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October 22, 2010
Visions of Vanuatu
I first heard of this exotic location from friends…. and have wanted to vacation there since. They last spent time there in July - looking forward to going with them the next time they go. Save a beach chair for me.
May 21, 2010
Australia in july?
Do you recommend traveling to Australia in July?
May 18, 2010
Overall - Great Trip
I thought I would give you a recap of our trip ! First, Sandi and I were very pleased overall with the trip no major complaints so our negative comments are relatively minor except with one exception.
- Green Island - a lovely resort and first class. The number of day visitors is somewhat negative but did not prove to be a problem. Food was very good as were the accommodations.
- Pacific International Hotel in Cairns - average hotel, good for one night use. Good location for us given proximity to the wharf.
- Wait-a While Rainforest Tour - generally good, did not see as much wildlife as we expected. Guide was good but the guide smoked too much, comes with the territory. His name was Wayne. He did a good job overall .
- Sails in the Desert at Ayers Rock - very nice hotel and grounds are excellent.
- Tour there with AAT Kings was good , they do a good job for the group tours they do.
- Kings Canyon Resort was also good. As was the tour there.
- Majestic Roof Garden, Adelaide- hotel was average, had a room on the street and a bit noisy.
- Kangaroo Island - outstanding tour with Exceptional Kangaroo Island tour group. We loved the Island and wildlife. The accommodation at Stranraer Homestead was probably the highlight of our accommodations. The owners are outstanding.
- Tasmania- my error in not allowing enough time there. Cradle Mountain Lodge was very nice but we did not have enough time there. Lenna of Hobarthotel was very nice. Probably needed 4 days in Tasmania. I would consider a return visit to Tasmania as a possible trip . Leisure Inn Penny Royal was an old facility and needs some updating. Below average hotel.
- Self Drive in New Zealand Package. In general the boss, the wife, felt staying two nights at each location would have been better however, I realize this is a package to fit a two week trip. Driving a bit hectic with one night stays. Overall we were happy with the package.
- Sebel Suites, Auckland is outstanding in facilities and location.
- Puka Park, Coromandel Peninsula is an outstanding facility and location. I booked tour with Kiwi Dundee and was very pleased with that tour. Food at location was very good.
- Millennium Hotel, Rotorual. Unfortunately the room they gave us did not have a working air condition/heater system. We went out for a while and requested that they look at it. Unfortunately nothing was done in our absence. Eventually when they did send the maintenance guy, he did not fix the problem. We requested to be moved to another room which was done immediately, but unfortunately the problems with the first room prevented us from relaxing and enjoying the hotel.
- Mitai Villagewe liked the Maori meal and the show.
- Bayview Chateau, Tongariro National Park is an outstanding hotel. This was only location were the weather hurt us, rained and overcast. I had booked a flight tour to see the volcanoes with Mountain Air which we could not do.
- Copthorne Oriental, Wellington is also a great hotel and location. - did not have enough time here given tight schedule. Went to the local Te Papa Museum there and loved it.
- Interislander Ferry from Wellington to Picton was enjoyable.
- Grand Mercure Monaco, Nelson in our opinion is an average to above average facility. Drove over to Golden Bay and saw the sights- enjoyed the drive.
- The drive to Fox Glacier was very long ! but guess no way around it.
- Te Weheka Inn, Fox Glacier is a nice facility which we liked. Did a Heli-glacier hike at Franz Josef and loved it.
- Moorings, Wanaka we thought was an average hotel in a nice nice location. Did a scenic flight tour with Southern Alps and loved it.
- Heritage Queenstown- great facility and location. Did Doubtful Sound tour.
- Distinction Te Anau is an older hotel which needs updating but probably the best in the small town.
- Grand Mercure, Dunedin is an old hotel and my wife thought the lift was from a Humphrey Bogart movie. They tried to stuff me in small room but pointed out I booked a Superior room and they gave me a better room. Good location. Did the Elm Wildlife tour and loved it.
- Crowne Plaza, Christchurch is a great hotel and got a great room. Great location. Did Whale Watch tour up the coast, loved it.
OVERALL: Down Under Answers did a great job and of course that is mainly you. Qantas airlines is very good and loved the Qantas Clubs. Thought food was expensive in Australia and New Zealand. (offset in NZ is US dollar is worth more then in AU). People were very friendly. Hertz did a good job on rentals. Internet access at hotels is not as good as US. WIFI is hot or miss, but technology is the missing link. Was not a major problem.
May 22, 2009
Fiji - Yasawa
The trip has been amazing so far. We’re at Yasawa Island Resort now and it is stunning. Thanks for making arrangements for us to be here. Ashley, Washington
May 21, 2009
Hamurana Estate
“Many thanks for the warm and wonderful hospitality we experienced at Hamurana Estate, We thoroughly enjoyed our stay. Merci beaucoup”
May 21, 2009
Hamurana Estate
“We had a lovely time at the Hamurana estate, the room was so comfortable and the food - EXCELLENT! We left there fat and happy. Thank you and all the best . . . .”
January 16, 2009
APT Kings Canyon Wilderness Lodge
My clients Randy and Rose Marie James returned from their Australia/New Zealand trip and I had the chance to meet with them last week to go over their trip with them. They could not say enough good things about APT – (they were the ones that stayed at the Kings Canyon Wilderness Lodge), their escorted touring experience that I booked through Down Under Answers. Rose Marie was very apprehensive about staying in a “tent” and she just could not stop talking about the experience. They also did the 4WD APT Kangaroo Island two day/one night tour and had Ben as there guide. They have actually sent me pictures of Ben and basically told me he was the absolute best guide they had during their 6 week trip. They are planning to return to Australia in 2010 to visit the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Tasmania.
January 15, 2009
Australia Vacation in a Nutshell
Hello mates!
We are back from Australia and had a wonderful time! Just wanted to share some of our memories. We left in the snow and came home to the snow. But . . . while in Oz we had (their) summer warmth, hot sun, blue skies, and white sand beaches. We started early with an extra day in Los Angeles to avoid the snow storm here (and Chloe had the trip from hell to get to LA to meet us due to storms in Boston, but after 5 hours of rearranging her flights - three different ones to be exact - she made it). We stayed at the lovely Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills (thanks for the suggestion, Wendy) and had dinner with Britney Spears (really, she sat at the table next to us) and that was the FABULOUS start to our unbelievably terrific vacation.
Our trip started north of Brisbane at the Gold Coast/Surfer’s Paradise area. We stayed at the Palazzo Versace, a boutique hotel created by Donatella Versace in memory of her brother, Gianni. It was small but quite beautiful with everything VERSACE, from the china to the headboards all branded with something VERSACE. The hotel is across the street from the ocean and bordered on the other side by the inter-coastal waterway. We walked along the beautiful beaches every day, saw lots of surfing and kite-surfing, cute lifeguards in their yellow and red gear (including two-tone swim caps) and had the most incredible meals. We also got to view the lovely jelly fish that are prevalent this time of year - a beautiful purple color for your information.
After two days we were on to O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat, a privately owned retreat in the Lamington National Park. It is about an hour inland from the coast in the semi-tropical rainforest. We had to drive up a mountain road with hairpin turns, worse than the snake trail up the side of Massada for those of you who have climbed it. Paul was our valiant captain and he got us there safely, but we were all terrified of driving off the cliffs, especially since we were driving on the opposite side of the road, and several times the road narrowed to one lane. YIKES!! Once at the top (at the end of the road, literally) we got to our sanctuary - a nature sanctuary. We stayed in a private “Villa”, two bedrooms, two baths overlooking the valley below, such outstanding beauty! We went on several nature excursions, saw lots of wildlife, interesting plants and insects, walked through the Tree Top Canopy Walk (nine suspension bridges built 50 feet above ground throughout the trees), saw glow worms (a luminescent colony on the side of a rock outcropping that looked like the Milky Way at night), went on a zip-line ride and met many an animal I never saw before including the third most venomous snake in the world (the Red-bellied Black Snake). In fact, Australia has 17 of the 20 most venomous snakes in the world, the Fierce Snake being the most venomous, one drop of venom is enough to kill 100 men. Really, we learned that and more at the zoo!
After our delightful time in the very humid, moist, rainforest (you can imagine my hair at this point) we headed to the beach at Noosa Heads, on the Sunshine Coast. It is a wonderful, relaxing beach community on the edge of beautiful Noosa National Park. We enjoyed the beach, had more great food, dipped in the ocean, walked/jogged through the park, saw our first koala in the wild (asleep in a gum or eucalyptus tree since they are nocturnal), went to the Australian Zoo (one great zoo with a load of snoozing koalas and lots of crocodiles, kangaroos and more!!!!) and saw Terry, Bindi and Robert Irwin feed the “crocs” and carry on Steve Irwin’s dream to educate, appreciate and protect the Australian wildlife. We even saw a Tasmanian Devil and, as depicted in cartoons, they do NOT sit still for one minute. We saw a beautiful sandcastle built on the beach every day and then destroyed each night, and I had a terrific massage on the beach with sand as a natural exfoliator (unexpected due to a slight breeze) by one fantastic masseuse.
On New Year’s Eve day we flew to Sydney to catch the spectacular fireworks extravaganza over Sydney Harbour. We had dinner on the water’s edge, saw the early fireworks they have for kids at 9 PM (pretty considerate) and then went up to our room on the 28th floor of the Shangri-La Hotel and saw the fireworks at midnight to ring in the New Year. It was the most breathtaking, spectacular sight I have ever seen! Not only do they shoot the fireworks off the bridge, they also have four other spots, two on each side of the bridge to accompany those fireworks. Some of the fireworks were supposed to represent lightning and some shot horizontally off the bridge. It was truly unbelievable!!! I love fireworks so this was a dream come true for me, shared with my lovely husband, just perfect. The girls chose to watch from the harbour and had their own fun with 1.5 million other revelers. They came up to our room and kissed us good night at 2 AM.
Sydney is an unbelievably, wonderful city - friendly people, good food, lots of sights. Chris and Yvonne, friends we met in Palm Desert who live in Sydney, toured us through the city and on a “pub crawl” (just what it sounds like by the time you get to the last one) and the next day on a tour of Sydney Harbour on a friend’s boat, complete with fish and chips on the boat for lunch after stopping at the wharf to get them (Paul and Chris literally jumped off the boat at the wharf’s steps and then we toured around the harbour, Watson’s Harbour to be exact, and came back to get them once they had the grub). Thank you Chris and Yvonne! We toured The Rocks area where Sydney began with the infamous convicts sent over from England when their gaols got too crowded (our fabulous hotel was right there overlooking Sydney Harbour, the Sydney Harbour bridge, and the Opera House), had a drink in the oldest pub in Australia - the Waterloo Pub honoring or named after Lord Nelson who I think he even drank there, and I went to the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Art Gallery of New South Wales (world class!) after a walk there through the beautiful Royal Botanic Gardens with their own colony of very large bats, or flying foxes as they call them in Australia. These bats are Grey-headed fruit bats with a wing-span of three feet across. A pretty spectacular sight hanging in the trees right in the center of the gardens. We all also fell in love with Aboriginal art, art and artifacts depicting The Dreamtime, or the Aboriginal idea of how the earth was created. The Aboriginal culture is believed to be the oldest culture on earth, around 30,000 years old, give or take 10,000 years. Quite amazing since their land rights were only recognized by the Australian government in the 1970’s.
Could anything have been better? Only if we had been able to stay longer!! It was wonderful to be together in such a great country and we hope to return someday to see more of Australia, a country almost the same size as the United States. Thanks to you and the wonderful team at Down Under Answers - the specialists in travel to Australia and New Zealand. We couldn’t have hoped for anything more!
October 17, 2008
Australian Highlights
“. . . . . . Being my first time to Australia, the land of “No Worries,” I have learned so much and met a great group of experienced travel agents. Some of my most memorable experiences include seeing animals in their natural habitat (a dingo on the beach at Kingfisher Bay and kangaroos, seals, and sea lions on Kangaroo Island), the breathtaking scenery at the Remarkable Rocks, seeing the Southern Cross, the ride up to O’Reiley’s and their tree-top walk, the vineyard and wine-tasting in Adelaide, and the “experience” at the Southern Ocean Lodge! I also enjoyed experiencing all the forms of transportation available in Queensland and South Australia. The cuisine was great as well: the authentic Australian breakfast of beans, tomatoes, and mushrooms, good wine, the Adelaide central market, and of course barramundi (I’ll pass on the Vegemite).
....Thanks again for such an organized, informational and FUN adventure that I will never forget!”
August 04, 2008
Warm and Friendly Fiji
Great destination for holiday, Fiji makes you forget that there is anything beyond these islands.The biggest treasure for fiji are the people of fiji, warm and friendly.
July 31, 2008
Q Station - authentic Australia
New on the Sydney accommodation and attraction scene is QStation, located on North Head in Manly. After a 10 year permitting and restoration process, the station operates under a special lease from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. It is classified as a cultural based tourism facility. The same company that restored Lilianfels Guest House in the Blue Mountains did the restoration.
QStation operated as a quarantine station from 1803’s to 1984. Passengers arriving in Sydney Harbour on any ship with disease onboard were quarantined here until cleared for immigration. Even passengers arriving by airplane without adequate vaccination documents were housed here. In addition, sick residents of Sydney were quarantined here during a smallpox epidemic of 1881, a plague epidemic of 1901 and the flu pandemic of 1989-19. The site is reportedly the most haunted place in Australia.
Haunted or not, QStation offers clients a wonderful retreat 30 minutes from the CBD. They can take the Manly ferry, walk off and onto a #135 bus and quickly arrive at the entrance to QStation. (Or take a taxi.) The buildings from the original station are now converted to beautiful accommodations, a restaurant, museum/visitor center, two theaters and a soon to be opened day spa in the hospital. You can arrange to kayak or sail in the waters surrounding the station or hike or jog the many trails. No matter where you are on the property, the views either back toward Sydney or to the parkland are breathtaking. There is one drawback. The property is quite hilly and would not be suitable for clients who have difficulty walking.
Clients also have the opportunity to take a schedule tour of the property or see Defiance, an immersion theatre held in the very places where the real stories about real people who stayed at QStation are told. For those who believe in the paranormal or just want to learn more about it, there are tours for that, too.
QStation comes with several bonuses. It has its own colony of little penguins and is home to the endangered Long Nosed Bandicoots. For clients interested in flora, the grounds feature a wide range of native vegetation. And, there is a collection of carvings on the rocks throughout the property by people who were quarantined here.
July 22, 2008
North Adelaide Heritage Apts
Its a little incorrect. George Lowe Esquire was Rodney Twiss’s (owner of N ADL Heritage apts) great uncle and he lived in Buxton Manor in 1920 to 1922. He was a ‘Mercantile Prince’ ie he was a Managing Director of a large trading company and a gentleman.
Sir Josiah Symons was the Chief Justice and a Member of Parliament of South Australia. He was the Chair of the committee who drafted the Constitution of Australia which lead to our independence and the Federation of Australia in 1900. He had the most extensive library in existance at the time and this formed the nucleus of the embryotic South Australian library.
We believe this library was situated in the drawing room of the George Lowe Esquire apartment as Sir Josiah and members of his family lived in buxton manor from 1922 to around 1954.
January 29, 2007
Rough Guide to New Zealand book
We highly recommend the Rough Guide to New Zealand. After looking at several guidebooks here, we took along the Rough Guide and read it daily. The Rough Guide map was also the best of all the maps we picked up along the way. Their descriptions and recommendations were right every time. Their assessment of a restaurant as “overpriced but adequate” was so accurate it was funny. It’s well written, up-to-date, balanced and highly informative.
January 29, 2007
Top Ten Holiday Parks
9 out of 11 nights on the South Island were spent in Top Ten Holiday Parks, and we think that’s the way to go. They are all independently owned, but they’re part of a franchise that offers very good facilities and predictable quality. The two campgrounds that weren’t Top Ten were noticeably inferior.
January 29, 2007
New President Hotel
The New President Hotel in Auckland was ideal for us: comfortable, clean, good kitchen, and in the middle of downtown. It’s five or six blocks from the waterfront and right beside the Sky Tower, their Space Needle.
January 29, 2007
Milford Sound
In a move that satisfied everyone, we decided to take a plane from Wanaka to Milford Sound (instead of campervan). We had no problem making a reservation a day in advance, and we were lucky to have the good weather needed for flying. In a small Cesna plane, we flew for an hour over the “Southern Alps” and landed on a small airstrip at the start of the fjord. From there, we took a two-hour cruise on the fjord out to the sea and back. This was a spectacular and thrilling way to see the mountains and Milford Sound, and probably the highlight of the trip for me, although I’m not sure I want to choose just one. For $850 (US), it was well worth the money.
January 29, 2007
Rotorua In General
Rotorua was the most touristy place we went, and it included some fun things for the kids. The sheep show at the Agrodome was just right for them. We highly recommend the Brylin Motel: delightful and helpful owners, nice rooms and kitchen, pleasant, and laundry facilities, which we needed by that point.
January 29, 2007
Koalas & Penguins, Phillip Island
The visit to the Koala Sanctuary was very interesting. In addition to the Koalas we saw some very colorful birds in the wild. The penguin walk (penguins returning to the island for the night at dusk was a highlight, with excellent commentary from the ranger and pretty good visibility with the night vision goggles (the “ultimate” option for that tour). We could have done without the stops at the dairy farm and the winery, so visitors who have a rental car may wish to do this on their own. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and personable, and we had a very enjoyable dinner with our group at a local hotel restaurant. Also, anyone wanting photos of the penguins will need to visit the Melbourne zoo, as no photography is allowed.
January 29, 2007
Melbourne Museum
A very nice museum. Our daughter especially wanted us to see the Aboriginal exhibit, which she visited with one of her Melbourne University classes. There was a strong focus on the history, and the treatment of Aboriginal people by the white government. Many similarities to how we treated the indigenous population here, although it was surprising to learn that the government didn’t stop trying to remove Aboriginal children from their families and culture until the 1970s.
January 29, 2007
Sovereign Hill
Our daughter especially enjoyed the visit to the mock-up gold mining town. It was interesting to hear the history and the impact of the Australian gold rush on the region and the nation. Also surprised to learn that there is still the occasional large nugget found by someone using a metal detector earlier this year a “grapefruit-sized nugget” found by someone right in his caravan (RV) park.
January 29, 2007
Shotover Canyon Swing
The younger three of us (our 27 and 24 year old sons and 20 year old daughter) chose to do the Canyon Swing instead of bungee, although if we’d been there longer they probably would have done the bungee also. The Canyon Swing was too much for me, but they found it pretty thrilling.
January 29, 2007
Milford Sound Trip
Because of our limited time, we chose the airplane flight Milford Sound cruise option. The plane ride through the Remarkables mountain range was spectacular, and the cruise in Milford Sound was very nice also. Both provided great photo opportunities. In the sound, in addition to the spectacular scenary, including dozens of waterfalls, we saw a leopard seal, several fur seals, and penguins.
January 29, 2007
Shotover Jet
Outstanding jet boat ride on the Shotover River and through narrow canyons. Lord of the Rings fans will recognize the canyon from the movie. There are also jet boat rides on the lake offered by a different company. I don’t see how they could compare to the ride on the river and through the canyon.
January 29, 2007
Skyline Gondola
A nice way to get a mountaintop view of the city, lake and surrounding mountains. The kids also did the luge ride and enjoyed that.
January 29, 2007
Outrigger Beach Club
Outstanding, very luxurious (at least to our standards). We had two bedrooms, each with its own balcony, and a private roof-top terrace. Although we had both a whirlpool bath and a hot tub, it was too hot to use those. The kids made good use of the swimming pools, and the swimming area in the ocean, and we enjoyed drinks and snacks by the pool. Staff was very helpful arranging tours and the transport to the airport for our two sons, who had a very early flight out to Sydney and home. We ate at 3 of the 4 restaurants in the hotel, all very good.
November 20, 2006
Underground Motel
Exceptionally clean, beautiful place and the owner was a delightful lady. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay there. I would also suggest that if people are looking for Opals that they wait until they get to Coober Pedy rather than doing what we did. We purchased in Adelaide and found the prices at “The Old Timers Mine and Opal Shop” (Coober Pedy) to be much less expensive than in Adelaide. Owner Trevor spent about 30 minutes with our grand daughter as she was wanting to make a $20.00 opal purchase. I’d certainly recommend The Old Timers Mine and Opal Shop to anyone. Good quality products and reasonably priced.
November 20, 2006
Australian Wilderness Tours’ Adelaide to Alice Springs, 4 day Centre Tour
For anyone with the time we’d recommend the 4 day Opal Tour that we took. (Our guide) Paul was number 1 in our book. He was a perfect gentleman and was so knowledgeable of that country that it was like traveling with a history book. We did off road tours that I’ll bet (no more than) 50 white people had ever seen and I don’t think he looked at a map once on the whole trip. He was born in South Australia and was the equivalent of an Eagle Scout there and had traveled all over with his family and had spend quite a bit of time with the Aboriginals along the way. If I ever go back I’ll request him again, He is excellent!!!
There is lots of driving and a huge country to see. Probably 2/3 of the trip was on unsealed roads which didn’t bother us at all. If you’re looking for easy travel and “plush” accommodations this is not the one for you. If you like having a bit of roughing it, it is perfect. Wilpena Pound was an oasis in the middle of the desert and we loved it. Marree is next to middle of nowhere. The single hotel there is older than dirt but has it’s own character. Everyone goes down the corridor to the ‘loo’ and shower. The floors “squeak” so they can be heard across the railroad tracks I think. The food was excellent and the stereotype Aussie Bar was an absolute blast!!! We love it, and again, the people there were friendly and most accommodating. We left about 7:30AM and the owner came down and opened the bar up for me so I could take some video of it. GREAT PEOPLE!!! Class it wasn’t, but fun it was!!!
November 20, 2006
North Adelaide Heritage Apartments’ Sir George Lowe
When we arrived Regina Twiss, owner, happened to be there. She was most gracious and could not have been more accommodating. Buxton Manor was an exceptional place. It was like having our own house and it was beautifully furnished with really old antiques. It was comfortable, roomy and just about top of the line in my opinion. We would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone going that way. We stayed in the Sir George Lowe Apartment. The use of the washer and dryer was at no charge. The service was excellent. Our 7 year old grand-daughter even recognized it as being an outstanding place. It’s just pure class in my opinion.
Regina even came back the next morning and took Lucy to church. We also met Rodney (Regina’s husband) when he came on our arrival morning. He has been in the antique business for many years and had done very well. You can mention Rodney and Regina Twiss to anyone in Adelaide and I can guarantee you that they’ll know them.