Flying halfway across the world inevitably raises a whole variety of questions: some that seem valid and others that, to some, may seem a bit silly. However, once they have been answered, that little bit of reassurance makes the planning and implementation of the trip go a whole lot smoother.
So here are a load of questions that arose while I was thinking about going to and planning my trip to Australia.
1. What happens on a layover?
This feels like it falls into the 'silly question' category, but before going to Australia, I had only ever done direct flights and so did not know what to expect on a layover. I was worried about if I'd have to collect and recheck my luggage, go through security again and had reservations about the time involved in getting from arrivals to the departure gate.
Our stop was in Dubai and so in terms of a layover at this airport it was really easy. As we got off the plane, there were pink lines on the floor and plenty of signs directing us to connecting flights. We had already checked in and received our boarding passes at our departure airport (in our case, Gatwick), so we did not have to go through the check in process again. Once we were in the 'connections' terminal, there was a big board displaying the flight numbers and the gate numbers. We had to go through a 'mini security' where our bags were checked. We didn't have to get rid of any liquids here and could take them through with us.
We had about 2 and a half hours from getting off the plane to the next take off and we were off the plane and through security within about 20 minutes. Rather than shopping, we just bunked down in a corner and sorted our bags out and used the toilets to freshen up, clean teeth and change clothes. We went to our departure gate about an hour before the flight departure time as that was when they started boarding.
At the departure gate, however, this was the least smooth-sailing part. We had another security to be allowed into the departure gate, and this time we had to empty water bottles and could not take any liquids through. Also, my cousin and I got separated; she got selected for a full on body screening whereas my bag was just checked again.
When our seats were called for boarding, we went through another security where we had to open bags, take our shoes off and be scanned by a security officer which seemed to take a while and delayed boarding and consequently take off. I'm all for security and safety, however it did seem a bit excessive to have 3 lots of security, 2 of them within 100 yards of each other.
However, overall, it was fairly easy. The bit I was most 'nervous' for: the finding the connections terminal was the easiest and our luggage got transferred straight onto the next flight and arrived safely in our final destination. (I think in the United States, you do have to go through customs, collect luggage and re-check in so this may not apply).
2. How long was the flight?
This depends on where you're coming from and what airline you're flying with, but from the UK/Europe, on average it takes about 24 hours to get to the East coast of Australia.
Our journey was two different flights- the first one from Gatwick to Dubai was just under 8 hours and then the second flight from Dubai to Melbourne was 13 hours 25 minutes.
We were fed loads and Emirates had a brilliant selection of entertainment on board. The planes were also big enough that you could get up and walk around to stretch your legs.
3. Where do you start?
This is probably the most difficult question to answer. We planned our whole trip ourselves rather than going through a travel company as we wanted to be able to do exactly what we wanted rather than be led by someone else's itinerary. However, it was useful to use websites such as Ultimate Travel and G Adventures to get an idea of a schedule. I also watched some Youtube videos of people's itineraries to get an idea of places we might want to go.
Firstly, my cousin and I noted down things we really wanted to see. For me, that was Ayers Rock, the Great Barrier Reef and Sydney, while my cousin wanted to do Australia Zoo and Byron Bay. After researching these places and looking into logistics of flights etc, it made sense for us to fly from Melbourne to Ayers Rock as the first stop of our trip. The flights were more frequent from Melbourne and cheaper than going to and from Cairns in the north east of Australia.
Another 'dilemma' we had was whether to go up the east coast from Sydney to Cairns or vice versa. Flights home were cheaper from Sydney than Cairns so this cemented our decision to go down the East Coast from Cairns to Sydney. However, flights from Ayers Rock to Cairns were more than double than it was to fly back to Melbourne from the Red Centre and then up to Cairns, so we ended up having to kind of double back on ourselves by flying south to then go back up north. However, this was not only the cheapest option, but also the most available one as there were more frequent flights to Melbourne from Ayers Rock than to Cairns and it fitted better with our departure dates. We knew that once we were in Cairns, we only need to go in one direction: south and therefore we could then start looking at stops on our way down the coast.
We decided to spend 2-3 days/nights in each place so knew we wouldn't be able to stop off at all the 'usual' east coast places so chose the ones that we liked the look of best and fitted with the activities we wanted to do. These stops ended up being: Cairns (for the Great Barrier Reef and Atherton Tablelands), Airlie Beach (for the Whitsundays), Rainbow Beach (for Fraser Island), Brisbane (for Australia Zoo), Byron Bay and Sydney. While there were other places we could have stopped at like Townsville, Magnetic Island, the Gold Coast and Surfers' Paradise, due to our time constrictions, we had to 'sacrifice' some places and these were the ones that got the chop.
We also tried to make it so that in each place, we had one main activity and then a 'rest' day or an activity that only took half a day so that we didn't end up 'burning out' and missing other bits of the holiday.
Our overall itinerary ended up being 21 days, including flights and looked like this:
Late Day 1& Day 2: Flight to Melbourne
Day 3: Arrive Melbourne: fly to Ayers Rock and Sunset
Day 4: Ayers Rock base walk and sunset Field of Lights
Day 5: Fly to Melbourne
Day 6: Early flight to Cairns. Chill Afternoon
Day 7: Great Barrier Reef trip
Day 8: Atherton Tablelands- rainforests and waterfalls
Day 9: All Day bus from Cairns to Airlie Beach
Day 10: Chill day at Airlie Beach
Day 11: Whitsundays trip followed by Overnight bus to Rainbow Beach
Day 12: Chill day at Rainbow Beach
Day 13: Fraser Island
Day 14: afternoon bus to Brisbane
Day 15: Australia Zoo
Day 16: Afternoon bus to Byron Bay
Day 17: Chill day Byron Bay and overnight bus to Sydney
Day 18: Chill day/exploring day in Sydney
Day 19: Day trip by train to the Blue Mountains
Day 20: Chill day/exploring Day in Sydney. Overnight flight home
Day 21: Flight home- arrive UK lunchtime
4. When should I go?
Being in the southern hemisphere, Australian summer is during the UK winter which seems an advantageous time to go, however from talking to people, this is when prices are highest, places are busiest and I've seen Youtube videos where torrential downpours have happened and temperatures reach 40 degrees.
Due to my cousin finishing university in May and starting a new job in September, the best time for us to go was the end of May- beginning of June which is their Autumn/ start of Winter. While this may seem strange, we actually had lovely weather. We may have just been lucky, but the temperatures were comfortable (around low to mid 20 degrees C), places weren't too busy and we only had 3 days of rain in the whole time we were there- however when it did rain, it was quite chilly.
5. How long should I go for?
This question is another open-ended one... the best answer would probably be: For as long as you can.
Due to financial, work and personal constraints, our trip was limited to about 3 weeks. This was enough time to see a whole variety of things, however we could have easily stayed longer. On the other hand, if we had to, we could have probably narrowed down our top priorities and done the trip in 10 days to 2 weeks, however this would have been rushed and lots of things missed out.
6. Is it expensive?
In a word? Yes. However, there are ways to budget and spend sensibly. One way we found to save a little bit of money was to book a double room in a hostel. The double rooms were cheaper than 2 beds in a single dorm apart from in Sydney. Also, we cooked some of our meals in the hostel kitchens- if we knew we had an activity the next day that didn't include lunch, then we would bulk cook dinner and portion aside enough for lunch the next day.
However, while the prices of day trips are expensive, quite often on the day there was nothing to pay for additionally, so it was a bit like a 'cost-free' day. Lunches and cups of coffee and tea were often included as were transfers.
7. How much will it cost?
While this will vary depending on each individual, for 21 days, it cost us £3900 per person including all flights, accommodation, greyhound bus passes and activities. In terms of spending money, I took 800 AUD in cash and used a Starling current account with £300 loaded on it which I found was enough. However, I didn't really drink alcohol out there and therefore this would increase the amount of spending money needed.
8. What are the hostels like?
I was a bit apprehensive about staying in hostels. Mainly because at the age of 31, I thought I would be one of the oldest there. However, there were a whole range of ages, not just young backpackers. My favourite hostel was the Freedom Backpackers hostel in Rainbow beach. Our private, double room was amazing and felt more like a hotel than a hostel, especially as it had a private bathroom. We were lucky in that our budget did allow us to have private rooms for the majority of our stay, and the one time we were in a dorm room, there were only 4 of us and we didn't really see the other two people staying in the room. My least favourite hostel was the Jack Backpackers hostel in Cairns. Most people stay at Gilligans, however this was very expensive for the dates we wanted so we went with Jack Backpackers instead. While we did have a double room, it felt like a prison cell, the bunk beds were uncomfortable, the communal showers weren't great and the kitchen wasn't very clean and quite small so it got crowded very easily.
However, the kitchens in the other hostels were clean, well equipped and a lot more spacious, so we had no issues with cooking our own food.
9. What's the spider and snake situation?
In the whole time we were there, we had no issue with spiders, snakes or creepy crawlies. In the cities, you won't see any and while they are there in the bush and more rural areas, we didn't come across any. All the activities we did had a guide and so we just took their advice regarding 'dangerous' creatures. The dingos on Fraser Island are wild, but as long as you listen to your guide, you won't have any issues with them and they are incredible to see in the wild.
10. How to get around?
While I would have happily driven in Australia, we decided to use the Greyhound buses. These were really easy to use: there's an app to download where you put in your reference number and choose your preferred schedule and seat. We had one driver who was very strict with the 'one bag on the coach' policy, however all the others were very chilled and not bothered with the restrictions. The bus stops every 4 hours for 35 minutes. The overnight buses were a necessary evil but we did manage to get some sleep on them and they were fairly comfortable.
I hope you find the answers to these questions useful if they are questions you yourself might have. Or if you had any different questions you're able to help others with then leave them in the comments.
Thanks for reading,
Chez x
Comments
Post a Comment