Sydney Travel Forum

hi all
me and my friend are starting our trip in sidney , we are planning on staying in australia for 2 months but we dont have much of a clue to be honest. we are from the uk so do we need visas even though we r just traveling.
any help what so ever would be great thanks

Yes, you will need a visa. As Hailun points out, you should do some research on this first, as you do not want to run afoul of Australian Immigration officials. Once you have your travel plans in place (i.e., a booking on Qantas, for example, or a travel agent booking) you can easily get the ETA visa, as it is called, by just talking with your booking authority or airline, and I'm sure you can probably do it online, also. The visa is an electronic one, not something entered in your passport, although it is tied to your passport number. It costs $20 - $25. The visa is good for one year, although only three months can be spent in Australia at one time for most nationalities. This is a tourist visa. If you intend to work, then a different type of visa is required. For more details:

http://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/tourist/976/index.htm

In any case, it is best not to count on advice here for things as important as a visa, but to investigate the appropriate immigration requirements yourself. Good luck!

Australia was one of the first countries to computerise immigration records, and dont run afoul of them, and also customs people and dont ever bring anything vaguely resembling agricultural products without permission or without declaring it. they show no mercy whether you are australian or not, and they have to do that to protect australian fauna.
very very easy to get electronic visa authority, if you are from UK and hold british passports.
you can expect to be welcomed well in australia, one of the friendliest countries on earth!
if you are under 26, it is very easy to obtain work permits and such for british european and japanese and some other nationalities. it is intended for one year.
all the best and fly Qantas, one of the best airlines. My choice of flying into australia always is Qantas..

I suggest you vist your reputatble travel agent they should be able to advise on visa/ticket requirements. A couple of things I have noticed with our many English relatives who come to stay with us(currently have 19 yr old nephew from UK) which I will comment on-You do not need to bring every fashion lable and piece of clothing you own we are not quite so fashion conscious and you can wash your clothes and wear again,if you will be here during summer 2 pair of bathers will suffice not 25, you can buy anything you may need over here ie toiletries, cosmetics etc, so forget any of those "just in case items". Items I would suggest are must have's sunglasses not just for their fashionable looks but with proper lenses our sun can be a killer, sunblock, hat especially if you plan to do any walking trips. There are some excellent youth hostels in Sydney who can assist with further travel ideas once you arrive. Checkout Sydney pages on VT for other ideas. Best of all come over relax and enjoy your trip.

Hi 2 months is plenty of time to see much of Australia. Several matters are important for you to get the most out of your visit.

Most important is the months that you visit, keep in mind that Northern Australia is sub tropical and weather is subject to monsoon, so there is a wet season with extremely high humidity, say from late November to early April, this applies to northern queensland , Northern Territory and Northern Western Australia.

Therefore if you wish to visit these parts best late April to early October.If so March & April, and late Sept to Dec are spring/ summer time in the southern states of NSW, Victoria, South australia and Perth/ south west of WA. Good weather should prevail.

As to where you visit it is up to you to decide, recommend you research pages of VT members who have replied, they should have plenty of info on Australia.

Some web pages which might help.

www.australia.com
www.visitbrisbane.com.au
www.visitsunshinecoast.com.au
www.visitwa.com.au
www.visitvictoria.com
www.travelnt.com
www.visitsouthaustralia.com
www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au
www.bestflights.com.au
www.perth.wa.gov.au
www.bluemts.com.au

Secondly, make certain you travel around Australia in a logical direction to save time, say arrive in Perth and depart in Cairns or Darwin, or visa versa.

Good Luck,
Mike

I would suggest reading as much as you can from guide books so that you know what you want to see before arriving here, libraries have a good selection as a rule, and you will save a lot of money and time if you can make some plans before arrival. Whatever you do, don,t spend your whole holiday in Sydnay, there is a great deal to see. Places I suggest are Barrier reef, Uluru, Darwin and Kakadu National Park, Adelaide, Kangaroo Island, Perth, Melbourne, Great Ocean Road, Grampians, Tasmania.

And from 'the pedantic one' you will note that our one is spelt with the two 'y's'. Sydney. Many others use the 'i' for the first!
Enjoy it whichever way you see it. ;-)

I think it would be nice but not absolutely necessary if people took time to spell the names of the cities, either in the original language or the language of theirs.. i can understand a spanish speaking person saying sidney, since it is how it is pronounced in spanish, but someone from england or america should know it is spelt with sydney. what ranks me often is when people call the national airline QUANTAS, a common enough mistake since in english language Q is almost always followed by U. Nothing great, but just little things from childhood memory..

The confusions in the English language are just limitless!
This is a good example - try putting the 'Sidney' spelling into our own VT 'destination search' and see the result.
20+ - all in the U.S.of A.!
This is why poor VT 'management' has an ongoing, everlasting battle.
The person for whom the cities/towns were named probably spelt it with the 'y'.

"Sydney was named after Sydney Cove, on which the city is located, which in turn was named after Thomas Townshend, the First Viscount Sydney of England; ... www.creativespirits.info/oznsw/sydney/ - . "
Ex Google for what it's worth.

while we are at it, was it Lady melbourne, Lord Adelaide ?

or is it Lord Melbourne and Lady Adelaide?

Could it be Queensland And Northern Territory Aereal Services? Saludos para ti en australia.

No

Still way off topic - Qantas has no usual u 'cos it is an acronym !!??
But the word works without the 'u' as they all would.
Queen Adelaide was the wife of King William the fourth (reigned 1830-1837).
And Lord Melbourne was the British Prime Minister under Queen Victoria circa 1837.
I have driven past the (original?) Melbourne in the north of England but did not 'drop in' for a cuppa.
I waited until I got back to my own Melbourne.

there is a Melbourne in Florida USA named after Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

http://www.melbourneflorida.org/info/history.htm
Sudah, that is the most amazing piece of new information I have had in years.
Thank you so very, very much.
You sounded - wrote - so assuredly with your statement I was just as sure that it could not be; but after googling my way to above URL I see that you are absolutely correct.
(Although the English Lord M. is still in the background. The relevant nominating postmaster(?) being British, via my 'Australian Melbourne'.)
I am very interested as to how and why you had made the discovery yourself.
But we have strayed long enough away from the original thread we had better carry on any more 'chat' via internal email - unless the others want it to continue
here !!??.
Again thank you.