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Australia/New Zealand
Trying to help my parents plan a trip. Can anyone recommend a tour company/ travel agent?
Did you break up the flight?
What are the must sees?
Rough cost?
Thanks
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Posted 5/8/15 12:11 AM  |
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Long Island Weddings
Long Island's Largest Bridal Resource |
snowprincess
My happy babies
Member since 3/06 3428 total posts
Name:
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Australia/New Zealand
if they are into tennis - steve furgal - has an amazing trip to the Australian open - it is 2 weeks in Australia and one week in New Zealand. My parents did it a number of years ago and they loved it
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| Posted 5/8/15 1:10 PM |
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LuckyStar
LIF Adult
Member since 7/14 7274 total posts
Name:
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Australia/New Zealand
You have FM!
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| Posted 5/10/15 1:15 AM |
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DancinBarefoot
06ers Rock!!
Member since 1/07 9537 total posts
Name:
The One My Mother Gave Me ;-)
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Australia/New Zealand
I went back in 2005 with Prime Time Travel. I've done several trips with them and they were all great.
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| Posted 5/10/15 4:24 PM |
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klingklang77
kraftwerk!
Member since 7/06 11489 total posts
Name:
Völlig losgelöst
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Re: Australia/New Zealand
Posted by avabrodymamma
Trying to help my parents plan a trip. Can anyone recommend a tour company/ travel agent?
Did you break up the flight?
What are the must sees?
Rough cost?
Thanks
Hi, I lived there for 5 years. My DH is Australian, so we visit sometimes.
How much time do you have? Australia is a big country and to travel from city to city will require flying for the most part.
If you have 2 weeks, I would do Sydney and Cairns (pronounced 'Cans'), but I'd stay in Port Douglas.
You could do a week in Sydney and a week in Cairns.
Must-sees in Sydney:
Opera house / Harbour Bridge / the Rocks
Manly Beach
Bronte to Bondi beach walk.
Taronga Zoo, but I think Featherdale is much better, IMO. You can touch a koala.
Darling Harbour
QVB
If you can add on another week, I'd add on the Blue Mountains and Hunter Valley.
Cairns:
Snorkelling on the reef
Daintree day trip. You do a cruise on the river for crocodiles and go through the rainforest.
Cape Tribulation
There is a zoo there (forgot the name) that you can actually hold a koala. You can only hold a koala in Queensland, by law. You will not find this in New South Wales (where Sydney is)
I'd suggest staying in Port Douglas because Cairns is kind of a hole.
Other places I have heard that are really nice, but I've never been to:
Melbourne- great cafe scene and artsy
Perth- they have nice beaches
Margaret River- wine and cheese
Barossa Valley- wine
Places I wouldn't bother with- Canberra, unless you like roundabouts...
Breaking up the flight:
There are no direct flights there, obviously. The jet lag is a killer. Going there you lose a day, so you leave NY on Friday and it's Sunday when you arrive. Coming back it's the same day.
We have gone straight through a lot of times because we were going back to visit my family in NY, so we wanted the most time with them. The most common route will be through LA. From LA it's a 15 hour flight.
Another time we got stuck because of a snow delay in NY and we spent two nights in Korea. That was pretty cool. Korea flies direct NY-Seoul.
I suppose you could stop in Japan.
The thing with stopping in Asia is the seasons are reversed. When we went to Korea it was coooolllld and then it was hot in Australia.
Cost:
Australia is expennnnnsiiivvvve. It's ridiculous how expensive it is. I paid $5 for a head of lettuce at times. Food is expensive, so that will affect restaurant prices. The good thing is a lot of restaurants are BYO, so stop in a bottle shop and get a nice bottle for $10. The restaurant will then charge a corkage fee of $2-5 per person. Fancy places don't have BYO.
I could recommend a few places to eat in Sydney, but I left there 5 years ago, so I may be out of touch with some places. You definitely want to try some Asian food. It's really good there because of the immigrant population.
If your parents are seniors, they will NOT get a discount. That's only for residents.
The flight will run 1500-2000 per person. Domestic flights within will vary, but I'd say 500 or so.
I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions!
ETA:
Tour companies:
My in-laws have had mixed reviews with APT. I did a wine tour to Hunter Valley with my mom with them and I liked it. Sorry, but I do not have more suggestions for tour companies. I usually just do everything myself.
Message edited 5/11/2015 7:10:05 AM.
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| Posted 5/11/15 7:01 AM |
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