I decided to still rest up today, but I’ll be back Monday with the next part to IMW: Aw, Hell. Also, I’m having my crack research staff look into the Minority Leader, Harry Reid. Plus, the whole IMAO gang has a number of different projects brewing.
Now, some blegging. The wedding will probably be in December, and we’re thinking of honeymooning in Australia. Any tips on how to make a good vacation packages and any info from some locals? All help will be appreciated.
First! Woo hoo!
Hey Frank, Congrats on getting hitched. I’ve been to Oz, and I have some recos for you. Cairns up north is a great launcing point to the barrier reef. Some of the best snorkling and diving in the world. You can also go rafting in the rain forest there. The water is so clean you can reach you hand in and drink. I highly recommend you do both.
Go to Sydney if you want to go to a big city. Sydney has a LA vibe while Melbourne is more like NYC. The city beaches are great everywhere.
By the way how can you live and in Melbourne, FL and not surf? Drop the joystick and grab a board.
I would avoid Ayers rock in the Oz Summer, you’ll be covered in flies 24-7. Unless, you’re into that kinda of stuff.
I heard Frasier Island is a tropical paradise, so that might be a nice place for a honeymoon.
The people everywhere are great, except they talk with funny accents, and pee into troughs and walls.
If you have any questions let me know.
Australia?!? No Frank, NOT Australia… I mean it’s up to you two but I STRONGLY ADVISE AGAINST IT!!!
If you do decide to go, bring lots of ‘camping’ gear… Tomahawks and the like [make sure they still let you bring those]… You may need it. Just keep in mind you’ll need to train with it, you won’t have your guns and swords are illegal too, so this ‘camping hatchet’ is about all you’ll have a chance to bring.
plus they talk sorta funny.
Harry Reid is a Mormon from Nevada and even other Mormons from Nevada (like me) don’t like him.
I recommend watching the Steve Irwin for awhile so you know how to wrestle and pet the animals you come in contact with … and say Criickey! alot so the Aussie’s don’t think your a tourist.
I’ve been to Oz, and have a friend who’s lived there a couple years. aric has some good advice. I’ve also heard that Tasmania is quite nice. Fly Qantas. They’re quite good, and if I recall correctly they have a thing called a “boomerang pass”. It would let you visit several cities relatively cheaply. Also, you may want to get a rail pass. You can get one that covers all you can ride for the whole country, which is pretty handy. I’ve only been to the eastern coast, and pretty much all of that is nice, but I’ve also heard good things about Adelaide and Perth.
Been a bridesmaid four (or five?) times. If you’re going on a major-long-flying honeymoon, spend a day or two at a nice hotel in Florida or some other near place, rest up from the wedding, and then go on the honeymoon. Otherwise, there’s…stress.
Listen to Deon on the ‘spend a day or two before flying out of town’ bit. Serious stress will ensue if you try to make it from the reception to the airport without at least twelve hours of down time.
I’ll look into trip plans if someone doesn’t come up with a good idea while I’m out of touch this weekend.
I lived ‘down under’ about 20 years ago. YES on taking a break between wedding & Aussieland. I’d advise a 2-3 day layover in Hawaii (seriously, jet lag is a DRAG), and then onward. (Come straight back, the honeymoon’s over, back to work, etc., you might as well be jet-lagged. It’ll be a good excuse for being bummed to be back home! ;o)
Quantas has some packages that are worth looking into. Go with multiple stops via air. FORGET A RAILPASS unless you plan to spend 6 months there. There is absolutely NOTHING to see between the cities on the coast and Ayres Rock. You’d spend three days on the train to go to Perth or Darwin from Sydney and think you were in the panhandle of Texas the whole way. Except there’s no buildings. For hours. And hours. Fly.
Also bring lots of money!!! Aussies love Americans when they have lots of money to spend. Tipping isn’t popular there, so do it. You’ll get the best service ever!
Since it’s been 20 years since I was there, maybe they’ve progressed, but I found the culture to be quite macho. Opinionated females were a rarity when I was there. I was always getting into trouble! ;oD
I lived on the coast near Adelaide. There’s some great wineries there with tours, etc.
If you’re going in Dec., Queensland (Great Barrier Reef) is cooking! The hottest time of the year there, and it’s a tropical zone to start with. The hottest day I was in Australia was Christmas Eve day, on the southern coast (opposite from this side of the equator: farther south = cooler), it was 104 F, and humid (very unusual).
I wish I could have spent time in Sydney, and Melbourne. I always wanted to go to New Zealand, but it’s an 8 hour flight from Sydney.
Enough babbbbbbbling.
Have a GREAT time!
Be careful about Ayers rock if you climb it. A lot of people have died there, mostly because they’d go after their cameras in the deep crevices and wouldn’t be able to get out. It’s also very windy. Unless its a dream of yours, don’t go near it at all.
One other thing you might want to remember about Ayers Rock. It’s a very sacred place to the aborigines, so look but don’t climb or bring home a “souvenir rock”.
Those who have recommended a day or two wait after wedding before going on official honeymoon are right on the mark. It’d be major havoc if you had to defend your wife’s honor from ninja monkeys and were too pooped to bop one.
Be careful about tipping at some restaurants though, as they might have in small letter (Gratuity Included)
I can suggest my favorite spot as Mooloolaba by Maroochador (sp)
Great place, nice locale
Frank and Sarah,
It would be great if you came to Oz for your honeymoon – you could see the real Melbourne!
Australia has it all, so it depends on what you want to see. I presume that you can do lots of reefs, diving surfing and such in Florida – so the usual Queensland haunts may not appeal that much. After driving through Texas, you may have also seen enough MAMOSA (Miles and miles of stuff all), so the outback may not appeal. We have great forests (both rain and temperate), lovely little towns, some low grade mountains etc. But we do speak a sort of English. Don’t say crikey much though, or they will think that you are a tosser like Steve.
Let me know what you would be interested in seeing or doing, and I will chase it up for you.
P.S. Australia is as big as the US, with 20M people, so we are pretty spread out. Just to give you the idea, it goes like this:
Perth – 2500 miles – Adelaide – 500 miles – Melbourne – 500 miles – Sydney -500 miles – Brisbane -1000 miles – Cairns. One of my friends came out here and was going to drive between the east coast capitals, but that takes a bit of time.
Anyway, get in touch if you want info.
P.P.S. – no concealed carry in OZ (unless you put it where the sun don’t shine – but that can be uncomfortable on a 17 hour flight!!)
You will finally get to see the real Melbourne! You’ll have to post an itinerary so we can organise parades.
Seriously, you want to fly around. A train from anywhere to anywhere takes a long time. Although it would probably be good to hire a car in each city so you can get around (if you can handle driving on the left of the road). What is nice is the Yarra Valley (a hours drive or so out of Melbourne); it has wineries etc. Also, Tasmania is great if you want to do some walking (dunno whether you’d want to on the honeymoon, but there are great landscapes and walking areas down there – only even in December there can be wild weather down there (snow and storms) so you’d want to be prepared).
Queensland is good if you want to just relax and do nothing – go to the Whitsunday Islands which are right in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef.
If you go to Adelaide you’ll want to drink bottled water – the tap water is safe to drink but it is pretty yuck. Melbourne has just about the best urban water quality in the world.
And if you want to go outback, allow at least two – three weeks for that minimum because it takes a long time to get anywhere. A lot of the roads are very poor especially in the wet season (which is when you are going).
If you want specifics (especially on Melb, which is where I live) give me a buzz.
Also, I would hope that you will be leaving your mobile phone (I mean cell phone) at home, being a honeymoon and all, but if you want to have a phone with you remember that US uses a different frequency band to the rest of the world, so unless your phone is dual-band (or tri-band) it won’t work at all.
All the Australia info you need is in the episode where the Simpsons go to Australia.
Marge: “I’ll have a coffee.”
Bartender: “Beeah?”
Marge: “No. Cof-fee.”
Bartender: “Bee-ah?”
Make sure your bride to be doesn’t buy any last minute bus tickets to vegas…one way…singles…
A coworker of mine just went with her hubby to Australia! They loved it! From what she chattered on and on about, I would recommend bringing a LOT of sunblock, cameras, books (plane ride), and a lot of money – she said food is ridiculously expensive (as in a plain coffee being about $7US – and we aren’t talkin’ Starbucks).
Also, she rented a cellphone from somewhere that offered a flat fee for even Australia-US calls. It was only about $20 or $30, and it was mailed to her pre-trip; she mailed it back (they provided a box & label) upon her return.
Oh. Watch out – she also came back with many cute shoes. Just…just a warning, since I as a female understand…
No advice about Australia, but since its so far away, and you guys are, uh, … ya know … waiting … I HIGHLY recommend that you go someplace relatively local for at least 2 nights before catching that plane. I’ve flown to Japan, and So. Africa a few times. You don’t have any concept of a long trip until you crossed the date line or the equator.
We did the same on our honeymoon, two nights local and then off to backpack through Europe for 3 weeks! I HIGHLY recommend this course. You’ll thank me later.
I have a very good friend who is from Australia. He is particularly fond of me when he tries to tell me about how they do something in Australia to which I respond, We don’t give a shit how you do things in Australia, mate! We are Americans! If you don’t like it, we will send over our military, kick your asses, take all your money and there you will be by crackie… They really like the ugly American thing…when you get there I recommend that you throw around your “Americanism”…
You’ll have a great time in Australia no matter where you go – it’s a great place. But try and visit New Zealand too while you’re in the vicinity! It has as much (or more) to see, has a mild climate, and is missing the sharks, jellyfish, snakes, spiders, and crocodiles!
Miss O’Hara: I don’t know where you’re co-workers were. In Melbourne a coffee is generally about $2.50 (about $US2.00). In Sydney you’ll find it will be more expensive but not that much.
In some tourist traps things might be a bit more expensive, but generally nice restaurants are about $A20 – $30 for a main. Also, from what I’ve heard about coffee in the US, you’ll be in for a pleasant surprise about the quality. And there are some Starbucks in Aus, but their coffee pales in comparison to most other places.