Visiting Australia

I snorkeled in Australia back in July of 2000. It was very cold. I imagine, that it should be getting warmer now that it is August.

I went on a student trip though, so I only got to spend 3 days in Sydney. Darling Harbour is awesome, great aquarium there, good restaurants, and shopping. Unless you are right there, just take picks of the Opera House from the distance, unless you plan on attending a show that is. I hope you take the time to explore the city. I can't remember the name, but I know we went to a part of Sydney that was old, kind of like their village or something. I can't remember the name though. There were lots of little shops, small cafes and bars.


I only passed through Brisbane, don't know much about it.

 

Shouldn't be too cold to snorkel in Brisbane at the moment, the temp. is around the low 20's (celcius). Some attractions you have to visit: Sea World (see the Polar Bears), Dream World (Tower of Terror), Warner Bros. Movie World (Police Academy Stunt Show), Big Pineapple (just for the great fruit). There are plenty of restaurants in Brisbane, lots of open air malls to choose from which is nice. Check out: www.brisbane.com.au for more info.


Sydney...haven't been there for ages. But if I were to go now, I'd probably climb the Harbour Bridge (great view from the top, I've heard), do the Opera House Tour, visit Fox Studios, and go to Taronga Park Zoo. I've heard the zoo is excellent (not as good as Melbourne Zoo though ). Go to www.sydney.com.au for restaurants and other stuff.


Why aren't you coming down to Melbourne, or visiting Smeg in Adelaide?

 

tolne - sydney is cool, brisbane is very nice, but dude keep going north, try the daintree and the barrier reef they are amazing, Cairns is very cool.

blue mountains in sydney are worth checking and so i Bonid, plus the standard tourist place like the Harbour, Opera House, Harbour Bridge etc.

if you can't get that far north there is small rainforest within an hour of Brisbane, south i think, damn can't remember the name.

 

I believe the place you are talking about is called "The Rocks"... the most historical settlement in Sydney. Not too far away from the Opera House. A must for the first time visitors.

tolne57,

If you got more than 2 days in Sydney, besides the city tour (most of the attractions in sydney are actually in the CBD - darling harbour, operahouse, the rocks, botanic garden etc.) surely you would like to visit some of the beaches such as Bondi & Manly... lot's of people there during the weekends... there is a nice pedestrian walkway that links a number of east coast beaches from Bondi & Coogee, very nice views along the way... oh, and you can either take a ferry or train to the olympic park site (about 30mins from the city) & perhaps have a swim in the aquatic centre...it will be a good idea to get one of these travel passes for the trains, ferry & buses. They are not expensive if you are planning to travel some distance away from the city...

If you got more than 3 days in Sydney, umm... you might want to spend a day joining a tour to the Blue mountain, Canberra (the capital). Or if you like to have some good snorkling... Port Stephens is probably the place to go (& have some wines at hunters valley)... each takes 1 day, so you would have to decide yourself which one to go. There are a number of information centers in the city where you can get all the infos about these tours.

For Brisbane, besides the city tour & the places getsmartnow mentioned... it might be a good idea to spend sometime on the beaches along the gold coast (such as surfers paradise) or sunshine coast... a number of activities you can do there...

Have a nice trip!

 

Yes, I must also recommend the Blue Mountains. Go see the Three Sisters in Katoomba.

But you'd really be a lot better off visiting during summertime, and hit the beaches. Try Bondi beach in Sydney.

 

Does anyone have any info on Mackay, I will be there in a couple of weeks.