the day too, best views of the city
* Little Creatures in Fremantle for food & drink with mates

North: I haven't travelled up North much but
* Lancelin - lots of 4x4 tours across the sand dunes, sand boarding etc
* Exmouth - Diving, fishing or from April onwards snorkling with whale sharks
* Broome - I don't know much about Broome, but I hear it's a good party town
* The Kimberly - Epic scenery, crocodile county & generally amazing wildlife

South/West Coast:
* The valley of the giants near Denmark (Tree top walks)
* Wineries - Around Pemberton, this is the true wine country in WA
* Esperance - The best beaches i've experienced in Australia, crystal white sand, emerald blue water
* Margaret river - Tourist spot for wineries/breweries etc. There is a bushtucker canoe tour that you can do up the river which is good fun. And you get to have you own "I'm a celeb" moment if you each a Witchetty grub

Things not really worth doing:
* The pinnacles - a fair journey so see some spiky rocks in the sand, only famous because Billy Connolly danced naked around it.
* Wave rock - Again an epic journey to see a rock in the shape of a wave - would be worth while if there was something else in the area, but there isn't.

You'll probably spend the first week being constantly shocked at the prices of, well, everything. I've been here for nearly 5 years now and I still get shocked at the price of things.

Thanks Mr T,

As you been there for 5 years can you suggest a £ figure i should be looking at for my 3 month visit? I'm staying with friends and have asked them to tell me how much i could give them for letting me stay but they haven't got back to me yet, lol. I like to have things like money planned out so that i can be prepared.

And thanks for the list will look into them, thanks

James

 

[bulb66]

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

 

[bulb66]

Oh that's not including flights, lol.

Flights are booked and paid for

 

[bulb66]

Take 6months off and relax in England and get an Ipswich Season ticket and go home and away.

Are you suggesting that my budget is to low or that my reason for going to Australia is not a good one?

And i'd rather stick pins in my eyes than watch Ipswich play football if you can call what they do that, lol.

 

[bulb66]

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

 

[bulb66]

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

 

[bulb66]

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

 

[bulb66]

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.

 

[bulb66]

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.

 

[bulb66]

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.

Thanks i'll take a look

J

 

[bulb66]

The Halifax Clarity is a fee free credit card. Halifax will not charge you for:

a) Cash Advances (ie, withdrawing cash
b) Foreign transactions

Nor will they apply foreign exchange rate loading (Everyone who offers you 'commission free' exchange does this - they dont charge commission, they just give you a crappy rate!)

Essentially this means that whenever you buy something, or withdraw cash, you get the Mastercard base rate - pretty much the best rate a tourist can ever hope to get.

The *only* 'catch' is that if you withdraw cash, you are charged interest at your stated APR from the day of the withdrawl (Whereas on purchases you only pay interest after the due date). On a car with a 12.9% APR this is basically about 1% per 30 days outstanding. In other words, a trivial amount.

Set up a DD to pay the card, automatically, in full each month and its as close to totally zero cost, totally flexible and perfectly secure foreign travel cash as you are ever likely to get.

When I was there, 2009, ATM's didn't charge me.



Do a bit of research. Get a quote for a flight from, say, Perth to Sydney for 4 months time. Then get a quote for one next week. This will tell you if there is any benefit to booking in advance.

The low fee airlines are Jetstar (This is Qantas low fare airline) and VirginBlue. I flew with VirginBlue from Cairns to Melbourne and it was fine.

Do bear in mind that Oz is now very, very expensive for British tourists. The exchange rate has absolutely collapsed - previous when it was between $2 and $3 per £1 it made an expensive country just about acceptable. But now its $1.5 to the £1 it makes an expensive country even more expensive.

This might seem a silly question but how do i find out what APR rate i'm on with this card? I've got it, set up online banking, set up a DD to pay it off but i can't see anything that would suggest i'm on the 12.9%, 17.9% or 21.9% rate?

Thanks

 

[bulb66]

You get a letter when it first arrives which tells you the APR.

OK, had a read through all the paper work and it looks like i'm on the worst rate 21.9%

 

[bulb66]

What i'm trying to work out is what is cheaper, use credit card to withdraw cash or get a pre-paid card.

If my math is correct it would be

Credit Card
Assuming exchange is 1.517904 (MasterCard wholesale rate)

APR 21.9%
Monthly 1.6639%
£600.00 would give $910.75
Interest £9.98
Total + interest £609.98


Pre-Paid

Exchange 1.48200

£609.98 would give
$903.99

So even with the interest I would get more $ for my money correct?

Thanks for your help

James