Holiday in Australia?

Question

As a couple of oldies we would like to try and organise a three month trip to Oz starting out at Cairns for one month move on to Adelaide for one month and finish in Perth with family for the final month. Would it be possible to get a rental in these places for 1 month? We would hire a car for a month and fly between Cairns, Adelaide and Perth hopefully. Any links for info would be appreciated. We have looked at motorhomes but this seems a pretty expensive alternative. We thought about £400 a month rental, does this sound achievable? We have a bit to spend but we are not millionairs and would like to do this before it is to late Any idea about the cost of flights between these places? Or the railway might be another alternative. Could this be organised by us or would it be better to go to a travel agent? Just fancy the rush we would get organising this ourselves.

Answer 1

Internal flights are dirt cheap. I would say book them online. Personally, I wouldn't go on the train cos the journeys are too long, especially when the flights are so cheap.

I've only been to Cairns out of those places. Have a great time - no doubt you will.

Answer 2

Most normal rental accommodation requires a six-month lease, you would be unlikely to find anything for a month. There are furnished holiday apartments which do not require a lease but these are more expensive than ordinary flats and houses. Cairns will be the most expensive as it is a major holiday destination and a relatively small town. You should be able to check some prices throgh newspapers online - the Cairns Post, the Cairns Sun, the Adelaide Advertiser and the West Australian.

Flying in Australia is not dirt cheap but it is less expensive than trains and a lot quicker too. Check out prices online and book your flights well in advance to take advantage of cheap flight offers. Be flexible in your flight times and you could find some real bargains.

The train journey from Cairns to Perth via Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide is one of the great train journeys of the world. It would be worth checking the cost and you might have an advantage if you are pensioners. It takes about two days from Cairns to Brisbane, a day on to Sydney, 24 hours to Adelaide via Broken Hill (you can go via Melbourne. It takes longer) and then two days to Perth. Do not consider doing the trip without sleepers.

It would certainly be worth doing a lot of the checking yourself if you have the time. I would also consider spending some time in Sydney and, perhaps, Alice Springs/Uluru. Adelaide is a nice place but there is not a lot to do there for a month.

Answer 3

Car rentals will not be a problem. There are so many tourists that you can get car rentals pretty much for as long as you want. You can play the car hire companies off each other - go to each company saying that it's competitor has offered a cheaper deal. I also found that the big international companies will have a newer fleet but will also be more expensive. Go to a small independant who will have a good choice but the fleet will be second hand cars, thereby being cheaper. Not sure about about current prices though.

Flying will be quicker than trains and will cost no more than the train. Having said this, the Adelaide to Perth train is part of the Indian Pacific train that runs between Sydney and Perth. If you're into train journeys, it will be an experience, although take a good book as you will be spending a good day crossing the Nullabor Plain. The airlines used to offer a discount of up to 40% on domestic flights if you held an international ticket. Not sure whether they still do this.

To get an idea of cost, speak to any UK travel agent that deals with Australian travel, although you can book domestic flights and car hoire once you are there without any problems. I used Austravel http://www.austravel.com/ when I went backpacking 10 yars ago. These days I tend to use The Flight Centre http://www.flightcentre.co.uk/ as my travel agent. Traifinders and Travelbag are also used heavily by independant travellers and have built up a good reputation.

Answer 4

Come on down!! Just a suggestion...when you ask about motorhomes you should also ask about "returning" motorhomes. People sometimes take, lets say, motorhomes from Perth to Cairns. The motorhome company needs someone to drive that van back to Perth where it came from. So you can usually get discounted prices if you offer to do this, and then you also get to do everything you want in between. Getting a holiday rental in Cairns should be no problem as its a very tourist orientated city. However I think you may have trouble doing that in Adelaide or Perth. Anyways here is a site that might be helpful for you:

http://www.stayz.com.au/?s_cid=GAW:house_types:Australian_Holiday_Houses:635790

Answer 5

Accommodation: there're short term apartments(flats) for rent, can be fully furnished, min 1 month I think. Check out the local paper for this, try http://www.smh.com.au/ (Sydney) or http://www.theage.com.au (Melbourne).

Get around: check out http://www.qantas.com for great deals, a few months back I went there, cost me $1200US(international flight plus 3 domestic flights in Australia). Since you gonna stay for a month at each place, I'd recommand buy a car and drive around, even from place to place. Rent a car for a few months is just too costly.

Travel agent do tours, they won't be much helpful for what you need. But doesn't hurt to check them out. Good luck and don't forget to visit Alice Springs, Cooba Pedy.

Answer 6

http://travel.yahoo.com/

Answer 7

go for it.