What is the most underrated and overrated place you have seen in Australia?

Pisco Sour

As the title says, what is the most underrated and overrated place you have seen in Australia and why?

For me:

Underrated - The Bungle Bungles in Purnululu National Park. Amazing natural scenery that stretches for miles and miles (99 times the size of Uluru), out in the middle of nowhere in the Kimberleys, with very few tourists around, and only accessable by a dodgey 4WD road in the dry season. The amazing this is so few people know about it, and was only discovered in 1981. If such a thing existed in the USA or Europe you'd have hotels and McDonald's located beside it, but over here, I'd hazzard a guess that 7 in 10 Australians have never even heard of it, despite it being on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Overrated - I was about to say Perth, but then I remembered that I had been to Darwin (it really was that forgettable). Why people chose to settle in that sh1thole I will never comprehend. All the buildings are modern and ugly, it is hugely sprawled with not much of a centre, the weather is disgustingly humid, and the main street Mitchell Street is populated at night by obsenely drunk backpackers, many of whom are Irish. I really don't see the appeal. The only good thing about Darwin is to use it as a base to travel the beautiful aras surrounding it, like Mary River and Kakadu.

Mellor

04072511 wrote: »

Underrated - The Bungle Bungles in Purnululu National Park. Amazing natural scenery that stretches for miles and miles (99 times the size of Uluru), out in the middle of nowhere in the Kimberleys, with very few tourists around, and only accessable by a dodgey 4WD road in the dry season. The amazing this is so few people know about it, and was only discovered in 1981. If such a thing existed in the USA or Europe you'd have hotels and McDonald's located beside it, but over here, I'd hazzard a guess that 7 in 10 Australians have never even heard of it, despite it being on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

I don't know much about Purnululu. I came across it when browing the list UNESCO sites in Oz. But never went any further.
But I'd find the 99 times the size of Uluru a bit hard to swallow. I know Urulu isn't the largest site, compared to say Kakudu. But its still pretty big.

Pisco Sour

Mellor wrote: »

I don't know much about Purnululu. I came across it when browing the list UNESCO sites in Oz. But never went any further.
But I'd find the 99 times the size of Uluru a bit hard to swallow. I know Urulu isn't the largest site, compared to say Kakudu. But its still pretty big.

Probably more than 99 times the size. You actually just backed up my point about people knowing nothing about this place.

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-factsheet/uluru-20081113-5yyh.html

Uluru rises 348 metres above the surrounding countryside, has an area of 3.33 sq. km and a circumference of 9.4 km

http://www.exploroz.com/TrekNotes/Kimberley/Bungle_Bungles_-_Purnululu_NP.aspx

Visitors typically come to Purnululu to experience the visually striking Bungle Bungles - a range dominated by 450 sq. km of dome-shaped sandstone rock formations that are said to look like beehives due to their distinctive dark grey and orange horizontal stripes.

Xavi6

Overrated: Melbourne. Really cannot see what all the fuss is about, it's just another city that's not particulalry aesthetically pleasing. Weather's a lot colder than I'm used to (and like) and apart from the sport there I'd have no real interest in the place whatsoever.

Underrated: Tempted to say Perth just to wind folk up but I won't. Hard to say because I think most places are rated in some shape or form. Have to say though I thought Broome was great as a weekend getaway and I'd happily go back to watch the sunset on Cable Beach. Love the contrast of the red dirt and blue skies.

hussey

Overrated Cairns, just didn't see the appeal was just 100% tourist town, went on the reef with 400others on a boat, for the same price in cape trib I went on a private boat with 15 others

Underrated Uluru, I know backpackers love this place, but many Australian have not gone or have no interest in going, I was a bit reluctant to spend so much money getting there, and thought it was a big rock in the dessert, but when I got there I quickly changed my mind, it is truly amazing place and loved it.

Pisco Sour

hussey wrote: »

Underrated Uluru, I know backpackers love this place, but many Australian have not gone or have no interest in going, I was a bit reluctant to spend so much money getting there, and thought it was a big rock in the dessert, but when I got there I quickly changed my mind, it is truly amazing place and loved it.

Uluru is beautiful. There’s no denying that, but what is most impressive about it is when you get up close. Everybody has seen about 1001 photos of it from far away, but when you get up close it looks so different. It’s quite surreal the difference really. Only thing I didnt like was the amount of tourists. Not so much that it was touristy, but more the unfriendliness that came with it. Hundreds of tourists literally fighting like kids with each other to try get the best snaps of Uluru at sunset with their expensive 1000000x zoom cameras. I’m sorry lads, you ain’t going to be making money off a photo that has been taken a billion times before, so lose the attitude. One place in tha area that people forget about all too often though is Kata Tjuta (The Olgas). More beautiful IMO and certainly a lot less crowded. Another contender for most underrated place, along with the Flinders Ranges, Lake Argyle the Ningaloo Reef.

Tony Sopranoe

Overrated The Perth job scene.

Mellor

04072511 wrote: »

Probably more than 99 times the size. You actually just backed up my point about people knowing nothing about this place.

Uluru rises 348 metres above the surrounding countryside, has an area of 3.33 sq. km and a circumference of 9.4 km

Visitors typically come to Purnululu to experience the visually striking Bungle Bungles - a range dominated by 450 sq. km of dome-shaped sandstone rock formations that are said to look like beehives due to their distinctive dark grey and orange horizontal stripes.

Ah right, I get you now.
I was talking about the area of Uluru and Purnululu national parks, not the size of the actual rock or the mountian range. I assumed thats what your refered to when you mentioned UNESCO World Heritage list. As the mountain range itself isn't on the list.

Pisco Sour

Mellor wrote: »

Ah right, I get you now.
I was talking about the area of Uluru and Purnululu national parks, not the size of the actual rock or the mountian range. I assumed thats what your refered to when you mentioned UNESCO World Heritage list. As the mountain range itself isn't on the list.

Yeh I was referring to the actual rock formations. Probably didnt explain that clearly enough.

hussey

04072511 wrote: »

Uluru is beautiful. There’s no denying that, but what is most impressive about it is when you get up close. Everybody has seen about 1001 photos of it from far away, but when you get up close it looks so different. It’s quite surreal the difference really. Only thing I didnt like was the amount of tourists. Not so much that it was touristy, but more the unfriendliness that came with it. Hundreds of tourists literally fighting like kids with each other to try get the best snaps of Uluru at sunset with their expensive 1000000x zoom cameras. I’m sorry lads, you ain’t going to be making money off a photo that has been taken a billion times before, so lose the attitude. One place in tha area that people forget about all too often though is Kata Tjuta (The Olgas). More beautiful IMO and certainly a lot less crowded. Another contender for most underrated place, along with the Flinders Ranges, Lake Argyle the Ningaloo Reef.

Hit the nail on head there exactly, I went in June/July and it was a mild 22c, was perfect for walking around, and the way the colour changes as the sun rises - amazing.

Martin Walker

I find Australia in general overrated if im honest.
Great place to come and stay for a few years but i couldnt make it my home. When you get here on the ground and live the life for a while you see its not all its cracked up to be.

PirateShampoo

Litchfield National Park. I loved the place. If you go not long after the wet session it flows pretty fast and makes the cliff jumpin that little bit more fun.

I also landed a brilliant job in Arnham Land, up in Seven Spirt Bay. The place was beautiful, only 4 people within 500k. I seen and did things il never probably never get to do again.

Bloody hated Darwin though, I got good work up there and good money but Mitchel Street made me want to cry.

Xavi6

Martin Walker wrote: »

I find Australia in general overrated if im honest.
Great place to come and stay for a few years but i couldnt make it my home. When you get here on the ground and live the life for a while you see its not all its cracked up to be.

What did you expect? (genuine question)

slugger_otoole

Tony Sopranoe wrote: »

Overrated The Perth job scene.

I've found Perth/WA quite good for work myself, have you tried for fly-in fly-out work? Not for everyone but it pays a bit better than work in the city.

I have found Perth to be a bit overated in terms of things to do, if you don't feel like going to the beach every day that is. Plus the nightlife doesn't really compare with somewhere like Sydney.

It's great to have Margaret River not too far away though, beautiful little spot.

Martin Walker

Xavi6 wrote: »

What did you expect? (genuine question)

I knew what to expect. I came here 6 years ago so knew what i was getting into. Dont get me wrong i like it here in Australia. But is it the wonderful land of milk and honey alot of people at home hype things up to be? No. Not even close. Hence Overrated.

Pisco Sour

Martin Walker wrote: »

I knew what to expect. I came here 6 years ago so knew what i was getting into. Dont get me wrong i like it here in Australia. But is it the wonderful land of milk and honey alot of people at home hype things up to be? No. Not even close. Hence Overrated.

Generally speaking, the people who think like this tend to be those who stick to Bondi Beach, St Kilda Beach, Coogie Beach etc and don't actually venture out into the much of the rest of the country, and if they do, they take the same uninspiring well beaten goon trail from Sydney to Cairns, stopping at Ibiza down under type spots like Surfers Paradise. Anybody who properly travels this country (and by that I mean travel through the Outback, the West Coast, the real Australia with all it's isolated wonderland) couldn't possibly think of Australia as overrated.

Martin Walker

This is true.

On a side note i currently live and work in Perth. Ive also lived in Broome. And FNQ. Since ive been back out here again i havnt went near the backpacker trail. I still find it Overrated.

jank

As a matter of interest 0455334534, how did you travel around Australia? Buy/rent a car or campervan or go on various tours?

For me, I havent really seen alot of Australia, the major cities alright though.

Perth to me was a little over rated, the place seemed a little dead and empty.

I might be biased but Sydney is under-rated. Not the bondi, coogee type places but the entire scene. The food scene here is amazing, better than Melbourne at the moment, much more happening in terms of clubs, pubs. Great suburbs like Balmain, Surry Hills, Paddington, Darlinghurst, Newton and so on. You have the weather (this summer sucked though) and of course the harbor. The northern beaches too are amazing.

Mellor

Martin Walker wrote: »

I knew what to expect. I came here 6 years ago so knew what i was getting into. Dont get me wrong i like it here in Australia. But is it the wonderful land of milk and honey alot of people at home hype things up to be? No. Not even close. Hence Overrated.

But you're still talking in cliches. What was it hyped up to exactly? Examples.

I've spoke to a few people at home with over inflated views. But IMO they hype it themselves in their own head. Any sensible person I spoke described it pretty close to what I've experienced.

Pisco Sour

jank wrote: »

As a matter of interest 0455334534, how did you travel around Australia? Buy/rent a car or campervan or go on various tours?

Adventure Tours is the way to go. I've done pretty much all my travel in Australia with them. Top notch company. I keep going back to them.

http://www.adventuretours.com.au/

Pisco Sour

04072511 wrote: »

Adventure Tours is the way to go. I've done pretty much all my travel in Australia with them. Top notch company. I keep going back to them.

http://www.adventuretours.com.au/

A word of warning though. For some reason, which I do not know, the prices of their tours will be increasing significantly from April 1st 2012 onwards. I had a look through the site and for example, a 7 day tour from Adelaide to Alice currently costs 920 (including meals, accomodation, everything). After April 1st it is 1020.

sudzs

I've been only in WA so can only speak for here!!

Overrated - Cottesloe Beach.

Came to Perth, had the travel guide that said Cottesloe was the place to go, the photos looked amazing but reality did not measure up. ..even in the middle of the arts week thingy.

Underated... maybe the amazing sky you get in the Wheatbelt. It's huge! And you can stand on the Eastern Highway and look west and see the sun setting in glorious orange and red but then turn around, look east and see the other end of the rainbow with dark blues and purples as the night rolls up. - just a little thing I noticed recently as I'm about to leave.

Martin Walker

Mellor wrote: »

But you're still talking in cliches. What was it hyped up to exactly? Examples.

I've spoke to a few people at home with over inflated views. But IMO they hype it themselves in their own head. Any sensible person I spoke described it pretty close to what I've experienced.

Meh. Look around this forum its all here. I cant be bothered to go into great detail about every aspect of Australian life.

CiaranC

04072511 wrote: »

Anybody who properly travels this country (and by that I mean travel through the Outback, the West Coast, the real Australia with all it's isolated wonderland) couldn't possibly think of Australia as overrated.

I dont buy this "real Australia" crap, what are Sydney & Melbourne, fake?

Underrated - Tasmania. Class spot - beautiful, easy to travel and see everything, nice people.

Overrated - Perth. The most dismal western city I have ever had the displeasure of being to. Makes Canberra seem lively and cultured.

hussey

Mellor wrote: »

I've spoke to a few people at home with over inflated views. But IMO they hype it themselves in their own head. Any sensible person I spoke described it pretty close to what I've experienced.

A lot of my friends and family think I am living in the lad of milk and honey, where money is flowing, jobs are endless and it is summer all year.
So I think it is overrated in that sence.

CiaranC - Totally agree with food scene, some real gems in Sydney that can compete with any city. A lot of chefs in Australia head over to Europe on travel visas and work in the top places in Europe, then come over here and set up.
If anyone likes meat, head to Porteno in Surry hills, No Reseverations just finished filming there, place is amazing

Slunk

Over Rated - Cairns. Dont get me wrong, I had a great few nights there, my GF won a bunjy for me and barrier reef trip in the pub but its basically just a drinking town. I can get pissed pretty much anywhere and Id rather do it somewhere with a bit of class and style without everyone else going wild around me but I suppose thats what appeals to some people.

Under Rated - Some of the smaller towns along the east coast, although could probably be said about any small towns. Me and the gf drove from cairns to the gold coast over a couple of weeks and went off the main highway a few times to take in some lesser known sites and the people we met in these towns were amazing. So friendly, helpful and kind. We had a rough timeline but it was nice to spend an unexpected day or so in a small place we came across somewhere off the beaten track. Enjoyed them relaxed days more so than others trying to cram all the touristy things in. Would definitely recommend allowing a few extra days for things like this to anyone driving quite a distance

markymark21

Hmm.. can't contribute much to this discussion as I've only been in Melbourne and Tasmania! I thought Launceston was woefully boring but I doubt it could be called 'underrated' as I'm sure no one really rates that place at all... (unless maybe people in Launceston)

eezipc

Overrated is Perth. Went there looking for work a couple of years ago and just didn't like the place at all. Stayed about 5 days and left.

Underrated: Bit obvious but I think the Blue Mountains is the best place in Australia. Especially in wintertime.
I had some good times in Townsville too. Would recommend it.

Sundy

Im really struggling to see how everybody is saying perth is over rated. All I have heard people do is talk down Perth and say how boring and quiet of a place it is.

If you active and dont rely on others to stimulate your mind there is loads to do.

So far I cycle, play tennis and cricket every week. Ive been to about 6 different beaches, none over crowded. Theres outdoor cinema here.
Granted going out here is a bit rubbish but if thats all you want stay at home.

Another great thing in Perth is the lack of GAA wearing jersey people, in comparison to the amount i saw in Melbourne.

Xavi6

Sundy wrote: »

Im really struggling to see how everybody is saying perth is over rated. All I have heard people do is talk down Perth and say how boring and quiet of a place it is.

Heh, exactly. Something needs to be first rated before it can be overrated.

Pisco Sour

Sundy wrote: »

Im really struggling to see how everybody is saying perth is over rated. All I have heard people do is talk down Perth and say how boring and quiet of a place it is.

If you active and dont rely on others to stimulate your mind there is loads to do.

So far I cycle, play tennis and cricket every week. Ive been to about 6 different beaches, none over crowded. Theres outdoor cinema here.
Granted going out here is a bit rubbish but if thats all you want stay at home.

Another great thing in Perth is the lack of GAA wearing jersey people, in comparison to the amount i saw in Melbourne.

That’s funny. I saw way more GAA jerseys around Northbridge than I have seen anywhere in Melbourne (that’s not to say you don’t see them floating around here also). This has been backed up by a friend who lived for 12 months in Perth and has now been in Melbourne 3 months. He said there is no comparison in this regard between the 2 cities, and that Perth is full of people sporting their county colours.

Usually a lot of the people who defend Perth on these threads come out with very generic things like beaches, hiking, walking, tennis etc etc. Seriously, clutching at straws much. You can find this stuff in almost any city in the world. I’m sure Perth is a lovely place to settle down in and have kids, but my opinions of the place are solely as a traveller. There is very little, if anything interesting in Perth to see, and almost nothing that is unique to Perth. Sydney has its harbour, Melbourne its sporting culture, Adelaide its Victorian Buildings, Rio de Janeiro its amazing surrounding landscape and urban forestland, Stockholm the fact the city is build on numerous tiny islands, Nashville it’s amazing music tradition. San Francisco has its iconic hills and the golden gate bridge. Kyoto has its ancient temples, Cusco its incan history. What on earth does Perth have? I struggle to think of a more boring location for a tourist to visit. Yes Kings Park is nice, but every city in Australia has parks and gardens. Fremantle is worth a visit but IMO it lags behind Glenelg, Adelaide’s equivalent, and you can see convict sites all over Australia. The buildings are ugly, the streets have no buzz whatsoever, the place is generally expensive, and it is packed with drunken Irish!