www.tripadvisor.com (forums, trip reviews)
www.frommers.com (e.g. Sydney: Goto Destinations-> Australia-> Sydney-> Attractions. The star rating is great helper in deciding.)
Frommer's Australia 2006 - Good
Lonely Planet Australia - Good
Frodor's Australia 2006 - OK. (Went to a highly rated club as per the book, only to realize that it had folded 3 years ago!)
Airline Booking
Quantas AirPass (+reasonable $$$ | +Web Itinerary Creator)
Hotel booking
http://hotelclub.net/
http://www.wotif.com/
- Sydney - Sheraton on the Park [5/5 | +Location | +Rooms | -$$$]
- Port Douglas - The Archipelago [4/5 | +$| +Location | +-Rooms]
- Uluru(Ayer's Rock) - Outback Pionner Lodge [3.5/5 | +$(relatively) | +-Room]
Sydney
- The Rocks Tour (5/5)
- Bridge Climb (5/5)
- Sydney Aquarium (4/5)
- Manly (by Ferry) (5/5)
- Blue Mountains
- Three Sisters (3/5 -Overrated)
- Jenolan Caves (5/5 +Oldest caves | +Tour | -Distance from Sydney)
- Daintree Rainforest 4WD Tour via Deluxe Safari (5/5)
- I tried to get on Tony's tours, but they didn't have room on a track I wanted, so we went with Deluxe Safaris which was recommended by Christel (owner/concierge). It was a good decision.
- Reef Tour (Snorkeling + Scuba Diving) on Calypso (5/5)
- Kuranda Scenic Railway (3/5) + Skyrail (5/5) + Breakfast with Birds (Rainforest Habitat) (5/5)
- 24 Hr Uluru Eco-Pass (inc. Sounds of Silence Dinner) (5/5)
- Includes rock base walk, airport roundtrip, Kata Tjuta sunset
- We pre-booked this a month before, as the Dinner is pretty popular
- 12 Apostles (5/5 +The route | -3hr drive from Melbun)
- Philip Island Penguin Parade (4/5 +Penguins | -No Photography)
- Ian Potter Center: NGVA (4/5)
- Melbourne Museum (4/5)
- Federation Sq (5/5 +Contemporary | +Location | +Museums/Galleries)
Sydney
Tetsuya's | 5/5 food | 5/5 service | $$$$$ | Australia finest | Amongst world's top
Conservatory@Sheraton | 4/5 food | 4/5 service | $$$
Zaaffran | 4/5 food | 3/5 service | $$$$
Aria's | 3.5/5 food | 4/5 service | $$$$$
Zinc@Manly Beach | 2/5 food | 2/5 service | $$$
Sailor's Thai | 5/5 food |5/5 service | $$$$
Port Douglas
Corner Pub | 1/5 food | N/A service | $$
On the Inlet | 4/5 food | 5/5 service | $$$$
Two Fish | 3/5 food | 4/5 service | $$$
Zinc@Port Douglas | 5/5 food | 4/5 service | $$$$
Uluru (Ayers Rock)
Sounds of Silence | 5/5 food | 5/5 service | $$$$$ | Dinner in the Desert
Geckos Cafe | 3.5/5 food | 4/5 service | $$$
Outback Pioneer | 3/5 food | 3/5 service | $$$
Melbourne
Cookies | 4/5 food | 4/5 service | $$$
Andrews Cafe@ Apollo Bay | 3/5 food | 3/5 service | $$
New Delhi Restaurant | 2/5 food | N/A service | $$
Domain Chandon | 2/5 food |4/5 service | $$$$
Sheni's Curry | 5/5 food | 4/5 service | $
Tramcar Restaurant | 3.5/5 food | 5/5 service | $$$$
Meccabah | 5/5 food | 5/5 service | $$$
Teppenyaki | 5/5 food | 5/5 service | $$$$
Thaila Thai | 3.5/5 food | 3/5 service| $$
Saganaki | 3.5/5 food | 3/5 service | $$$
Gear
Nikon D50 Body (5/5)
Got it at beachcamera.com. I got this superb camera in the remains of my budget after getting the lens below. Yes, that's right, I got the camera because of the lens. Earlier, I had given in to one of those D50 Nikon Kits at Costco, it was a good deal, but I grew out of the kit lenses quickly.
Nikon 18-200mm VR (5/5 | +Zoom | +Image Stabilization | +Optics | -Price | -Availability)
Got very lucky to get it from the guys at beachcamera.com. This lens is so crazy in demand, its out of stock in the physical, and the online world. And for a reason too -- this is most versatile, fast and brilliant lens I've ever used. (Disclaimer: I haven't used a lot of lenses :). But the pictures can speak for it.
Joby GorillaPod SLR
Got it in the local REI store. (4/5 | +flexible | +light | +strong | -big lenses might tip a bit)
Crumpler Sinking Barge Backpack [Laptop + SLR] (5/5 | +Strong | +Looks | +Versatile | +Comfortable | +Easy Camera Access | -Room for basic camera gear)
With all this photo gear and my laptop, the wires etc, I need a good bag to carry all of it. After much searching it came down to two backpacks: Tamrac Adventure 9 and the Crumpler Sinking Barge. I settled for the Crumpler for reasons give above. But, I wanted to see the bag, in person, to try it on etc. I looked around and the only place carring it was Glazer's Camera (Seattle). After trying it on in store, I loved it, it was as expected. But they didn't have the right color, so I ordered one from B&H.
Sample Pictures
Sydney
Uluru (Ayers Rock)
Port Douglas
Melbourne
6 comments:
Wow, that is a ton of good helpful information. Thanks for making it so easy to plan for our trip to Australia !... which I am sure would happen soon :)
that is a fantastic shot of the Yarra in Melbourne.
thanks for the link on tripadvisor!
Great report. We are planning similar trip in a couple of months. We are planning 5 nights in Sydney, 3 nights Ayers Rock, and 2 nights Melbourne. Is two full days too long at Ayers Rock? We'd like to see the rock, obviously, do the SOS dinner, and maybe a camel ride or something else.
Did you have a rental car anywhere, or did you exclusively take tours?
Only place we rented a car was in Sydney for a day for Blue Mountains/Jenolan Caves trip. Within Sydney, the transport is pretty good and its great place to walk around. On occasions, we just took a cab ride around as we were in Downtown, and renting a car full time didn't break even.
In Melbourne, we were staying with our friend, so he just drove us around. But I imagine having a car in Melbourne might be useful for driving on the Great Ocean Road (12 Apostles), to Philip Island (Penguin Parade) and some Winery in the Yarra Valley.
As for Port Douglas (4 days) and Uluru (2 days) the typical tours/sights like Reef/Daintree etc have hotel pickup included. Ditto for at the Rock. If you were staying like for a week anywhere, then a car might be useful so that you can explore the area at your own pace.
Skipped all that computalk which was all greek anyway and saw the lovely pictures. Great trip and I admire those who have a passport and are willing to travel and go through all those hassles. My journeys are more inwards nowdays which do not require any passport or visas. Great you could meet pista and gundu too. Maitha must have had a great time too. Shyamu Kaka
Shree this is awesome...once i start working I ll plan a holiday to OZ.In fact we can all plan another one and go to Gold Coast :-)
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