What should we do in Australia? Im at a complete loss.

Wassermelone

This wasn't exactly a trip we had high on our list. My brother is getting married in October in Byron Bay in Australia. We first have to fly into Sydney to pick up the suit/tux for me as a groomsman.

... Honestly this trip is giving my wife and I a headache. Its going to be ridiculously expensive. We've been trying to do research, but there's a TON of conflicting information about where to go and where is shit. We didn't really want to go to Sydney (theres really not a lot there we want to see), but we have to get the suit (I asked if someone could pick it up for me but its apparently not an option). And Byron Bay isn't exactly easy to get to... plus the timing of it means its going to be smack dab in the middle of our time there. So flying to a city we didnt want to go to, and then a week to kill before the wedding. Then half a week after the wedding, either taking another flight or staying in Byron Bay for longer which doesn't really interest us.

We are not really beach people either. And we are already going to be living near some nice beaches in Southern California by that time.

Oh, and we are not nightlife people. Our idea of a good vacation is museums and pastries in Europe. Wildlife preserves or something like that might be cool.

I hate to sound whiny about what could be a very fun trip for a lot of people but I just don't know what we are supposed to do there.

Vivixenne

SE++ held AusPAX 2011 in Byron Bay and we hung out there for like 11 days; that said, we had around 25 of us which made it heaps of fun.

It's actually not very hard to get to; you can fly to Ballina airport or to the Gold Coast airport and rent a car from there and drive a relatively short drive. Or catch a bus.

SoCal beaches have nothing on Byron Bay beaches. Trust me. But if you're not beach people, the area has some really nice hikes, some neat places to hang out and eat, and it's only a 45-minute drive to the Gold Coast for amusement parks and such. You can also snorkel with sea turtles, go whale watching, or swim with dolphins.

I would honestly encourage you guys to give it a shot rather than go "oh, we're not BEACH people, so we'll hate it." Think of it as you guys trying something a bit different from what you already know you enjoy. There's nothing worse than locking yourself in a safe, compact, comfort-zoney box when you're traveling. Think positive! You might discover something new that you'd love; how do you know you'll hate Byron Bay until you give it a go? You're going there anyway - why dread it?

Part of the problem is that you're EXPECTING to have a bad time, which means you will. It's great to have a plan but it's also great to abandon a plan in favour of a better deal... so why not do the same with your expectations? You're spending all this money, so at least try to make the best of it. You've written it off before you've even been there - THAT's why you're at a loss with what you can do there.

#pipe

Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are all on the east coast, all within a couple of hours of Byron, and all have very good museums and galleries and wildlife preserves.
If you have a week to kill before the wedding, you can take a one hour flight from Sydney and hang out in Melbourne, which is wonderfully cultural. Lots of art, design, music and history. There is The Australian Centre for the Moving Image in the middle of town which is like a museum for cinema and always has great exhibits.

Brisbane is my home town and a nice place to hang out. It's an hour by bus away from Australia Zoo, The Gold Coast, rainforest covered mountain retreats. And the city itself has a wonderful modern art gallery and lots of fun music and stuff.

Sydney is a dozen different cities in one. The country's best restaurants, theatre, museums and galleries of all kinds.

And just because you're not beach people doesn't mean you can't enjoy Byron Bay. They point to Byron is to relax. You've got half a week there? Fuckin we should all be so lucky. Hang out with your family and relax. Watch the sun set from the light house. Walk through ancient rainforests. Cook some food with ingredients you've never eaten before.

Blake T

Oh, and we are not nightlife people. Our idea of a good vacation is museums and pastries in Europe. Wildlife preserves or something like that might be cool.

Have you made any attempt to even look for these?

You can go to the powerhouse museum in Sydney

You can type pattiserie into google and come up with this guy http://adrianozumbo.com/

You can go to the Sydney zoo

You are around two hours drive from the blue mountains, the capital city which has more museums and a bunch of building to see.

Honestly your post reeks of not wanting to enjoy the place and is slightly offensive.

LaCabra

The hell? Why would you go to Sydney just to pick up a suit? Is it a highly specialised suit or something?
People in Byron Shire get married too...

Anyhow, I lived in a neighbouring town ten minutes from Byron Bay for a few years. It's a great area. Byron Bay itself is full of clubs and nightlifey shit you're not interested in but if you drive 15 minutes in any direction you're in a different town and can find some great little eateries. The whole area is super scenic and I'm not just talking about beaches.

Are you imagining Australia is just this?

Wassermelone

Sorry, I know this is coming off bitching/whiny/entitled. I apologize. I posted that mid anxiety explosion while trying to figure out flights.

I know Australia can and will likely be a lot of fun. If someone said these same things about not knowing what to do in Paris or London or whatever I would probably get irritated with the person too.

But the stress of the organizing and the 'forced' expense of the thing is really getting to me. My wife and I were originally planning a trip to Iceland this year that has been canceled because of this sudden trip that we basically have to go on. Between being laid off recently (I just accepted a new job, so we will be ok) and the expenses of moving its... an expensive year. Half this trip is going to be unpaid time off as I will not have accrued enough PTO to take a two week vacation by then. It will probably be a couple years before we can actually resume our original Iceland plans.

LaCabra wrote: »

The hell? Why would you go to Sydney just to pick up a suit? Is it a highly specialised suit or something?
People in Byron Shire get married too...

I wish I knew. I asked my brother if it could just be picked up by someone already passing through Sydney but he said no, that I pretty much have to go to Sydney. I think I'm going to try and fight that because if we could just fly into Brisbane it would be a lot easier to plan the whole thing. As it is now with going to Sydney, the only way the trip is going to work is if the wedding is right in the middle, splitting any time we could potentially spend elsewhere doing things. If we flew straight into Brisbane, we could start the trip with the wedding and then go wherever we wanted to go to.

LaCabra

Yeah you should definitely fight that, it's bullshit. Your brother's just being lazy. To be honest I'd just say fuck it and skip his wedding in your position, but that's not what the thread's about :P

#pipe

You probably need to go to a specific place because your brother is planning all of the groomsmen to have matching suits and you'll need to be fitted. If that's the case, then you could possibly send your measurements to whoever's doing the suits, but getting a fitting would be better.

But with all the talk of anxiety and being laid off and forced expenses, perhaps some genuine relaxing time would be good for you. Byron is very good for that.

Blake T

You will not be able to significantly alter a suit in seven days with the exception of adjusting the sleeve length and perhaps the body length.

Call up your brother and tell him that you can't do Sydney as its significantly more expensive for you to leave at that time. Tell him that you understand that it is important that everyone is dressed well. Ask him to give you the contact information of the fitting service. Call them up and explain you cannot attend the fitting but you would like to supply them with measurements. ask them what measurements you need. Write them down.

Go to a local tailor and ask them to measure you up with that list. If you can get photos of from where they start and finish just in case there are any variations in where they measure. It will probably cost you something in the range of twenty dollars to do this.

Send it off to him and you'll get a suit that fits to within half an inch which at worst, will photograph fantastically and be slightly uncomfortable for you.

Afty

Maybe your brother has a surprise for you in Sydney and that's why he is adamant you pick it up.

WildEEP

The Great Barrier Reef.

You're going to be within a stones throw of one of the most beautiful places on the planet.
You like preserves? How about an underwater one?

Even if you hate water, even if you've never been scuba diving, or snorkeling...strap on a pair and go see it.
You'll never see anything else like it anywhere else or ever again. Guaranteed.