Australia

Anyone been there of late?

I'm heading out there in May for a month, first trip back since 2007. If so, where did you go? What did you do? How did you find the prices? What/where did you particularly enjoy?

Looking forward to hearing from anyone that has been, whether recently or some time ago. Always interesting to hear of others experiences.

Cheers

i went to Canberra in 2010 and it was very nice, i would love to go back out there at some point in the future! i was there for 3 weeks.

Went there in 2007 and did all of the East coast from Cairns to Melbourne. Fantastic time. By far one of the best things I have ever done in my life was learning to Scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef, phenomenal.

I'm moving to Perth in October so will be back very shortly.

A mate of mine has moved to Perth recently, Trottb. Sure you'll love it.

What kind of activities did you get up to in Cairns, GBR aside? Was learning to dive expensive? I had banked on just opting for snorkelling on the reef.

Looking forward to what you got upto, particularly in Cairns/Whitsundays/Fraser Island if you visited each of those three?

Cheers

That was the main thing that I did in Cairns to be honest. I only stayed about 10 days. I was planning on going to Port Douglas which I had heard great things about but never got around to it. The course lasted 5 days, 2 classroom and pool/ 3 at sea, cost around 700AUD, I think. Great fun and would definitely recommend doing.

Whitsundays did a boat trip, for 3 days or so, that took us all around the islands, which was great fun. Should also add that it is a great little town and the pool area on the beach front was fantastic. Plenty of space and free to use BBQs.

Never went to Fraser Island, which I kind of regret, but everyone that I met raved about it. Seemed to be all about renting a jeep and going out exploring. One slightly daunting thing is that you are advised not to go anywhere near the ocean there as the waters are Tiger shark infested.

Where are you planning on going Fists and for how long?

I'm heading out there in May for one month, mate.

I'm not sure my budget will extend to a PADI course, unfortunately, but I imagine there is still plenty to see snorkelling?

Yeah I'd planned on doing a boat trip, do you remember the name of the company/boat you used?

I'm looking at being in the region for around 10 days, and currently thinking of 3 or so days around the Cape Tribulation/Daintree Rainforest area, 3 days around Port Douglas and 3 either in Cairns itself (including a day trip to Kuranda by rail) and the possibility of heading out to the Atherton Tablelands. I'll be doing all of this in a hire car.

My current plan is to meet my pal in Perth for a few days before heading up to Darwin to see Kakadu National Park. I'll then fly over to Cairns, before flying to Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays (I'll be staying at Airlie Beach, presumably this is the area you are talking about?). My girlfriend is meeting me in the Whitsundays as she can only make it out for a couple of weeks, and after there we are driving down to Fraser Island via Agnes Water/1770, ending up in Sydney after a flight from Hervey Bay.

I've been to Sydney before, but understandable she wants to see it given that it is her first time in Australia.

I'll try and rack my brains and think of it I'm sure I have it on the photos somewhere. I think the day trips snorkelling to the reef cost about $80 when I was there and you do get a full day.

Airlie beach is the one, a lot of live bands and good little bars. There is actually some fantastic snorkelling around the Whitsunday area. I saw loads doing that including turtles, octopus and loads of fish (obviously). Also do sky dives there, I don't know if that is anything you'd be interested in, which I imagine would be pretty spectacular.

Hopefully, I'll be able to tell you of some good things to do in Perth in a few months time.

Are you planning on staying in hostels or hotels?

In terms of snorkelling around the Whitsunday area, are you talking of just walking in to the sea with your snorkel on and immediately having the chance to spot things? Or are you talking more of snorkelling from boat tours?

Sounds great, either way.

Haha sky dives...really not sure. I imagine I'd love it once I was in freefall, but would I be able to get over the terror of being sat at the edge of a plane? I'll have to decide on a whim...

Planning to stay in hostels, mate. The prices are astronomical in general over there at the moment, so the only way I can get anywhere near a decent budget is to stay in hostels that are between $20-30 per night. Not that I mind, I'm sure I'll meet some great people by doing so.

Around that area most of the reefs seemed to start between 3 - 10 metres off of the beach in all of the places that we stoppped.

In Cairns there was a good hostel called Asylum (I don't know if it is still there). It wasn't the nicest (or cleanest) but the staff were really helpful, friendly and got everyone to interact extremely well. Should also add that hostels are definitely the way to go about it. I found them to be gold mines for information. They also know that you're more likely to be on a tighter budget so try to make things cheaper.

Would agree with the prices, particularly, with the exchange rate at the moment.

Cheers Trott, I'll take a look. Did you manage to head outside of Cairns whilst you were there or did the whole 10 days consist of staying in the one place?

All in the one place mate. One of the problems being that it was my first solo stop off and they really did make you feel welcome.

With the 5 day course, which was also very tiring, a couple of days settling in it all went by a bit quick, a lot of goon (you're in for a treat) was also consumed, which, didn't help matters. A lovely place Cairns itself but very small and not an amazing amount going on in the town.

I was travelling solo and met up with some a group of 3 other Irish lads who were getting a camper van. They had already arranged to going to Port Douglas/Cape Tribulation and it happened to be the time I was going to do my PADI. The reason why I missed out on it all.

I'll be glad if not a huge amount is going on, given the prices

Shame that you missed a trip up to that region, I'll certainly be looking to head out there, and as I said in an earlier post I'm contemplating a night or so in the Atherton Tablelands.

How annoying is it that I have a month and yet there are still so many places that I'd love to see but simply don't have time to!

I know what you mean. When you start off you think that a month is loads of time and it is nothing. It's a pain when you have to start deciding what you are going to miss. I imagine it's a little worse for you as well, seeing as the missus wants to see Sydney and stuff that you've seen before. Although, it's completely understandable.

Tell me about it. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to revisit Sydney as it is a fantastic city, but yeah I'd perhaps have spent the time somewhere new if she wasn't heading out to meet me.

Deciding what to miss is the hardest part of any trip, I hate it! It is just about doing sufficient research and planning in order to make the best of the time you've got.

I think there will always be some regrets in what you do though, as there is always the "what if" or you see someone elses photos that look better than yours. Did you go to the Blue Mountains when you were there? With all of the different trails something that could seem fresh.

Whereabouts in Perth are you staying?

Staying at my mates place, he is near the Swan river, that's all I know at the moment.

I didn't get out to the blue mountains last time, no, so I was planning to do so this time. Have you ever been out there?

Went to the Blue mountains for a day trip. Great trekking and scenery. Not sure how physically fit your missus is but some of the trekking is pretty intense but well worth it.

Would you say a day trip is sufficient, or would you look at staying over one night if you were in that position again?

Her fitness is ok, and she will be 24 at the time, so no excuses!

I would definitely consider a night over. It was a bit rushed doing it in a day, there is loads to do there, and we missed a fair bit.

I only mentioned that as a female friend I went with described herself as having OK fitness but really struggled at some points. I have a feeling her fitness was closer to poor though and there are plenty of rest points.

Was that a guided walk or did you do it off your own backs? I'm just thinking in terms of ease of self navigating and getting to some of the better spots on your own.

Ha, I'll be sure to get her in training beforehand!

Pretty much all on our own, we did get some guided parts when we were using the lifts. It is pretty well mapped out and sign posted throughout. Saying that, I would probably do a guided walk if I were to do it again.

Ok bud thanks for that. If the cost seems reasonable I'll look in to it.

Although your missus will probably want to go I wouldn't bother with Bondi beach as I found it to be a bit of a dump. There is a much nicer, less crowded beach, not too far away. The name escapes me at present, as soon as I think of it I'll let you know.

If I think of anything further I'll let you know, but, trying to rack my brains from 5 years ago is proving a little taxing.

Ha that's when I was in Sydney, 2007. I also visited Bondi, and wouldn't say it was a dump but it wasn't the pristine beach you'd imagine. Absolutely packed, though, and offered some fine viewing...if you know what I mean!!

Manly beach was very nice, perhaps that is the one you mean?

Probably didn't help much that it was a bit rainy and cloudy and reminded me of some dreary seaside town in the UK.

Definitely not Manly. Got a feeling it also started with a B.

Just googled it. It was Bronte.

Thanks, will check it out.

Ah, it was 40 degrees burning hot sunshine when I was there. It makes all the difference.

Yeah I can imagine it does. Just likely to always be a let down to most as it comes with such massive hype.

Fists,

PM me just before you leave and I'll take you and the missus to Bronte for breakfast. I go there (alternate between Manly and Bronte) every couple of weeks in spring-summer... less so in winter but it's still very nice even then, weather permitting.

I can also take you for a whirl up to Palm Beach (via Ku-ring-gai National Park) and come back via the Peninsula/Manly.

Also, if you're up for a few quiet ales or just a cafe somewhere... let me know mate. We can go to some less touristy hip suburbs if you want.

LB

That'd be fantastic, mate. Will certainly do so.

Thanks a lot.

What a thoroughly nice offer.

If you want to meet for beers in Perth also Fists I will be more than happy to participate. That's if you're not too busy with your mate.

Cheers Trott that'd be great. As you say it depends on what my mate has planned, but should there be scope to do so I'll be sure to drop you a message on here a day or so in advance.

Fists of Fury wrote:LB

That'd be fantastic, mate. Will certainly do so.

Thanks a lot.

Great. I'll PM you my contact details in late April. (noted in diary)

Cheers mate, nice one.

Fists of Fury wrote:I'm heading out there in May for one month, mate.

I'm not sure my budget will extend to a PADI course, unfortunately, but I imagine there is still plenty to see snorkelling?

Yeah I'd planned on doing a boat trip, do you remember the name of the company/boat you used?

I'm looking at being in the region for around 10 days, and currently thinking of 3 or so days around the Cape Tribulation/Daintree Rainforest area, 3 days around Port Douglas and 3 either in Cairns itself (including a day trip to Kuranda by rail) and the possibility of heading out to the Atherton Tablelands. I'll be doing all of this in a hire car.

My current plan is to meet my pal in Perth for a few days before heading up to Darwin to see Kakadu National Park. I'll then fly over to Cairns, before flying to Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays (I'll be staying at Airlie Beach, presumably this is the area you are talking about?). My girlfriend is meeting me in the Whitsundays as she can only make it out for a couple of weeks, and after there we are driving down to Fraser Island via Agnes Water/1770, ending up in Sydney after a flight from Hervey Bay.

I've been to Sydney before, but understandable she wants to see it given that it is her first time in Australia.

Bloody hell Fists. That's like going to Lisbon, then up to Edinburgh, then on to Stokholm before making your way to Istanbul!! (I'm talking distances, not cultural variety).

I did the same in '05 (except swapping Perth for Alice Springs/Uluru) and starting off in Melbourne. Spent all my times SCUBA diving in Cairns but my friends went to Cape Trib and spoke very highly of it. Whitsundays are simply stunning and Fraser Island is an absolute must since you'll be in that neck of the words (departures for 4x4 day trips and short (3 day) excursions from Rainbow Beach from memory). Can't say I was a massive fan of Sydney (no offence LB), but it does seem that you're either a Melbourne man or a Sydney man and I was very much the former.

Ha tell me about it, Tophat. Good job that there are reasonably priced internal flights, eh.

How did you find diving on the reef? I think I'm going to stick to snorkelling, but I imagine it should be great fun either way.

Any hints/tips that you remember that might come in handy in any of the places you visited? I've only been to Sydney and Melbourne previously.

As with most places Fists, where the diving is best so is the snorkelling. There's good snorkelling in the Whitsundays too, you can do it straight off the sail boat.

Personally I love diving (have clocked 100+ though haven't been for almost 2 yrs) and think it's amazing in every way. Snorkelling is pleasant, lovely even, and good for doing jointly with the missus as you can pop your heads up easily to have a quick natter about what funky fish you just spotted. But diving is something else. Should be able to do a course in about 4 days (it's not hard) therefore if you have the time and budget to cover it I'd highly recommend.

Tips wise, I'm not really sure. Other than 'what to do' (i.e. definitely 4x4 camping on Fraser) I don't think there was anything I thought after I left, "darn, wish I'd know about that before/earlier". Australia Zoos meant to be pants now, so maybe avoid that.......that's about all I've got!

My only concern is that a) it'll cost a fair bit and b) I may not have time. I'll probably only be in each area around Cairns for 3 days or so, and therefore won't have time to take part in a full course like you mention.

I've heard that some boat trips where you can snorkel offer a trial dive? Could be worth it just to get the experience of what diving is like, if that is correct.

Would you say that you see a great deal more by diving, or is all of the marine life generally viewable by snorkelling too?

Trial dives are good for experiencing the feel of diving but won't really offer you much more in terms of what you see, in my opinion.

Have you considered doing a course before you go? It costs about £400 in the UK so quite a bit but worth it and would give you a chance to have a look on the reef.

Here is the company that I learned to dive with. Cannot rate them highly enough.

http://www.prodivecairns.com/daytrips.html

Just had a look and their prices have gone up some...

Fists of Fury wrote:My only concern is that a) it'll cost a fair bit and b) I may not have time. I'll probably only be in each area around Cairns for 3 days or so, and therefore won't have time to take part in a full course like you mention.

I've heard that some boat trips where you can snorkel offer a trial dive? Could be worth it just to get the experience of what diving is like, if that is correct.

Would you say that you see a great deal more by diving, or is all of the marine life generally viewable by snorkelling too?

You see different things. In great snorkelling areas your eyes will still feast on reams of beautiful brightly coloured tropical fish (literally, like the set of Nemo!) but you won't get close to reefs enough to see all the weird little beauties like nudibranchs, seahorses/pipefish etc or the camoflaged crocodile fish, rock fish, scorpian fish etc. You'll almost certainly miss my favourite too - the lion fish. And, speaking of Nemo, they in habit the anenomes which are on the reef and whilst they can be found fairly shallow, you'll only see them snorkelling if you're willing to duck-dive, not from the surface. You'll miss the bigger fun stuff to like turtles and sharks

It is a unique experience though and most dive schools do let you do closely guarded/guided trial dives. These are probably your best bet (combined with snorkelling) as some people (and there is absolutely no rule of thumb) just can't aclimatise to SCUBA diving and it isn't for them. This way you get a taster but don't spend a load of cash or take up all your time (at least a day and a half are 'classroom' days which is a pretty crummy way to spend your holiday!!)

Trott, thanks for that. I would have expected prices to rise so that's no shock at least.

Tophat, I would have thought that sharks and turtles would have been near enough to the surface to view when snorkelling, particularly if you dive down a few feet (I prefer this as opposed to surface snorkelling)? Did you see anything particularly scary when out there? (I imagine the sight of a great white would make you jump a little..)

That's key for me - I don't really want to spend some time in a classroom whilst I'm there, and I don't really have £400 spare to learn before I go.

Haha no great whites - they tend to stick to the blue not the reefs. Plenty of reef sharks though (black tip, white tip, grey) which is pretty cool. I saw nurse sharks too which are big ugly buggers but I just don't think you'll see that kind of thing on a snorkelling site.

The problem is, snorkelling will either be off beaches/house reefs or via day boats which'll only travel 2-3 hours from land. When I dive I go on liveaboards for 3-7 days allowing you to get right out to the deeper reaches of reefs therefore I see greater variety, especially of the shy stuff (believe it or not sharks fall into that category!). Turtles, also, can be quite common for divers but rare for snorkellers.

The other advantage of liveaboards is NIGHT DIVES! Now THAT is some scary sh*t.....

That would creep me out big time, haha!

I guess I'm stuck unfortunately. Neither the money to learn in advance nor the time to do so when I'm out there. I'm sure I'll enjoy what I see, either way! As long as I see some cool fish, the odd shark etc I'll be happy!

Wouldhave to agree with TopHat. Night dives are awesome. Nothing scarier than seeing a sharks glowing eye pass in front of you. Also the different life you see at night is quite something.

The best way to see Lionfish too! They are semi-nocturnal, only really coming out at night, and use the beam of your torch to hunt. Therefore one minute you're very still and focussed on some little fishy that caught your eye, then BAM lionfish pounces and you had no idea it was even there!! Given they're deadly poisonous you'd rather know if they were

Went out for a shore night dive in Egypt a few years back with a couple of guys doing under-water nav training. We were knelt on the bottom, eyes focussed down as they took their compass barings, when someone dropped a torch, lit the whole place up and we suddenly realised we'd been surrounded by about a dozen lionfish! Christ we shot up quickly

I can remember seeing one during a morning dive in Oz. It just popped up right in front of us, the backwards panic paddle was used to great effect.

Haha! Just googled them, they look like right mean beasts! Presumably their spines are toxic, then?

They look fantastic, though. Would be good to see one.

Yeh, they're basically harmless but actually deadly poisonous. The spines, I believe, actually lay retracted flat to their back so they're not those 'fronds' you see in the pics. Most incidents occur when divers break basic safety rules like putting their feet/hands places without checking and end up standing on them or similar.

Bloody beautiful creatures tho.

Got back from Australia at the start of June - I did plenty which unfortunately I don't have the time to write up at the moment, but if anyone is planning on heading there and has any questions please feel free to ask.

Awesome trip.

Get any fishing in? Thought you were just going and was going to suggest you took a rod with you if you were planning on doing Fraser Island. Never fished there but had some great fishing at Coff's Harbour, Port Douglas and Magnetic Island. Didn't have a clue what I was doing but hooked some weird and wonderful things.