Travel Forum / Destinations / Australia and NZ / January 2004

I'm going in August to visit Alice and Uluru. I'd like to know which
hotels are the best and any recomendations.
Storyies about the place welcome.
Anyone went to the sounds of silence dinner ? How good is it ?

I'm NOT interested in joining any of the many (expensive) tours for
travelling around Fraser island, and it's not really a "must see"
place for me, even though it seems to be for everybody else, but it
would be fun to take the barge across, take a walk, then take the

Further to previous discussions here and elsewhere, it seems that several
rental companies provide the option of dropping the car at Wellington and
picking another one up on the other side, and vice versa, which would save
the ferry fee for the car.

My family and I are going to Australia this August. Finding travel
insurance is becoming a bit of a problem as we have pre-booked a hot air
balloon flight in Alice Springs. It seems that most insurers are not
interested in covering us for the duration of our trip because of this

What will the climate be for hiking this time of year? Are the interior
hikes out of the question? How about the coastal walk?

I'm planning to go to Barcaldine and Longreach in the not too distant
future, to see some of the "real" non-commercial, touristy Australia.
I'm in Noosa right now, so when I get to Rockhampton I plan to go to
Longreach and stay there for a little while, by train (it only goes

I've heard strange sounds coming from those small lizards you find on
the walls at night (geckos?) and was wondering when they actually make
sounds?
Is it when there are other geckos nearby, at random, or in other

I'm travelling around the east coast of Australia (just arrived at
Rainbow beach, north of Noosa) and know that your national day is just
around the corner (monday the 26th).
I'm wondering if it's a day of big celebrations and lots to see for a

Help Please,
Visiting Australia Melbourne, Sydney,
Adelaide & New Zealand (North Island) from
start of next week can some one give me phone

the US dollar has fallen compared to the AUD quite a bit ... any ideas on
when/if there'll be a recovery?
your thoughts are appreciated?!

Does anyone have any inside knowledge as to when either of these two are
announcing their next big sale?  I'm on their e-mail lists but am always
after a tip off, especially since my next trip will be during the ever
popular school holidays (do they even have decent sales during ...

Thinking of going to Cairns in May or June and maybe visiting Magnetic
Island for a few nights.
Can any one advise on train down and back  and cost also bus ?
Is it worth booking some where to stay on the island  or just find some

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Can anyone tell me the cheapest way to get 4 adults and two babies to Port
Douglas from Cairns airport?  Surely there's a local bus company etc that
DOESN'T charge $40pp!
An estimation of cost would be great.

as an alternative to flying are there ways to get down under by sea ... what
are the alternatives for this kind of travel from, say, north america?