Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread

[steve2]

Any questions, just ask.

 heading Down 1st week of Aug, should the water be warm enough to go snokling out by the GBR?

 looking to hit CNS on Sun and back to SYD on Tues evening to catch my SYD-NY flight on Weds afternoon

 Shabbos in SYD by friends arriving Fri morn, no time for any SYD things but took it all in last yr

[moish]

nice report! what kind of sharks were the long ones?

[aussiebochur]

heading Down 1st week of Aug, should the water be warm enough to go snokling out by the GBR?

The average max temperature in August is 82°F with an average min temperature of 64°F. The water is normally warm year-round. Even if its a bit cold its worth it, the things you'll see are unbelievable.

[moish]

how does it compare to what is seen in sinai (sharm el sheikh)?

[damaxer91]

heading Down 1st week of Aug, should the water be warm enough to go snokling out by the GBR?

 looking to hit CNS on Sun and back to SYD on Tues evening to catch my SYD-NY flight on Weds afternoon

 Shabbos in SYD by friends arriving Fri morn, no time for any SYD things but took it all in last yr

You definitely can go snorkeling/diving in Cairns any time of the year. I did it in August off Hamilton Island in the Whitesundays  a couple of years back and it was great

[Smirk]

nice report! what kind of sharks were the long ones?

not sure

[moish]

im assuming NOT great whites though

[aussiebochur]

im assuming NOT great whites though

You can go diving with great whites. The catch is that you're inside a cage and they're outside.
During the regular diving sessions you don't want to come face to face with a great white.

[yudel]

I'll be in Sydney and then have a few extra days, would you recommend the GBR or New Zealand?

[aussiebochur]

I'll be in Sydney and then have a few extra days, would you recommend the GBR or New Zealand?

Do you like skiing or scuba diving?

[yudel]

Do you like skiing or scuba diving?

I guess I should have mentioned that I'll be with wife and baby so i'm looking for a beautiful/scenic spot with a nice place to stay and some low key outings (not a full day scuba trip but maybe a couple of hours of snorkeling).

Has anyone been to New Zealand?   

[steve2]

I guess I should have mentioned that I'll be with wife and baby so i'm looking for a beautiful/scenic spot with a nice place to stay and some low key outings (not a full day scuba trip but maybe a couple of hours of snorkeling).

Has anyone been to New Zealand?   

 a few nights in Aukland wanted to fly on the A380 and EK flys that route. I liked SYD much better and they are similiar in a number of ways. Bridge tours, ferries to islands. Theres a shul with a small grocery attached to it and a small cafe as well, thats it for food.

They say its best to go to the Southern Part alot of outdoor sports and parks dont know how good it will be with a baby or small kid in tow. Think extreme sports and thats NZ

[leibima]

I guess I should have mentioned that I'll be with wife and baby so i'm looking for a beautiful/scenic spot with a nice place to stay and some low key outings (not a full day scuba trip but maybe a couple of hours of snorkeling).

Has anyone been to New Zealand?   

Yes, I have been to Australia for a full year and went to New Zealand for a week while there. I loved it so much so I took my wife there on our honeymoon.
Waht would you like to know about New Zealand or Australia?

[moish]

ingy was there not too long ago. said milford sound was one of most beautiful places in world

[leibima]

I do not recommend new zealand with kids, at least not the south side which is all I've been to.

Yes, Milford Sound is one of the most beautiful places in the world. We were told that we must drive from Queenstown (which is the ski town) to Milford as it is one of the most beautiful drive in the world. We headed out (this was in August) and after a while it started snowing and got worse and worse. We came to a hill where a bunch of cars got stuck and my wife did not want us to drive anymore as it seemed way too dangerous.
I had been to Milford on a previous occasion and we got there via single engine plane from Queenstown which was almost the freakiest plane ride ever (possibly matching the short flight from st maarten to st barths). The flight is awesome, the scenery from the plane is breathtaking, we were snapping pics the whole way through. We then took a boat ride in Milford Sound.
There is a very cool speedboat ride near Queenstown in the canyons, very wild and very recommended (could not do it the second time since my wife was pregnant).
Let me know if you want more

[Eli]

Hey people...didn't want to start a whole new thread but I'll be heading to Australia/NZ BEZ"H in a few weeks and needed some advice.

Is there a Visa requirement? Continental tried to charge me $25 per pax for an ETA (Electronic Travel
Authority) but I figured they may be free on some website so if anyone can point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.

I'll be in Sydney for Shabbos (arriving at noon on Friday - hoping to rush to someone's house to stay for Shabbos) and then I'll be there the whole day Sunday and I leave Monday morning. I would love a recommendation on what to do if I'm only there on Sunday.

Monday I'll be heading to Christchurch NZ. I can leave SYD at 11am or 6pm - anyone care to comment on whether or not it's worth staying in Sydney for another half day?

I'll be in CHC until Thursday when I leave back to TLV. What's there to do in Christchurch? Do I really need 2 full days there in (their) winter? (Is there another thread on the forums for NZ? I probably should've checked).

Thanks everyone for the rec's.

[Eli]

To answer one of my own questions, if you are a resident of most normal countries, you can get an Australian Visa for AUD20 ($17.50 USD). If you hold a US or Canadian passport (and others, see website) you can do the whole process online. If you are a member of the EU, you can get an eVisitor Visa which is free and can be done online.

All the info is available here: http://www.immi.gov.au/e_visa/visitors.htm

[damaxer91]

Actually, Visas can be obtained free for established FT members:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/australia-new-zealand-south-pacific/682358-free-australian-eta-visa-application.html

They've done it for me in the past and I've been very satisfied

[damaxer91]

I do not recommend new zealand with kids, at least not the south side which is all I've been to.

Yes, Milford Sound is one of the most beautiful places in the world!

Agreed! Try and go if possible. I also did the Trans Alpine train which was beautiful

[steve2]

Actually, Visas can be obtained free for established FT members:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/australia-new-zealand-south-pacific/682358-free-australian-eta-visa-application.html

They've done it for me in the past and I've been very satisfied

 Although these guys will do it for $0 they do ask that instead that the person asking them to do it for them "Pay it Forward" = give the $ instead to some Charity. Most people tried to give the $$ to something in Australia. I gave my money to the friend I was staying by for Shabbos and asked that he in turn give to the local Tomche Shabbos or some other Zedaka locally

 So theres no way for these guys to  ever know if a person actually did give it away , I would suggest that if You use their services to in Fact give it to some Zedaka in SYD or MEL

 This year UA took care of it for me w/o it costing me anything