Anyone from Australia??

[gcmarshall]

Hey guys,

Are any forum members from Australia? If so, please let me know via PM or reply to this thread. I am thinking about a trip "Down Under" with my son and want to ask a few simple questions. Such as, is it a bad idea to visit during the North American summer (July or August)?

GCMarshall

 

[davo]

G'day mate, how 'bout a coldie, eh?

Thought I would reply here instead of PM to give others a bit of heads up about life down under.

First off, no, we don't all go around talking like in the title. And second, we have all moved on from Croc Dundee.

Australia has a very diverse climate. July /august would be good for checking out the upper half of Oz, because the weather is moderately warm/beautiful. I usually head up to Coral Bay (definitly add to your list) in late May.

Here's a photo of Coral Bay

Usual haul of Red Emperor etc..

These snapper are nearly 1 meter long(BTW this IS IN THE OCEAN!!, not a fish tank)

You have to go through some desert to get to places like...

Dalhousi Springs. Awesome thermal springs at a constant 28 degrees. Air temp, -2 degrees

and Cooper river..

..some interesting moon rises..

..and if your really game you can tent in the snow( We were really under prepared for this part of the trip!!)

The lower part of Oz at that time is cooler and wetter with some snow on the east coast. Temp range in Western Australia is approx 0 - 18 degrees during this time.

 

[gcmarshall]

Davo,

Thanks for all the info and the great pictures. I am thinking about this trip as a father/son adventure. Since I am limited in travel times (can't miss Christmas with the family and can't take my son out of school), we may come in August.

The general plan is as follows: 2-3 days in Sydney, 1-2 days Adelaide/Kangaroo Island, 1-2 days Alice Springs/Ayers Rock, 3-4 days Cairns/Port Douglas.

We are still trying to decide if we are going. The hard part is it would only be my son and I (the other children are too young and, thus, my wife would stay behind with them). Not sure I can stand the thought of taking such a glorious trip w/o the whole family.

If we decide to go, I might pick your brain further, if that's OK with you.

 

[stratman]

Nice pics Davo, the one with the snapper reminds me of Bimini (small Bahamian island approx. 48 miles E of Miami.) I do my fishing there and the waters are crystalline.

 

[Tarub]

Davo,

Pretty cool picture there mate! Perth and Fremantle, Western Australia is my favorite place to visit during my 9 years in the US Navy. I've been there 5 times and I went to a lot of cool places there. I still cant forget the girl that I met in the town called Dianella. Nice people there and they treat really good. They showed us all this cool places and around town and cooked some food for us. I also been to Hobart, Tasmania - the summer capital and I really like it there too. Bad thing I did not see any Tasmanian devil.
I hope in the future I will visit Western Australia again.

 

[davo]

Davo,

Thanks for all the info and the great pictures. I am thinking about this trip as a father/son adventure. Since I am limited in travel times (can't miss Christmas with the family and can't take my son out of school), we may come in August.

The general plan is as follows: 2-3 days in Sydney, 1-2 days Adelaide/Kangaroo Island, 1-2 days Alice Springs/Ayers Rock, 3-4 days Cairns/Port Douglas.

We are still trying to decide if we are going. The hard part is it would only be my son and I (the other children are too young and, thus, my wife would stay behind with them). Not sure I can stand the thought of taking such a glorious trip w/o the whole family.

If we decide to go, I might pick your brain further, if that's OK with you.

No problem GCmarshall.

One thing I can suggest is don't worry about visiting any cities. Once your in the middle of them they are all the same, and it would be a waste of precious time.

Make Ayers Rock part of an of an over nighter if you really have to see it because even though it is a big rock, it is just a rock. You look at it, climb it, and thats about it.

Cairnes would be nice but can I reccomend you check out Broome?(Both would be better).

Things like Kakadu national park make you really appreciate the uniqueness of Australia.