Australia -- The land down under
In the past 15 years, we have visited Australia twice. I've only
scratched the surface of this huge continent, visiting mostly the east coast,
where most of the people live and where most people go. What most american's
don't immediately realize is that Australia is as large and varied as the
entire US, and trying to see it in 2 weeks or even a month is obviously impossible.
Getting there
Australia is about 8,000 miles from the west coast of the US and about the
same distance from most of Europe. Unless you are on a round the world
cruise, you will get there on a very long plane flight. The best advice for
such a flight is to try to find a way to fly business class. First class
isn't really a huge leap over business in comfort, but business is a big
leap from coach, and gives you at least some chance of getting some sleep.
From the US, you will probably depart LA or San Francisco late in the
evening and arrive in Australia very early in the morning a day and a half
later, after a 14 hour flight. (The international date line adds a
day.) Some folks advise trying to break up the flight with a stop in,
say, Hawaii, but I'm not sure this is wise. 14 hours, all at night
is enough to have a good meal, watch a movie, and still make a reasonable
stab at sleep, while on a shorter flight you will invariably not get enough
sleep. If you fly on a 747, try to fly on the upper deck. Only
20-30 seats plus the pilots and usually a lot of room on the sides for baggage.
Much less likely to be disturbed in the night than on the main deck
with 300+ people.
The time difference (7-9 hours from the west coast) will challenge you.
(Remember, most of australia is on Daylight time when we are on standard
and vice versa. Queensland doesn't change time). Best advice
is to dump those bags in the hotel when you arrive and plan to spend the
first day outside in the sun. After a long day out and an early night,
you will sleep and wake up more or less in the right time
Timing
Australian seasons are 6 months off set from the US, so if you go on a summer
vacation here, it's winter there. .Not a problem if you are visiting
the tropical north or the center, in fact it's an advantage. Winter
means cooler and drier, and avoids the potentially deadly stinging jellyfish
which inhabit the coastal beaches in the far north during the summer. Some
people try to combine Australia with New Zealand, since both are a long way
from home. This is really too much and the seasons are a problem since
New Zealand and far southern Australia have real winter, meaning unless
you are looking to ski you probably want to go in their summer, but winter
is a better season for the rest of Australia. The short days will surprise
you
Driving
Australia drives on the left side of the road, like the UK and a few other
places. This will be an adventure for most americans. While you
can avoid driving -- you can fly to most cities and resorts, and there is
some inter-city train service, if you want to go where you want when you want
there is no better way to do it. It's not too intimidating and you
will quickly adapt.
Right hand drive cars
If you have never driven a car built for the left side of the road, realize
that the drivers seat is on the right, putting you in the middle of the road
as in the US. I knew that, but I didn't know how the controls would
be laid out in the car. The pedals are in the car are in the same places
and order as in the US -- gas on the far right, brake left of that and clutch,
if you have one, on the left. All the hand controls, though, except
the starter key, are reversed. That means the right hand stalk on the
steering wheel controls the turn signals and lights, and the left side the
windsheild wipers/washer. Gear shift is on the left, with radio, heater and
other conveniences on the left in the center of the car. The thing you are
most likely to have trouble with is turning on your windsheild wipers
when you go to signal a turn. Locals say it's a sure way to spot an
American tourist. After driving that way for 2 weeks of course you
will do the same thing in your own car when you get home.
Manuevering isn't hard, though you will probably notice you have trouble
making tight corners and judging where the car turns so be careful and have
a passenger spot for you when parking. The problem is you are used to
sitting on the other side of the car and the turning radius you see is going
to be different. Left turns won't see that hard, but right turns may
surprise you. Be sure to pull onto the left side of the road when turning
right. They obviously are aware of the problem as you will find islands
with "keep left" signs everywhere (just like in Monty Python, except they
don't attack people :-)
Roads
You will notice the lanes are narrow in cities. Think of this before
renting something large. A Toyota Camry is a large car on the streets
of Sydney. The most notable feature of roads though is the rotaries
(or roundabouts as they call them). If you haven't encountered these
on the east coast of the US, what this means is that several roads meet in
a paved circle around a circular island. Just remember to turn left
into the roundabout, and that traffic in the roundabout has the right of way.
You will encounter these everywhere, even on high speed roads, and
often the turns are fairly sharp. Also watch out that if the circle
in the middle is small, cars from the roads to the right can enter the circle
very quickly and surprise you.
The most fundamental rule to remember is look to the right as you attempt
any maneuver. This applies to pedestrians as well as drivers.
Major roads are not unlike the US. Roads that are part of the National
Highway system will in general be good two lane roads, with stretches of divided
highway ("Motorway"), and lots of passing lanes in any section that has curves
or hills. Minor roads can be narrow. Speed limits are 100km/hour
on most country roads (62Mph), and 60km/hour in towns (40mph), with stretches
of 110km/hour (68) on motorways and good roads in unpopulated areas. Most
urban areas are bypassed on major highways, allowing you to avoid having
to navigate those narrow streets. (This isn't always true, though,
there is no effective way to go from the Sydney airport on the south side
of town to the pacific coast highway towards the north without a fair amount
of city streets). You can, though count on being able to make good
time on major roads and generally avoid city traffic. There are few
traffic lights for intersections, more for pedestrian crossings.
Many people will probably want to drive some or all of the distance from
Sydney to Cairns. This is about the same as the distance from Boston
to Miami. Most of the road is inland and not particularly scenic, but
it does give you access to many mountain parks and coastal towns and
beaches. From Sydney to Brisbane it's a mix of freeway and good two
lane road with passing lanes. The motorway continues about 100km north
of Brisbane, and from there north it's basically 2 lanes and there are long
stretches with little on them. Past Cairns to Port Douglas the road
is coastal, curvy, spectacular, slow, and dangerous. Much past there
and you need 4WD and lots of luck. Keep in mind that if you drive this route
south to north, especially in their winter, you will be driving into the sun
most of the time.
Passing is an interesting excercise since you are on the left side of the
road. The best way to pass is in the "overtaking lane" zones, which
are frequent in hilly or curvey areas but can be quite short. Keep left
in these areas if not passing. If you drive any distance, you will quickly
discover that the thing have trouble passing isn't the narrow little
microbus style vehicles common in NSW (which are easy), or the giant seemingly
overtall trucks (which keep reasonable speed), but the &*&*!
towed campers, or caravans as the aussies call them. These seem very
wide on narrow roads and you have to stay well back to be able to see enough
to pass. Whether by law or practice, they don't go faster than 80km/hour,
which seems very slow, and if you don't pass, people will pass you.
Traffic laws
Drivers with a valid license from an english speaking country are legal
to drive in Australia. Otherwise you need an international drivers permit,
easily obtainable proof that you can read roadsigns. (Check though with
your rental company to be sure of their requirements). New South Wales
(Sydney) uses radar equipped cameras to enforce speed limits and catch red
light runners. We noticed signs warning of the cameras in all areas where
we saw them, but don't bet on it. Most people don't speed. Queensland
also claims to use cameras though they are far less common.
Pedestrians have the right of way in crosswalks and everyone respects that.
They do not have the right of way elsewhere, so jaywalk at your own
peril.
We noticed that Australians don't really like anyone using their brights.
Our rental had lousy normal headlights, so I used them whenever I could,
but I'd be flashed at to turn them off even when the approach car was miles
away.
Australia has very tough drunk driving laws (.05% blood alcohol). They
also have "safety stops" where they stop cars at random and check alertness
and sobriety. Don't risk it.
Maps and Signs
Finding where you want to go can be a bit of a challenge. We hadn't
(Spring 2003) found a good internet map site. Some areas provided
reasonable maps, but many were not quite accurate. I suggest anyone
going buy good maps when they arrive. (The bookstores in the international
terminal in Sydney have excellent maps, unofortunately they are on the departure
level and few people arriving will notice them.
"official" road signs are pretty good and generally very readable even
at night, but one thing to note is that while many areas do have signs for
accomodations and attractions, theses are often well off the road, unlit,
and hard to read at night, which if you go during the Australian winter will
fall much sooner than you expect. My suggestion is make sure where
you are going before night falls because trying to figure it out in the dark
isn't much fun.
Some Places we have visited
Sydney
If you go, chances are you will come and go from Sydney. It's the largest
city and has plenty of interest. It's not particularly freindly to
cars, so plan on using Taxis, trains, busses, and Ferries. Circular
Quay is a good central location to be in, with a railroad station and the
main ferry terminal. Ferries can take you to the beaches as well as
the suburbs on both sides of the harbor. One interesting thing to do,
especially on that first day is the Taronga Zoo, which requires is sold as
a package -- Ferry ride, tramway to the top of the zoo, and admission. The
zoo has lots of Australian animals, The Ferry ride is always fun.
Harbor cruises are also nice. Adjacent to Circular Quay is the
Sydney Opera House, probably more startling when it was built than now that
there are many other unusually shaped buildings like this, but still interesting.
Tours need to be pre-arranged but you can walk around it and galk.
There is also a very nice botanic garden/park here. If you go
go early in the morning and watch the huge bats (fruit eating, don't worry)
settle down in the trees near the middle of the park.
The Rocks area near the bridge is a major tourist area, with historic buildings,
old pubs, and shops. The streets become a giant mall under tents on
the weekend, probably the largest assortment and best prices on souvenirs
of all sorts. Hotels in this area are quite expensive, but it is not
difficult to stay elsewhere and reach this area by taxi or train. (We
stayed in an airport hotel)
The Hunter Valley.
This is one of several wine producing regions and is set up for tourism like
the wine valleys of California. It's actually better -- like California
was years back, unspoiled and unhurried. Tastes are generous and we
never found a place that charged, so keep those drunk driving laws in mind
as you are touring. There is also a very nice cheese factory/shop in
Pokolbin. There are several golf courses and a few resorts in the Valley
as well. You could easily spend several days in this area.
EagleReach Resort
This is a very interesting wilderness resort on top of a ridge just north
of the Hunter Valley. Guests stay in log lodges and eat breakfast (and
dinner if you want) in a lodge house. The accomodations and food are
first rate, and the views are fantastic. There are lots of kangaroos
here so you will certainly see them. Also several hiking trails of
various lengths and difficulty as well as swimming, tennis, and other
activities. It's a long drive up from the Hunter Valley (about an hour
and a half, though the distance is quite short you have to go a long way
around the ridge), and the last few miles are basically a good paved 1-lane
road that switchbacks up the mountain. Don't do it after dark the first
time.
Gold Coast Area
This is the southernmost coast in Queensland, just wouth of Brisbane. The
Gold coast per-se is a beach area like Waikiki or Miami, complete with high
rise hotels and a casino. The beaches just to the south and north are
just about as nice but much less built up. There are lots of activities
here and some parks with waterfalls and trails in the mountains behind the
coast. We stayed in the Royal Pines, a golf resort back from the beach.
It was nice, not as crowded, and had 36 holes of golf. This resort
caters to Japanese visitors with a Japanese restaurant and bar in addition
to Australian options. It's a long way from anywhere else though so
if you don't have a car or don't want to drive it's hard to go elsewhere
for meals.
Another interesting thing to do here is the Carumban wildlife sanctuary at
the south end (Very near where route 1 splits with the Gold Coast highway
and becomes a motorway). This is a visitor participation zoo where
there are opportunities to interact with birds, kangaroos, koala's and other
wildlife. Wear clothing you wouldn't mind getting dirty. Come
early for the feeding of the Lorikeets,thousands of tropical parrots
that congregate in trees near the entrance waiting for staff and visitors
to hand feed them with bowls of a milky nectar. Walk in and they will
hand you a bowl and before you know it you have dozens of birds perching
on it, your arms, you head and everywhere else they can. The sanctuary
can easily take half a day or more.
Sunshine Coast
The Sunshine coast is just North of Brisbane, and less developed than the
Gold coast. Wide sand beaches, golf courses, and attractions of all
kinds. We liked the Novotel resort, which has a saltwater lagoon in
addition to ocean and riverside beaches, plus a golf course. There
are lots of options in this area as well though.
Queensland Islands
There are probably at least a dozen islands off the coast of Queensland with
resorts on them where one can stay or just go for a day. Some offer
close access to the Great Barrier Reef, others just a tropical get away.
Prices are high to outrageous for most (a couple offer camping, a real
bargain). By visiting an island you get away from the Jellyfish problem
on mainland beaches and gain better access to coral viewing and diving.
Most of the islands can be reached by boat or by small plane or helicopter,
a couple of scheduled flights. The flights are expensive, but keep
in mind that the boat trips can be long and some can be fairly rough, particularly
in areas where the island isn't protected by the barrier reef. Here
are some we visited in 2 trips.
Herron Island
This island is at the southern end of the reef, just barely in the tropics.
It is reached by boat or helicopter from Gladstone on the mainland.
This is a coral atoll, part of the barrier reef. Snorkeling and
diving are fantastic on the outer reef (outside the atoll), which requires
a short excursion boat from the island resort. You can also walk, wade
or swim, depending on the tide, in the lagoon, viewing coral and tidepools.
One end of the Island is a preserve and bird rookery (turtles use the
beaches in the Australian summer). The resort is run by the P&O
cruise ship company and all inclusive. When we visited, there were
a lot of international visitors here and at least half were there specifically
to dive. You can snorkel from the dive boats as well, and the view
is very good, a shear wall of coral reef dropping down hundreds of feet outside
the lagoon. The water can be a bit cold here in the winter so you will
likely need to rent/buy a wetsuit for warmth, especially outside the lagoon.
Lady Musgrove and Lady Elliot Islands in this area are basically similar
but have fewer and different visitor facilities.
Brampton Island
This is the southernmost of the Whitsunday islands, off Mackay. It's
a contential island about 700 feet tall and a national park. Thre are
nice trails around and up the island (about 10 km total) and many beaches
you can walk to in addition to those fronting the resort. The island
adjoins another uninhabited park island and you can walk between them at
low tide. (At high tide those sandbars are 12 feet underwater, so watch
the time!). The extreme tide range here guides water activities, with
swimming and boating at high tide, and at low tide walking on sandbars and
snorkeling in the reefs in the channel between the island. The resort
accomodations and food are first rate, again run by P&O. Most of
the visitors here were australians, and the resort caters to couples. They
have lots of activities, including tennis, a 6 hole pitch/putt golf course,
boats, hikes, and evening entertainment in the bar. The golf course
is basically closely mown tropical weeds, but where else do you get to play
through the kangaroos. The island has lots of colorful butterflies.
You can't easily get to the reef from here -- it's a plane ride to
anothe risland, then an hour on a boat, but the local reefs are as nice as
most in, say, Hawaii. A couple of cautions about the boat ride to the
island -- the dock is a bit hard to find (it goes from a marina, adjacent
to the Mackay Harbor, which isn't in Mackay but about 3 miles north accross
a river. The secon is that the ride can be quite rough. We were
warned of this by another couple boarding the boat in Mackay, and while the
outgoing ride was a little bumpy it didn't seem too bad. Coming back
we were in 6-8 foot waves in a relatively small boat and it was rough enough
that at least half the passengers got sick. I don't know how common
those conditions are.
Green Island
This is another Atoll on the reef near Cairns. It seemed a nice spot
(we visited only for the day), with an interesting reef, a wildlife park
on the island, and a nice resort. One potential problem though is that
it is accessible to day visitors, unlike most of the others, so you will
get crowds there.
You can, however catch boats going to the outer reef from there quite easily.
Cairns/Port Douglas
The Cairns and Port douglas area (actually about 40 miles of winding road
apart) is the base for rainforest and reef trips for most people. Cairnes
is a largish city with both commercial and resort development. It has
a boat harbor but no real beach, but it does have the best assortment of
shopping and dining in the area. Port Douglas is a much smaller town,
mostly resort development. It has both beaches and a harbor (though
the beach here has Jellyfish in the summer). In between are several
small beach developments including Palm Cove, where we stayed. This
was nice, somewhat isolated, with a nice beach and boardwalk and a few small
shops and restaurants along with condos and hotel rooms. A relaxing
kind of place, which Cairns really isn't. You can take reef trips from
Cairns, Port Douglas or Palm Cove with the greatest variety in Port Douglas
and Cairns.
The Great Barrier Reef
If you have been snorkeling or diving elsewhere and think you've seen it
all, don't miss this. It's like nothing else we have seen in many ways
(water clarity, variety of species, profusion of corals, etc.). The
reef stretches for a thousand miles along the coast, about 50-100 miles off
short, requiring a 2-3 hour boat trip to reach. There are some islands
that get you closer and a couple of operators of multi-day cruises in the
reef, but most people do day trips. The tour operators say the reef
is better the farther north you go (clearer water due to less development
and sediment washed into the rivers). There are many different operators
out of Cairns and Portdouglas
Quicksilver
This company has been at it for years and probably has the largest fleets.
The boats take you to platforms at the reef where you can snorkel,
dive, or take trips in their semi-submersibles (basically a boat with a glass
windowed hull where you view just under the water.) Their big boats
are the most stable and they have excellent food, but you don't get much
personalized attention on those tours.
Poseiden
This boat operates out of Port Douglas and is a smaller catamaran catering
to both divers and snorkelers. They tie up at various points along
the reef (3 different spots on a trip), so you get to see different parts
of the reef. It's a great place for learners because it isn't that
big. Introductory diving seemed inexpensive there compared to what
I remember, though we didn't try it (you aren't supposed to dive and then
fly the next day). Because it's a smaller boat, food is a bit less
lavish and the ride a little rougher, but not really bumpy.
Michaelmas Cay
Some of the operators go to this and other sand islands on the reef. This
was a very interesting trip because the island has nesting birds, and the
reef around the island is a bit different from the free standing reefs. We
saw lots of huge clams here.