Planning a trip to Australia
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Recently my hubby and I decided to take a trip since his company is "encouraging" people to go on leave (paid) due to bad economy,
So we are looking at all these NATAS packages.. but he doesn't want to take them, because in his words, "I don't want to take a 4 hours flight to be in Singapore again". We imagined being surrounded by kiasu aunties, unappreciative of foreign culture, and suchlike.. and the "chinese speaking tours" with "chinese meals" taglines scare us.
Can someone advise us how to go about this?
I saw some pretty good deals (in my inexperienced opinion) on qantas website and ww.airfares.com.sg and www.hotels.com.sg, and some websites like http://www.jetabout.com.sg.
Can someone advise? We are thinking of either Perth or Melbourne... Just want to relax and enjoy the sights and smells without being rushed around for "chinese food".
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how about going free and easy ? .... rent a car and book your hotels online .....
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free n easy
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Just as they say, do it the free and easy way. You can also choose to book a service apartment if you want to stay a little longer and cook some meals yourself. I always read up the Lonely Planet guides to find out where to go and what tours are available.
Tour groups just don't give you enough time and opportunities to explore and enjoy a place and you're at the mercy of the guide and the other travellers. It's not worth the "convenience" of not planning.
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One more vote for free and easy and service apartments. Hell, get a convertible and just cruise!
I can dig up some Melbourne details if you're headed this way.
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Originally posted by Gedanken:
One more vote for free and easy and service apartments. Hell, get a convertible and just cruise!
I can dig up some Melbourne details if you're headed this way.
Yeah! My bro recently brought his baby girl over together with his wife and his in-laws and they stayed in a service apartment along Russell St. It was called Mantra on the Park, although I think Mantra on Russell is a more central location. The facilities were pretty good except that the lifts weren't working right, but then again, that was during the peak of the heat wave.
foxwalk, I've been to Perth, and to tell you the truth, from a tourist point of view, you get more bang for your buck in Melbourne. If you stay right in the city, there are just so many things to see and do! Right now until 25 Feb 2009, the Suzuki Night Market runs in the Queen Victoria Market on Wed evenings. And on Thursday nights and Friday nights, it's late night shopping where a lot of stores and dept stores in the city remain open till about 9pm or 9:30pm. The major malls have late night shopping on either one or both of those days too.
As for food, if you're staying in Melbourne City itself, you will never go bored! Any kind of cuisine you can think of under the sun, you can most likely find it in the city!
In fact, the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival runs from 7-23 March and on certain days, there will be foodie events in Federation Square, or you can pre-book special dinners in participating restaurants. If you want to do a free and easy, just get yourself in Melbourne, and you can book yourself into a number of day trips available in the tour booking centres right in the heart of the city too. In fact, there's a day trip for the city itself where you get to enjoy an optional cruise along the Yarra River, and you head to the popular gardens and museums, pass by a few other landmarks, and you get to go to the Eureka Towers Skydeck as well (think you might have to pay extra to step out in the glass protrusion cube or something...).
You'll have fun here!
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Originally posted by foxwalk:
Recently my hubby and I decided to take a trip since his company is "encouraging" people to go on leave (paid) due to bad economy,
So we are looking at all these NATAS packages.. but he doesn't want to take them, because in his words, "I don't want to take a 4 hours flight to be in Singapore again". We imagined being surrounded by kiasu aunties, unappreciative of foreign culture, and suchlike.. and the "chinese speaking tours" with "chinese meals" taglines scare us.
Can someone advise us how to go about this?
I saw some pretty good deals (in my inexperienced opinion) on qantas website and ww.airfares.com.sg and www.hotels.com.sg, and some websites like http://www.jetabout.com.sg.
Can someone advise? We are thinking of either Perth or Melbourne... Just want to relax and enjoy the sights and smells without being rushed around for "chinese food".
Would recommend you melbourne .
I recommend is to do a driving hoilday - rent a car - go visit the great ocean road, grampian (mountain), Dayesford (spa area) , yarra vallery (wineyards), goldfields ( history town) ... the roads are great and clear signs, with lots of hotels, motels and log cabins ...
At the end you can stay 3-4 days in melbourne city to do shopping and explore the city.
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Originally posted by foxwalk:
Recently my hubby and I decided to take a trip since his company is "encouraging" people to go on leave (paid) due to bad economy,
So we are looking at all these NATAS packages.. but he doesn't want to take them, because in his words, "I don't want to take a 4 hours flight to be in Singapore again". We imagined being surrounded by kiasu aunties, unappreciative of foreign culture, and suchlike.. and the "chinese speaking tours" with "chinese meals" taglines scare us.
Can someone advise us how to go about this?
I saw some pretty good deals (in my inexperienced opinion) on qantas website and ww.airfares.com.sg and www.hotels.com.sg, and some websites like http://www.jetabout.com.sg.
Can someone advise? We are thinking of either Perth or Melbourne... Just want to relax and enjoy the sights and smells without being rushed around for "chinese food".
You really wanna go to Melbourne. I suggest skip Perth -_-"
And your husband is right you know. I went on a tour with my parents once when I was a teenager and was a horrible experience....it's exactly like what you imagined!
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OK, i've decided on free+easy.. and it seems that the rates on www.hotels.com.sg are really just per- room rates, that is quite affordable. can normal singapore license be used in australia?? Can someone tell me where i can get good deals for car-rental or day tours (with tourists of other countries) Which are the places I must not miss when I visit? Which are the nice places to stay where they are convenient? Our budget is about $150/room/day (that means for two people).. is that enough? We are planning to visit in mid march or mid april...
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If you get there in late March, soak up the carnival atmosphere of the opening race of the 2009 Formula 1 season (27 - 29 March)
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Originally posted by foxwalk:
OK, i’ve decided on free+easy..
and it seems that the rates on www.hotels.com.sg are really just per- room rates, that is quite affordable.
can normal singapore license be used in australia??
Can someone tell me where i can get good deals for car-rental or day tours (with tourists of other countries)
Which are the places I must not miss when I visit?
Which are the nice places to stay where they are convenient? Our budget is about $150/room/day (that means for two people).. is that enough?
We are planning to visit in mid march or mid april…
When my Singaporean friends and then my bro and family visited Melbourne recently, their Singapore licences were used to register for some kind of temporary permit which allowed them to drive in Victoria.
You can get more information here :
http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/Cars/Licensing/InformationForTourists.htm
It will be pretty expensive to stay in the city unless you manage to get a good package deal. Otherwise, I usually recommend friends to stay in the Richmond Lodge because it costs only about AUD 500.00 per week for a service apartment. Friends who have stayed there have all been very pleased with the facilities. Melbourne City is just 5-15 mins' drive away, depending on traffic conditions. A smart friend invested in an up-to-date Melbourne Street Directory software for their GPS system and they ended up driving everywhere with ease.
foxwalk, IMO, the places that you must not miss would be :
- Great Ocean Road (1 day trip);
- Phillip Island to watch the penguins (1 day trip);
- Eureka Skydeck, then visit Southbank along the Yarra River, watch the torches go ablaze outside the Crown Casino; and
- Dinner in an Italian restaurant (very fantastic pasta!) followed by desserts along Lygon St (start with Gelato, pause for luxurious chocolate desserts at San Churro's Chocolatier, and then make your way up to Brunnetti's for yet more desserts!
).Most folks like to like to visit the Queen Victoria Market although IMO, it's over-rated.
The rest of the tourist attractions in the city would be museums, the zoo, the aquarium, St Kilda beach, the many parks interspersed in the city, Parliament building, etc.
Mid-March - April will be Autumn. You'll have fun.
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Just to addto what's already been said, the Grampians are also nice - make sure you bring really comfortable shoes, though.
Going to the Great Ocean Road can be a bit of a challenge time-wise if your starting from and returning to the city - it's highly unlikely you'll be able to take in things like the Ottways Walk along the way. If you want to take your time on the Great Ocean Road, have a think about staying a a hotel somewhere along the way - the Mantra at Lorne is quite nice and reasonably priced.
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Sound so exciting!! Where can I book Richmond Lodge? I went to the website, but couldn't really book from there..
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if you got sgp cravings and want to find singapore makan, here are some reco
Singapore Chom Chom
188 Bourke Street
Melbourne
Flora Indian Restaurant
238 Flinders St
Melbourne 3000 VICNorsiah's Kitchen
604 Swanston St
CarltonNasi Lemak House
113 Grattan Street
Carlton
- carlton is in north melbourne
If no good, dun blame me ah...just trying to help here...
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Thanks... but i think i won't be needing to go back to singapore food for just 1 week. :)
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Originally posted by foxwalk:
OK, i’ve decided on free+easy..
and it seems that the rates on www.hotels.com.sg are really just per- room rates, that is quite affordable.
can normal singapore license be used in australia??
Can someone tell me where i can get good deals for car-rental or day tours (with tourists of other countries)
Which are the places I must not miss when I visit?
Which are the nice places to stay where they are convenient? Our budget is about $150/room/day (that means for two people).. is that enough?
We are planning to visit in mid march or mid april…
if you want to compare car rental rates, you can check the site below. i use this previously when i am here for hols.
http://www.vroomvroomvroom.com.au/
my only advise on car rental is to pay for the insurance. this is for peace of mind as any small bumps can be costly here.
as for driving license, i couldn't be bothered with any conversion. typically, i think one has a few months of buffer before any conversion is needed. if you are here just on a holidays, your singapore license is more than adequate.
as for accomodation, if you dun have small kids or old folks, why not try the YHA? it is a great way to meet and mingle with other like-minded travellers from other countries. i think there are single rooms you can book if you dun like to share. it's cheap, got lots of amenities like kitchen, etc you can use. we stayed in a few 2 years back and we have mostly good experience.
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Originally posted by Gedanken:
Just to addto what's already been said, the Grampians are also nice - make sure you bring really comfortable shoes, though.
Going to the Great Ocean Road can be a bit of a challenge time-wise if your starting from and returning to the city - it's highly unlikely you'll be able to take in things like the Ottways Walk along the way. If you want to take your time on the Great Ocean Road, have a think about staying a a hotel somewhere along the way - the Mantra at Lorne is quite nice and reasonably priced.
this is good advise on the great ocean road(GOR) bit.4 years ago, we based ourselves in mornington and decided on a day trip to GOR via a nice ferry ride from sorrento with our final destination on seeing the 12 apostles in port campbell. we never made it.
we avoided the same mistakes 2 years ago with a stayover.
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Originally posted by Rhonda:
When my Singaporean friends and then my bro and family visited Melbourne recently, their Singapore licences were used to register for some kind of temporary permit which allowed them to drive in Victoria.
You can get more information here :
http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/Cars/Licensing/InformationForTourists.htm
It will be pretty expensive to stay in the city unless you manage to get a good package deal. Otherwise, I usually recommend friends to stay in the Richmond Lodge because it costs only about AUD 500.00 per week for a service apartment. Friends who have stayed there have all been very pleased with the facilities. Melbourne City is just 5-15 mins' drive away, depending on traffic conditions. A smart friend invested in an up-to-date Melbourne Street Directory software for their GPS system and they ended up driving everywhere with ease.
foxwalk, IMO, the places that you must not miss would be :
- Great Ocean Road (1 day trip);
- Phillip Island to watch the penguins (1 day trip);
- Eureka Skydeck, then visit Southbank along the Yarra River, watch the torches go ablaze outside the Crown Casino; and
- Dinner in an Italian restaurant (very fantastic pasta!) followed by desserts along Lygon St (start with Gelato, pause for luxurious chocolate desserts at San Churro's Chocolatier, and then make your way up to Brunnetti's for yet more desserts!
).Most folks like to like to visit the Queen Victoria Market although IMO, it's over-rated.
The rest of the tourist attractions in the city would be museums, the zoo, the aquarium, St Kilda beach, the many parks interspersed in the city, Parliament building, etc.
Mid-March - April will be Autumn. You'll have fun.
Hi Rhonda, how do i go about booking my stay at Richmond Lodge? They don't seem to have any online booking, and I sent in an inquiry. The manager replied asking for credit card number...??? -
Hope the following links help.
Information on where to go in Melbourne/Victoria:
http://www.visitmelbourne.com/
Accommodation:
Checking distance between destinations:
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Originally posted by foxwalk:
Hi Rhonda, how do i go about booking my stay at Richmond Lodge? They don't seem to have any online booking, and I sent in an inquiry. The manager replied asking for credit card number...???Call him and speak to him. His name is Robert.
Unless he is busy when you call, you'll find that he's very helpful and likes to offer lots of extra information. I called him directly to confirm my reservations before boarding my flight and he gave me lots of helpful details about the tram lines, how to get to the city, etc.
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Many Singaporean tourists rent cars to drive around Melbourne. However many do not know the road rules here. Melbourne has very STRANGE road rules (different from the rest of Australia) and I advise those who intend to self drive here to get aquainted with them.
Some tips:
1. Be very careful when driving in the city. They have a rule called the "Hook Turn" where you have to keep LEFT to turn RIGHT at the traffic junctions. Sounds bizarre but it's true.And to make it more confusing, not all traffic junctions have hook turns (only those with signs displayed); some are normal traffic junctions where you keep right to turn right.
Please check
http://www.carhireinsider.com.au/driving-in-australia/
2. There are many trams on the streets of Melbourne and they always travel on the outer lane while cars travel on the inner lane. When a tram stops to alight passengers, cars travelling on the inner lane must STOP too. This is very important as many accidents have happened with cars running down passengers.
3. Singaporeans tend to underestimate travelling time and distances. Distances look close on the maps but when you drive, it's actually much further and takes a longer time. For example, driving to the Great Ocean road is like driving to Malacca from Singapore.
4. Be careful of driving fatigue because of the long distances. Change drivers often or take plenty of stops along the way. Many Singaporeans are only used to city driving and not aware of the risks of long distance country driving. There are also many speed traps all over Victoria.
5. Recently two Indonesian tourists died on a day trip because they drove into bush fire areas and were burnt alive. The firestorms here burn everything in their paths and move so fast that they outrun moving cars. Always listen to the radios to keep yourself informed of the weather and other dangers. I believe the Grampians are burning as we speak and will be close this year.
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Originally posted by Rhonda:
Call him and speak to him. His name is Robert.
Unless he is busy when you call, you'll find that he's very helpful and likes to offer lots of extra information. I called him directly to confirm my reservations before boarding my flight and he gave me lots of helpful details about the tram lines, how to get to the city, etc.
Thanks Rhonda! :) Yes, Robert was the one who replied. I could book online too I just realised, but the rates are only advised through email. So I just give him my credit card details to him (he said will be used for the $150 deposit). Is this right? Are the locks secure there? -
Originally posted by foxwalk:
Thanks Rhonda! :) Yes, Robert was the one who replied. I could book online too I just realised, but the rates are only advised through email. So I just give him my credit card details to him (he said will be used for the $150 deposit). Is this right? Are the locks secure there?I know of at least seven different groups of people including myself, who have stayed there so far and none of them had any complaints regarding the charges so I don't think Robert is fraudulent.
He will advise you when you check-in about internet connection charges, phone charges, etc. The main door is locked at about 10pm or so and only guests will have access via key. Visitors after that hour will then have to intercom guests to get entry.
This area is pretty safe except you do have to be careful when venturing out to Victoria St and the area near the commission housing (flats built to house the poor, the unemployed, and refugee-migrants). Just be really careful with your wallets and purses because of pickpockets and snatch thieves.
I live really near Richmond Lodge and Robert usually notifies me whenever there are Singaporeans staying over, usually nurses sent over by the Singapore hospitals and/or govt clinics for short-term training stints. I usually bring them out and help them out so they won't feel so lonely. Honeymousey has met one of them I befriended and she was so sweet she drove us around sightseeing.
I can come over and say "Hi!" to you when you are here and we can look at maps and all. There's a carousel stand with lots of pockets for little cards for tourists in the lobby of the Lodge where discounts are offered for entry into various tourist attractions which you might be interested in.
There's a washing machine in the laundry area and you just slot in a $2 coin for each load you wash. There's also a dryer there for another $2 per load. It's starting to get pretty cold now and when the wind blows, it's sometimes so chilly that you feel like peeing!
So it's best to pack in scarves and thick coats. Most Singaporeans I know experience a little nosebleed when they stay here, myself included. That's to be expected because humidity in Singapore is 82% and above but here, it can get as low as 5% during the heatwave to about 30-something%. My mom and dad was advised to apply a little Vaseline into their nostrils when they recently travelled to Spain in Winter and that seemed to work. I'll use the trick myself this Autumn / Winter. Any other questions? Ask away!
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Oh! Food Hunt!! Whilst you're staying in Richmond Lodge, you might want to makan at the following places around the area which is highly recommended by yours truly!
- Vietnamese Pho (Beef Noodles Soup) along Victoria St (I will show you which one is THE best one when you're here!
AUD 8.00 only for a huge bowl of rice noodles with sliced beef in steaming hot beef broth! );- Late-night Pizza made on-the-spot in this Greek outlet. So much nicer than Pizza Hut!! They have Souvlavki there too, which is basically lamb or other meat grilled slowly on a rotisserie, then thinly shaved and assembled with various other ingredients, tsatziki sauce added, and the wrap is ready for consumption. But their Souvlavki is not the best.
- Chimmy's. You have to sit there one leisurely morning and have your cuppa there! Their pastries are very famous and it gets terribly crowded during lunchtime.
- Fritz Gelato. You can tell that they really do use the high-quality ingredients and organic ingredients for their Gelati because you can taste the difference, esp when you've eaten from a lot of different Gelati shops...
- Momotaro's handmade Japanese ramen in super-large bowls so big they can cover your head!
It's good to go there when you're starving and cold because the lovely full-bodied stock will make you feel warm and good inside. This establishment comes with a few recommendations from the local papers too! There are lots of other café's here along Bridge Road that serve really good coffee / hot choc and you will soon realise that there's a huge café culture here. On Sat and Sun mornings, you can see these café's filling up really fast and people just sitting out in the sun enjoying their morning cuppa at leisure and reading the papers, usually with their dog(s) lying under their table, having a quick snooze.
You must experience a 'typical' Aussie breakfast at least once. The servings are huge for Singaporeans but it's really luxurious to bite into a large savoury sarny (sandwich) or dig into Eggs Benedict or there's the good ol' Sausages + Ham + whatever else! - Grill'd seems to be very popular with the Aussies too. They serve a variety of grilled hamburgers. I've yet to try it myself but I will someday...
And then, if you somehow start to miss Singaporean food, I can show you where to get stuff like Hainanese Chix Rice, Punggol-style Mee Goreng, Mee Pok, etc. (But bear in mind they are costlier and the portions are usually larger).
Bon Appetit!
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