As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/

Vacation in Australia?

HandgimpHandgimp R+L=JFamily PhotoRegistered User regular
edited February 2010 in Help / Advice Forum
I and a (few?) friend(s) from work are contemplating going to Australia for a week this summer. After reading through a few older threads on here about people moving to Australia, I have a few ideas and am leaning toward Sydney (possibly Melbourne) but would appreciate some input/insight on anything from city, hotel, things to do, whatever. We're all single guys in our late twenties.

PwH4Ipj.jpg
Handgimp on

Posts

  • ashridahashridah Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Summer in the northern hemisphere, or summer in the southern hemisphere? I recommend Summer in the southern hemisphere if you're going to Melbourne. Otherwise the weather can suck a little (not as cold as seattle, and no-where near as wet, mind you, but still not ideal). Compare the two, and see which you'd prefer.

    Personally, I'm honor bound to say that Melbourne is better despite the weather, but I'm from there, originally :)
    It's easy to get around (reasonable PT), decent night-life (Bars/clubs/etc), and plenty of daytime activities.
    Sydney always rubs me the wrong way, but the weather is nicer and more stable.

    ashridah on
  • theSquidtheSquid Sydney, AustraliaRegistered User regular
    edited February 2010
    From what I understand Melbourne is a classier place with a nicer day-life, but Sydney has nicer weather/beaches, and some pretty cool tourist stuff.

    Also we are a superior breed of human being over here, but don't tell those filthy Victorians that.

    theSquid on
  • Apothe0sisApothe0sis Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality? Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Sydney and Melbourne are radically different cities because they've been developed under very different licensing laws.

    Sydney is all about large clubs and pubs and so forth. Melbourne has a much more flexible licensing law so a lot of smaller hole-in-the-wall style specialist bars. This has significantly contributed to Melbourne having a more sophisticated reputation when it comes to such things.

    Another option is the Gold Coast. But it all depends on what you want to do.

    Sydney is the definitive Australia experience, it's where the Opera house is. Where the Harbour is. It's where I am. It's where the Harbour Bridge is.
    Melbourne is Melbourne. Either sophiscacted or pretentious depending on who you ask.
    The Gold Coast is the most touristy spring breaky area.

    Apothe0sis on
  • Fantastication2Fantastication2 Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Sydney is a shithole. There's no better way to say it.

    If by summer you mean you are coming to Australia mid-year, then go north for good weather and tropical style places (Brisbane/Cairns/Barrier reef etc), go south for oddball interesting places (Melbourne/Hobart(All of Tassie really)). If you want to be really interesting, go inland virtually anywhere that has an airstrip and try not to get killed.

    Just don't go to Sydney.

    Fantastication2 on
  • The CatThe Cat Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited February 2010
    Apothe0sis wrote: »
    Another option is the Gold Coast. But it all depends on what you want to do.

    The Gold Coast is terribad, go to Melbourne. If you come up here, wait until winter and aim for the city or the Sunshine Coast. Or Cairns if you want to do the tropical thing.

    The Cat on
    tmsig.jpg
  • desperaterobotsdesperaterobots perth, ausRegistered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Go.
    To.
    Melbourne.

    The way I see it, Sydney has postcards, Melbourne has experiences. Fun drunken ones.

    desperaterobots on
  • AbsoluteZeroAbsoluteZero The new film by Quentin Koopantino Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    What if you don't drink?

    AbsoluteZero on
    cs6f034fsffl.jpg
  • bsjezzbsjezz Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Sydney is a shithole. There's no better way to say it.

    If by summer you mean you are coming to Australia mid-year, then go north for good weather and tropical style places (Brisbane/Cairns/Barrier reef etc), go south for oddball interesting places (Melbourne/Hobart(All of Tassie really)). If you want to be really interesting, go inland virtually anywhere that has an airstrip and try not to get killed.

    Just don't go to Sydney.

    having lived in sydney for four years after living in vancouver and england, i can say that you have no idea what you're talking about

    sydney is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. its harbour is magnificent and runs through it like a great park; there are over a thousand calm beaches in the inner-harbour alone, many of which back onto quiet, accessible parks. the ferries trundle across it between wharves and you can sit out on their open decks in the sun or in a cold, evening rain.

    outside the harbour there are a string of some of the best beaches in the world. you can look over them from a nearby bar with a glass of asahi, or spend the day in the water and then drying off salty on the sand. if it's cold, you can bundle up in scarves and walk, for kilometres, up the waterfront, watching the thunderous clouds roll in and strike lightning at the horizon

    it has the second largest fish market, after tokyo, and you can steal away with its fresh seafood and sourdough breads for picnics under norfolk pines in the park; or you could eat out. sydney's often ranked amongst the top restaurant cities on earth, and it hosts many dense districts driven by the love of food: newtown, chinatown, crows nest, leichardt, surry hills, more. the restaurants are creative and dynamic and supported by patrons who know what's good to eat

    the wine is good and cheap. the zoo is the one of the world's best. the bars thrum with activity all the time.

    there is no easy guide for traveling in sydney. the joys of the inner-city are broken up into hidden suburbs, and the tourist districts are mostly vapid, if pretty. but that's the nature of by-the-book tourism anyway

    come to sydney. take advantage of the harbour. eat the food. don't be afraid to get on a bus or a train in search of something obscure. it is an amazing city, if not an easy one.

    bsjezz on
    sC4Q4nq.jpg
  • Apothe0sisApothe0sis Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality? Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Melbourne seems to get all the cool or at least more of the cool art festivals and gallery things.

    So, maybe that.

    Like I said, it really depends on what you're after.

    Apothe0sis on
  • QliphothQliphoth Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    In the summer do either Sydney or Melbourne, in winter do Queensland (Brisbane, Gold Coast, I like best in March/April, in June/July I prefer north queensland, Cairns/Port Douglas are beautiful). Sydney is great for the tourist sites that make up what people generally perceive Australia to be, harbour bridge, opera house, good beaches. Melbourne has a fantastic night life, less touristy crap but plenty to do. Also we have shitloads of sport and some incredible music festivals (though a lot of these are an hour-2 drive from melbourne) and a little further to travel if you want surf beaches, though there are plenty of good ones one to two hours drive away, driving down the great ocean road to get to some of the fantastic beaches down at Torquay/Lorne
    is well worth it due to the incredible landscape.

    Qliphoth on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • theSquidtheSquid Sydney, AustraliaRegistered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Yeah I was gonna say RE: Fantastication... avoid Queensland during the summer. Too many blue bottles on the beach. Further south is safer. Winter is better for Queensland as its still hot as fuck up there.

    theSquid on
  • HandgimpHandgimp R+L=J Family PhotoRegistered User regular
    edited February 2010
    What if you don't drink?

    oh god, we drink like stereotypical sailors.

    Handgimp on
    PwH4Ipj.jpg
  • BelketreBelketre Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Victoria is Australias Mexico.

    Belketre on
  • ScalfinScalfin __BANNED USERS regular
    edited February 2010
    If you want to check out the outback, reading Chasing Kangaroos beforehand might make things a bit more fun.

    Scalfin on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    The rest of you, I fucking hate you for the fact that I now have a blue dot on this god awful thread.
  • RynaRyna Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Y'all could come to Adelaide!

    ..Actually, you really really shouldn't

    Ryna on
  • VivixenneVivixenne Remember your training, and we'll get through this just fine. Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    do both

    they are not too expensive to travel in between and it'd be worth the long trip if you did more than one location while you were here

    seriously

    Sydney and Melbourne both have their own to offer people, you might as well go to both and see what each of those things are, it's really worth it

    Vivixenne on
    XBOX: NOVADELPHINI | DISCORD: NOVADELPHINI #7387 | TWITTER
  • ashridahashridah Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Vivixenne wrote: »
    do both

    they are not too expensive to travel in between and it'd be worth the long trip if you did more than one location while you were here

    seriously

    Sydney and Melbourne both have their own to offer people, you might as well go to both and see what each of those things are, it's really worth it

    Except that the limited time in both means you'll be making some hard choices about what to see, but basically, Vivixenne is correct. The flight between melb<->syd can range from about $70 AUD to $150, depending on the specific flight and how full it is.

    ashridah on
  • bsjezzbsjezz Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    then again, an east-coast road trip is probably one of the best things in australia you possibly could do

    bsjezz on
    sC4Q4nq.jpg
  • desperaterobotsdesperaterobots perth, ausRegistered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Can you only manage a single week? I mean, I live in the neighbourhood compared to you, and generally wouldn't go to Melbourne for anything less than 10 days. You kinda just want to chill the fuck out for a while, and if you're travelling from Seattle, you might only just get over the jet-lag before having to return.

    A friend and I went from Perth to Melbourne on an early morning flight thinking we'd be able to pack more in to our holiday by arriving in the afternoon, but we just wound up being tired for days and days afterwards.

    desperaterobots on
  • ashridahashridah Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Can you only manage a single week? I mean, I live in the neighbourhood compared to you, and generally wouldn't go to Melbourne for anything less than 10 days. You kinda just want to chill the fuck out for a while, and if you're travelling from Seattle, you might only just get over the jet-lag before having to return.

    A friend and I went from Perth to Melbourne on an early morning flight thinking we'd be able to pack more in to our holiday by arriving in the afternoon, but we just wound up being tired for days and days afterwards.

    I've never really run into jetlag issues when going to Australia from Seattle, usually just when coming back. A lot depends on your sleep patterns and what time you catch your flight.

    ashridah on
  • desperaterobotsdesperaterobots perth, ausRegistered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Fair enough. Just seems like a long way to come for so short a time. Spending a week in Melbourne and a week in Sydney sounds about right to me.

    desperaterobots on
  • HandgimpHandgimp R+L=J Family PhotoRegistered User regular
    edited February 2010
    I'm in the submarine force, and getting even a week of contiguous leave is a bit of a coup. I'm not too worried about jet lag, either; I'm able to sleep whenever I get a chance, and I'm able to go without sleep for a few days without issue. Thanks for all the info!

    Handgimp on
    PwH4Ipj.jpg
Sign In or Register to comment.