On Your Own - seeking DIY suggestions for Australia Itinerary

Am on a crazy B2B on Solstice next year and need ideas for a solo gal who doesn't want to hire a car, is into food, scenery and local culture. Not ino major hiking but I did climb the 272 steps up to the Batu Caves, KL this year ;)

I'm just starting the planning process. Arrive in Australia in March 2016.

Sydney, I have tours included to the Opera House, the Blue Mountains and Australian Wildlife not sure when..... I get 3 days post cruise too

Melbourne : may visit an old friend..... need an alternative option

Adelaide

Perth / Fremantle

Benoa, Bali

Cairns (Yorkey’s Knob)

Airlie Beach

Brisbane

Newcastle

Sydney

Super itinerary eh?

I'll be blogging the whole trip and am super excited.

Melbourne is a great place for wandering. But I'd recommend seeing the National Gallery of Victoria (free admission to all but the special exhibits), and the Shrine of Remembrance. Also, if you can swing it, a tour of Victorian Parliament is great and well worth it.

In Adelaide, I would definitely recommend a tour of the Barossa Valley wine region, even if you don't like wine. I did a full-day private tour and the guide asked us what we wanted to see and what we like in the way of wines, and he managed to find cellar doors that offered sweet/dessert wines for me. It was fantastic and the scenery is great. Other than that, the South Australian Museum (free admission) is very nice, and a walk along Rundle Mall is well worth it.

Melbourne is a great place for wandering. But I'd recommend seeing the National Gallery of Victoria (free admission to all but the special exhibits), and the Shrine of Remembrance. Also, if you can swing it, a tour of Victorian Parliament is great and well worth it.

 

In Adelaide, I would definitely recommend a tour of the Barossa Valley wine region, even if you don't like wine. I did a full-day private tour and the guide asked us what we wanted to see and what we like in the way of wines, and he managed to find cellar doors that offered sweet/dessert wines for me. It was fantastic and the scenery is great. Other than that, the South Australian Museum (free admission) is very nice, and a walk along Rundle Mall is well worth it.

Thank you! Lovely ideas. Are you able to recall contact details for the guide please?

A lot will depend on your interests.

Fremantle there is a historic Prison.

Newcastle the Vineyards of the Hunter Valley are the most visited attraction, but Port Stephens is also popular.

Adelaide either a day in the city or a trip to Glenelg, seem popular.

We're doing a similar itinerary in October so I will try and think to report back.

Many love a river cruise n Brissy.

A lot will depend on your interests.

 

Fremantle there is a historic Prison.

 

Newcastle the Vineyards of the Hunter Valley are the most visited attraction, but Port Stephens is also popular.

 

Adelaide either a day in the city or a trip to Glenelg, seem popular.

 

We're doing a similar itinerary in October so I will try and think to report back.

 

Many love a river cruise n Brissy.

Am interested in everything and anything..... it's one big adventure. :D

Thanks for the ideas.... all noted

Here's a link to visiting Fremantle

http://www.visitfremantle.com.au/Things-to-do-in-Fremantle/Top-10

Depends how long you are there for. You can walk to the City from the cruise ship - most everything is in walking distance. Prison, Museum, Markets, "E" sheds. Maritime museum, shopping. The cappuccino strip - South Terrace. All pretty easy to get to

You would be pretty pushed to do Fremantle and Perth in one day - you would have to make a choice.

Perth you can get to on the train - the train station is about 500 mtrs from the cruise terminal on the same side. Once you get into Perth you are smack bang in the Centre. Here is a link for Perth things - I wouldn't try to do both in the day. One or the other IMHO

http://www.perthtouristcentre.com.au/

Thank you! Lovely ideas. Are you able to recall contact details for the guide please?

I am not, I am sorry. My travel agent arranged it for me. I kept the card from the guide, but cannot locate it -- I looked. I remember it was a full-day tour that included breakfast and lunch in the price, and picked up and returned me to the hotel in Adelaide. (I was on a land vacation, not a cruise, though I'm sure similar arrangements can be made for cruise passengers as well.)

I also know we visited very few of the big name wineries, concentrating mainly on the smaller ones, that by and large do not export to the US. The only large winery we tasted at was Wolf Blass. I would definitely steer away from the large bus tours, as those have a set number of tastings available and only go to the larger wineries. My tour had unlimited tastings at as many wineries as I wanted.

Am on a crazy B2B on Solstice next year and need ideas for a solo gal who doesn't want to hire a car, is into food, scenery and local culture. Not ino major hiking but I did climb the 272 steps up to the Batu Caves, KL this year ;)

 

 

 

I'm just starting the planning process. Arrive in Australia in March 2016.

 

 

 

Sydney, I have tours included to the Opera House, the Blue Mountains and Australian Wildlife not sure when..... I get 3 days post cruise too

 

Melbourne : may visit an old friend..... need an alternative option

 

Adelaide

 

Perth / Fremantle

 

Benoa, Bali

 

Cairns (Yorkey’s Knob)

 

Airlie Beach

 

Brisbane

 

Newcastle

 

Sydney

 

 

 

Super itinerary eh?

 

 

 

I'll be blogging the whole trip and am super excited.

Hi there

I would suggest 2 options for additional advice though as a well- travelled person you may already have these options in place:

1) participate in the Roll Call for your cruise / s

2) go to the Australia & NZ Cruisers forum section & ask there as many of we locals have done similar cruises

By the way - I have followed your "live" blogs in the past so must congratulate you for the time & effort you go to!

Hi there

 

I would suggest 2 options for additional advice though as a well- travelled person you may already have these options in place:

1) participate in the Roll Call for your cruise / s

2) go to the Australia & NZ Cruisers forum section & ask there as many of we locals have done similar cruises

 

By the way - I have followed your "live" blogs in the past so must congratulate you for the time & effort you go to!

Thanks for taking the time to make sure my bases are covered and I really appreciate the comments you made about my wish to visit Uluru.

Linda

Thanks for taking the time to make sure my bases are covered and I really appreciate the comments you made about my wish to visit Uluru.

 

 

 

Linda

TLCOhio did a wonderful review of his cruise & time spent in Australia & NZ! Well worth tracking it down!

If I knew how to attach a link I would!!

I'd love to hear people's ideas on this thread as we're doing some of these ports on Oct 16 on Solstice. I can't wait to see your live blog either and hope you'll post the link here.

TLCOhio did a wonderful review of his cruise & time spent in Australia & NZ! Well worth tracking it down!

 

If I knew how to attach a link I would!!

gaechann,

Is this the review you were thinking of?

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

gaechann,

 

 

 

Is this the review you were thinking of?

 

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

Yes! That's the one! His group had a wonderful time visiting our region down under!

I have recently booked another cruise around NZ with a friend who hasn't been there before so I'm searching for different experiences in each Port of Call.

The Ports of Call section here under Australia & New Zealand has given me some new options for do it yourself day tours as well as the Tourist Information site for each city/town.

Just google Auckland Tourist Information for instance & you'll find lots of ideas.

All the best in your quest! Whatever you decide on you're sure to enjoy especially if you go with a small group as you'll find that generally we're a very friendly bunch of people down under & just love showing tourists around! Just don't want too many of you deciding to move here & upset the tranquility LOL!

Gae

Not sure how much time you have in Cairns (Yorkeys Knob). We spent 2 days in Cairns (cruise stop from Rhapsody in Feb/2015) and on day 1, we did a boat tour out to the Great Barrier Reef. It was great to see the reef. Snorkel and lunch and was an amazing day. info is here:

http://www.greatadventures.com.au/

On day 2, we took the train to Kurunda, spent a couple hours in the little town, then brought the skyrail back. The skyrail has amazing views. Info is here:

http://www.visitcairns.com.au/store/products.aspx?categoryid=4a32207c-7356-4e3f-a801-2fd7d0db3693& gclid=CjwKEAjwocKtBRCf9d_Q5ovcyHASJAAHhJYOv05kZhNnRgTIkbnSeM8aEX6TMZ5vsBd-MDBrW2nwgRoCgtDw_wcB

In Brisbane we went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and were able to hold a koala. info is here: http://www.koala.net/en/

New Castle has some fabulous beaches within walking distance to the port if you like walking. We also went to Black Butte Reserve infor here: http://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/north-coast/newcastle-area/newcastle/attractions/blackbutt-reserve

Not sure of transportation to get there. No charge to see the animals, but you pay to park. We met a couple on our 1st cruise on Solstice from Sydney to NZ, and they lived in New Castle. On our next cruise on the Rhapsody, they met us at the port, and showed us around their city, and took us here to see the koalas. We had a wonderful day with our new CC friends.

Hope this info helps you out with some ideas. When I was planning our trip/cruise, I spent lots of time here on CC under both the Australia/New Zealand board section and ports of call section. The Aussies and Kiwis are such wonderful people!! We loved every minute there, and want to return again to see even more of these 2 beautiful countries!!

Agree with Debhomespun, Great Barrier Reef if you like snorkelling maybe you could do that from Airlie beach??? and then do the Kuranda trip (lovely little village a bit touristy!) in Cairns we took the train up and caught the skyrail back. (catch train up as there are only about 2 times it leaves in the morning and the skyrail comes back far more frequently) http://www.kuranda.org/

Adelaide-if you like wine and food would recommend the Barossa Valley.http://www.barossa.com/ or Kangaroo Island (you may need more than one day for this one though)

Melbourne I would catch the free tram http://ptv.vic.gov.au/route/view/1112

and check out Queen Vic markets http://www.qvm.com.au/ and taste test all there fresh produce!!! plenty of gardens and different stops, Melbourne museum and make sure you check the city they have lots of different hidden little alley ways to explore!

Hope some of this helps:)

We've only a day at each port..... really appreciate all the ideas and suggestions. Thank you so much.

Linda

if not interested in spending $$$ on the bridgeclimb when here in sydney, consider going to visit the pylon lookout instead.

great views too but at a fraction of the price.

if not interested in spending $$$ on the bridgeclimb when here in sydney, consider going to visit the pylon lookout instead.

great views too but at a fraction of the price.

Thanks.

My TA has included a Blue Mountains and Australian wildlife tour, and an Opera House Tour. On my last cruise I made some wonderful friends from Sydney who will be taking me ..... somewhere.... I'll be in Sydney for a day on the previous cruise and then for 2 / 3 days post cruise this one. Am working on getting to Uluru afterwards for 3 days.