Author Topic: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread  (Read 105118 times)

Offline Dan

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #300 on: November 06, 2014, 11:22:19 AM »
Na, its a beautiful area and Hayman Island has been redone as well

Need to go see the Great Barrier Reef if you go all the way put there and its a good jumping off point
What makes it better than Cairns?
It's very expensive to get from HTI to GBR as there's no competition.

Frankly I thought it felt cheesy with all of those golf carts running around everywhere. I mean it's a cute island, but not that nice and everything is expensive. Though the Qualia area of the island seemed really nice.  Was my biggest regret not springing for it when it was 50% off the lowest rate with that AMEX travel promo in 2010.

Instead I booked the YWCA HKG for 50% off  ::)
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g294217-d309407-r99694563-Garden_View_Hong_Kong-Hong_Kong.html
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Offline damaxer91

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #301 on: November 06, 2014, 11:31:15 AM »
What makes it better than Cairns?
It's very expensive to get from HTI to GBR as there's no competition.

Frankly I thought it felt cheesy with all of those golf carts running around everywhere. I mean it's a cute island, but not that nice and everything is expensive. Though the Qualia area of the island seemed really nice.  Was my biggest regret not springing for it when it was 50% off the lowest rate with that AMEX travel promo in 2010.

Instead I booked the YWCA HKG for 50% off  ::)
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g294217-d309407-r99694563-Garden_View_Hong_Kong-Hong_Kong.html

I'm not talking about actually needing to stay in Hamilton Island, just flying into there and seeing the area. The Whitsundays are unreal.

There are cheaper options to sleep in Airlie Beach

Other than the reef trips, Cairns is pretty bland and the hotels pretty average as well

Offline Dan

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #302 on: November 06, 2014, 11:33:00 AM »
I'm not talking about actually needing to stay in Hamilton Island, just flying into there and seeing the area. The Whitsundays are unreal.
But the primary way of seeing the Whitsundays are on booze cruises.
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Offline Moishebatchy

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #303 on: November 06, 2014, 11:36:27 AM »
Hmmmmm... I do confess, I would very much like to see the Great Barrier Reef. Now, how to work it in...  :-[

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #304 on: November 06, 2014, 11:36:51 AM »
Hmmmmm... I do confess, I would very much like to see the Great Barrier Reef. Now, how to work it in...  :-[
Add more time to the trip.
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Offline damaxer91

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #305 on: November 06, 2014, 11:52:52 AM »
But the primary way of seeing the Whitsundays are on booze cruises.

We did a private full day Barrier Reef and Whitsundays trip and it was $400 (without shopping around too much). Bet some of the tour operators at Airlie Beach have it much cheaper and considering the strond USD, its a great time to go

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #306 on: November 06, 2014, 11:57:50 AM »
We did a private full day Barrier Reef and Whitsundays trip and it was $400 (without shopping around too much). Bet some of the tour operators at Airlie Beach have it much cheaper and considering the strond USD, its a great time to go
Wow.
But that must not have been to the actual reef.  A public boat for 2 to the actual reef from HTI was more than that.
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Offline damaxer91

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #307 on: November 06, 2014, 12:16:58 PM »
Wow.
But that must not have been to the actual reef.  A public boat for 2 to the actual reef from HTI was more than that.

Was to the "Outer Reef".

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #308 on: November 06, 2014, 12:17:31 PM »
Was to the "Outer Reef".
Did you snorkel in it or just look?
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Offline damaxer91

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #309 on: November 06, 2014, 12:19:06 PM »
Did you snorkel in it or just look?

Snorkeled for about an hour till we saw sharks (Yes, I know that they aren't dangerous)

Offline Moishebatchy

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #310 on: November 06, 2014, 02:34:03 PM »
Add more time to the trip.

But it would cut significantly into my time at the previous and next continents on the trip. Ugh, decisions, decisions... am I gonna have to pull an AJK, and scrap and completely redo an entire 9-segment J/F itinerary just when it's more or less decided? >:D

Seriously, though... how much time to I have to add on to make this work? At this point, I'd be carving into valuable other parts of the trip (i.e. it's not like I can just leave home a few days earlier, or end the trip a few days later - I've stretched the available days to the max), so I'm looking to shift as little time as possible for this. But if a day or two makes enough of a difference, it may be worth it.

Is there whale watching down there, BTW? #RandomThought

Offline AJK

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #311 on: November 06, 2014, 03:02:11 PM »
am I gonna have to pull an AJK, and scrap and completely redo an entire 9-segment J/F itinerary just when it's more or less decided? >:D

 :o ??? :o
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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #312 on: November 06, 2014, 03:04:32 PM »
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Offline Dan

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #313 on: November 06, 2014, 03:05:59 PM »
And, oh lord, the whitsundays are on the ol' BL.
Just don't go there with a pregnant wife like I did.
But most of those pictures are more glamorous than it really is.

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #314 on: November 06, 2014, 03:06:40 PM »
Just don't go there with a pregnant wife like I did.

Lama?
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Offline Dan

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #315 on: November 06, 2014, 03:08:29 PM »
Lama?
Too sick for extended boat rides :P
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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #316 on: November 06, 2014, 03:10:56 PM »
Doesn't look like the water can even get choppy, let alone too choppy.

Any place to stay IN the whitsundays?
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Offline Dan

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #317 on: November 06, 2014, 03:34:52 PM »
Doesn't look like the water can even get choppy, let alone too choppy.

Any place to stay IN the whitsundays?
You have a lot to learn about pregnancy and kids padawan.

HTI is in the Whitsundays.  Rented a house there.
Tried chartering a boat from there and it was wayyyyyyyyyy beyond my budget.  Rented our own boat for a couple hours but I'm no captain and most of the time was spent getting the boat unstuck from places.

A public boat goes from HTI to the reef daily but it's 2 hours to get there each way and was $250/person.
« Last Edit: November 06, 2014, 03:38:54 PM by Dan »
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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #318 on: November 06, 2014, 03:46:02 PM »
You have a lot to learn about pregnancy and kids padawan.

HTI is in the Whitsundays.  Rented a house there.
Tried chartering a boat from there and it was wayyyyyyyyyy beyond my budget.  Rented our own boat for a couple hours but I'm no captain and most of the time was spent getting the boat unstuck from places.

A public boat goes from HTI to the reef daily but it's 2 hours to get there each way and was $250/person.

If Mrs. AJK sees this post, I'm done for.

So there is a main "reef" that people visit when going to whitsundays?

Frankly, I must see Whitehaven Beach before I die.
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Offline Dan

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Re: Australia (Besides Melbourne And Sydney) Master Thread
« Reply #319 on: November 06, 2014, 03:49:21 PM »
If Mrs. AJK sees this post, I'm done for.

So there is a main "reef" that people visit when going to whitsundays?

Frankly, I must see Whitehaven Beach before I die.
The main reef is a couple hours away.
To get a boat from HTI to Whitehaven would have been 4 figures.  No beach is worth that.
A big public boat went there once a day, but we weren't interested in that.

Probably the way to do it is as Damax said, from Airlie Beach, not from HTI.
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