Visiting Australia mid June to mid August

Coming To Australia??? Tell us your plans, ask us questions, You're bound to find an answer here.
NLT
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Visiting Australia mid June to mid August

Post by NLT » 26 May 05 4:01 am

I will be vacationing in Australia soon. I will arrive in Sydney on June 13th. From there I will be using a Great Southern Rail Pass to visit Adelaide, Alice Springs, Darwin, Katherine, Kalgoorlie, Perth, Melbourne, Broken Hill, then back to Sydney.
I would like to do some geocaching in these cities. I need some help identifying caches that I would be able to take a bus or walk to. My plan is to do some camping and stay in Hostels. Any suggestions would be welcome.
Thank you kindly!
NLT

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Cached
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Post by Cached » 26 May 05 10:53 am

Have you any firm dates for Adelaide?

SA_ParrotHead
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Post by SA_ParrotHead » 26 May 05 11:23 am

I would also be happy to help you out with your Adelaide leg.
We could join up with Cached for a day out.
E-mail me with some dates and what sort of caches interest you and I will work something up for you.
Cheers

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Richary
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Post by Richary » 26 May 05 11:23 am

Heaps in Adelaide accessible by public transport. If you like I can generate maps (detailed for Adelaide and Melbourne), less so for the other cities. Put the waypoints on them and email them over. Then you know where they are with the GC codes and can look them up.

Team Red Devil
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Post by Team Red Devil » 26 May 05 1:38 pm

Provided you'll be in the Perth metro area- you will be able to access a few caches - in Perth do yourself a favour and use the CAT buses in the CBD- they're free, and come about every fifteen minutes. Its one thing that many visitors are NOT aware of- and they catch normal buses which cost $$!

Marie

SA_ParrotHead
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Post by SA_ParrotHead » 26 May 05 7:27 pm

I originally wrote this up for another couple but you might enjoy it if you wanted to come out with Cached and me.

Barossa Geocaching in South Australia.

The Barossa wine region is a great location to spend a day of geocaching. Get up, have an early breakfast and then travel down to Para Wirra National Park and do “Barossa GoldÂâ€

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Post by maccamob » 28 May 05 5:30 pm

The BT (Business Traveller) series in Melbourne by dak's Emu Mob are all close to public transport and contain the relevant transport directions.

SA_ParrotHead
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Post by SA_ParrotHead » 30 May 05 6:48 pm

Hi,
Although I am unable to help with caches in New South Wales this might be helpfull from a tourists point of view.

Public transport is cheap and reliable and I usually get an all day pass
that gets me where I need to go. You can get a pass that covers Trains,
Buses and Ferries.


Sydney -

Visit Sydney Harbour,
This is a magnificent harbour. I have always loved catching a train into
Sydney and getting off at Circular Quay. The train comes out of the subway onto an elevated platform. You get off the train and cross to the edge of the station to this fantastic view. There are always a lot of buskers around Circular Quay and this is the ferry terminus.

From here you can head of in one direction to the Rocks and the Sydney
Harbor bridge or the other direction to the Opera House and the Botanical
Gardens.

The Rocks are one of the oldest parts of Sydney and markets are held here on the weekends, it has an interesting history, Good shopping and Great restaurants.

Climb the Sydney Harbour bridge or catch a train over it and walk/ride back.

OzJetboat around the harbour or take a tour on the sailing ship "Bounty".
In the other direction it is a couple of minute walk from Circular Quay to
the Opera House and botanical gardens.

From Circular Quay
Catch a ferry to Manly. There is another Aquarium here and you can walk up the main St of Manly which turns into a mall and then you come out onto the beach.

Catch a ferry to Watson Bay. Walk straight up the hill for an impressive
cliff top view of the sea and then walk out to the Sydney Heads the view is
great with it's lighthouse setting. Consider having a meal at Doyles on your way back. Watch ferry times on this one as this bay has the least service times.

Go to the Taronga zoo. Get a ferry and chair lift ride to the zoo. You can
buy a ferry and zoo entry ticket from Circular Quay.

Get a ferry to Mosman Bay and follow the walking trail that leads around to Old Cremorne Ferry stop. There is also a bus station here catch the bus
around to Cremorne Point and jump on the ferry here back to Circular Quay.

Get on the ferry that circuits the inner harbour stops. Sit up the front in
the open. It does almost the same circuit as the guided tour but at a
fraction of the cost(not an option if you love running commentary on where you are).

As you can see ferries rate high on this list I love being on the water in
Sydney.

Darling Harbour.
A novel way of getting to Darling Harbour from the city is by catching the
monorail..
There are lots of attractions in this district.
Shopping Mall, Pump House pub, Japanese Gardens, Powerhouse museum, Aquarium and Maritime museum.

Located close by are the Markets and Sydney's version of China town.
From Darling Harbour you can catch the Light Rail to the Casino(I say "the" as we only have one in Sydney ) and the fish markets.

The City
George St is a main thoroughfare running from one side of the city to the
other. Located on this street is the QVB (Queen Victoria Building) try to be
there on the hour when the clock chimes. Behind QVB is the Franklin Mint.

The subway runs under this street with stops at Town Hall, Wynyard and
Circular Quay. You can also access the Central building district with the
usual city mall.

There is a great view of the city and surrounding districts from the viewing
decks of the Sydney Tower( AMP Tower) located on Market St.

Just outside the city you have areas such as -
King Cross, the red light district which comes alive late at light (There is
a Hard Rock Cafe here) and I wouldn't recommend leaving the main strip to venture down side streets . You can get there by catching a train from
Martins Place (which is near Wynyard Station) in the City or use a taxi as
it is close to the city.

Venture out to Norton St this is Sydney's little Italy the food and Coffee
is great. Check out the plaza. Most Restaurants are BYO and there is a
bottle shop in Norton St.

Take a walk around Balmain. You can get a ferry to West Balmain and walk up the Hill stroll along the main street of this trendy neighbourhood and then get a bus back into the city.

Visit the Australian version of Universal Studios. This is located on the
site of the old Show Grounds which have now been relocated to Homebush the site of the Olympic games.

Besides soccer the other two football sports popular in Australia are Rugby
and Australian Rules. Both Seasons will be finished when you get out here.
However the leagues have venues/sports bars you can visit like St Georges Rugby Club on Princess Highway or the Sydney AFL football club in Kings Cross.

Go have a look at the Beaches.
Bondi - Seems to be the most well known and popular beach in Sydney.
Manly - Sand isn't as nice as Bondi but this beach is also active and a good
location
Coogee - I went scuba diving here once but the vis was bad I much prefer
down the coast toward Kiama.
Brighton Le Sands- I just like the name and it is a nice location . Also
went to a great fireworks display on Australia Day here once.

Day Trips
Drive down the A1 towards Wollongong turning off at Bulli pass return to
Sydney along the coast road (I love this drive). There is a great pub on a
cliff face near Austinmeyer (I think that is how it is spelt). Stop at
Stanwell Tops and watch or go hang gliding (book first). You can then
continue through the Royal Nation Park. (some locals will pronounce it
Nasho - Like Mash (potato) ending in o and replace M with N)
Visit the Hunter valley this is New South Wales wine region.
If you like period costumes and recreated frontier towns visit Old Sydney
town.
Go up to Katoomba and see the Blue Mountains. The rock formation called the
Three Sisters is located here. There is a cable car and scenic rail car and
some great walking trails.
Travel down south to Boral and surrounding districts and if you like caves
check out the Jenolan ones located in this region.

SA_ParrotHead
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Post by SA_ParrotHead » 31 May 05 2:22 pm

Forgot to add some links for NSW

Public Transport map.
http://www.railpage.org.au/railmaps/sydney.htm

Just a site
http://www.sydneyontheweb.com/

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Richary
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Post by Richary » 31 May 05 4:31 pm

A couple of corrections from an ex-Sydney local.</p>

Old Sydney Town is no more, closed down a few years ago. Though the train ride up to Gosford is still pleasant</p>

Fox studios is now a shopping centre.</p>

And the nice big park down south is the Royal National Park. Get off at Loftus or Waterfall stations if coming by public transport.

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Sydney

Post by Wookie » 01 June 05 1:20 am

Sydney has heaps of caches available, and lots near good transport..

leave some better details and we can see what is available to do.

Wookie

SA_ParrotHead
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Post by SA_ParrotHead » 01 June 05 10:49 pm

Hi Richary,
Did you do some maps of Adelaide ?

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Richary
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Post by Richary » 01 June 05 11:44 pm

SA_ParrotHead wrote:Hi Richary,
Did you do some maps of Adelaide ?
I haven't as he hasn't responded to me. Easy to do, did some when I did that talk for the foreign students a few weeks ago. Printed up with the GC codes so people could look them up. All I need is the word :D

NLT
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Trip is firming up quickly, thanks millions for the input!

Post by NLT » 03 June 05 2:28 am

Thanks for all the input folks (that's midwest US talk)! Need to sift through the stuff I've printed off. Think I have Melbourne, Adelaide, Alice Springs, Darwin and Perth covered.

Looks like Sydney is the only one I need to narrow down some. I would like to do a little geocaching my first day in Australia, if possible. I can't think of a better way to start such an awesome trip!

I do have a Lonely Planet Australia guide book to help me out. Information from the locals is always more valuable. Thank you kindly for all the help!

NLT

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Vacation to Australia in August for 8 days

Post by Guest » 10 June 05 12:05 am

I planned to drive from Sydney to Melbourne in August. Any suggestion is appreciated. I want to use my Etrex for navigation. Would the suggestion be included with coordinates of the waypoints

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