Help: Down Under tour - opinions?

Subject: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: MMario
Date: 01 Nov 00 - 11:52 AM

My parents (age 80 and 83) will be taking a tour Down Under in December - the 10th thru Jan 10th, I think, with a week beforehand in Auckland NZ. (and a 10 day cruise down the Yang-tze before that, not to mention a cross-continental drive....parents, what can you do with them?)

a description of the tour they are taking is at Collette tours

Anyone have any opinions, suggestions, etc? there isn't much "free" time built in, except the week they are taking in Auckland beforehand, but any comments that I could forward to them before they take off ?

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: Night Owl
Date: 01 Nov 00 - 12:09 PM

Mario...PBS here this week has been showing programs about touring Australia by train..some beautiful short trips included.

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: catspaw49
Date: 01 Nov 00 - 12:21 PM

Sounds like a fine trip for them to be making and no matter what they do, I'm going to be envious.

Mario, just be sure they bring you back a jar of Vegemite.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: SINSULL
Date: 01 Nov 00 - 01:08 PM

Tell them to chat with everyone they meet. I ended up in a private plane flying over Sydney Harbour and on guided tours through a sugar refinery and some national Parks. The Aussies are a friendly people. At a strange little hotel in Adelaide, I returned to my room to find all my laundry clean and folded with a lovely note from two elderly sisters whose brother survived WWII through the help of some Americans. Still makes me teary. they will have a wonderful trip.

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: MMario
Date: 01 Nov 00 - 01:15 PM

hmmmph! My parents have never needed encouragement to talk to people. (Usually it's the other way around. Dad, stop talking to strangers! Dad! DAD!!!)

They are a little disappointed that the political situation in the fijis will prevent them from swinging through there on their way home. (none of the tour groups reccomended it) Dad served in the fiji's during WWII

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: Matt Woodbury/Mimosa
Date: 01 Nov 00 - 02:29 PM

Tasmania's Beautiful this time of year. It may be difficult to arrange it, but trip down to Hobart & the Huon Valley could be lovely. There are also lots of interesting colonial/convict sites in Tas.

Mimosa

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: John in Brisbane
Date: 01 Nov 00 - 06:27 PM

MMario, I could offer lots of opinions about Australia, but instead I would encourage your parents to definitely visit Fiji, particularly given your father's WWII connection. As I understand it travel there is extremely good value. More importantly, even at the height of the conflict some months ago there was little danger to foreign travellers.

Regards, John

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: alison
Date: 01 Nov 00 - 07:58 PM

Tell them it'll be hot in January and to pack their sunscreen....

also my parents found it cheaper to book any tours in Oz from the UK than to pay for them over here..... they did some cruises on the Great Barrier Reef, and a rainforest tour near Cairns....

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: Bugsy
Date: 01 Nov 00 - 08:08 PM

MMario, It looks like a GREAT tour. Very intensive though, and a shame that they won't be making it ot Western Australia (The Jewel In The Crown)(lol).

Just a couple of suggestions. When they go up to Kuranda on the old railway (which is a terrific ride!) tell them to take the optional return trip on the skyrail. You actually travel back down the to Cairns OVER the TOP of the rainforest canopy. There are two stops on the way where you can alight and take a free guided board walk through the rainforest before returning to the skyrail and oncemore heading up over the canopy. It's Awsome!.

ALso when at Ayres Rock, they will no doubt be taken to a great vantage point to take photo's of the sunset over the Rock. Tell them to take a photo every 15-20 minutes, Even if the rock looks no different to them at the time. We did this as advised by a friend and when the photo's were developed, the rock was 5 Completely different colours!

When in Alice Springs, they may go to Chateau Hornsby. That is the only vineyard in the territory. Ted Egan (See thread "Poor Fellow My Country") performs there on a regular basis, so it may be part of the tour. If not they will most certainly be entertained by members of "Bloodwood" the resident NT Bushband.

I'm sure they will have a wonderful time, including the GReat barrier reef.

CHeers

Bugsy

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: Callie
Date: 01 Nov 00 - 08:18 PM

Looks like a very fast whirlwind tour!! They'll be exhausted! Sydney in a day? I guess if they just sit on the bus they'll be able to cover a lot of ground. Well, I admire their energy. I hope I'll be covering entire continents in a few weeks in my eighties!

If you want to pass on my phone number to them (in case they should need anything in Sydney), PM me.

Callie

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: alison
Date: 01 Nov 00 - 08:24 PM

Wow... I just read the itinerary... looks great.....

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: MMario
Date: 01 Nov 00 - 08:32 PM

John - I personally think they should do fiji, but they've made their decisions and everything is already booked. and yup, I bet they WILL be exhausted.

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: alison
Date: 01 Nov 00 - 08:39 PM

like Callie .. that goes for me too MMario.. if you need another Sydney phone number.. let me know...

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: Helen
Date: 01 Nov 00 - 11:20 PM

PM me if you want my phone number for the Hunter Valley (day 16) or Newcastle. I'm sure they will enjoy the Hunter Valley, but it's a shame they won't get to Newcastle which is just down the road (50 km) and is a beautiful place to live.

Helen

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: MMario
Date: 02 Nov 00 - 08:44 AM

re: PM's and phone numbers, lemmee check with "the folks" and I will let you know. Dad can get stubborn about stuff like that, and sometimes Mom lets him.

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: Lena
Date: 02 Nov 00 - 08:56 AM

I'd give ya my phone number as well,if I had a fixed house right now.Given that your name sounds italian,are they italian?!Cause my crazy grandma(well,she's 73,but you know...)is hopefully coming in Australia in dec/jan and she doesn't speak a word in english,she might enjoy company...besides,I WANT to tour them around the Opera House!!!!And what's more important,are they going to come up to their son's fellow mudcatters and say hello?!I was also wondering about the Melbourne/Canberra/Sydney tour de force.How can you fly and jump thousands of kms,check in,chek out, and then visit three cities in one day?!

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: MMario
Date: 02 Nov 00 - 09:20 AM

Lena - Dad is Italian (Northern) , Mom's a "blended ancestery"(german, dutch, english,norwegian)- the day I think you looked at they start off in Melbourne, have a stop in Canberra and end up in Sydney - I think they then have two more days based out of sydney. It's hard to keep it all straight.

It's Collette Tours, not sure how much free time or leeway is built into the tour. I do know they are going to try and track down someone they met on a previous tour (Moscow - in September) while they are in Auckland the week before this whole shebang takes off. They are hoping he will do the "local tour guide" bit for them there, as they are only in Auckland 1 day for the tour itself.

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: MMario
Date: 02 Nov 00 - 10:38 PM

refresh

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: MMario
Date: 13 Nov 00 - 09:44 PM

refresh.

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: Sorcha
Date: 13 Nov 00 - 09:59 PM

I am Green With Envy--and can only hope that I am so active in my 80's! Hope they have a great trip!

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: Ana
Date: 14 Nov 00 - 01:02 AM

Well OK then ..you're obviously still keen and anxious to know!! I strongly suggest that if they are taking a week out in Auckland, they get-the-hell-out of there. It's not that I've got anything against the place, but it is just another city - seen one seen them all; OK OK if I've upset any "JAFA"'s (I think it means "just a fabulous Aucklander) it's not a bad place, but it's not really the essence of NZ. They would have done/will be about to do a fair amount of travel - rejuvenation and contact with Natural NZ would be good for them. I suggest they travel on up to the Bay of Islands - Russell/Paihia (pie-he-a) would be fine places to start. The day boat trips around the coast are just lovely, There could also be some dolphins and whales to see. Regards Ana

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: Ana
Date: 14 Nov 00 - 01:19 AM

Alternatively (and on reflection) Waiheke Island would be an excellent bet. Instead of being the best part of a day away from Akld, it is a 1 hour ferry trip from the city, through the wonderful Hauraki Gulf (which some would see as the true essence of Akld (America's cup and all). It is a sleepy hollow with lots of reasonable tourist accomodation, beautiful beachs, cafes etc. I think they could bliss out very nicely there. Cheers Ana

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: John in Brisbane
Date: 14 Nov 00 - 02:21 AM

Hi MMario,

My apologies for not mentioning earlier but unfortunately your parents won't be near my locale on their journey - Cairns is about 1,000 miles from here even though it is part of the same State. Australia is a BIG place.

If I can help in any other way please contact me.

Regards, John

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: John in Brisbane
Date: 14 Nov 00 - 02:35 AM

MMario, I'm no photographer but if your parents have a choice I would recommend that they pack a camera with a UV filter. Australian sunlight will be very harsh at this time of year and it may be hard to reproduce the richness of colours without some form of filter. Regards, John

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: MMario
Date: 14 Nov 00 - 09:09 AM

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions. I still have a few days I can forward information on before they take off to China for the first leg of this vacation - a boat tour down the Yang-tze. (Such a shame my parents don't get out more.)

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: SINSULL
Date: 14 Nov 00 - 10:38 AM

Hope they get to Kunming. The place and people are beautiful

Subject: RE: Help: Down Under tour - opinions?
From: MMario
Date: 04 Dec 00 - 10:47 AM

well - mom and dad should be in Auckland, NZ right about now.