Australia, any input?

[l_neveph]

hello mga sis! i know a lot of you here had been to aussie.so what places can you recommend? cheap hotels or even hostels?how is the weather in april-may, ok ba for sightseeing?plese post anything you can share you think might be of help to anyone interested in visiting the country..I for one am planning to go there by april-may, so i so much want to know kung ano weather..Thank you for any infos you can share!!!!

[smoothie]

i love this place. sa sydney and goldcoast kami pumunta, 1 week kami nandun.
sydney - we stayed at this hotel (i forgot the name) in king's cross. correct me if i'm wrong, but king's cross is their red light district. pero safe naman, hindi naman nakakatakot like sa atin. ang maganda pa pagbaba ng hotel namin nandun na yung mtr nila. we went to chinatown, opera house, malls, vineyard nila (nag bus kami dito).
sa goldcoast naman, we went to dreamworld (not sure with the name) basta yung amusement park nila. tapos around our hotel madaming mga shops and malls. so nakapag libot libot kami.

april-may, winter season nila. medyo malamig. pero tolerable. walang snow. parang nasa baguio ka lang.

[neeners]

Tasmania! Grabe, ang ganda sobra ng Tasmania. Though I can't really help you with info about Tasmania kasi we pretty much stayed inside our host's farm.

In Sydney, I can recommend staying at the Big Hostel. It's only a short walk from the Central station. It's clean and the people are friendly. They have a kitchen so kung gusto mo makatipid, you can cook there nalang instead of eating out. One bed at the 6-bed female dorm costs about AU$27 per night. My favorite places in Sydney are the Chinese Friendship Garden, Darling Harbour, Watson's Bay, Manly Beach and of course, Circular Quay.

Melbourne is also a great city to visit. My favorite places in Melbourne is Degraves st., Burke Street, Melbourne Zoo, Werribee Open Range Zoo,  the State Library and Footscray (haha).

Gold Coast naman is beach and theme parks galore! Magastos siya. Hahaha.

April - May is autumn/winter in Australia, medyo palamig na. Okay siya for sight seeing kasi hindi mainit.

Sorry ha, yan lang muna..medyo wala pa ko sa tamang pagiisip ^_^;

[krock]

i want to visit australia.. hopefully soon..

(i want to buy cheaper ugg kase. haha)

[l_neveph]

thanks for the reply guys!

sis neeners hindi kya sobrang lamig sa tasmania during april?actually balak din namin syang puntahan pero we're having 2nd thoughts kasi parang island ata yan cia dba..correct me if im wrong, and since medyo remote na cia baka weird ang weather unlike summer ;-)

[[-c-h-a-]]

^what state are you planning to go to?

April May is Autumn. Autumn starts ng March and winter starts ng June. The weather is really nice but it's not freezing.

my brother lived in Hobart (Tasmania) for 2 years, it is colder than the other parts of Australia.

[neeners]

Yup, it's colder than the rest of Australia, but I would guess mas consistent siya (unlike sa Melbourne na matindi ang moodswings ng weather). Visit Tasmania if you're into nature. Daming mga trails for hiking. Unfortunately, mukhang kailangan may car kayo if you want to go to the national parks, or maybe join a tour. When we went there last Christmas (summer season), the average minimum was 10C, the average maximum naman was 19C. Great temperature for walking outsite during the day (wala pang langaw!)

Kung city lovers kayo, head on to Sydney or Melbourne. Kung beach and theme parks and type niyo, sa Gold Coast kayo magpunta.

[khulit12]

is it hard to get a visa for australia? any inputs mga sis? :d thanx!

[k_heart]

Wala akong masyadong ma-shopping dito. Pasyal lang talaga.

[l_neveph]

^^ we have our visa na and it's not hard to apply naman.sa amin after 1month approved na, though with the help of an agency to make application less hassle..[textspeak!] nagastos namin 4500

[l_neveph]

^what state are you planning to go to?

April May is Autumn. Autumn starts ng March and winter starts ng June. The weather is really nice but it's not freezing.

my brother lived in Hobart (Tasmania) for 2 years, it is colder than the other parts of Australia.

here are our ambitious wishlist sis, pro im not sure kung mapupuntahan ba cia lahat kasi from what i heard 8hrs travel time pag train and 1-2 hrs nman by plane..bka kulangin sa budget and time 
melbourne for the vineyards, st philipps ba [textspeak!] may penguin?great ocean road and 12 apostles
sydney for the places suggested by other girltalkers
alice spring-uluru
goldcoast fro the themeparks
tasmania kung kaya pa 

[selly]

^ may i ask how long you're planning to stay? thats a lot to cover properly if you're only staying a week or two

anyway i live in sydney so here are my recs for sydney:
- the rocks, sydney opera house, harbour bridge, sydney city (such as qvb, chinatown, darling harbour). you can walk to these places as they are fairly close to each other and if you don't mind walking in general!
- sydney fishmarket is a must for seafood lovers
- taronga zoo at mosman
- bondi beach (quick train and bus ride!)
- blue mountains, newcastle, hunter valley (vineyards) or wollongong if you're looking for an out-of-town or daytrip

victoria (i've only been once for about a week)
- great ocean road and the 12 apostles (you can do a day tour)
- phillip island for the penguins
- melbourne (capital city of victoria) has a great shopping and food!
- yarra valley for the wineries and food

queensland
- gold coast for the themeparks and beaches
- cairns and the whitesundays for the beaches/snorkelling etc but this can be fairly expensive depending on the resorts u go to

never been to the northern territory but one day would like to go

btw, it's autumn in april-may. sometimes it's a little warm or a little cold depending but i'm cold if it gets under 20 degrees and need to bundle up regardless due to my filipino blood so i'd bring some jackets/warm clothes if you plan to come around that time!

hope this helps!

[cody23]

is it hard to get a visa for australia? any inputs mga sis? :d thanx!

hindi naman, as long as complete yung mga requirements mo. We went via travel agency, cost us less than 5k i believe, we got it in less than 2 wks. May sms service pa ang australia visa processing if you chose to use it, it informs you of the current status of your application.

[l_neveph]

that's really a great help sis.thanks!
one more thing, how do i get to the city from the airport?hindi ba complicated ang transpo doon? how far is the airport from sydney andn how far naman airport- downtown melbourne?
thnak u again sis!

[iwantsuperman]

hindi naman, as long as complete yung mga requirements mo. We went via travel agency, cost us less than 5k i believe, we got it in less than 2 wks. May sms service pa ang australia visa processing if you chose to use it, it informs you of the current status of your application.

sis what travel agency do you suggest?
kasi pag walang agent mga 2k lang ata babayaran

[neeners]

^^ In Melbourne, you can ride the Skybus into the city. AU$15 one way, AU$24 return. May kiosk siya just outside the airport doors. The bus goes into Southern Cross/Spencer Street station (parang main terminal) in the Melbourne CBD. Skybus also has a connecting bus ata to most hotels in Melbourne. Anyway, since it's a major transport hub, you can just ride the train or tram or just walk to your hotel/hostel from Southern Cross/Spencer Street station. The airport is about 18-20 kms from the city. Ingat sa taxi kasi na-feature sa news before na minsan kapag alam ng taxi driver na hindi ka taga doon, magkukunyari siya na di daw niya alam kung san yung pupuntahan mo, para lang tumaas masyado yung fare.

In Sydney naman, you can buy the Airport Link card. May train stop mismo sa airport which takes you into the city. I suggest just get an airport link-travel pass combo. I got my green travel pass last March for about AU$50-60. May return airport link access na siya, and unlimited train, bus, ferry (including the Manly ferry) rides for 7 days.

[neeners]

l_neveph: Nung November/December ka nag submit ng visa application? Ang tagal no? Around that time din nag apply ng visa ate ko, and yun na yung pinakamatagal na na-experience namin sa visa application for Australia. Before mga 5 days lang okay na.

iwantsuperman: You don't really need to go through an agency for your visa application. Just make sure na complete and organized your documents na i-susubmit mo. And make sure you follow the instructions na ibibigay nung operator when you call to arrange for a pick up

[ezonme]

mahigpit din ba ang pag issue ng visa sa australia like sa US?

[khulit12]

hindi naman, as long as complete yung mga requirements mo. We went via travel agency, cost us less than 5k i believe, we got it in less than 2 wks. May sms service pa ang australia visa processing if you chose to use it, it informs you of the current status of your application.

ic.. but does it really require u to have like investments and bank accts? if purely travel lang [textspeak!] like 2-3 wks.. thanx in advance.. how much kaya [textspeak!] budget and gastos.. visa..ticket nd accom.. plus food and places to see?

[selly]

airport to sydney CBD is about 10kms or 15/20min drive?
i think those airport link tickets sound reasonably priced if you will use them for getting around on the trains, buses and ferries! otherwise, a taxi from the airport to the city is ok as well if there is more than 1 person travelling with you (so you can get your value for money)!