Travelling to Australia - running suggestions, flies, and cell phones

In most parts of the world you get a cheap tent for 30$, naturally not a good tent but sufficient for days without stormy rain which I assume is not likely.

Here is one for 50 australian $ for insance (about 35 american?)

https://www.tentworld.com.au/buy-sale/oztrail-mozzie-dome-1-tent

"Fort" was in jest...)) ... to say that you need something that seals properly. It was an organized bus trip from Ayers to Alice. We didnt do the return trip as it was already long enough... and we flew from Alice to Cairns after that. We did use campsites that had some kind of heavy duty tents that you rent basically for the night and they seal completely. Unfortunately it was over 10 years ago and i dont remember names. But maybe you should contact directly campsites and see if they offer the same thing rather than renting the equipment yourself. Maybe a bit more expensive but worth imo and you can travel lighter.

For running in Cairns, there is a paved path along the water going north from downtown which goes for miles.

For Sydney, I second previous comments about running in the area near the opera house and adjoining parks.

I ran a couple of miles near Ayers Rock in February at noontime and was cooked alive. I should have passed on that workout.

Uluru has a trail that runs around the base of the rock - just under 10k. If you get up to watch the sunrise you can sneak in a run before it gets blistering hot. It's a beautiful run.

Cairns - as others have said there is a pathway along the waterfront. Saturday mornings there is a parkrun on this path.

Sydney - the waterfront is great but go early because it gets packed. Centennial Park is a great loop with tons of other runners. Bunch of pros even do their easies here.

running dirty wrote:

Not sure if sleeping without a tent is a good idea. Australia has a nice collection of the poisonous snakes in the world. But it probably will be the ants and flies who will eat you alive before the snakes will find you. Besides that I can't imagine it is a good idea to camp in the middle of the summer there.

As others said I would be careful with running in the outback. Getting lost and die of dehydration has happened before there.

Anyone going to Australia should read Bill Bryson's book "In a Sunburnt Country". Fabulous read!

sadfdfsfs wrote:

Who in their right mind would go to Australia?

You apparently have never been. The places I have been to have been awesome.

Why not go to France ?

did wrote: I've got swags reserved with my car rental...

Swags will do the job. Many will have a fly screen to cover the face.

Given that you won't be out there for months on end you could buy a really cheap tent. Brands like HI-COUNTRY do two-man tents for about $50 Australian dollars. They aren't very good but will probably last your holiday without breaking.

Both wombats and salt water crocodiles are known to break into tents for food. In the case of the crocodiles, the food is the people sleeping inside. So be careful if camping near rivers up north, and especially when near popular fishing spots.

Culture Runner wrote:

Why not go to France ?

Because he said he is flying to Australia. Don't make things more complicated than they actually are.

Watch for snakes. There are extremely poisonous ones all over the country, even in urban areas. Stay out of tall grass. Don't walk through sand dunes. Be aware.

I live near cairns.

Flies are not bad at night.

Mosquitoes are a big problem in wet bushy areas at cairns,

You could run 10 km or so at the beachfront in cairns, the goldsborough to babinda golds field track is a good off road place for a long run with top swimming areas without crocs.

Walsch's pyramid is a great mountain run/ walk, up to 922m high in 3 km. Great views all the way. Most other mountains in the area are overgrown rainforest jungle

I would definitely have a run in the red centre, just stay on a dirt road that doesn't have too many intersections or main track and early in the morning,

"Park runs"are popular in Australia, every Saturday at 7am,

Many thanks to all, I've read everything you've said even if I don't acknowledge it and I appreciate your thoughts and know my trip is going to be better b/c of it, particularly the runs in Sydney and Cairns

@KAV and the others chiming in about tents - understood, thanks again. If i can't get conclusive info from the campsites (they aren't the most responsive or completely clear, in some cases) I'll just buy a cheap tent in Alice Springs before we head out into the outback as a layer of protection against bugs and small pests (we won't be near crocs when we're camping).

@Neilll thanks for the Cairns info and the thought on the Red Centre. While in Cairns we won't have a car but I'm hopeful to figure out a way to get south of the city to explore some of the places you've mentioned.

I would certainly go to Vienna and Salzburg! Some great running trails towards the alps if you head that way.

Keep an eye on the weather. Australia is super hot right now. Record breaking heat. Tires are melting on roads.

Buy a cheap tent.

Sydney is one of the prettiest cities in the world. The entire east coast is gorgeous.

To close this out with a quick list of notes:

- Cairns - the esplanade is nice to run along and gets you 10-20 mins. Barlow Park has a 400m track that was unlocked and empty in the morning when I went there one day - very accessible. Also the paved path along Lily Creek was quite nice, and you can add on from that into Cairns Cemetery, Flecker Botanical Gardens, and MacDonnell Street Botanical Park - some paved, some cinder path, some steps/stairs but all around it was very nice running

- I didn't run in Uluru or Kings Canyon - It was (very) hot and sunny but early in the morning and after sunset it was not excessive. I certainly wasn't ready for the dryness (or heat) coming from winter in the NE USA. Running in Alice Springs was nice - the botanical gardens, Anzac Hill, and up and down the Todd River (and through the river, since it's a dry river bed)

- Sydney: Centennial Park is a must for anyone looking to run. The Royal Botanical Gardens is as well. Being able to run over the Harbor bridge is fantastic. I didn't run it - but the path from Bondi beach to Coogee beach would be awesome to run too.

You've convinced me. I ' m going there. Bless you my son.

I would not rely on buying a tent in Alice Springs. I have not been there but this is obviously in the middle of nowhere. Whatever you get there it will be expensive and not good. I would rather buy a nice little tent at REI or any other good camping gear retailer.

If you don't use it there you can use it somewhere else and the money is not wasted.

Also you don't want to use your precious time on the trip for running errands.

For example this one:

https://www.rei.com/product/110837/rei-co-op-passage-2-tent

Markus wrote:

But it would be nice if dumb questions would get the same treatment. And yes sometimes there are dumb questions. If I just want to know a answer I could google I actually should google it first and see what comes up.

Some posters are way too lazy ( and that is true not only for the LR forum).

Posters like you should be banned, on a permanent basis.

Backpacker wrote:

I would not rely on buying a tent in Alice Springs. I have not been there but this is obviously in the middle of nowhere. Whatever you get there it will be expensive and not good. I would rather buy a nice little tent at REI or any other good camping gear retailer.

If you don't use it there you can use it somewhere else and the money is not wasted.

Also you don't want to use your precious time on the trip for running errands.

Fwiw I bought a $50 AUD (~$35USD) tent from Desert Dwellers (local camping store in Alice Springs) and it worked perfectly for our needs. Alice Springs is a small enough town that you don't spend unnecessary time tracking things down but it's large enough to have all the modern conveniences. I had planned to leave behind / donate the tent but decided to keep it and bring it home since it was't a throwaway and it will remind me of the vacation.

The fact that the car rental company (which also advertised and rented camping gear) provided everything except a tent was odd. Based on my observations: no one sleeps outside without a tent.

@Pope Francis - it was an amazing trip. Not that anyone really needs a stranger's recommendation to go to Australia - but I would certainly recommend it.