Herr Thanas goes to Australia (STRAYA)

[Thanas]

Alright. Next year, I will be visiting (with female company) the wonderful nation called Australia. The trip will take place from the second half of July all the way up into August, for a total of 5-6 weeks. We will be visiting Sidney. Other than that, nothing is set in stone right now as we just started planning.

So what are good destinations to visit in Australia? I would mostly be interested in places with high historical or cultural value (Sydney Opera House is already on top of the list).

Also, anybody want to meet up?

[Alyeska]

Man, I miss Australia. My parents took me down there back in 1993 or so (hard to remember the year after having been so long). Such a beautiful country. Primarily spent time in Sydney, driving to Brisbane on the inland side, and then driving back to Sydney on the coastal roads.

[StarSword]

Alright. Next year, I will be visiting (with female company) the wonderful nation called Australia. The trip will take place from the second half of July all the way up into August, for a total of 5-6 weeks. We will be visiting Sidney. Other than that, nothing is set in stone right now as we just started planning.

So what are good destinations to visit in Australia? I would mostly be interested in places with high historical or cultural value (Sydney Opera House is already on top of the list).

I lived in Oz from 1990 to 1993 (Dad got sent over there while he was in the Navy), and we've been back to visit friends twice. I mostly only know New South Wales (the state Sydney -- point of interest, it's spelled with a "y", not an "i" -- and the national capital Canberra are in).

In Sydney, the main attractions I remember off the top of my head are the Opera House (duh), the park it's located in, and the Coat Hanger (local slang for the Harbour Bridge). You might also want to check out the area around Bondi Beach.

If you head to Canberra, there's a couple of attractions on the highway from Sydney. There's at least one national park with a large population of gray kangaroos, but I can't remember the name because I'm terrible with names. You also might want to visit NASA's Canberra Space Center. And then there's the Big Merino, a giant concrete statue of a Merino ram.

In Canberra proper, the biggest attraction I can remember is the Parliament building.

You should also try and visit some of the vineyards.

A couple of transportation tips. Sydney has a great mass-transit system (mainly subways). When we visited the last time, we'd drive to a train station from our friends' house, then take the train into town. If you do drive, make sure you get a GPS, because Sydney's streets are as tangled as London's.

[Thanas]

Thanks for the suggestions, but:

You should also try and visit some of the vineyards.

No thanks. Been to France to do that already.

[loomer]

Canberra's actually in it's own little territory, not NSW.

Now as for places to visit, if you pass through the Northern Rivers you could try Byron Bay. Beautiful beaches, if a little too popular with the douchebag crowd.

[Modax]

There's also the harbour bridge, and the zoo. And outside of Sydney is the Blue Mountains region, which is really beautiful.

(I visited Sydney with my dad in 2002)

[weemadando]

Sydney is alright. As is Melbourne. Canberra can be OK too, but they're all lacking in a little individuality and culture being relatively new cities.

Spend a few days in Tasmania if you can - driving the East and West coasts can be pretty spectacular.

[Gandalf]

I've lived in Sydney for nearly fifteen years, and I never know what to recommend. The harbour is nice.

Also, anybody want to meet up?

I'm up for that.

[spaceviking]

My uncle lived in Perth for business, his advice stay away from Perth. Apparently it somehow both a hick filled backwater and terribly expensive.

[Stark]

Don't come to Brisbane. Horrible place.

It won't be the best time of year for it, but will do any islands or the reef? Australia's cities are pretty lame.

[Darth Fanboy]

A previous European tourist ended up in Sydney, Montana here in the US.

Don't be that guy.

[B5B7]

A must see in Canberra is the Australian War Museum. Each state has a tourist bureau that would be online so can check those (which I am sure you already knew that ).

[StarSword]

... and the zoo.

A must see in Canberra is the Australian War Museum. Each state has a tourist bureau that would be online so can check those (which I am sure you already knew that ).

Okay, so we've established that I can't remember squat.

[Stark]

Thread about Thanas' trip may not be about you.

[StarSword]

Thread about Thanas' trip may not be about you.

I'm just annoyed I didn't remember those. But point taken.

[The Big I]

My uncle lived in Perth for business, his advice stay away from Perth. Apparently it somehow both a hick filled backwater and terribly expensive.

Hey we are not all hicks in Perth , just because we like the banjo and don't leave the state very often doesn't make us hicks. That being said there aren't a lot of cultural things to do in Perth but if you enoy the outdoors stuff and don't enjoy shopping after 5pm then its nice enough. Ningaloo reef is really nice around the time your planning on going you can swim with the Whale Sharks and while your up there you can go to Karrajinni national park nice gorges which you can go for a swim and hike around.

[weemadando]

In terms of things to see in Melbourne, you're from Europe, so most of our art galleries and museums will be a lol. Melbourne Museum might provide some interesting bits of local history. I would definitely recommend checking out ACMI though - that's always an interesting excursion for an hour or so.

There's some interesting architectural bits and bobs, but nothing really astounding - a bit of classical revival here, a bit of neo gothic there and a little deco. Check out Eureka tower if you want to have a look around some horrible urban sprawl from a great height.

Go and marvel at the faux Swiss/German BS that is "The Cuckoo" etc up in The Dandenongs (not Dandenong, NEVER JUST DANDENONG - THESE ARE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS).

I mean, if you come to Melbourne I'm sure there's a few of us who'd been up for a meet, but short of wandering the city going: "well this place is kind of interesting" there's really no big features. Unless you like a massive broken down ferris wheel which buckled in our summer heat because they failed to account for the fact that temperatures get above 30.

BTW. You've chosen the right time to come to Australia. That time of year the tourist numbers are way down and you actually will get to enjoy the cities and sights a lot more.

In fact, fuck it - hit the outback. Spend a fortnight driving Adelaide - Darwin and marvel at the fucking bizarreness that you encounter.

[Stofsk]

A must see in Canberra is the Australian War Museum.

That would necessitate having to go to Canberra though.

[Korto]

If it were me, I'd be going down to Tas, but I can help thinking that beautiful mountainous alpine scenery and some chance of snow is probably something you can get a good dose of at home.
You already ruled out seeing vineyards, so I won't mention Newcastle. Frankly, I don't think we've got much else, unless you're really into coal-ship porn.
There's the Great Barrier Reef, of course. According to some bloke Garnaut who do a report on it, as long as we keep temperature rise from global warming to less than 2C, we have a 50% chance of keeping the thing (or something like that. Can't actually remember the numbers), so if you want to see it, I'd be quick, because the damn thing's a goner.
Also, inland. The dry heart and all that. Aboriginal cave art, Uluru, the Bungle Bungles, etc. The time you've picked is the middle of the Dry season, and apparently the best time to visit the North. As least the roads don't need a boating license.

If I can get the cossack and sidecar going by then, I'll give you and your lady a joyride.

[Gandalf]

You already ruled out seeing vineyards, so I won't mention Newcastle. Frankly, I don't think we've got much else, unless you're really into coal-ship porn.

What if he's into large collections of abandoned shop fronts?

Though out Wallsend way there's some nice swamp wetlands.

[JointStrikeFighter]

Great Barrier Reef

Its a shame that is already really suffered from general environmental factors since I was a kid (early 90s)

[Lusankya]

If you go to Adelaide, the South Australia museum has the world's largest collection of aboriginal artefacts. It was also the first completely planned British colony, so the character is somewhat different from other places. The architecture in the inner suburbs is also quite distinctive - plenty of old (by Australian standards, anyway) bluestone houses. If you walk through North Adelaide, lots of the houses have little plaques on the front saying how old they are and who built them. You can also get a booklet from tourist information centres that gives a list of free stuff (or nearly free stuff - it includes Port River dolphin tours which are about $3-4/person) available to do around town. While I'm certain that money isn't going to be that huge a concern for you, a lot of the free stuff is actually quite interesting, like free bike hire which you can use to cycle along the river from the hills to the beach (and elsewhere, though the river is the nicest place), or tours of the Masonic Lodge. Being Adelaide, there will probably be a festival of some kind or another on when you go there. There's always a festival.

Just stay away from the hills, because they're all vineyards (which you don't want to see) and German folk villages (which you probably already have around your way anyway).

One thing you could do is drive along the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne to Adelaide. The scenery along there is quite lovely, and during August you get humpbacked whales coming in very close to the coast. On the way, you could also go via Naracoorte, which has a very spectacular cave system. Nearby to Naracoorte is Mount Gambier, which has the Blue Lake, which is a stunning shade of blue, however I believe that you'll be going at the wrong time of year to get the best effect.

As you're coming into South Australia from the Great Ocean Road, you'll also be going past the Coorong, which is either a 100+km long/30m wide peninsula, or a 100+km long/30m wide lagoon - whichever way you want to look at it. There are a lot of birds in the region, and you'll also go through the traditional lands of the Ngarrindjeri people, who are the only aboriginal tribe within 200km of a capital city to have maintained their cultural traditions.

Oh, and get one of the people who like footy to meet up with you at am Australian rules football match. It's the only sport indiginous to Australia, and if you want to get a feel for the culture of Southern and Western Australia, it really is a must-see. The best place for the footy is Melbourne, since they usually have about five AFL matches every year, which will give you more choice about which match you visit. The crowd is also about 50% female, so your female company won't feel like they stick out or anything.

[Darth Tedious]

It's on the complete opposite side of the country, but I'd suggest the Pilbara and/or Kimberly regions in northern WA. Lots of native flora and fauna, and uniquely Australian landscape. If you like nature walking in gorges and such, I'd especially recommend the Kimberly.

The best place for the footy is Melbourne, since they usually have about five AFL matches every year

Things have really gone downhill since Victoria let the other states join the big league.
Come on, five??? I'm sure we get seven if you include the pre-season games and finals!

[The_Saint]

Note with irony that although it's the dry season in Northern Aus it'll be the wet (and cold) season in the South at that time of year.

Not that it's likely to be as cold (or possibly as wet) as your end of the earth but fair warning given if things seem a little odd. This is especially true if you like any kind of hiking and come to Tas, I can do without extra early morning calls to go find another lost tourist who didn't account for Tasmania's fickle weather.

Most Tasmanian touristy stuff happens in December/January anyway. Although there's plenty of things to do here any time of year. If you get here I'd be happy to take you to the Edge of the World in the Tarkine as the complete opposite type of wilderness to Western Australia's Pilbara region.

[Lusankya]

Things do get nicer once August hits, though. It should be alright weatherwise if you do the more northern parts of the holiday first, and then go south later.