Must see sites in OZ

sallysaucer

Hi

Have just started to plan my trip to oz for april/may....cant wait to go!!! Just wanted peoples opinions of must see places and things to do!!

Also we have decied to rent a camper van.... should i book this online or wait till we over there??? And who is best to book with??

Where is the best place to get my visa from I just need a tourist one and i have seen loads of different sites but can i trust them???

Sorry for all the questions but getting really excited about it now....

dSTAR

sallysaucer wrote: »

Hi

Have just started to plan my trip to oz for april/may....cant wait to go!!! Just wanted peoples opinions of must see places and things to do!!

Also we have decied to rent a camper van.... should i book this online or wait till we over there??? And who is best to book with??

Where is the best place to get my visa from I just need a tourist one and i have seen loads of different sites but can i trust them???

Sorry for all the questions but getting really excited about it now....

A friend of mine runs a website dedicated to the Australian outback which you have to check out while you are down here so I am going to give it a worthy mention. The site has a wealth of information on it. The girls name is B and even though she is originally from Germany she knows the outback inside out. She is friendly and helpful. If you have a particular question don't be afraid to ask. Tell her D from SBI sent you.

As far as camper vans go I would shop do a bit of research online first and go with a reputable company. There's no reason why you can't pre-book.

At the risk of sounding obvious isn't the best place to get a visa sorted through the Australian Embassy in Dublin?

The Sweeper

If you want an ETA (electronic travel authority), which allows you to visit for three months at a time, and on which you cannot work but you can do as much touring around as you like, go to immi.gov.au and use the website linked from the sections on that website to buy your ETA online. When I got mine two years ago it was $20 or something ridiculous like that.

You don't get a visa page in your passport on an ETA, your visa is just electronically recorded so your airline can look you up and there it should be. I would recommend, if your name is unusually spelled, bringing the ETA confirmation page with you so you can encourage the airline clerk to look it up properly. (We had one of those stomach plummet moments two years ago at terminal two in Heathrow when the chinese airline girl had trouble finding himself's name against the ETA registry...)

stressed out

Minesajackdaniels wrote: »

If you want an ETA (electronic travel authority), which allows you to visit for three months at a time, and on which you cannot work but you can do as much touring around as you like, go to immi.gov.au and use the website linked from the sections on that website to buy your ETA online. When I got mine two years ago it was $20 or something ridiculous like that.

THere's a new visa that costs NOTHING. It was only brought in this year. eVisitor

Ozeire

From the pages of www.immi.gov.au

Eligible passports - ETA can not long be applied for online from Ireland has to be applied for through a travel agent, airline, specialist service provider or an Australian visa office outside Australia

European passport holders who are eligible to apply for an ETA through a travel agent, airline or specialist service provider should apply for an eVisitor if applying online.
See: eVisitor

MonicaBing

Firstly whoever you booked your ticket with should really have helped you with your visa, i went thru USIT and they sorted me with no hassle..... where are you flying into? If its Western Australia, i can give you loads of pointers, was there in may for 3 months, did a 7000k road trip and got to see loads in between...

Diamondmaker

The great Ocean Rd is a must. Make sure to do it East to West so as you are on the Ocean side of the road as you drive, its only short and can be done in a day but its worth speding a few days in the lovel;y seas side towns.

The Nullarbor was also interesting, perhaps it gets a bit tedious and you cant just do a bit of it, you ave to do it all. This takes a week however but the Great Australian BIte is AWESOME. Its one long run of cliffs; rugged like Moher with desert behind you and antarctica ahead of you....Yo can really find bits of amazing beach and be the only person for 100s of miles as far as the eye can see.

Fr the Ozzie beachside dream: the whole Byron Bay to Fraser Island trip is great too. Fraser is a must see it self and there are so many nice beach side towns along the way, making the trip great too. None trashy like the gold coast and all less built up.

If you get to Cairns make sure to go out to the sky train and the rainforests, if you dont get that far North outside of Birsbane there are Rainforests too, Mt Tambourine.

Im gonna spend a month doing Brizzy to Darwin for my honey moon in Spet so I cant wait

Darwin has an amazin croc farm where you can get into a large perspex tube underwater in a Croc pool and see them only seperated by 5mm of perspex.