Oz Travel-Bytes #10

Of course to travel Australia is an expensive venture and it is this cost that necessitates a sound travel plan. It is just as easy to travel in the wrong direction and see nothing but rain and gloom as it is to travel and see only fine weather. By working on a travel plan you will follow the seasons and consequently be in places during their peak seasons, which is good for both accessibility and work. 

Below I have shown a very popular track during the months of May to October and listed the main attractions. This is generally a great plan for people starting their journey through Australia in Perth as it will cost a bit to do properly and allow them to take advantage of the exchange rate (especially if you are using European currencies). Then they can cruise down the East Coast earning money as they go and re-coupe some of the initial cost. So many times people will make the mistake of arriving in Sydney with loads of money and life is too easy, buy that dress, get the surf board, live in the small unit on the beach etc. Now that is fine until you realise you have been there 6 months and seen nothing but a big city, not to mention you are running low of money and the plan below is out of reach.



Let’s have a look at each section;

1. Perth to Broome via Exmouth 
   
   a) 5 Day Tour Perth to Exmouth. All meals and accommodation fully guided. This is one of our leading tours, taking you to all of the main attractions up the West Coast and finishing in Exmouth. Includes Pinnacles desert, Kalbarri, Monkey Mia, Coral Bay and much more. Perfect for those of you who would like to dive on the breath-taking Ningaloo Reef, or perhaps stay a while and do a dive course. (Handy for the barrier reef later in the journey). Combined with a 2,000km pass on the bus to get between Exmouth and Broome this is a great way to go. Click here to see the range of tours available. 
   
   b) Greyhound Bus Pass Perth to Broome. This is a good way to go for those of you who would like to take a little longer to see things. While it is not as comprehensive as a tour it does offer a Jump on Jump off option and between Perth and Broome the major attractions are reasonably accessible. It is also a good budget option as there are many camping grounds along the way to pitch a tent and save a few dollars. 
   Click here for more info.
   
2. Broome to Darwin The Kimberley Region
   
   The Kimberley is one of the most spectacular and unusual regions in the country and is best seen on a road called the Gibb River Road between Derby and Kununurra. (you may need a more detailed map). Most of the deep gorges found off the Gibb River Road are 4WD access only and consequently it is best seen on a tour, with a knowledgeable guide to show you around. The best of these tours will involve loads of walking, swimming and exploring as well discovering some of the oldest Aboriginal Art-sites in the world. Generally the smaller the group the more time you will have for these activities, and we will always try for the smallest group. This area is one of the most beautiful regions in the country and only available ON season between May and October. We have a large variety of tours and we will really need to speak to you personally to find out what is best suited for your needs. Tours vary in length from 8 Days to 13 Days depending upon how much you want to see and of course spend. For Kimberley tours click here.
   
3. The Northern Territory (a Package Deal)
   
   I have written before on the wonders of Australia’s Northern Territory and you can find further in depth information in the previous editions, click here. There are some fantastic packages available this season that offer Travellers the opportunity to see and experience the best of the NT and save money in the process. Packages start from 9 Days which included: 3 Days 4 WD Kakadu National Park, 3 days between Darwin and Alice Springs, and 3 Days to Uluru Kata-Tjuta National Park, and all meals and accommodation. These packages can be up-graded to 4 or 5-day tours around Kakadu and 5 day tours around Central Australia depending on your level of fitness and budget. I rate the Northern Territory as the most important area in Australia to see and understand as it allows you to truly focus on what makes this part of our planet unique, namely the flora and fauna, the Geology and the Aboriginal Culture. This package can also be done travelling from Alice to Darwin. Click on any of these links for more info...
   Kakadu Tours
   Ayers Rock Tours
   9 Day packages
   
4. The East Coast and the onwards
   
   I have included a flight between Alice Springs and Cairns in the far North of Queensland as there is not a lot to see between them, and it is a 3 Day bus journey that costs the same as a flight. A lot of you will get internal flights included in your flight out here so here is a good leg to get your travel agent to organise, but speak to us 1st. From here you are on your own, as all I have shown is the transport side of things. Some suggested areas to help you along are: the Great Barrier reef, Cape Tribulation, Atherton Tablelands, Magnetic Island, Whitsunday Islands & Fraser Island. 
   
   The Greyhound Bus is Australia’s national bus service and services most of the main areas that travellers will want to see. There are other ways to travel but I have shown you the most cost efficient way with a Jump on Jump off pass. I think to plan the East Coast too much is a mistake as there are so many things to discover as you go along and for those of you on working visas this will be where you will find the majority of the work.

So how much will it all cost?

I am going to use the 5 Day tour option from Perth to Exmouth in this costing as I think it is the best way to see everything, and there are some packages available that will allow the price to be held as low as possible. 

Please be aware that the discounts listed above are for Traveller’s Club Members ONLY .You will not be able to get this package anywhere else. There is also some planning to do to work out which tour best suits your needs so reply to us over the email and let us know you are interested and we will send you back some questions to answer to work out your needs. For those of you on work visas I have planned here to put you in Cairns which is a good spot to work for a while before setting off again. Remember this is a suggestion to assist in budget and planning and can be adjusted to suit your individual budget. Don’t forget to add some spending money into the budget (about $500.00 will be loads), and this sort of trip will take between 6-8 weeks.

So, by the time you have finished this plan you will have seen a lot of Australia and should be pulling into Sydney with a pile of experiences under your belt. True, you wont have much money but that is why you are in Sydney. Get out of the travellers circle for a while and meet the locals through your work and play. I think to go home with an address book full of people from your own country and none from Australia is a shame. To cap it all of the weather will be coming into Spring and should be perfect as we head into Summer and Christmas/New year etc. So the weather has been perfect all trip and you have seen just about everything along the way..............

Some Perth History

We have just had a public holiday here in Perth (called foundation day) to celebrate the colonisation of Perth on 2nd June 1829 by Captain Stirling (1791-1865) and I thought I would go into this a little.

At this time in Australian history the western half of the country was called New Holland and apart from parts of the coastline was completely unexplored. The eastern half was called New South Wales and was developing well using convict labour from England and Ireland And considered the distant land of New Holland to be another country.
Stirling was related, through marriage to a director of the wealthy and influential East-India Company in London and managed to attracted investors to his new colony and eventually won support from the British Parliament and was granted 100 000 acres of prime land. 

He sailed for the port of Fremantle (named after Captain Fremantle, who discovered this fine port years before) with his family and dreams aboard the ”Parmelia”. After a long and difficult journey from England they arrived at Fremantle and unloaded all their gear and set up a make shift colony. Soon afterwards Stirling sailed up the Swan river and found a beautiful cove far more suitable for colonisation and named it his Capital, Perth on 12th August 1829. There were about 500 colonists who came to this new and desolate frontier chasing wealth and prestige through the ownership of land. 

It was not long before the reality of that dream set in and there was a testing period of endless heat and biting insects and growing hostility from the natives. Indeed it was Stirling who led a bloody raid on the Nyungar people (now you know one Aboriginal language right!), killing 30 of them and in the process losing his once over whelming support, he left in 1839 never to return. A lack of labour led to the introduction of convict labour between 1850 and 1868. (By this time the rest of the country had stopped using the “Dirty” convict labour). Convict labour left an infrastructure of roads, bridges and public buildings in Perth many of which still stand, as well as a legacy of deep shame. Perth was proclaimed a city in 1856 with a population of 4000 souls. The introduction of gold in the 1890’s launched the city into a new and prosperous era, with the population quadrupling to 44 000in 1901 (The year Australia became a Federation). Perhaps in the next edition I will go into the history leading up Federation, however..

I will leave it there as it is a long story and I have already missed out a lot of details. Needless to say Perth today is one of Australia’s leading cities and offers one of the best lifestyles in the world. I hope you get something out of this edition and look forward to speaking to you again next month. Don’t forget to check out our website for all the latest information on travel throughout Oz, www.travellersclub.com.au. If you have any questions on anything to do with your travels email us through the website and we will respond straight away. 

Take it easy & travel well,


Pete, Kevin, Mark & Jim
Traveller's Club