Australia and Oceania Travel Forum

Hello travelers,

I am a photographer on my way to Fiji June 3. I only have 4 days there as part of a stop over to the US. I shoot stock images and want to go to amazing beaches to shoot. I only have a small budget and was thinking that one of the Islands would give me the shots I want. I will be traveling alone and will need private accommodation so I can lock away my cameras at night.

Can anyone recommend somewhere with reasonable rates on rooms, I am willing to pay A$ 100 per night and with amazing white sand beaches. Seems there are some many islands it is hard to work out which one will be best.

Thanks everyone...

Everyone has been very helpful as I plan my trip to Australia! I have another question. I have a final night in Sydney at the end of my trip and I am looking for relatively inexpensive lodgings for one night. I fly in on a Saturday night at the end of three busy weeks, and then fly out on Sunday morning so I really am just looking for a place to rest my head, preferably near to the airport. I've already blown my budget at this point so I am also looking for something cheaper (under $100 for two people). Any ideas?
Thanks in advance!

We have planned a day trip up to Milford Sounds into our short stay in South Island in August, but have recently read concerning information about Avalanches.

We have rented a 4x4 in the hope that this would be more suitable for the journey and had planned a day trip, leaving Te Anau and getting back to Queenstown for that night. I am aware thats about 5 hrs of driving in good conditions - that bit doesnt worry me. However, what are the chances of the road being closed or high avalanche risks at the end of August (28th/29th)? , The website i saw mentioned 4 months of risk but is it higher or lower in August.

I hadnt planned on getting chains, but saw that this is sometimes a legal requirement (not sure if i want to drive in such bad conditions). I really dont want to miss out on the beauty of Milford Sounds, but need some advise.

Trying for two days now to book accomodation through website http://www.wattlehouse.com.au.
Website seems to unavailable for whatever reason.Can anyone advise if there is a problem booking online.
Thank You.

I'm travelling from South East Asia to Australia overland and was wondering if there are any ferries from Popua New Guinea to Northern Australia through the torres straight islands. i have an australian passport tho It seems like there are no boat connection between PNG and OZ.
ive heard papua new guineans can get to the northern torres straight islands with a permit,but not sure if travellers can

Thanks to everyone that answered my previous post about flights-you are all so helpful!
Next question: I am coming to Sydney on business and would really like to stay at some sort of resort after business (give me something to look forward to!)
I could stop in Tahiti or Fiji but seems very expensive to stay at these islands! Any ideas out there? I really don't care where I'm at as long as I have a pool and palm trees. My budget is around $100-150 US a night-thanks for all your comments and ideas! Darla

Hi,
Coming to Australia in Feb and was thinking about stoping in Fiji-found a cheap flight from the States but have never heard of this airline-Pacific Air-has anyone flow it? Decent planes, TV screens on back of seats, on time? Thanks for your responses-Darla

Hi,
Coming to Australia in Feb! Have found cheap flight on Air Pacific-anyone flown that airline? Newer planes,screens on back of seats? Also I've heard that I can book cheap flights around Australia but I have to book while still in the States-any idea what airline and how much? Want to fly to Brisbane and Melboune from Sydney.Thanks so much for your help-Darla

We are arriving in Oct 2008 & still can't decide whether to hire a motorhome or a car & hotel. We know there are good & bad points to both. Motorhome - can unpack for whole trip, eat etc whenever want to but how easy is it to get supplies, go out to dinner etc? With car & hotel you live out the suitcase the whole trip but are central for eating & sightseeing in town. We have heard there is some hotel voucher scheme where you only have to book your room 24 hours in advance & so there is more flexibility with your itinerary. Does anyone know about this? Any advice greatly appreciated.

Hello,

I'm travelling to Lae soon to work for approx. 1 week and I was seeking advice on what not to do.
Is it safe to walk around during the day on your own? Will I be safe in my motel room a night? I've heard the yacht club is safe for a meal. I'm led to belive that the majority of population is friendly. If anyone can give some advice that would be appreciated.

Many thanks

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to get a bus from Uluru to Alice Springs (or vice versa), and where I would find such information? I have to go to a conference in Alice in July and was thinking of flying into Uluru beforehand.

Thanks in advance.

I was surprised to find we get a Saturday postal delivery in Wellington.
Does anyone know if post offices are open on Saturdays. Got something urgent to post and it would be a hassle to go out today and post it.

Thanks if you can help.

Hi,

I am going to rent a car this week-end to drive along the coast to Kiama, and drive in the Southern Highlands.
Is there any toll on the roads? What is the cost?
Is there any website that give the km, price of fuel and price of toll for a trip?
There is a good website, mappy.fr, in Europe, maybe there is something similar in Australia? I didn't find anything on whereis.

Thank you!!!

What is the cities/Place in Australia recommended for Free & Easy with Public Transport cos we cannot drive?? Need help !!

Hi,
In July/August I will travel from Cairns to Sydney in four weeks. The first days I would like to spend at Cape Tribulation and the last week at Sydney and Blue Mountains but I have not yet a route in between. Could you please give me some suggestions about must sees, hidden spots and don'ts ?
We like nature and cities very much with a short beach break but limited partying. However we don't only want to see tourists
Thank you very much!

Mark

We will be visiting Sydney in June, and we want to see Edward Scissorhands at the Opera Theatre. We want to be as flexible as possible, so we would prefer to buy tickets while we are there, but we don't want to risk being sold out. Any advice would be appreciated!

My bf and I are planning on staying in Sydney for an extra 3 days before driving up north towards Brisbane.

Are there any classified ad websites or any way in which we can contact some locals who have a room to rent out to a young Kiwi couple (Early thirties and mid twenties)for a few days.

Both love theatre and arts and would be keen to see some before we left to keep going north.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks very much.

Di and Dom

The Wellington Metlink site is quite good but i cannot find out where or how to buy a smartcard.

I have tried several corner stores and 24 hour convenience stores - no joy.

It is much cheaper to have a card and at the moment I have three 10 trip cards - for zones 1,2 and 3.

But like today I am going out to Eastbourne and that is zone 6 - which I would rarely go to so don't want to buy a 10 trip.

And how does a smart card work? Do you keep topping it up or what?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

A friend suggested that it is a good idea to stay overnight at a canal home in Mandurah to see the dolphins and also to drive towards Rockingham to swim with them.Is it worth doing? and would it be too cold to swim since we're going to be there end of May?

My husband and I are traveling to the area in August and are looking for advice on where to base ourselves. We want to travel out to the reef, to the Daintree Rainforest and Kuranda while in the area. We are in our mid-thirties so while we don't need to be in the centre of the action, we also are not interested in an area that is too laid back. Price also is an issue as we cannot be spending $200 + per night.
Which of the two locations makes for a better hub to base oursleves out of? We fly into and out of Cairns, but it seems as if Port Douglas is well connected with shuttles. Is this true?
Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hi,

I'm lucky enough to be travelling to NZ for 27 days total in Oct, arriving Auckland, departing Queenstown. The plan is to hire a car for the N island, then get a hop on / hop off bus for the S island.

My question is: would you split your time equally between the 2 islands? If not, what split would you recommend? I'm thinking 17 days on N, and 20 days on S seem reasonable.

Many thanks,
Aliki

Can anyone advise me on the quickest and safest route from launceston to cradle mountain? I notice there are a few ways of reaching there.
1. From deloraine to railton and sheffield
2. From deloraine to mole creek then on C137
3. From mole creek to liena on B12, then on C138 on Olivers Rd

Basically I'd like a route that's relatively easy to drive ie, without too many sharp turns) and a reasonably short driving distance.

Can anyone also advice me on the best way to swansea from lauceston?
1. Do I take A3 all the way (which is longer)
2. Or take midlands highway to campbell town and then B34 through lake leake?

Which way has the safest drive?

Thanks for your advice.

can some1 out there give me some useful info. regarding to the luggage storage area? as everybody info. I'm going to gold coast from Brisbane & will need to store my luggage for half day before leaving to the Movie World as I'll be taking the flight to Sydney on the same day.
1) is there any luggage storage area inside the gold coast airport?
2) any recommended luggage storage services near to the airport or movie world?
3) & finally, of course, what is charges for the services?

A MILLION thanks in advance for above matter...

Hi

We are arriving around midnight at Avalon airport and was after the approximate cost for 2 passengers with 2 bags to Flinders St.Train station. Thanks for your help.

Hi
Will be in Sydney next week on a week's training course. Wonder if anyone can recommend a factory outlet that is accessible to a non-driver?
Does it open til late?

Thanks much

Hey travelers!

I'm traveling over to Aussie later on in the year for a few weeks to go on a road trip around New South Wales and Queensland, and obviously will be wanting to use my phone from NZ (where I live).

At the moment I'm using Vodafone as my plan for my phone here, and a mate told me the other day that using a vodafone NZ mobile in Australia costs the same as in NZ. I've found their website and the offer of the thing at www.vodafone.co.nz/scary ...

What do the kiwis traveling over to Oz think? Have any Kiwis here used vodafone in Australia before?

Cheers!

Hi there,I am from China and will stay at Brisbane for work placement for one month(10 may -10 June).It's the first time be there and be by myself,so I would like travel around by hiring a car .Would you please give me some recommendations?Unfortunatly,I'm free only on the Weekends.
Thanks a lot.

Hi there :)

I have had a wee search but there is a bit of a mixed response on where to go shopping in Melbourne. So can anyone please help me out with this? We are going to be based in the Melbourne CBD. We won't be travelling out of Melbourne itself & won't be doing any long bus trips etc due to having a young baby with us & still trying to stick to "some sort of routine". It's going to be a bit of a laid back & much needed break. We have chosen to stay during the week but also over the weekend so we can be part of both on our stay.

Will we be satisfied with sticking within the CBD & pretty much walking most places?.. We will have a stroller for bubs :) It does sounds like the public transport is pretty damn good, from what I have been told on this site :)

Thanks

Hi - I am looking for a nice hotel, not too expensive, close to the Bluebridge Ferry for an 8am start, also local attractions.

We are keen to do the cable car. What else should we not miss, apart from Te Papa. We only have 2 days in Wellington.

Regards.

At $16 this seems quite expensive for a 20 minute journey to the city centre.I am travelling solo and wondered if there is a nearby station to the airport I can get to to make use of a Metlink daily pass ($6.50)which seems excellent value.Can anyone help?