Welcome to the TravelPod forums

[chrisw1885]

Hi,

Just to introduce myself, I'm Chris, 21 and live in West Yorkshire, England.
Love going away with my friends. Managed a few trips last year:
Riga, Latvia
Florida, America
Ibiza
Dublin, Ireland
and Bratislava, Slovakia

Only ever been for 2 weeks maximum, more holidays rather than 'travelling'.

Planning a trip to Australia in October this year for a month. Just hoping people can give us a bit of advice, of what to see and do whilst we are there.
We are visiting Bangkok en route and Singapore on way home. In Australia we will be visiting Sydney - Melbourne - Brisbane/Gold Coast - Cairns. All dates can be seen here: Australia Travel Dates

Any advice and experience much appreciated!

Cheers

Chris

[wakingdream]

Welcome to Travelpod Chris!

Your previous trips sound really interesting! Riga sounds cool.

I've not been to Oz, but have been through Bangkok several times and Singapore a few. There's loads to do in both cities. I've always liked Bangkok and love it's colourful variety, though I do have to admit any more then a few days and I'm ready to head out for some clean air! It's pretty easy to get around, there are loads of good places to stay and lots to bide your time with. The food is great and there are lots of interesting characters to meet.

Is there anything in particular you want to know? Or see?

[rbisset]

Just wondering why you're planning to spend so much time in Brisbane when Melbourne is infinitely nicer and has more to see/do etc. 4 days in Melbourne and 2 weeks in Brisbane doesn't seem like the right way round to me? Maybe you have a reason to spend most of your time there?

[chrisw1885]

Riga is a great city, probably my favourite that I've visited so far!
With regards to sights in Bangkok & Singapore - there's nothing we've planned to do yet and was looking for what people would recommend as their best as we have pretty limited time to squeeze things in!

Reason for 2 weeks in Brisbane is we're also going to Gold Coast area in this time, was planning on visiting Fraser Island, and lots of people have told us we'll like it there best. Also heard Melbourne is a lot like a European city, and we really want to get into the Ozzie spirit so to speak!

[chrisw1885]

Our flights between cities are actually already booked so won't be able to make the drives. We did consider driving a leg but due to time decided against it. Anyone got any good hostels to recommend where they;ve had a good time?

Cheers for replys guys!

[rbisset]

If you are trying to find the "ozzie" experience then the East Coast (Brisbane/Gold Coast/Fraser Isl/Airlie Beach etc) is not the place to go. I reckon you could go the whole 2 weeks there without meeting a single local as there are so many backpackers, mainly British and Irish!

I didn't meet a single Aussie in Sydney in the 10 days I spent there! I spoke to one on the phone but she was out of town so it didn't count!

If you're looking for a major pissup every night then East Coast is definitely the place

[ScottWoz]

Totally agree with Rich here. If it's something authentic you're after you might wanna think about avoiding the teenage tourist trap. What kind of Aussie experience/spirit are you looking for?

[chrisw1885]

to be fair, we love a good piss up which is why I think alot of people we've spoken to have suggested east coast. Were after doing lots of activity type/touisty things, been looking at white water rafting dayout from cairns and obviously theres scuba diving on the reef. wouldnt mind doing some surfing, i;ve heard gold coast is quite good for that? presuming we would be able to get some sort of lessons?

[rbisset]

If that's what you're after then the East Coast is where you need to be. Loads of surf camps in the Gold Coast area, White water rafting in Tully, Scuba and Sky Diving in Cairns etc. You'll find loads of flyers for all the activities in every hostel you visit and they are normally happy to arrange them for you.

The 3 main backpacker attractions in QLD are Jeep Safari's to Fraser Island, Sailing in the Whitsundays and diving in the Barrier Reef. In theory you could do all this easily in the time you have available.

Just remember that Aus is a huge place! Getting around by bus can be very expensive. Just for an example my bus from Cairns to Airlie Beach (Whitsundays) cost $111 and took 12 hours! A special backpacker ticket from Brisbane to Cairns will probably set you back between $250-300AU but there is normally loads of competition so search around. Plus you're flying to Cairns so I doubt you want this pass anyway.

Either way you'll have a brilliant time

[ScottWoz]

..that you will. Enjoy!

[chrisw1885]

thanks for info!
does anyone know of any good sites where I can find out more about fraser island? i'm told theres lot of stuff to do there, including rallying some 4x4s around on the sand etc
Cheers

[ScottWoz]

A couple more for you Chris. Check out Fraser Island for general info including whale watching, and Safari for 4wd hire..

[manya]

Hey I'm from oz but currently in Canada.

I went to Fraser Island a few years ago and it was one of the best places I've been to in Australia. Don't have any particular web sites for you, but one thing we did do which saved us max cash........... we hired our 4x4 in Brisbane and drove it up to Fraser and was so much cheaper than if you hire it on the island. I don't think you are actually supposed to do it - but we sort of went with the theory of they didn't ask, so we didn't tell!!

See how you get on - you know you can always get one on the island if this doesn't work out.

Have a great trip though - sounds fantastic!!

[ScottWoz]

That's a great tip manya, cheers. I think I'll be trying that one myself..

[chrisw1885]

thanks for the info guys, tip on renting the 4x4 sounds good! we'll definately be looking into doing that! whats the deal regards driving insurance over there? I've heard you dont actually need car insurance? but srely the rental companies will make you take out some sort of insurance?

cheers

[rbisset]

We bought our car and you get 3rd party insurance for nout In fact we hadn't even properly registered our vehicle until 5 months later when we came to sell it! Pretty hard when you need an address and you don't stay in 1 place long enough lol!

[ScottWoz]

Chris,

Insurance isn't compulsory in Australia, though fire and theft cover is highly recommended. You automatically get third party cover in with your registration, which covers the person not the vehicle. As you're looking to rent you'll get basic cover through the rental company with the option to upgrade to something more comprehensive..