Meamat

Thanks for the reminder for little things - it takes a moment to hold a door for someone but it really does mean a lot!

I'm a bit pedantic about people using parking spaces or reserved spots for those with disabilities. My mum is a quadriplegic and it's so frustrating to travel with her and see how many people disregard her needs.

Now for the first time I'm one of those with an invisible issue (hopefully temporary), and I'm feeling super guilty about it! I'll probably need handrails or lifts while I'm on board sometimes, but it will mean I have the ability to go snorkeling or for a walk on the beach while I'm on shore so it's all a trade off.

Important for those considering Opal card vs paper tickets - the paper tickets as you know them from the past are no longer available at all. It's all Opal cards, and they are very easy to get your hands on at newsagents, petrol stations, etc. There are some paper single pass tickets they don't make very publicly known, but they aren't as cost effective and really Opal is the only way to go now.

Yes, Opal is good all the way to Lithgow (and to Bathurst if you happen to take the Bathurst Bullet train). During peak times there will often be trains to and from Lithgow once every hour or half hour, on off peak times it can be 2 hourly so just keep an eye on the time.

Thanks for everyone's input!

Yes, I realised that many places would take AUD but also knew that some places we want to visit will not. Personally, when I'm able I prefer to use local currency. I feel it's a bit of goodwill when I visit a place to embrace their language, money, culture etc as much as possible. I will definitely take the advice of having some smaller 5 and 10 AUD notes with me as well in case we run out by the time we get to the last stop, though, too!

The ATM you've mentioned at Noumea is exactly the one I was thinking to use and it sounds like it's a good value way to do the transactions, thanks for the tips! It's our first stop, so I plan to just make that one stop when we arrive and go from there. Thank you!

Hi all,

I asked in the pacific islands forum but it was a touch quiet there and no response so thought I'd try over here since we seem to be chattier!

I'd like to use local currency as much as possible when we travel to Noumea, Isle of Pines, and Mare. We plan to spend less than the minimum $500 AUD equivalent that many banks seem to require and would like to hear from your perspective how best to exchange.

I understand there are ATMs on the islands and we could get cash there. I know there are Thomas Cook outlets around the Quay but I would imagine that's a more expensive way to purchase cash. I suspect we could purchase smaller amounts from some banks but not sure which ones. Where have you found to be the easiest and best value for small exchanges (say $250-$300 AUD)?

Thank you!

Thanks for the information, especially details about Noumea. I hadn't realised there was a Duck Island option without the cruise ship, and we'd planned to do the HOHO bus anyway so that sounds like a fantastic way to go about it. Freedom to come back as we wish but still structured enough to avoid any issues getting back in time for the ship to depart and cheaper to boot.

Hi all,

I've searched the boards but haven't found current answers, so hoping someone here can offer recent advice! I'm traveling to New Caledonia for the first time in a few weeks and wanted to plan ahead on currency. I have heard from several sources including boards here that the locals are appreciative of local currency, so I'm hoping to plan for that. Two questions though:

1 - how much local currency would you recommend for a family of four? We would probably get a few small souvenirs, something local/handmade/authentic if possible and would like to enjoy some of the local food. We'd like to take the HOHO bus or the tourist train in Noumea, unsure of other options in other ports. I just don't have any current idea of how much those things might cost in port, so any current remembered prices would be really helpful!

2 - Where would you recommend getting currency? I can order from my bank ahead of time or get cash at an ATM in Noumea (first stop) and suspect they might be the best exchange rate. I gather you get hosed in the exchange rate anywhere near circular quay and on the ships.

Thanks very much!

Fabulous idea! People have covered pretty much everything but a couple extra thoughts came to mind.

I know Sydney has a few locations where they re-sell hiking and camping gear, sometimes it's backpackers who are done and flying home (and don't want to lug that weight with them), sometimes it's kids who did outdoor education at school and don't need their stuff anymore, sometimes it's a kit from a family who thought camping was a fabulous idea for about three days and gave it up. You can often pick things up cheaply and then resell them at the end of a trip. I'm not familiar with the starting cities you've mentioned but you might want to look it up!

As others said, Juicy is the more uniform purple and green, there are a couple others like Maui and Britz, and Wicked is probably best to steer clear. I know they've been banned from a few caravan parks and camping areas around here.

Caravan parks can sometimes have decent prices on powered sites or ensuite sites depending on the area, but as others have said they can be the more expensive option. Often that's because you're paying for their facilities, beach access, kids areas, pools, tennis courts, etc, so if you like to use those facilities once in a while then it can be good value for the extra cost. If you really don't care most of the time, there are heaps of cheaper places. Near us all the major dams have camping areas for very cheap.

And you sound like you are actually totally aware of the distances involved, but just in case it's worth mentioning - Australia is huge. You're very wise to have already thought about whether Brisbane-Perth is feasible in your time frame and plan it out. Some don't do that and think they can drive from Sydney to the barrier reef in a day or do a weekend trip to Adelaide from the east coast.

With one exception I suppose... if you aren't a city person and prefer nature over man-made, then a day trip to a quieter part of the mountains and some beautiful bush walks might be more your style.

I'm forever telling people to go see the mountains. But in this case for only one day I'd definitely stick to city highlights.

If nothing else, the travel to and from the blue mountains will take 4+ hours round trip depending on destination. Within the city that could be enough to visit another museum, take in a show at the opera house, take the ferry to Manly and back, etc.

Sydney is our home port, so I can't say I know anything about the cruise transfers from the airport, but if that's fairly cheap and easy I'd go that way.

Public transport is very easy to circular quay as OzKiwi said. There is a station access fee for the airport terminals, so it's pricey by comparison to other train journeys of a similar length, but it's still cheaper than taking a taxi if you only have 2-3 passengers. A single adult fare from domestic to circular quay is around $16.

Accents really are fascinating!

Personally I'm from the US, lived in England for a couple years as a child, spent a year in Australia as an exchange student and now I live in Australia permanently but visit family in the US regularly. Everyone everywhere thinks I have an accent! I don't mind it, but it's a strange feeling when you don't really sound like you belong anywhere.

My kids are raised in Australia but pick up certain words and phrases when we're in the US. When they try to have an American accent it doesn't work at all, but they do it accidentally quite regularly!

The cut off was 1st August for most tickets (some concession types were earlier).

I'm excited to see the renovations, it has really aged well in my opinion and I still feel the magic of it every time I'm there. Parts are quite tired, though, especially the less seen areas like dressing rooms etc. The green room/dressing room/backstage rabbit warren can be a bit tricky to negotiate and I'm not sure how they make some of the logistics work. Still an incredible venue.

As far as acoustics quality, it's a wildly different venue to anything I've been in before. Not all bad. On stage in the concert hall, all the sound goes up and you really only hear yourself well. Makes it very important to watch the conductor! It does make it extraordinarily hard to listen across an ensemble though. There are acoustic rings that are lowered depending on the style and instrumentation of the concert, and that does help prevent sound from being lost during orchestral events. They look quite cool and sculptural but serve a practical purpose (though I've heard it's debatable as to how well they actually work).

I've only been in the audience for one concert in the concert hall (and going to my first in Joan Sutherland in a couple months), and I was right up the back. I could still hear but I do feel like they could work on the acoustic value of the space. The concert I went to was reasonably well miked, but that meant I lost some of the connection with the artistry happening on stage... in some respects I may as well have been listening to a recording. I wonder if the extra panels they've put in the renditions you posted are addressing that issue.

Still, I feel it's a beautiful space and I think anyone with a connection to it feels a bit protective when someone comes in and trash talks it in some way. It was an incredible vision at the time, a massively different space to Town Hall which was used for large concerts prior, and it has remained iconic without really dating itself which is an amazing accomplishment really. I've certainly been in worse spaces acoustically, but then again it's by far the most prestigious venue I've played or visited so they may be setting particularly high standards.

Some really interesting ideas here, thanks for sharing! I'd love to incorporate some of them and it's fascinating to see how many different ways people do this.

I recently started buying a medium sized craft journal before a trip (this is our first cruise, so it will be my first cruise journal). I pick a few good markers, journaling boxes, pre cut papers, washi tape, whatever seems to fit the holiday and pack it all into a small organiser that fits in any of my carry on bags or can be carried on its own. That way I can prepare pages as I go, I can have my children write little notes on the journaling pages, and I can record dates and memories. Along the way we print photos as we can and add them to the book.

It totally goes against the way I *want* to keep a record or a scrapbook, as I would normally pick my favorite photos and start from there, making sure everything was really well coordinated and matching photos etc. I normally want to get great quality photo printing and wouldn't want to risk one hour photo processing. Trying to do things that way, it had been about 15 years since I'd actually finished scrapbooking a trip of any kind!

A few things I like about this way of doing things:

-It's easy for the rest of the family to get involved. I can hand a bit of decorative paper to my children and say 'write me a couple sentences about your favorite part of visiting Gallup' and I'll get a snapshot of who they were at that time, what was important to them, their handwriting etc. It also gives them something to do on a long trip!

-It actually gets done. Probably the best bit. By the end of a trip (or a few days later if I'm waiting for photos) we have a book recording what we've done. The photos are up to date, the memories are there, and we can share with friends right away. Otherwise all my photos never get printed (or get boxed up with my good intentions) and no one ever sees them again.

- It's more accurate. It used to be that by the time I'd get around to doing it, I would try to record details but had forgotten the name of that really funny waiter, the great restaurant we enjoyed, or the beach we loved.

- My memories are more closely linked to the journal. I will really enjoy writing on our balcony or curled up in the ship's library, and when I read through the journal again I'll be transported back to that moment in time.

Personally if I had a couple weeks to work with I would do a little traveling as others have said. There are some reasonable places in Sydney, and the group buying websites often have good discounted rooms available including places that allow you to book multiple nights and book back to back to extend your stay. That being said, anything in the middle of the city is pricey and probably not as viable for a long time. A few days would be excellent to get a feel for the city, see a few museums or sights, take a few ferry rides around the harbour, etc. I'd recommend group vouchers for places like the Tank Stream hotel (A fairly newly renovated boutique style hotel with some nice added extras like freebies in the mini bar and pod coffee machines and is situated in the midst of pretty much everything) or contacting other small boutique places in the city. When I'm in the city for work, I've stayed in Castlereagh boutique hotel, Pensione, or Park8 which are centrally located and close to transport. All the ones I've mentioned are smaller places with character which is just my preference.

The Blue Mountains, Lithgow, Bathurst, or Orange are all within reach to the West and offer different views of the country at much more affordable prices than the city. The Blue Mountains are essentially a collection of villages each with their own personality, and the bushwalking and views nearby are simply breathtaking. I'm happy to offer further information if you're interested. The other places I mentioned are country towns, Lithgow is little and is at the end of the major Sydney rail line. Bathurst is a great place to visit if you're into motor racing at all and is a larger country town. Orange is a foodie's heaven with lots of vineyards and cafes around with a big focus on local producers. There are small towns between them like Rydal if you really want to get a feel for a quiet country village for a couple days. Again, if you want more info feel free to ask as I'm living in the midst of it all and have been part of the area for 20+ years.

You could also head north or south along the coast and spend some time in a beachy area like the central coast, Kiama, or Bateman's Bay regions. The trains can be a little more difficult than heading west, but not impossibly so. The Hunter Valley is nearby, too, and is a great wine region. I'm not sure of the public transport options to that area, but there are certainly plenty of tour buses that head out there.

The walk from circular quay station to the terminal is as easy as it gets. The trains arrive on an elevated level, the ticket booths and shops etc are below. When you arrive you have a lovely view over circular quay and the OPT. There are elevators on the platform level taking you to the street level, wide gates available for luggage and large parties to go through, and then it's an easy walk to the OPT with no steps.

Do be aware (I'm not sure where you're traveling from so I might be telling you something you already know!) that Sydney trains use Opal cards now rather than paper tickets. It's been a headache for a lot of people who turn up at a station and expect to be able to purchase a ticket to their destination (you know, like logic would dictate :-D )

Hi all - I wanted to check, we're travelling with our two kids who will be 13 and 10 at time of travel. We want to give them some spending money on their cards for things like arcade games, sushi etc and wondered what the system is. Can we give them a per day limit? Or put a certain amount of cash on at the beginning of the cruise and they budget for themselves?

Thanks - I'd like to give our son's travel funds to him as a gift for his birthday this week but wanted to know how to phrase it (eg '$10 per day on your card' or $100 spending money on your card' or whatever)

Thanks! Those clips are adorable, great idea!

Hi all - I'm in the US at the moment and planning a cruise for later this year.

I know I've seen tips for items people love to have on a cruise - over door organisers, laundry 3in1 sheets, stain stick, fabric relaxer etc - some of which I've not found in Australia.

Do you have any favourite items you'd buy in the US for a cruise? Things you've seen others using that you wish we could find in Australia?

Thanks!

I was about to say pretty much the same thing :-)

It's a remnant of formal dinners where there were often a large number of set courses, and the entree was usually after at least two or three appetisers, amuse bouches, etc.

So calling the first dish 'entree' makes sense due to the French meaning of the word. But calling the main dish an 'entree' also makes sense because it was often one of several main courses within a large formal dinner.

Their website says $5.50/day for kids and $7.25/day for adults. I don't honestly know the price per drink otherwise, I'm sorry!

For our kids at 13 and 10 at time of travel, I'd like them to be able to order a juice or something and have that bit of independence if they're on their own for a little while and would like them to be able to order a drink with meals if they want. They can't have soft drink, but juices are included so we still think it's worth it for them. In your case, you'll likely be with your 3 year old most of the time anyway, so keeping a small soft drink can in your poolside bag or letting him have one in the room probably works just fine.

As far as the 12 bottle limit, my understanding is that each guest can bring the 12 cans. If 24 is plenty for the trip, that's still within your total limit. (And if I'm misunderstanding that rule and it's really 12 per cabin, someone please correct me!)

I'm on the spirit arriving the morning you leave :-)

Enjoy the cruise and welcome back!

Whereas I'd go back to Picton in a flash. And yes the Sounds are simply beautiful.

 

I also agree that Sydney Harbour is special, friends who have sailed into most Ports in the World rate it in the top three.

 

Tasmania is our "Go to" cruise, we have two booked at the moment, personally I absolutely love Hobart and Mrs Gut loves Port Arthur (but then her PhD was largely based on the kids prison there) but maybe more importantly sailing up the Derwent and into Port Arthur are very special.

Yep, that's why it's so good to have lots of viewpoints available here in the forums :)

It depends so much on what people's interests are and what they care to see. I'm not a city person, so something about the spirit of a city really has to grab me for me to love being there for very long, but I could watch the changing scenery of a coastline for ages.

I also haven't traveled to any of those ports by cruise ship (In New Zealand I was a wandering high school student who crashed on the floor of friends' houses for a couple weeks, so my destinations were really determined by where I could find accommodating people!), and my own tastes are likely to change over time, too.

I'd love to visit Tassie... a lot of our travel funds and time are directed to family visits at the moment but a cruise there sounds amazing.

As others have said, it depends a lot on your interests and what you'd want to see and do.

I live in Australia and have done some traveling in New Zealand. Of the places I've visited in New Zealand, I loved Christchurch and especially Dunedin but wouldn't feel the need to return to Wellington or Picton. Nothing wrong with them, just not the standouts for me. I'd still love to see Aukland and especially the western side of the South Island (Milford sound, etc). I've seen overland trips to fjordland national park at times, it's magnificent.

In Aus, I'm a touch biased but Sydney is a must-visit city and all the cruise ships are located in the best parts of the city to visit. Melbourne is also gorgeous. I'd not be fussed on Brisbane, nothing stands out to me there and cruise terminals aren't as well placed. North of Brisbane (Cairns, Townsville, Port Douglas etc) is a different story and I'd include one of those northern ports near the reef if possible. I've not been to Tasmania yet but would love to and have heard fabulous things from those that have cruised there. Same with some of the western Australian ports and Adelaide, though again I've not been to those so can't speak first hand.

A friend just off the spirit gave me some of her goodies from the ship, this was the flyer for it. In their case, the breakfast ran on the last sea day and there were two sessions. Reservations made on board.