Going to Australia - What Should I Know?

Watch out for the kangaroos bounding through the streets in downtown Melbourne and Sydney. They have a fierce kick.

Go to a town called Byron Bay, place is badass. Good surfing, smaller town, hot girls, good nightlife.

Slang:

Root(ed)- Slang for having sex, "I rooted her last night." "Lets get our root on tonight" It can also mean extremely tired, "God, I'm f***in' rooted from that run this morning."

Abo- equivalent to american N word.

Any adjective+the word as- they don't like to finish similes. Just think of this as the ultimate form of anything.

Grog-liqour

Pissed-drunk

Piss-beer

arvo-afternoon

They use the word C*** very liberally, so don't be offended.

Well, Footy season is over so I'd say wait until May to go.

It also costs around 10 bucks to run a road race. Everything else will be expensive. Airplane bottle of Bundaberg Rum = $5

Qantas use to have a 'Visit Australia' pass which allowed you to purchase a number of domestic flights cheaply in conjunction with your international ticket. Domestic fares are quite high on a single purchse.

Plenty of places to run in all areas right out your door.

Melbourne favorites are anywhere along the Yarra River, Princes Park has plenty of runners.

Sydney along the waterfront, Centennial Park, the trail that connects the great beaches.

Have a great trip and adventure!

Unfortunately your trip won't be cheap. Last night was the first time since 1983 (when the Aussie Dollar was floated) that it reached parity with the US Dollar.

One place to go if you are in Cairns is Hartley's Croc Farm. Was up there a few weeks ago when doing some warm weather training for the Commonwealth Games and it was fantastic. Would go back to see it again.

If you want an experience, come to Melbourne on the weekend and head to the horse racing. Spring racing carnival is awesome and you will never see more hot chicks anywhere else in one place in your life.

Have fun.

10 days isn't long so you'll have to cram things in.

From Melbourne it is worth trying to tee up a trip down the Great Ocean Road out along the SW coast, pretty spectacular scenery. It will take up a couple of days however.

The Phillip Island Penguin Parade is another popular one with tourists. Closer to Melbourne. Also at Phillip Island is Seal Rocks, and some pretty wild beaches, Cape Woolamai is a serious surf beech and a run around the Cape is pretty special.

Weather should be warm by then so a trip down the Mornington Peninsula would offer some nice beeches. Sorrento, Portsea and the Cape Schank National Park are all worthwhile down the Peninsula. Visit the Point Nepean Park at the tip of the Peninsula. It's an old military base. Aussie PM Harold Holt drowned here, so watch yourself in the water.

Kangaroos, want to see them, come for an evening drive to my little town (Heathcote)an hour north of Melb. We actually have them bouncing around the main street most nights. Just try not to hit any when you're driving we lose hundreds to motorists around here.

Sydney, hate the place (born and bred in Melbourne, we all hate it.) Go to the Blue Mountains, Katoomba and Blackheath offer some wow scenery.

Barrier Reef, pretty self evident.

love OZ wrote:

go to cairns if you're going to the GBR. i went diving there last november. also, check out the "uncle brian's rainforest and waterfalls" tour. it's a full day but is probably the most fun single day i've had on a trip.

Yeah, CAIRNS! Great place to dive from GBR, you can also go on dives from nearby Port Douglas. Which is what I did, dove 3 times. Best experience ever. Also met some awesome Aussie women...went to a restaurant by myself after my friends headed home, and got invited into a birthday party full of Aussie air hostesses. Unbelievably fun time. Even more if I hadn't been engaged at the time!

Sydney is great, they have a tourism office down town that can help you find good cheap hostel lodging if you want.

Australia is set up for tourism, it is a major industry for them, and also because alot of people go there to travel for 6 months, because it is far away for most people, and it is a massive continent. 10 days almost is not enough. So yeah, FLY between destinations. Virgin Blue or Quantas are great. There are discount hotel booking services online, I forget the name, but google should yield some or try Yahoo search Australia/site.

And, they drive on the other side of the road from the other side of the car ;-)

KB Lager

also the age of consent is 16. you know, if youre into that

I had a similar situation as yours, only 9 days on the ground after allowing for all the flying. I'll agree with much of what has already been said.

If you're planning on GBR, limit yourself to Sydney and GBR as has already been suggested. I was staying near Brisbane and took a couple of day trips - one to Springbrook Rain Forest and one to Byron Bay with a weekend trip to GBR in between the two.

Flew to GBR on Virgin Airlines on a weekend, stayed in Cairns, but took a bus to Port Douglas and dove GBR there. The dive places recommended Port Douglas over Cairns and my traveling companion, who had already scuba'd at Cairns said PD was cooler from a diving perspective. Staying in Cairns was OK with a big bar and restaurant scene, but I kind of liked the way that PD looked - quieter, not as much of a scene, but that's just middle-aged me. 25 years ago, I'd have been all over Cairns.

Byron Bay is great. Take the hike from town up to the lighthouse and wander around or take a cab up and hike down. When you're hiking, take the dirt path through the woods instead of the roads...very cool. In town, have a beer and a baguette sandwich at the outside bar at the Byron Hotel. I didn't go to Fishheads because of some event going on there, but it looked like a cool place, too. The beach and the eye candy rocked the day I was there.

You do need the ETA electronic visa and it requires info off of your passport. I did it online and once I hit "submit", it took mere seconds to get approved. I think it costs $10-$20.

The exchange rate was somewhat favorable in 2007, and my credit card bills and ATM debit exchanges were less US than I had been charged Australian. Everything is expensive - stuff in the grocery/drug stores, restaurants, and liquor stores, so be prepared for that. At the time, I paid less retail for bottles of Australian wines in the eastern US than they cost me retail in Australia...go figure.

Anyway, that's what I've got. Enjoy every second; you're going to have a great time.

They speak English in Australia.

They don't carry guns and the're not frightened and suspicious of each other.

Ask if it's safe before you go swimming otherwise not much to worry about.

Hahahhahaha

Unholy Cumulus wrote:

From Wikipedia, the breeded of a blue ring octopus:

A male mates with a female by grabbing her mantle, which sometimes completely obscures the female's vision, then transferring sperm packets by inserting his hectocotylus into her mantle cavity over and over again. Mating continues until the female has had enough, and in at least one species the female has to remove the over-enthusiastic male by force. Males will attempt copulation with members of their own species regardless of sex or size, however interactions between males are most often shorter in duration and end with the mounting octopus withdrawing the hectocotylus without packet insertion or struggle.

stuck with match.com wrote:

Don't expect to see any stellar runners there. Mottram is done.

There are some awesome places to run...if in Sydney, check out along the bay of the Syndey Harbour...pretty sweet. Melbourne has like 38+k loop through the city and along the Yarra river that is 95% path--very sweet run. Cairns is beautiful and they have some sweet new condos on the beach that are relatively cheap. Unless you want a Vegas-style experience, resist staying in Surfer's Paradise. Surfers is entirely un-Australian. Also, about 2-3k out of Cairns there are some pretty sweet hilly roads through rainforest-like surroundings. Legs will burn, but there is a sweet lookout from the top!

Ayers Rock is sweet...Ularu. Be mindful of the aborigines as they worship it and don't take kindly to climbing it. But most do climb it.

And...the ultimate experience...is climbing Arapiles crag in Natimuk. Arapiles has an awesome sandstone face with over 2,000 climbs. If you go, stop in to the Climbing Co. and ask for Chris Peisker...dude's positive ape index is insane and he's got all the gear you'll need.

When out running and crossing streets, cars will be coming from the "wrong" direction.

definitely do the Great Ocean Road tour out of Melbourne if you can. Saw koalas, kangaroos (they aren't everywhere like you might think), took a tour through an awesome rain forest and the Twelve Apostles (the most breathtaking thing that I've ever seen). I've been to Brisbane, Canberra, Perth, Sydney and pretty much everywhere in between. I'd skip Ayers Rock. Seriously, it's a rock. Gorgeous scenery on the Great Ocean Road though.

We did a half day deep fishing tour from Brisbane, that was OK. Never did get up to the Great Barrier Reef.

Oh, and if you like strip clubs, hit the Men's Gallery on Little Bourke Street in Melbourne. Amazing girls that make American girls look like shit. All nude and you can drink all you want :)

I've been to Melbourne quite a few times. Here is what I can say, in no particular order...

Get your money in advance from a bank in the US, instead of paying a premium for exchange at an airport.

As far as the visa goes, just do it online through the official site. There is nothing to do once you have received confirmation.

I agree - Great Ocean Road is worth it. You can do a bus tour, rent a car, etc. It is about 4 hours to the 12 Apostles, so it can be done in one long day. Stop along some of the beachfront towns along the way. The drive is very cool - you go through all different types of environments to get there.

Catch a cricket or AFL game at the MCG. If possible, try to look up the rules beforehand so you can have an idea what is going on.

Get a meat pie from a good bakery. Baker's Delight is a good chain to get one from. You can also get a sausage roll or pasty or something like that, but the meat pie is king. I personally like the curry flavor.

Get some local junk food from a grocery store... Like Tim-Tams (which I did see in the US once), Arnott's shapes (or In-a-Biskets), and some Australian Cadbury chocoloate (different than US), and Violet Crumbles. Also try some cordial (note, you are supposed to dilute it, not drink it straight from concentrate). A Big M banana milk is always good.

Go shopping to get some Australian clothes (Jag, Country Road, Tarocash) at one of the outlet centers in town or a shopping mall (ie, Doncaster).

Have some kind of Peri-Peri chicken from Nando's.

You generally don't need to tip at hotels or restaurants.

The Queen's gardens are a nice place to run, or just visit in general.

For nice souvenirs at the best prices, go to the Queen's market. I think Sunday is the big day, but it may have another big day as well. There are some cool Australian made things there to buy (supposedly some seem Australian but are really made in Indonesia). Regardless, you can get some cool Aboriginal handicrafts and such.

There is a free trolley that takes you around the city, although walking is easy enough.

Avoid the locals. Some of them have shitty shady personalities.