Posts Tagged ‘Australia’
Travel Guide Books:
How many do you have on your shelf? I have a fantastic collection of guide books, most of which I haven’t used. Don’t get me wrong I always have at least a guide book per country with me when travelling – but the one’s that go with me often don’t make it home – the get swapped along the way or sold to make room for the souvenirs!
Back in the PI (pre-Internet) days I used to buy or borrow guide books to get ideas for trips. Now I tend to use on-line forums and on-line resources at that stage. However, most times, as I step on that plane, I have a guide book, or 2 in my luggage! Why? At the end of the day I prefer to travel independently, I do take tours but only a day tour at most a couple of days. I like to plan and research and understand a destination. I often now take a page or 20 of notes from forums and webpages but the book is at least reliably indexed – which can be very useful.
How not to use a Travel Guide
The key word here is “guide” – not “Bible” or “Must use or will be sent home immediately”. Too many travellers become completely guide book dependent – if the book says Cafe Expresso is the place for lunch – that’s where they eat. If Hotel Barato is the best deal in town then that’s where they want to stay. Unfortunately Guide Books kill the their own recommendations – typically it’s at least 18 months from research to a published or updated guide hits your favourite on-line book store. In those 18 months a particular business: hotel, restaurant, may have changed ownership, been demolished, been re-named. However in parts of the world dependent on the tourist dollar I can pretty much guarantee that a business recommended by a well-known guide book will have gone up in price and probably down in quality. In countries weak on copyright laws there will be 3 or 4 pretenders with the same name in the same general location too. It will probably also be booked out! What to do?
Top tips for using a Guidebook
Read between the lines; browse your favourite bookstore: does every guide book mention the same 10 hotels? Odds are there are about 10 hotels: booking looks like a good idea However if find a different selection of hotels in each guide -there is clearly lots of competitionis a range of hotels, go with the flow.
If a recommended business really does appeal: check with the on-line travel forums – has anyone been there recently – what’s the current price, is it still good? Check out tripadvisor.com or other review sites for a feel on the current state of yoru preference too.
Use a guidebook to choose the general area of town you want to stay in and then head there to see what you can find on the ground. Just because a hotel is not in the guide doesn’t mean that its no good.
Apply the guidebook’s recommendation’s to your lifestyle: if you hate partying and loud music don’t book for the area described as the “centre of the action”. If you feel comfortable surrounded locals, and to be honest a lot of tourists do, don’t take the recommended trek to “villages that never see tourists”.
Be particularly careful of relying on guidebooks for information on exchange rates, visa rules and transport schedules. Fortunately all of these are readily available on-line or from your travel agent.
Instead use the guidebook to give you useful information: where is the main bus station, how to book a train ticket, which is the most convenient way to see the famous Basket Weaving Villages.
What the Guide Book Means
You can reach all 4 walls of the room from the bed. The windows open – onto an interior air shaft!
You might as well be out partying – you are not going to get any sleep overlooking a busy truck route!
Run down villa middle of nowhere, outdoor plumbing
What the Guide Books Says
Compact room with natural air conditoning.
Fantastic central location: walk to everything. Live it up in the centre of the action.
Rustic cottage, back to nature ambience
A Quick Guide to some of the famous Guidebook Series I not going to attempt a comprehensive list of guidebooks: this is just a personal selection, most of which I have used at some stage in my adventuers.
Frommer’s Guide Books.
Frommer’s Flagship Guide used to be “Europe on $5 a Day”, a ground-breaker in 1957, showing Americans how to travel Europe on budget and now re-printed to mark its 50 year anniversary. Frommer’s no longer puts the actual $ value on its Europe guide but its Ireland Guide is up to $95 a day. Oh and those figures only include food and lodgings.
Dispite their heritage of budget travel today’s Frommer’s guides are firmly aimed at the middle level American tourist. Hotels tend to include English speaking staff and familiar bathroom faciliies. If find their price point is mid-range to high because of this. The Frommer’s range now includes Cruise Guides, Road Trips and Rail Guides. Frommer’s is only irregularly updated, most up to date are the American, Caribbean and European destinations. There is a particularly strong selection of guides to American states and major cities.
Rick Steves’ Europe
Rick Steves is a more recent Guide Book empire, but thanks to Rick’s well-known TV shows very high profile with American readers. Unique among the guidebook series reviewed Rick Steves only concentrates on one region – Europe. He’s been published and running tours to Europe for 25 years so he does know his topic. His book now include not only general “Thru the Backdoor” series but also specialist guides to specific towns, countries and regions.
Uniquely though he still publishes is excellent Europe 101: History and Art for the Traveler. Designed for those of us who slept through Art History, this excellent book covers 5000 years of Western history, art, architecture and pretty much everything else. Academic? No. Complete? No. Readable and an excellent introduction – definitly. Most of Steve’s books are based around finding small hotels and planning itinearies around a 21 day vacation. Many of us have different length vacations and the small hotels will invariably be booked solid, but his the background information can be useful.
Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet’s publishing empire was started by 2 Brits on the classic 60′s hippy route from the UK to Australia the cheapest way possible. I have a soft spot for them – I owned a copy of the original 1975 guide; “Across Asia on the Cheap”. The Lonely Planet empire is still based in Australia and covers practically every country on the planet. I still believe that their Asian guides are the best. They still do the off-beat and non-commercial. They publish the only travel guide to East Timor, They publish phrase books for the common languages such as Spanish and German but also include Hebrew and Lao. They also publish a number of travel fiction and traveller’s tales under the Lonely Planet imprint.
DK Eyewitness Guides
The DK Eyewitness guides are little different. They are gorgeously produced, full of wonderful photos and far too heavy to carry with you. However they are a high quality souvenir which you can buy before you leave home and have excellent information on history, culture and other background information.
I hope this quick guide has been a bit of help through the the Travel section. Drop me a comment below and let me know your funniest/best/worst guidebook moment!
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Travel by air for people with health issues, handicaps, disabilities or special needs, can be challenging. The following air travel tips will help make your flight and trip, whether domestic or international, easier, cheaper and safer.
When making your travel reservations, request any carts, wheelchair services or any other transportation you’ll need. Fully describe your limitations and needs. Get your airline ticket and boarding pass well ahead of time so you don’t have to wait in any lines. You’ll be able to arrange travel at a discount, get better travel deals, and avoid last minute travel headaches.
Talk with your airline representative or travel agent regarding the type of restrooms that are on the airplane. Call your airport and find out as much information as possible about the restrooms and handicapped parking at the airport.
You’ll need to find out how you’ll be boarding the airplane at each of the airports involved in your trip. You may need another type of airplane or alternative route so you’ll have Jetways, or jet bridges, into the plane from the airport and not have to worry about stairs.
One year my mother and I were going to fly out of the San Jose, California airport and discovered after we arrived that we had to go outside on the ground level with the wheelchair to the tarmac. Four airline employees had to carry my mother in the wheelchair up the steep steps to board the plane. This might be impossible if there are weight issues.
Think about what seat arrangement will work best for you needs. Would an aisle seat make it more convenient to get to the restroom? You’ll want to avoid sitting in the emergency exit row. The passengers in this row may be asked to help others in an emergency situation.
Let the airlines and flight attendants know if you have any assisting devices. Find out the best way to store them so they arrive without damage.
Always keep in mind what you can do easily and without assistance, as well as situations that would require help.
Can you transfer to seats by yourself? Will you need a transfer board or assistance from airline staff?
Consider hiring a travel nurse if you have serious health or medical issues. There are traveling nurses networks.
Can you describe your wheelchair, scooter or walker, dimensions, weight, type of tires, type of batteries, etc.? You may need to take along spare batteries. You also may need to rent or buy a travel wheelchair.
Make sure to mention to your travel agent or airline representative any assisting devices you may need or already have like canes and crutches. Do you need a slow pace or are you a slow walker?
If you will be traveling through different time zones, how will jet lag affect your situation?
Consider how the following will be of concern during your trip and discuss with your travel agent: upper body strength, communication ability, speech issues, voice issues, vision problems, hearing problems, heat issues, medication needs, oxygen requirements, and dietary requirements such as gluten-free meals.
Try to arrange or book your air travel through experienced travel agencies or tour operators that specialize in disabled travel. There are a large number of agencies throughout the U. S., Canada, Europe, Australia and many other countries.
Just in case you need them, it’s also good to know if there are any travel agencies that specialize in disabled travel at your destination, for return travel, local resources or travel services.
At the airport let airline boarding personnel know that you may need extra time to board the plane. Sit close to the door at the gate so you’re called first and then board at a comfortable pace.
After the plane has landed, never get off the plane until you see or have your assisting device, wheelchair, travel wheelchair, etc. Flight attendants have to stay on the airplane until the last passenger leaves. They will help you while you’re on the plane but once you’re off the plane they won’t be able to help you.
Make sure you carry your medications and back-up prescriptions with you onto the plane, along with doctors’ names, addresses, fax numbers for faxing prescriptions, phone numbers, medical diagnosis, names and dosages of medications you’re taking and any allergies you have.
Photocopy passports, airline tickets, American Express Travelers Cheques, credit cards, any important papers.
Carry your health insurance information with you on the plane. Know what you’ll do if you encounter a health problem or medical emergency on your trip. Get travel insurance to ensure less costly medical assistance. These emergency bills may not be covered under your health insurance policy. It’ll ease your mind to have this back-up travel insurance and prevent costly emergency medical charges on your trip. Emergency medical costs can run considerably higher than standard medical fees.
These air travel tips should provide good insurance and help make your airplane travel, with health issues, handicaps, disabilities or special needs, easier, safer and cheaper.
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Uniquely Australia
It has been said that God made Australia the last, placing all sorts of unique flora and fauna not seen elsewhere in the world. For this reason alone, you should make it a point to visit Australia at least once in your lifetime. Australia is a very vibrant country, full of interesting cultural elements as well as friendly people with a ready grin everyone they meet.
Traveling on the road
There’s more to Australia’s great outback than meets the eye. Here are some traveling tips you should adhere to when you’re on the road:
Never hitch hike; it is not legal!
Australian nights can be very cold, and this means cattle and kangaroos can be found lying on the road for relief from the weather. Do be mindful of this and avoid running these poor animals over
Don’t let exhaustion get you in trouble. Many accidents happen as a result of fatigue; get adequate rest before starting your journey and do refresh yourself when you feel the urge to fall asleep
In the event of a car breakdown, do not attempt to leave your car. It will be easier to spot a missing vehicle instead of trying to find a single missing tourist
Places to see
There are so many interesting places to visit in Australia that you will definitely have a difficult time seeing them all! This is very true because most people immediately plan for their next travel itinerary to Australia soon as they arrive home!
However, you should never miss visiting these places:
Perth
Perth Zoo
A delight with kids and animal lovers, Perth Zoo is deemed the most visited zoo in Australia.
Cohunu Wildlife Park
Love Koalas? Visit the Cohunu Wildlife Park and cuddle these adorable creatures to your heart’s content!
Indian Ocean Coast
The beaches here are not too commercialized… yet. Go there with your loved ones now before it gets too crowded
New South Wales
Sydney Opera House
Who doesn’t know the Sydney Opera House? Now when you send a postcard depicting the world famous icon, you can proudly boast that you’ve been there in person!
Museum of Sydney
This is the best place to learn all about Australia’s unique aboriginal culture
Centrepoint Tower
Towering at a height over 1000 feet, this tower allows all who stands in it the most glorious view of the city!
Brisbane
South Bank
Chill and relax on a sunny Australian day in Brisbane’s South Bank and you’ll never want to leave the locale
Moreton Bay
See wild dolphins in their element at the Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort
Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mount Coot-tha
Don’t miss out on great photos taken at the Japanese gardens in this botanical haven!
Melbourne
City Centre
Shopping, food, souvenirs – get everyone you ever need here
Yarra Bend Park
Boats and canoes are available for the outdoorsy tourist, otherwise, you can opt to enjoy many cafes and amphitheatres built here
Learn your lingos
Aussie English is fun! Have fun learning these lingos and feel free to add more during your trip in Australia!
Howzat – short for “How’s that!” It’s an everyday request for approval
Sheila – a young female
Barbie – barbeque
Arvo – afternoon
Beg yours – another way of saying “Pardon me”
Beaut – general word of praise akin to “Fabulous!”
G’day – Good day, mate!
Don’t forget your souvenirs!
There are many types of Australian souvenirs to choose from. Some people like the everyday T-shirts bearing Australia’s famous icons (think: koalas and kangaroos) while some favor authentic Aboriginal giftware. The choice is yours 
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Driving Across Australia’s Nullarbor Plain
Driving the Nullarbor plain of Australia is one of those things you just have to do once in a life time. Its an accessible adventure, which unlike many other of Australia’s iconic drives doesn’t require a 4WD – but it isn’t a Sunday drive either.
I’ve given all distances in this hub in kilometres – 100km = 62miles (google “km to miles” for a quick conversion). You need to get familiar with kilometres and your car’s petrol consumption if you are going to do this trip safely. Lets Talk About Distance and Time
Australia is big, very, very, big. And empty – Australia is one of the most urbanised countries in the world so the rest of this huge country is empty, very empty. Get off the main road here and you can literally die expecting someone to rescue you so make sure you have some basic survival skills. Between Norseman in the west and Ceduna in the east its 1209km there are road houses every 200km or so – but nowhere has a population larger than 20 in my guide book and most are pop=nom. There is an 1.5 hour time difference from the western to the eastern side of the Nullarbor.
Where is the Nullarbor?
Many people think the Nullarbor is everything between Perth and Adelaide – that’s not true. The Nullarbor Plain is a remote limestone plain, which because of the porous nature of the rock has no surface water, but a lot of caves and some blow holes. The name comes from bad Latin meaning “no trees” but in fact there is vegetation, this is not the Sahara, most of the way you will see low scrub, but yes there are no trees! Alternative Ways To Cross the Nullarbor
There are a number of ways to cross the Nullarbor: lets consider them in order of increasing levels of insanity. Fly Across the Nullarbor.
Check out JetStar or Tiger Airways- they will sell you a one-way ticket Perth-Adelaide for under A$200 – this is the cheapest and quickest way to cross the Nullarbor. The flight will take around 3 hours. It is after all, a long way! Catch a Train Across the Nullarbor
The Indian Pacific train crosses the Nullarbor, in fact does the whole 5000km from Sydney to Perth. The Perth to Adelaide leg takes 2 nights and a day. The train is famous and there is no competition on the route – its therefore expensive. You can however take your car with you which means if you are going to drive you only have to do it once! The train crosses the centre of the actual Nullarbor Plain between Port Augusta and Kalgoorlie and is nowhere near the road which is several 100kms to the south. The train is expensive: a seat will cost $300 while taking a car plus 2 people in a second class sleeper will give you no change our of A$2000 – that’s after a A$800 discount for being a Youth Hostel Association member. The membership is less than $50/year – no brainer that one! Cycle Across the Nullarbor
People do, people need to have water dropped to them. I am neither a cyclist nor insane enough to comment further!
Drive Across the Nullarbor
If you have less than a week its going to be a rushed trip and all you will see is a lot of very straight road. There is a road house every 200km which will offer fuel and food and some form of shelter: basic rooms and always a camping area. There will be toilets and paid showers.
There will be no free water for windscreens or for drinking. The price of fuel will be a lot higher than the city.
There are also designated rest areas all along the highway most of which will have camping areas and toilets, maybe picnic tables, never any water. In fact you can camp practically anywhere you like except for Aboriginal land on the South Australian side.
Getting to the Nullarbor from the West.
Driving from Perth you can get to the western edge of the Nullarbor in one long day’s driving to Norseman – 798km. Leaving Perth is not like driving out of Sydney and there is little traffic and good roads through the Perth “Hills” – once you hit York at around 100km out of town its all flat until you get to Adelaide.
If you can’t quite manage that distance an overnight stop in Kalgoorlie (595km) – an interesting historic and working gold mining town is worth a look.
If you have the time you could easily spend 10 days driving the longer and far more interesting route from Perth through the Margaret River wine area to the spectacular south coast and the via Albany and Esperance where you turn north to get Norseman.
Norseman at 2000 people is the biggest town until you get well into South Australia. It its another gold and nickle mining town but but also has a small tourist industry. This is your last best hope of a supermarket, reasonably priced (not cheap) petrol and a choice of accommodation.
Getting to the Nullarbor from the East
On the South Australian side of the Nullarbor the small town of Ceduna (4000 pop) is the last “big” town before Norseman. Its also the first time, coming from the west you have a choice in sealed roads – heading straight east for another 500km will see you in Port Augusta – or you you hug the coast going south around the Eyre Peninsular and Port Lincoln for a much more interesting drive. From Port Augusta its only 3 hours south to Adelaide.
Actually Driving the Nullarbor
Driving east is more comfortable than driving west – you don’t have to drive into the sun in the afternoon. That’s why shipping a car on the train from Perth to Adelaide is half the price of shipping it from Adelaide to Perth.
Getting on the road an hour after dawn makes sense as this is the coolest part of the day, but don’t drive within a hour of sunrise or sunset – that’s when the wildlife is most active and hardest to see.
Don’t drive at night unless you have very good spot lights on the car. Most Australian animals are nocturnal so you are more likely to hit one then. The warning signs which are available on postcards are not just for the tourists: they are for real – kangaroos may be cute but they are also stupid and a roo will easily write-off a car.
Road trains are the legendary huge semi-trailers of Australia which can over 50m long, 2.5m wide and travel at over 100 km/hr. Avoid passing them unless you are very sure that you have kilometres of clear road. Road trains are responsible for most of the road kill you will see on the roads – and even dead a kangaroo can flip a car if you hit it wrong.
Driver fatigue is the biggest problem driving the vast distances involved. Don’t die to keep a date – pull over and sleep if you have to. The heat haze can play tricks on your eyes and its often hard to judge distance because of the lack of landmarks.
Driving in summer you will get temperatures of well over 40C. Driving in the winter you will get temperatures below freezing overnight. Either way its dry: take lots of drinking water for you and the vehicle. Keep drinking too to avoid dehydration even in an air-conditioned car.
Sample Nullarbor Driving Itinerary
Day 1: Perth-Kalgoorlie coinciding with a day that you can visit the SuperPit on a tour. (595km)
Day 2: Kalgoorlie-Eyre Bird Sanctuary (640km). The Bird Sancturary is remote, another ex-telegraph station which is now a bird sanctuary and study centre. Its 4WD access only but they will meet those in 2WD.
Day 3: Eyre-Nullarbor (462km). Taking in the caves and blow holes on the way. Crossing the border puts the clock forward 1.5hours and means we have to surrender all fresh fruit and vegetables.
Day 4: Nullarbor-Ceduna (300km). Short day as we want to buy some food for Christmas – because our Christmas in Australia will be in Ceduna!
As I publish this we haven’t done the trip yet so the photos aren’t all mine: they are if there is no credit on them! i’ll be adding a lot more photos and details on what’s worth it and what’s not when we return in the New Year!
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Getting away from the hubbub of everyday life demands quite a few years of effort and without vacation makes Jack a dull young man… When one is ready and sets the question of exactly where to go to creeps in… South America, Africa, Asia… How about European countries? France, Italy, Spain… These three are extremely popular vacation spots. Australia and New Zealand are also extremely popular among hikers. Or any other destination demands one to get appropriate info of a specific region and on different tour packages offered.
You will find a lot of tour companies on the web and one would get baffled as to which one to use for their yearned or most hoped for vacation. Visit online travel forums to get a glimpse of what other travelers have to say concerning their upcoming holiday or others reveling on the activities from a recent vacation in another country. In addition there are a lot of travel weblogs that will certainly help you make the correct decisions without spending too much time with the travel agent.
The very first thing would be to consider a reliable tour business that gives advice on the best traveller spots in the region of visit and ultimately plan a memorable holiday of a life time. Do not fear to request travel tips until one becomes almost familiar with that country of visit, one wants to be cautious as a lot of tour businesses are disguised as know it all, it could be wise to look for tour operators that offer or provide professional services; do not fall for low cost tour packages as this is going to ruin your adventure vacation.
I don’t know how inexpensive is inexpensive but what I know is that cheap is costly in the long term. Try to stay away from briefcase tour businesses; these businesses will ruin you most desired holiday. There are a few things that you do not want to skimp on money. These are not places where getting cheap will in fact help you save money. This is actually one of the most valuable traveling tips you can get…
Do not be scared to look for info on: travel tips, medical covers and health specifications or restrictions, what to carry or not carry, travel advisory, vehicle and driver guide, highlights on places to be discovered, and so on. Don’t overlook your sense of adventure whenever on holiday and most importantly a holiday full of memories is a well deserved adventure of a life time!
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