Postcard: Australia

"The Outback"

One of my favorite travel locations of all time is Australia. Perhaps because this was our engagement celebration trip or because I had dreamed of visiting Australia since I was a young girl or because I had meticulously crafted every detail of our itinerary. I don't know what it was exactly, but I have fond, vivid memories of this trip.

My five musts - (1) Eat at the best restaurants in Sydney, (2) Snorkel/dive in Cairns, (3) Hike early AM in Uluru, (4) Admire the beautiful architecture of the Sydney Opera House, and (5) Visit the Melbourne Zoo.

Here's a glance at our day-by-day itinerary when we went in 2007. We flew with the Quantas Air Pass and booked hotels through Expedia.

NOV 20, Day 1: Arrive in Sydney @9:15 AM
Hotel: Amora Hotel Jamison Sydney - mid-priced, walkable to the wharf.
We took the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly Beach and had a beautiful view of the Sydney Harbour. I had horrible seasickness and wasn't able to eat lunch, so we took a cab back to Sydney.
Lunch: Whitewater.
Dinner: 8PM, Rockpool (awesome, rated one of the best in the world)

NOV 21 -22, Day 2/3: Sydney
Day 2: Visit the famed Bondi Beach.
Lunch: 1PM, Bondi Iceberg (stunning bar on southern end of Bondi Beach at end of the cliff walk, great for a cocktail and lunch)
Dinner: We were on the waitlist for Tetsuyas (best restaurant in Australia, need to book a long way in advance), but we overslept our reservation due to terrible jetlag. We went to Est instead, which served Mod-Oz cuisine and was excellent.
Bar close to hotel - Hemmesphere - very trendy and good drinks


Day 3: Take an early morning Harbour Bridge walk. (We didn't do the Bridge climb, though).
Brunch: harbourkitchen at Park Hyatt Sydney - very good
Good sites - Sydney Opera House tour, Royal Botanic Gardens, Queen Victoria Bldg. We attempted three times to go up the Sydney Tower, but there was fog all day. We did go to the Sydney Fish Market, but this was not a must see although we tasted Barramundi fish for the first time here and have since become addicted.
Drinks: Marble Bar in the Sydney Hilton Hotel. Excellent dirty martini.
Dinner: 8PM, Aria. The food was delicious and we had a view of the American Idol Australia finale. It was set up near the Opera House and quite a spectacle.


NOV 23, Day 4: Cairns, Arrive @11:25 AM

Hotel: Pacific Intl Hotel – Cairns (Esplanade and Spence St) - good location to walk to fleet terminal.
Not much to see in the city, but there's a massive saltwater crocodile at the Cairns Rainforest Dome, atop the Hotel Sofitel Reef Casino.
lunch: Magostin's. We loved it and went back 3 times.

NOV 24, Day 5: Day trip to the Reef
Day trips to the Great Barrier Reef leave from the Reef Fleet Terminal. We used Down Under Dive and snorkeled although they offered diving, too.


NOV 25, Day 6: Daintree Rainforest
Head to the World Heritage-listed Daintree rainforest, 2 hours drive north of Cairns using one of the many tour operators. We went with used Billy Tea's Safari Bus Tour and an hour into the trip our bus was stopped because it did not have up-to-date licensure. We then waited an hour for a new bus to pick us up. What luck! The tour guide and driver were still great and offered a very thourough knowledge of the flora and fauna. You get to feed kangaroos at one of the stops and lunch consisted of a picnic spread of tasty indigenous fruits. We went croc hunting on a river cruise.


NOV 26-27, Day 7/8: Alice Springs, Arrive @12:25 PM
Hotel: Aurora Alice Springs (11 leichardt Tce). Good location.
Attractions: Alice Springs Desert Park, the School of the Air, and the Royal Flying Doctor Service base. Visit the Alice Springs Telegraph Station historical reserve.
A lot of people skip Alice Springs and just go to Uluru. It's a dead town with no nightlife, but we bought our Aboriginal art here. And I enjoyed learning about the RFD Service. We also went to a Didgeridoo concert at night. After learning to play, my husband almost bought one of the instruments, but thought better of it.


NOV 28, Day 9: Uluru, Arrive @2:40PM
Hotel: The Lost Camel (Yulara Drive)
Take the shuttle from Ayers Rock Resort to the Rock to watch sunset over Uluru. We went to the Sounds of Silence dinner. Dinner's not great but sunset is beautiful and the Didgeridoo player added to the atmosphere.


NOV 29, Day 10: Exploring Uluru
Get up at 4AM to watch sunrise at Uluru and do the 6-mile Base Walk around Uluru, which takes 2 to 3 hours. It is exhausting and hot and the flies are extraordinarily annoying. Bring industrial strength bug spray or buy a face netting or both!


In the afternoon, we went to Kata Tjuta (also called The Olgas), about 30 miles west of Uluru.

NOV 30, Day 11: Arrive Melbourne @3:20PM
We arose at 4AM again the next day for a sunrise camel ride. All tours were booked through the Ayers Rock Resort.

Following the camel ride, we flew out to Melbourne for the last leg of our trip.
Hotel: Melbourne Marriott Hotel (marriott points), Exhibition & Lonsdale Streets
We visited the Federation Square and Queen Victoria Market.

DEC 1, Day 12: Day in Melbourne
Melbourne Zoo.
DEC 2, Day 13: Melbourne to Los Angeles, leave @12:40PM