# Thank you Aussie Tuggers



## Jwerking (Aug 4, 2007)

We completed our 4 week visit to OZ last weekend and had a wonderful vacation.  We lucked out with the weather - had almost perfect days with only one day of light sprinkles at night in Melbourne.  Just wanted to extend a personal thanks for all the advice and assistance provided by Chubby, Sage, and others - I could not have done it without all of you.  

We ended up doing the following after joining up with my daughter who had completed a semester abroad at the Uni of New South Wales:

1.  Three days in Sydney - did the typical sites of Darling Harbour and Circular Quay area with the Opera House and Hyde Park.  My girls did the Harbour Bridge Climb (very pricey), but my hubby and I were happy to walk across the bridge.  Enjoyed the ferry ride to Manly and walking in the area.   We stayed in the YOrk Apartments - right near the access road to Harbour Bridge - it was a great location- and the best customer service ever.  They checked our bags when we got there early in the morning and had them in our apt. when we returned that afternoon.  The apt was great - clean and newly refurbised - paid about $280 AU per night but it was a 2 br and 2 bath - so better than paying about the same for a hotel room. 

2.  Ten days in Queensland - 6 in Port Douglas, 2 in Trinity Beach, 1 night in Yungaburra in the Atherton Tablelands, and last night in Cairns.  

We loved Pt. Douglas - stated at Verandah Apt -nice apts and great customer service.  Sue was so helpful with advice and went out of her way to call various attractions to inquire whether we could cuddle a Koala. 

We enjoyed the Rainforest Habitat to feed kangaroos and have a photo opt with koalas - you can pet one and take a picture, but not allowed to hold them (be sure to do the breakfast or lunch buffet - best meal deal around for $10 per adult and it was okay food - includes great salad and friut bar). Also, loved the the drive to Daintree and Cape Tribulation - take a few of the boardway walks - it was great.  We did Kuranda - but I was not impressed -very touristy and expensive - do Daintree and Cap Trib instead.  

Loved our Great Barrier Reef snorkeling trip with Quicksilver Group on the Silversonic boat - which takes about 150 Max.  It was rough and was told that July is their windiest month.  I did use a patch for the first time since I really get seasick and it worked wonderfully - had no problems.  

The one day and night was all one needs for the Atherton Tablelands - we did spend the night in Yungabarra and was able to view one Platypus alond the Petersen Creek at dusk.  However, it is a very small town - so glad we were not there for more than one night.  

Did not like Cairns - as it was a big city and had no beach - it truly was a mud flat and all the tourist were at the man made lagoon/ pool.  Poor people if this was all their beach time.  

3.  Three days in Melbourne and three days doing the Great Ocean Road.

Stayed in the Quest Apt on Williams in Melbourne - the apt was fine and location okay - a deal when a 2 br was only $185 AU per night.  The free tourist bus stops right outside the door of the apt - whcih was great and really a nice benefit.  

We had great weather for our Great Ocean Road drive - we stayed in Lorne, Apollo Bay, and Warrnabool.  Spend too much time messing around in the beginning and had to really push it the last day to see the 12 Apostles from Apollo Bay to Warrnabool the last day - but it ended up being fine and was probably the right choice - just make sure to get an early start.  

We loved Lorne and did not much care for Apollo Bay.  Lorne had a lovely walk around the bay to a nice pier - very scenic and wish we had more time to spend there.  We also stayed at the most gorgeous apt in Lorne - called Duetto Apts - it was a 2 br townhouse and absolutely gorgeous - real luxury and almost brand new.  Had a beautiful view of the bay from the wall of windows with wrap around balcony.  I could have stayed there forever - thought I died and went to heaven.  

BTW, we did see the Koalas in the wild at Kenneth River as delineated in many tour books.  It was truly awesome to see so many in the trees.  However, stopping to see the kangaroos at Anglesea Golf Course was a bit of a waste of time.

4.  Last three days back in Sydney:

We did the Blue Mountains for 2 days - stayed in cottage called Aventine.  It was more tacky than quaint - but for $150 per night for a 3 br - it was an ok value.  While Echo Point and the 3 sisters was impressive - cannot say that I was impressed with Scenic World.  One day was more than enough.  It was not quite what I was expecting - so I would not highly recommend it.  


Overall comment about the roads and driving on the left:  Roads were generally wide enough.  But drive to Cap Trib was most challenging with some very narrow stretches on very hilly and curvy roads.  Also, parts of the Great Ocean Drive were also a bit nerve racking - but most of it was better than I had expected.  

The roads in Melbourne City are wider than Sydney.  A bit nerve racking driving in Sydney - as there was alot of traffic.  Would not dare drive in the CBD.  

Anyway, thanks to all, for all your help.  If any assistance is very needed in the STATes, please ask and if I can, I will surely return the favor. 

Joyce


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## chubby (Aug 5, 2007)

Hi Joyce
We glad you had a good time down under and the weather was kind to you and you had a good trip as you planed it well .Hope your girls do well out here 
If I had known when you was in Warrnambool we may have met as we live near there.


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## sage (Aug 5, 2007)

Joyce,
I'm so glad that you had such a fantastic time. 
I've been to most of the places you went but didn't know about some of the activities. Reflects the adage that you never see whats right under your nose.
It's so nice for Aussies to hear great feedback about our country.
As your daughter is at uni (& probably less likely to want to holiday with you in the future) I'm sure they are memories your family will cherish.
Gillian


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## Jwerking (Aug 5, 2007)

chubby said:


> Hi Joyce
> We glad you had a good time down under and the weather was kind to you and you had a good trip as you planed it well .Hope your girls do well out here
> If I had known when you was in Warrnambool we may have met as we live near there.



Hi Chubby:

We liked Warrnambool alot even though we only really spent the night.  Got there around 4 pm, but got up the next morning and took some time to walk around the trails by the water down by the breakwater and a bit beyond - nice views and very enjoyable.  Unfortunately, the whales had not made it to the area yet - one of the reasons we spent the night there - ah well cannot have everything.  I love walking by the sea and appreciate nice walkways instead of only walking on the sand - like in Apollo Bay.  However, we never made it to downtown Warrnambool - as we just ate dinner at the bistro at the resort.  Cannot remember the name of the resort, but right next to the new Mantra resort that they are building down by the water on the road beyond the nice park directly pass the Visitor Information Center.

Interesting, how you guys do not put central heat in your homes.  We were in a brand new 2 floor condo townhouse.  While there was reverse heater/ac in the LR - no heat at all in the upstairs BR - it was a bit nippy up there to say the least.  

Cannot believe that in a brand new lovely condo like this - that they would not at least put in a wall heater in the BRs - honestly, they are cheap in comparison to the costs of the building.  

The house my daughter stayed in while in Sydney - also had no heat.  The other kids had space heaters, but she opted not to purchase one for 1 or 2 months and had to dress warmly in the house.  Poor baby - such a hardship.  She also had a washer but no clothes dryer - thus had to hang her clothes outside to dry.  She has never done that in her short life either - LOL!

As you suggested, we did view one of the 2 br cabin units in a caravan park in Apollo Park - the unit we looked at was a bit tired and smelled like someone had cooked with a lot of grease the night before - so was not not very appealing.  They are rather tiny little things. 

Sorry we did not have an opportunity to meet - that would have been very nice.  Have you met any other Tuggers?  I did meet up with a few of the UK Tuggers while working there for 3 months - nice to meet others passionate about timesharing. 

Joyce


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## Sydney (Aug 5, 2007)

Joyce, your trip sounds fantastic. Glad you enjoyed it here.

Like Chubby, I would have been happy to meet you. We could have had a mini TUG gathering. We're currently in Melbourne for work but are from Sydney.

Some parts of Melbourne have really bad traffic. I'm glad you missde those parts.

It's interesting reading of your stay up north Qld as we've yet to go but plan to do so in the next couple of years.


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## CarolF (Aug 6, 2007)

Sydney said:


> It's interesting reading of your stay up north Qld as we've yet to go but plan to do so in the next couple of years.



Joyce
I also haven't been there (and many of the other places you visited) so I was pleased to hear about your vacation itinerary and also your thoughts on Aussie locations/tours and services/facilities.  I live in South Australia which is somewhat "off the beaten track" when it comes to OS tourist visits.  However, I am often asked by relatives OS for information, so it was great reading your post.  

I laughed when I read your comments about the lack of central heating and the routine for clothes washing.  For some reason we still build accommodation for hot/warm weather (and as you discovered it is not always hot or even warm).  I wonder if it is just a hang-over from our early settlers who were mostly from England and compared to England it _is_ hot/warm here.  Old habits die hard I guess.  Your daughter must be finding it quite a culture change.


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## Jwerking (Aug 12, 2007)

Sydney said:


> Joyce, your trip sounds fantastic. Glad you enjoyed it here.
> 
> Some parts of Melbourne have really bad traffic. I'm glad you missde those parts.
> 
> It's interesting reading of your stay up north Qld as we've yet to go but plan to do so in the next couple of years.



I am certain that traffic in any of the major cities is horrible during rush hour.  In Melbourne, we picked up the car from a downtown location on Sat. morning and left at 10 am - at which time traffic was already starting to increase.  A challenge in Melbourne and quite frightful was trying to figure out when to make the right turn from the far left lane versus the right lane - so we are glad that we only had to get out of the city and not really drive in the city.  

Luckily, we did not miss any of our turns on the way out of the city and got on the large motorway to Geelong without problem - thank goodness for small wonders.  Once out of the city - it was easy going and we returned the rental car to Melbourne AP with no little problems as we spent the evening before at an airport hotel.  

Just some comments about North Queensland.  Port Douglas did have a very wide beach and had a concession to rent beach chairs and umbrellas.  I think it was 20 AU dollars per day - whatever - nice chaise lounge and I did not have to sit in the sand and had shade when I wanted it.   

At Trinity Beach, the beach was fairly narrow and generally nonexistent during high tide.  No concession to rent chairs or umbrellas.  But we were able to hire beach chairs from the condo very cheaply at $1 to $2 per day per chair - but no umbrellas available .   But the condo rentals are about 1/3 cheaper at Trinity Beach versus Port Douglas ( the same is true in comparison to Palm Cove - which is further north but before the mountaineous road to Pt. Douglas).  At TRinity Beach, we did have a nice view of the ocean, even though the condo building was across the stree. 

At Pt. Douglas - none of the units - even those on the ESplande would have views of the ocean because the trees are generally in the way- thus not worth the extra $$$.

Joyce


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