marty@hpfclq.UUCP (marty) (02/06/85)
We are going to be moving to Melbourne Australia on a temporary transfer
and we would like any information that you may have about Australia and
the Melbourne area. We will be there 12-18 months and are interested in
both tourist information and culture/life style information.
Also, we hope to get out to see other parts of the country while we are
there, what parts of Australia are a 'must see'? What about New Zealand
or Tasmania?
Please respond by mail and I will summarize.
Marty Osecky
{ihnp4,hplabs}!hpfcla!marty2141smh@aluxe.UUCP (henning) (02/14/85)
> ... what parts of Australia are a 'must see'? What about New Zealand > or Tasmania? Returned mail: unknown mailer error 101: bad system name: hpfclq To: mhuxj!houxm!whuxlm!akgua!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!hplabs!hp-pcd!hpfclq!marty **** **** From the keys of Steve Henning, AT&T Bell Labs, Reading, PA aluxe!2141smh Australian prices are about the same as here. My wife and I were there in December for 23 days. The problem in the out back is that rental prices are horrendous because the roads are so bad. We rented a car for 1 day in Alice Springs and really enjoyed it. The rest of the time we took bus tours to the Rock and other spots of interest. Then we flew to Cairns and drove from Cairns to Melbourne and back to Sydney. It takes about 2 days to drive from Cairns to Brisbane or from Brisbane to Sydney. The roads are good 2 lane roads but distances are quite long. Australia has 10 of the most dangerous snakes in the world, so we didn't camp or hike much unless we were in a group with a native Aussie. The cheapest way to travel is to stay in "fixed vans". These are vacation trailers that are permanently placed in trailer parks but are for tourists to use like a motel. The catch is that they do not provide bedding. We had sleeping bags and made out OK. The "fixed vans" have cooking facilities. Restaurant food prices are not bad. They do not have fresh juice, much of any unsweetened juices. Fresh foods are not plentiful. Make sure you get a car with unlimited miles since distances are lllooonnnggg, very long. We visited New Zealand for 24 days and loved every minute of it. The distances are much more reasonable, as are the prices. We stayed at Best Western motels which charged about NZ$30 to NZ$40 which was about US$20 to US$26 for two. The really nice feature is they phone ahead and reserve the room for the next night for free. Also at the airport, the NZ autoclub gives AAA members a fantastic set of maps and a coupon which give a 10% discount off Best Western Hotels. We rented a car from Hertz and drove ourselves. You drop your car off at the ferry and pick up another car on the other side. If you are careful they won't charge you twice for the same day but you have to bring this to their attention or it might slip past them. We would highly recommend Mt. Egmont, highly photogenic, north island; Rotorua, with its geysers and hot springs, north island; National Park and the 3 volcanos near by, north island; Franz Joseph glacier and Fox glacier, south island; Mt. Cook, and the nearby glaciers, south island; Milford Sound and the other nearby sounds (fjords). south island; All of New Zealand is worth seeing, and in 24 days were able to drive clear around both islands still spend a day or two at each spot. Melbourne has a climate close to that of Portland, Oregon or Washington, DC. It is the only temperate part of Australia. The rest is HOT. There are many conifers from all over the world and beautiful rhododendron gardens in the hills just east of Melbourne growing plants from England and the Pacific Northwest. We missed Tasmania.
paul@unisoft.UUCP (Paul Campbell) (02/17/85)
<chomp> I missed the first part of this so I do not have the return address of the first sender. As a New Zealander I am probably biased so I wont add any more (but if you need to know anything please get in touch) I will add one further note however NZ had a very large devaluation (20%) last July so the NZ$ is now worth US$0.45 !!!! (..... now I remember when it was $1.30 ... sigh :-) Paul Campbell ZL4TFW ..!ucbvax!unisoft!pc