Australia and Alice Springs.

Leekbrookgull · Mar 1, 2017

Myself (and to ALL my FANS i will continue to post :thumbsup:

) and her Indoors have booked Brisbane,now Byron Bay has been suggested worth a visit,however what is train travel like ? Brisbane to A/S ? A/S to Adelaide ?. Time is not really an issue for us so stop-offs are ok,but if so what is a good punt ? Thanks. :thumbsup:

AmexRuislip · Mar 1, 2017

Try asking [MENTION=5203]OzMike[/MENTION] :thumbsup:

Stumpy Tim · Mar 1, 2017

Leekbrookgull said:
Myself (and to ALL my FANS i will continue to post ) and her Indoors have booked Brisbane,now Byron Bay has been suggested worth a visit,however what is train travel like ? Brisbane to A/S ? A/S to Adelaide ?. Time is not really an issue for us so stop-offs are ok,but if so what is a good punt ? Thanks.

I would go to the Whitsunday Islands & Fraser Island ahead of Byron Bay, though Byron is worth a visit. I know people who have done the train down the coast and found it very dull... not sure about the train to Alice Springs. If you do get the train to AS, there won't be many stops as it's basically a desert

knocky1 · Mar 1, 2017

Easier to go to Peacehaven. Same type of housing and people. On the plus side you have the South Downs behind you instead of scrub.

The Andy Naylor Fan Club · Mar 1, 2017

https://youtu.be/CsrfovOPcjk

Leekbrookgull · Mar 1, 2017

Andy Naylor,interesting link. No doubt you can do better ?

Leekbrookgull · Mar 1, 2017

Stumpy Tim said:
I would go to the Whitsunday Islands & Fraser Island ahead of Byron Bay, though Byron is worth a visit. I know people who have done the train down the coast and found it very dull... not sure about the train to Alice Springs. If you do get the train to AS, there won't be many stops as it's basically a desert

North of Brisbane and Cairns ?

Stumpy Tim · Mar 1, 2017

Leekbrookgull said:
North of Brisbane and Cairns ?

North of Brisbane, south of Cairns. If you want to go further north look at Daintree

Eeyore · Mar 1, 2017

Byron Bay is for stoners.

Alice Springs is nothing exciting. It's an old country town full of tourists who are there before they see a large and uninspiring lump of rock (trust me, I climbed it one morning) and also a quite separate and poorly integrated indigenous community.

Cairns is a bit of a party town. Very humid but a good visit. It's the area as a whole that is of interest (the Great Barrier Reef/islands). It all depends what you are looking for.

Remember, everything is miles from everywhere.

Don't spend too long in the desert. After a few days it gets very boring and all there is to do is drink.

OzMike · Mar 1, 2017

Stumpy Tim said:
I would go to the Whitsunday Islands & Fraser Island ahead of Byron Bay, though Byron is worth a visit. I know people who have done the train down the coast and found it very dull... not sure about the train to Alice Springs. If you do get the train to AS, there won't be many stops as it's basically a desert

Good advice, I love it in the Whitsunday Islands, Airlie Beach region and will be looking to retire there in a few years.
Melbourne is good for a city break, open 24 hrs and lots to do.

The Maharajah of Sydney · Mar 2, 2017

Leekbrookgull said:
Myself (and to ALL my FANS i will continue to post ) and her Indoors have booked Brisbane,now Byron Bay has been suggested worth a visit,however what is train travel like ? Brisbane to A/S ? A/S to Adelaide ?. Time is not really an issue for us so stop-offs are ok,but if so what is a good punt ? Thanks.

You can't travel by train between Brisbane & Alice Springs as their isn't a railway line connecting the 2 cities and even if there was I wouldn't advise you to do it - you don't get to see anything that particularly interesting and it's very expensive. If you really wanted to reach Alice Springs by rail you could fly from Brisbane to Adelaide by air (very cheap) and take The Ghan. As mentioned before, this is expensive - cheapest twin cabin purchased in adavnce would be well over $1,100, circa GBP 700.
The Ghan though itself is meant to be a wonderful experience, as is The Indian Pacific ( Sydney to Perth ).

http://www.greatsouthernrail.com.au/trains/the-ghan

Gotta say though, the earlier alternatives put forward about chartering a boat around The Whitsundays seem much more appealing.

Tyrone Biggums · Mar 2, 2017

If you were set on going to AS i'd suggest flying to Adelaide then going by bus to Coober Pedy and spend a couple of days there checking out the Opal mining history etc (you can even stay in underground accomodation) and from there you can catch the bus to AS.

Breaks up the trip and you get to see the sights a bit better out a bus window.

Raleigh Chopper · Mar 2, 2017

Isn't Alice Springs a boring dust bowl, full of lethal spiders and drunk Abo's.

Petunia · Mar 2, 2017

OzMike said:
Good advice, I love it in the Whitsunday Islands, Airlie Beach region and will be looking to retire there in a few years.
Melbourne is good for a city break, open 24 hrs and lots to do.

Lucky you. We took a 2 night boat trip from there around the Whitsundays and it is absolutely gorgeous.

Melbourne is also a fantastic city. If you do go there [MENTION=3651]Leekbrookgull[/MENTION] be sure to take the obligatory photo on Brighton beach.

Eeyore · Mar 2, 2017

Raleigh Chopper said:
Isn't Alice Springs a boring dust bowl, full of lethal spiders and drunk Abo's.

Very much the latter. Thankfully I didn't experience the spiders.

Eeyore · Mar 2, 2017

Tyrone Biggums said:
If you were set on going to AS i'd suggest flying to Adelaide then going by bus to Coober Pedy and spend a couple of days there checking out the Opal mining history etc (you can even stay in underground accomodation) and from there you can catch the bus to AS.

Breaks up the trip and you get to see the sights a bit better out a bus window.

I was once stuck in Coober Pedy for six days.

Braggfan · Mar 2, 2017

Byron in nice but it is full of backpackers, and the locals aren't too keen on tourists. Still worth visiting though but I wouldn't spend a massive amount of time there because it's quite small and you might run out of things to do. Also I don't think Byron has a train station. When I went you could book a train to Byron but the last bit of the journey is on an equivalent of a rail replacement bus.

Tyrone Biggums · Mar 2, 2017

Go visit Tasmania if you have spare days. Smaller state so easier to see more in less time. Has some quite beautiful places and scenery to check out.

Tom Hark Preston Park · Mar 2, 2017

Braggfan said:
Byron in nice but it is full of backpackers, and the locals aren't too keen on tourists. Still worth visiting though but I wouldn't spend a massive amount of time there because it's quite small and you might run out of things to do. Also I don't think Byron has a train station. When I went you could book a train to Byron but the last bit of the journey is on an equivalent of a rail replacement bus.

It's got a train station, but the line's been closed for years. Used to be able to go all the way from Sydney to Byron Bay by train. There's talk of opening the line up again to reconnect the surrounding small towns and villages, which would be great. But for now, unless you've got a hire car, best bet is Greyhound coach, or you could fly into the localish Ballina airport and book a cab or shuttle bus into town. Similarly from the slightly further away (and much larger) Gold Coast airport.

Highly recommend paying a visit for the glorious beaches and sub-tropical rain forests around the lighthouse and the general 'new age' feel to the place.

Simster · Mar 2, 2017

Alice Springs is a horrible place.

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