Aussie Week Adventure: Travel and Accommodations

It's finally here--our first official blog describing our travels Down Under!

The goal of our Aussie Week Contest sponsors, Tourism New South Wales (NSW), is to promote to West Coast Americans that they can travel to Australia and have a great time even if they only have a week. Why West Coast Americans as opposed to other Yankees? Because if you live on the West Coast, then it takes no longer to get to Australia than it does to get to Europe (and people will go to Europe for only a week or two). Although we did have a great time in seven days, we would suggest taking a full month (or longer) in order to more fully experience the country, especially if you are wanting to visit more than one place. (Oops, did we just violate part of our agreement by suggesting that?) Actually, even if you want to just spend a week you need to allow nine full days in order to compensate for the flight and the time difference.

We now present installment #1
Travel and Accommodations

The Airline: QANTAS

Qantas is Australia's largest airline. We left LA at 10:30 p.m. on Friday, 2 November and traveled nonstop to Sydney, arriving around 7:00 a.m. on Sunday, 4 November. We don't know what happened to 3 November! The total air travel time was only 14.5 hours. Seating was a bit cramped (Kevin did not have much leg room), but Qantas had great service. The stewards and stewardesses were very polite and quick to respond with assistance, not to mention they all had adorable accents. They were also constantly feeding us! We ate dinner and breakfast on the plane as well as had a variety of snacks available--apples, water, juice, crackers, cookies, mints. Kevin really liked the Aboriginal art ties that the men were wearing and hopes he can find one sometime.

Each seatback had an individual screen with radio, tv, and movie menus for our entertainment. If we hadn't been so tired, we would have watched more movies. We did make it through Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End with some difficulty. We also dozed on and off for a few hours during the night, but we both had trouble sleeping very well.

The weather was rainy upon arrival (a lot more on rain later), but after the hour waiting in lines for luggage and customs it was sunny. We were further delayed due to the fact that we still had American soil stuck to the bottoms of our hiking boots. The Aussies are very thorough--no fresh or dried fruit, no peanuts, no plant matter, and no soil allowed. So be sure to clean the bottoms of your footwear before traveling. It was rather embarrassing having someone else take the boots off to a room to disinfect them for us. We next met our Astra Limousine driver, George, who was a tad disgruntled about waiting for almost an hour holding a sign "YOUNG." Nonetheless, he led us to a luxury BMW (not a stretch limo) and drove from the airport to our hotel the on the Circular Quay (pronounced "key" not "qway" or "kay").


Our First Hotel: Quay Grand Suites




Here is Kevin posing across the street from our first hotel (we ended up with a suite on the ninth floor overlooking the harbour, so our room actually is not visible in this photo). He is standing in a sculpture of remnants of sandstone buildings from the area that had been demolished over the years.









Our suite consisted of a small kitchen fully equipped with cookware and cutlery, a dining room, a bathroom larger than the one in our home and equipped with a shower and jacuzzi, a lounge room with flatscreen tv (which we never had time to watch), a bedroom with a giant king-sized bed, and a small laundry room. Our balcony overlooked the ferries and we could see the Harbour Bridge (it's not the Harbor Bridge, since it is Australian). Needless to say, we felt very out of place in such elegant accommodations, but in actuality we really did not spend too much time here since we were kept busy sightseeing.

Kevin performed in all the video sequences (which we also were required to submit to the travel agency), so it was only fair that April pose as the Vanna White of the Quay Grand Suites (wardrobe courtesy of D.I.).




It was so clean and tidy, but we engaged our instantaneous clutter talents and were able to create stacks of brochures, newspapers, and other travel information within the first couple of days.

Quay Grand Suites received high points for LOCATION, VIEW, and STAFF FRIENDLINESS. We were a bit put out by the lack of free wireless internet and, had we been paying for the trip ourselves, we would not have been staying here in the first place--so obviously they are marketing to a different crowd (you know, the crowd that doesn't mind paying $600 a night to have a great view in the heart of downtown Sydney).

Our Second Hotel: Lilianfels Blue Mountains Resort & Spa

We enjoyed a Deluxe Room (as opposed to a suite) at Lilianfels with a not-so-spectacular view of the roof and an outdoor patio area. It was very feminine and pink--at least our room was. The gardens were well-manicured and picturesque. Kevin tried out the sauna and jacuzzi downstairs in the spa area, but we decided to forego scheduling a massage treatment (starting at $85 for 30 minutes but not included as part of our package) and opted to go bushwalking in the Blue Mountains National Park instead. We did enjoy the heated towel racks, however, which came in very useful for drying out our wet clothing and boots following our 5-hour bushwalk in the rain. We also LOVED the herbal citrus soaps left in the bathroom. Additionally, there was lovely art work hanging throughout the hotel, much of it depicting Australian wildlife and wildflowers.

Lilianfels received our highest rating for LOCATION since it is right next to the Blue Mountains National Park. It had incredible BREAKFASTS (see Aussie Week Adventure: Dining Down Under, Part 1) and CHARMING STAFF. We especially appreciated the complimentary use of their big green UMBRELLAS. Sadly, once again there was no free wireless internet connection, and our idea of a "small fee" is not $15 per hour or $35 per day.

Our Third Hotel: Observatory Hotel

For our last night we had a Deluxe Room with a view overlooking another part of the Sydney Harbour. It wasn't as scenic as our first view, however, and we could see into the "back yards" of some apartments which consisted of small fenced spaces. Some people had clotheslines, others had a few small garden plants--we felt a bit like the folks in the great and spacious building looking down on the serfs. We again had heated towel racks, but we didn't utilize them this time since the final day was sunny. One of the nicest touches to this room was the large plate with fresh strawberries near the window...or perhaps it was the towel with his and her slippers laid out by the sides of the bed after the maid prepared the room for the night.

The Observatory Hotel lacked the prime location of Quay Grand Suites, but was still near major attractions. It is owned by the same company as Lilianfels, and we were pleased that they also had an outstanding BREAKFAST. We won't even mention the lack of free wireless internet...


Bus Transportation





We traveled to the Blue Mountains with Eco Adventures in this 4WD Mitsubishi 16-seater bus. Kevin wants one of these for field work. And when we are not doing field work we can do our own ecotours!











We got a pass for the Blue Mountains Explorer Bus for our day exploring the Blue Mountains area. This was a "hop on, hop off" deal where we could use it all day long, stopping wherever we desired along the route. The drivers were entertaining, cracking jokes as well as explaining about the different sights in the area. One of the drivers was enamored with Texas and was trying a "Howdy Y'all" with his cute Aussie accent.








Car Transportation: Astra Limousines




Astra Limousines provided transportation for us to and from the airport and also for our return trip from the Blue Mountains. Here Kevin is pictured with one of our drivers, Jason, who is a race car driver on the side (did we feel safe riding with him?). He likes sports and car racing, so we got along great with our similar interests!










Ferry Transportation: Sydney Ferries

Circular Quay is a major port for ferries that go all around the Sydney Harbour. You can purchase individual tickets or buy a ticket that will give you unlimited ferry, bus, and train transport for a week. We only used the ferries to travel to and from Ft. Denison and Taronga Zoo, but they are a fun and easy way to get around.

Now that you know the fascinating details of how we got to Australia, where we stayed, and how we traveled about, stay tuned for future posts on what we actually did while we were there!