Author Topic: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread  (Read 87727 times)

Offline Dan

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #580 on: April 23, 2018, 01:26:01 PM »
You need a decent amount of time in CNS or HTI if you want to dive the GBR due to the 24 hour rule and probably not making a dive on your day of arrival either.
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Offline shauly

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #581 on: April 23, 2018, 01:42:31 PM »
You need a decent amount of time in CNS or HTI if you want to dive the GBR due to the 24 hour rule and probably not making a dive on your day of arrival either.

I'll have to look up this 24 hour rule. This whole trip happened pretty quickly, I found some EY F and spur of the moment decided to grab it.

I land in Sydney Tuesday morning and can tack on a QF leg to another city.

It seems like if I spend enough time in CNS to get the whole picture then I won't have enough time to get in GOR, since I want to leave Australia on Sunday or Monday to have enough time to visit an Asian city on the way to make it back to NY by Thursday.

So I guess the question is GBR or GOR? This will likely not be my only opportunity to visit Australia, and if I have a good enough time I may even come back in August on my way back to Israel.

Offline shauly

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #582 on: April 23, 2018, 01:44:37 PM »
I'd do another day on the GOR (2 total) over another day in Sydney. After all, one is nature and unique, one is just another city.

Maybe I could do GOR on Sunday and Monday and either end up at an airport Monday night or some time Tuesday, and have 3 days (including a bit extra from crossing the date line) to make it back to NY by Thursday.

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #583 on: April 23, 2018, 02:01:02 PM »
Maybe I could do GOR on Sunday and Monday and either end up at an airport Monday night or some time Tuesday, and have 3 days (including a bit extra from crossing the date line) to make it back to NY by Thursday.
You can. You probably won't regret taking your time on the GOR.

Offline shauly

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #584 on: April 23, 2018, 02:45:42 PM »
You can. You probably won't regret taking your time on the GOR.

Ok great. So it's it looks like I'll do Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in CNS for GBR. Thursday night to Melbourne. Sunday and Monday GOR (can we fit the Grampians into this?), and Tuesday leave Australia.

Offline shauly

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #585 on: April 24, 2018, 09:59:50 AM »
Is it even worth going to GBR if I'm not dive certified? I won't have enough time to get certified while there so it seems like I'd be limited to snorkeling.

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #586 on: April 24, 2018, 10:19:14 AM »
Is it even worth going to GBR if I'm not dive certified? I won't have enough time to get certified while there so it seems like I'd be limited to snorkeling.
I considered going despite the fact that I am not dive certified, I just decided not to because of the time of year it was (it was the beginning of Summer).

Offline Dan

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #587 on: April 24, 2018, 10:21:23 AM »
I'd assume that even a beginner's dive would be cool.
The timing is what you need to look into. Probably won't happen day of arrival and the next day could cause issues if you fly out within 24 hours of the end of your dive.

MEL=1 night
GOR=1-2 nights
Grampians=1-2 nights in addition to at least 1 night on GOR.
SYD=1-3 nights
CNS/HTI=2-3 nights
Tasmania cross-island drive=4-6 nights
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline shauly

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #588 on: April 24, 2018, 01:39:14 PM »
I considered going despite the fact that I am not dive certified, I just decided not to because of the time of year it was (it was the beginning of Summer).

I'll be there in June which is peak time.

I'd assume that even a beginner's dive would be cool.
The timing is what you need to look into. Probably won't happen day of arrival and the next day could cause issues if you fly out within 24 hours of the end of your dive.

MEL=1 night
GOR=1-2 nights
Grampians=1-2 nights in addition to at least 1 night on GOR.
SYD=1-3 nights
CNS/HTI=2-3 nights
Tasmania cross-island drive=4-6 nights

Thanks for all that info. I think I'm going to have to go back to Australia on my way back to Israel in August..

I think GBR is a do not miss for me. So if I arrive on Tuesday into CNS, dive Wednesday, and then by Thursday night I'll be ok to fly down to Melbourne.

Friday will for sure be Melbourne, since I'm there for shabbos.

I really think I'd rather do either GOR or Grampians than Sydney. Although I can really do both I think, Sunday Monday and Tuesday and then leave Australia Wednesday and still be back in NY by Thursday night.


Offline Dan

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #589 on: April 24, 2018, 01:42:47 PM »
You can theoretically start GOR on Sunday morning, one night in GOR, one night in Grampians, drive back for a flight on Tuesday night to SYD, depart SYD for NY on Thursday morning and arrive into NY Thursday afternoon.
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline shauly

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #590 on: April 24, 2018, 02:13:55 PM »
You can theoretically start GOR on Sunday morning, one night in GOR, one night in Grampians, drive back for a flight on Tuesday night to SYD, depart SYD for NY on Thursday morning and arrive into NY Thursday afternoon.

Hmm. I'm really tempted to do a stop somewhere in Asia on the way to NY, but probably makes the most sense to just do Sydney instead.

The issue is I haven't found anything I love back to the USA yet and will probably leave that until I'm actually in Australia. If SQ opens up I'll be going that way and it will take a lot longer to get there.

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #591 on: May 10, 2018, 01:55:51 AM »
So my itinerary is almost complete.

Depart TLV Sunday morning for AUH via AMM. Arrive in AUH at night. It's the last night of Eid Al-Fitr, so I'm not sure if we will be able to go to Sheik Zayed. In any event, we are spending the night in the Grand Hyatt, and then EY A380 F to SYD in the morning. AWe arrive into SYD early Tuesday, and then connect on QF A330 to MEL.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday will be a combination of GOR and Grampians. We rented an SUV for less than $100 for the 3 days. Friday and Saturday night will be for exploring whatever MEL has to offer.

Sunday morning, QF A330 to SYD with a few hours stop before continuing on to CNS. The direct to CNS wasn't available, and it was 29k BA for the stopover in business and $250 for the direct in economy. We should have enough time to leave the airport during our stop and maybe see a bit of Sydney.

Monday we will be diving in Port Douglas, and Tuesday we will see what else is in the area while we wait out the clock to be able to fly.

Tuesday evening we go back down to Sydney. Hopefully we will leave Sydney Wednesday night. I'm rooting for EK F but I think it's definitely a long shot.

I just need to firm up the exact itinerary on the GOR and the way home and we are good to go.

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #592 on: May 10, 2018, 09:29:31 AM »
So my itinerary is almost complete.

Depart TLV Sunday morning for AUH via AMM. Arrive in AUH at night. It's the last night of Eid Al-Fitr, so I'm not sure if we will be able to go to Sheik Zayed. In any event, we are spending the night in the Grand Hyatt, and then EY A380 F to SYD in the morning. AWe arrive into SYD early Tuesday, and then connect on QF A330 to MEL.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday will be a combination of GOR and Grampians. We rented an SUV for less than $100 for the 3 days. Friday and Saturday night will be for exploring whatever MEL has to offer.

Sunday morning, QF A330 to SYD with a few hours stop before continuing on to CNS. The direct to CNS wasn't available, and it was 29k BA for the stopover in business and $250 for the direct in economy. We should have enough time to leave the airport during our stop and maybe see a bit of Sydney.

Monday we will be diving in Port Douglas, and Tuesday we will see what else is in the area while we wait out the clock to be able to fly.

Tuesday evening we go back down to Sydney. Hopefully we will leave Sydney Wednesday night. I'm rooting for EK F but I think it's definitely a long shot.

I just need to firm up the exact itinerary on the GOR and the way home and we are good to go.
Nice. Glad you got it figured out.

Offline shauly

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #593 on: May 14, 2018, 10:17:21 AM »
It was pretty expensive, but we booked a private dive with Blue Dive for ~$375 USD each, and two nights at the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort Port Douglas for ~$170 USD per night. A rental car for the 2 days was about $50 USD for the smallest car.

Offline bb_sam

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #594 on: December 11, 2022, 02:53:47 PM »
Anyone with some more recent experiences in Cairns & Brisbane?  Trying to figure out kosher food options in both. Is it better to just bring pre-packed meals from Sydney prior to travelling to both places?

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #595 on: December 11, 2022, 03:08:44 PM »
Is it better to just bring pre-packed meals from Sydney prior to travelling to both places?
I'd assume so.
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Offline Gvann

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #596 on: December 11, 2022, 03:28:52 PM »
I'd assume so.

Coles in Sydney by the junction and Melbourne in the Jewish areas will have food from Lewis caterers for pretty cheap. In Sydney, good place to get fresh food would be pitamix. They’ll have chicken and stuff that you can package up. It’s a pita store that’s the best place in Sydney to get fresh food. They also do shabbos meals if you need for your hotel.

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #597 on: December 11, 2022, 05:51:33 PM »
Anyone with some more recent experiences in Cairns & Brisbane?  Trying to figure out kosher food options in both. Is it better to just bring pre-packed meals from Sydney prior to travelling to both places?
There was also a kosher bakery and small grocery store in Brisbane.

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #598 on: December 11, 2022, 07:43:16 PM »
There was also a kosher bakery and small grocery store in Brisbane.

If based on pre covid, I would highly highly recommend checking before you get there, because I was there this summer, although not in those places, and almost all the kosher information from Sydney before pandemic was different, most restaurants closed and some opened new, etc. just make sure because nothing from pre pandemic could be reliable in terms of kosher in Australia.

Offline lcm

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #599 on: December 12, 2022, 01:55:05 AM »
Anyone with some more recent experiences in Cairns & Brisbane?  Trying to figure out kosher food options in both. Is it better to just bring pre-packed meals from Sydney prior to travelling to both places?
Brisbane has a bit more of a Jewish community than cairns.
Chabad is present in both locations.
All the exclusively kosher things like milk and meat are brought in.
Not sure if stores carry them in either place - Brisbane has more of a chance.
There are a ton of kosher items (including pas yisroel baked goods) available in most supermarkets in Australia.
I would strongly suggest getting access to the kosher Australia app.