Jumpseating to Australia...need info

[typhoonpilot]

Chase:

If you do end up in Sydney for a day or two, instead of taking a Harbor tour, you might just take the regular ferry over to Manly. It accomplishes almost the same thing as the tour with the added bonus of being able to get off and walk around Manly. I'm told the tour boats do give airline discounts, as do a lot of places in Australia, so be sure to ask if you go that route. The other thing that works well in Sydney are the Red and Blue tourist ( hop-on, hop-off ) busses that each have different routes. One is more geared towards the sights in proximity to downtown and the other goes further afield to places like Bondi Beach. I've done both and felt they are worth it.

TP

 

[typhoonpilot]

Almost forgot the vital Australian drinking info. No matter what you do, don't ever order Foster's beer in Australia. You probably knew that, but I thought it best to throw it our there anyway. Crown Lager, VB, XXXX, and a few others would be better. As far as wines go, I prefer wines from the Margaret River and Coonawarra regions over the others. It's hard to get a bad Australian wine, but you would find those regions better.


TP

 

[Green]

The beer advice is right on. My personal favorite is VB, great beer. If you get the chance I would recomend visiting Byron Bay. It's halfway up the eastcoast, about 2 hours south of Surfers Paradise. Surfers is a tourist trap but Byron Bay is a funky little surf town with good beaches, excellent restaurants, and amazing women. Best time of year to go there is December through February.

 

[Hugh Jorgan]

The beer advice is right on. My personal favorite is VB, great beer.

Actually, I found the beer to be about the most disappointing thing in Australia. Down under is not the place to go to find quality beers. They piss you up, alright, matey, but they are overall pretty lame. Hell, VB isn't even bitter. Anyone with a discriminating beer palate should not get their hopes up any more in Australia than you would in say, Mexico. Germany, Belgium or the Pacific Northwest, it ain't.

 

[dash8driver]

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[Green]

by the advice being right on I meant don't order a Fosters. I was agreeing that nobody in Austrailia drinks the stuff. I'll have to disagree with you though, I think VB is a darn good beer.

 

[herewego again]

"Down under" "God Zone" "Middle Earth" etc etc

Chase,

We met at HPA about 18 months ago.
I'm a born and raised Kiwi, so please write to me with all your New Zeland Q's. I would be more than happy to help out, just need a few details on your plans and what you're interested in doing. Tickets are easy to get from most West Coast Australian cities, to most major NZ towns. Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch or Queenstown will probably be your best bet. I usually book mine on the internet before I go.
How long do you have?? I am obviously heavily biased towards New Zealand, but honestly its a thousand times better than our big ugly sunburnt neighbor! There is a very friendly relationship between the countries, until it comes to sports, so use appropriate caution.
I was down there in Feb, and jumpseated both ways on United, LAX-SYD return. They were superb, but remember may be weight restricted west-bound, even though seats are available. Upon your return, check in with UA customer service, who will arrange payments of the tax charges - about $60US, and who will tell you when to head through to the gate. It can be charged to a Credit card no problem. Leaving NZ, you'll have a departure fee of approx $25NZ per person, again, it can be charged if you've spent all your cash. Also NZ and Oz have very strick agriculture regualtions, so dont go carrying fruit and veges with you. I had 2 bananas taken off me just from ChCH to Sydney.
Please get in touch, I'll be more than happy to share some insight into Middle Earth.
Herewegoagain