planning a trip to australia (big read..)

[t-maxxracer32]

hey guys during the summer i am wanting to go somewhere fun and adventurous and after last years trip to europe i def want to go somewhere out of the US.

im thinking australia for a couple of reasons.
- if i moved anywhere other than the US it would be here\
- they speak english... i know some of you may wanna go to some crazy place where you dont know what they are saying but really... its kind of difficult
- ITS FREAKIN AUSTRALIA!!


ok so couple questions...

how would you guys reccomend doing this?
-full on all inclusive tour (most expensive)
-one of those types that give tours every day or other day... and you have lots of free time.
-trip where we fly there.. get a motel and car.. and have at it!


basically those 3 go from most expensive on top to cheapest on the bottom..

im thinking the bottom would be funnest because you do what you want when you want. you may not see as much but you will definetly see what would interest you.

where do you guys think i should go in australia? i really have not dont TOO much research. i think that when im there it would be cool to go to
New Zealand also since its pretty close .

i definetly want to check out sydney and its surroundings
the great barrier reed GO SNORKELING!! (scuba diving... if my mom was
certified)
brisbane
somewhere where theres kangaroos
what else?!?!



ok now for the biggest part........ money......


as some of you know my house got broken into and i got SO much stuff stolen. about 8 thousand worth my own hard earned money.. well after a couple months we finally got our insurance check in. i ended up with aproxx 7k. now most of the stuff i had i really didnt need it was just kind of luxary ($250 watch $250 sunaglasses $300 drill hundreds in shoes hundreds in quad racing helmets ETC) so after the money came i bought myself a bigole tv again and a ps3... left with roughly 4500 bucks.

i plan on buying a laptop with the money but i really dont NEED one so im not too sure.

anyways i think that i could get around 5k for this trip and its going to be just me and my mom. my dad doesnt really like doing adventurous things.. if i wanted to relax and hang out in the hotel id much prefer him but that is definetly not what i want.

did a real quick search through expedia and for my and my mom to fly out of pheonix, az and into sydney it would cost roughly 3k (that is including 7 nights of hotel stay..) that seems a bit cheap but again.. it was a real estimate.. may be more or less but id avg around 3k.

that would leave me with about 2k for everything else. lets say 5-750 for car, gas, etc. 4-500 in food (ill be taking my mom to nice restaurants). leaves me with like 1000 for the main part.. entertainment. snorkeling, snowboarding, hiking, seeing all the sites, plays or shows, etc.

i know i really have not looked into it much and i am VERY unprepared but it would not be untill around july- august when id want to go.

im really sorry for the massive read but this is kind of a big deal and i dont wanna talk to my mom about it.. lol.. just kinda wanna suprise her.

thanks SO MUCH for any help.!!!

[Overkill]

That would be a real nice surprise for your parents

Australia is a great place, lots of places to visit and wicked scenery, just one problem with Australia, it's full of Aussies jk

You can look into a trip here to New Zealand, it's also a great place to visit and at the moment with our dollar being pretty low against the green-back you can get quite alot of scenery for your dollar.

NZ pretty well much caters for the tourist and has townships set up specifically for them, Queenstown has everything from white water rafting, bungy jumping.......and lots more

Check out this site for more on our backyard

http://www.newzealand.com/travel/International/

[OZ-RUSTLER]

Why would you want to come down here for??? Just kidding.
I would go for the 'fly here and drive' option. I think we have the most amazing coastline in the world. I would suggest flying to Sydney and driving up north to Queensland 'cos of the time of the year you want to travel. Dont know where your from in the states, but Sydney gets pretty cool in winter(no snow ) and alot cooler in NZ (sorry Overkill).

Oh yeah New Zealand is full of Kiwi's Kidding

[t-maxxracer32]

il def have to check out the places you guys are talking about! thanks!

so during june-july-august australia is in the winter season? cause where im from june july august hits about 110-115 degrees =/.

[jhautz]

Southern hemisphere has opposite seasons. Santa comes in the middle of summer down there. LOL

The water spins backwards in the toilet too....

One of the things I was thinking what jhautz just said it will be winter when you are planning on going, and also the airfair will be a lot cheaper if you fly out of Canada (Vancouver BC) instead of the states, when I lived in Seattle a Indian guy I knew would fly to vist family in Australia and the Fiji Islands and he was going at least twice a year and that when he let me in on the secret

[Overkill]

Originally Posted by OZ-RUSTLER

. Dont know where your from in the states, but Sydney gets pretty cool in winter(no snow ) and alot cooler in NZ (sorry Overkill).

Yeah you will be coming in our winter, middle of our snow boarding season . Temps average 50 degrees F down here in Wellington during winter so it's not freezing . Places like Whakapapa ski-field, you can do a days skiiing and then 1/2 hour drive from the ski lift is Tokaanu hot pools (natural thermal pools) to soak your bones, honestly a great way to finish an awesome day on the powder.

My family has a batch (parents use it permantly) in Turangi which we use as a homebase for fishing in the season, boating in summer and skiing in winter, there is plenty of 4x4 tracks which we use aswell. You can do sooooo much in such short distance from each other.

If your parents really want to relax and you want to Suba, have you thought about places like the Cook Islands? There are real tourist places in those islands and are brilliant for relaxing, Rarotonga is meant to be awesome.

[t-maxxracer32]

Originally Posted by azjc

One of the things I was thinking what jhautz just said it will be winter when you are planning on going, and also the airfair will be a lot cheaper if you fly out of Canada (Vancouver BC) instead of the states, when I lived in Seattle a Indian guy I knew would fly to vist family in Australia and the Fiji Islands and he was going at least twice a year and that when he let me in on the secret

i would have to fly to canada though. i live way down in AZ so to drive to canada would be ridiculous.

thans for that info overkill. ill have to look into all of that!! im in a cross roads as to where i wanna go and what i want to do.

i know it would be smart to save the money and all but seriously.. who gets the oppurtunity to travelso young. i think it will be well worth it.

but anyways once i get some more info on what i wanna do then ill let you guys know the final details!!

gimme some more ideaS!

[rawfuls]

$3500 for a round trip.. right?

[MTBikerTim]

on that budget nz might be the better option. In australia it's a long way between the tourist spots, with a car and 7 days you would most likely see more blacktop then anything else. NZ there is a lot more stuff in a smaller area. If you do come to Aus I would recommend the Northern Territory and Queensland. That would be the right time of year to visit those places too I think.

[Overkill]

Originally Posted by MTBikerTim

on that budget nz might be the better option. In australia it's a long way between the tourist spots, with a car and 7 days you would most likely see more blacktop then anything else. NZ there is a lot more stuff in a smaller area.

100% agreed

You can pretty well park yourself in Taupo (central North Island) and do day trips to all the wicked tourist destinations in the area, from Snowboarding to Surfing, Hot-pools to Black Water Rafting and then try the Bungy Jumping