Traveling to Australia, mostly alone, advice?

[The Legend]

I'm going to Sydney Nov. 1st, and have only booked my flight and have yet to make any other plans. My brother will be meeting me Nov. 2nd, he is flying in from China, as his work has him there for 6 months(I'm from detroit).

Anyway, He'll be there for a week, and then I'll be there by myself till the end of november.

I've read Josem's thread, but I'm gonna be there mostly by myself for a month. I'm wondering what I should do, what I should see, and where I could meet people to hang out with (hostels or what have you).

I'm pretty much limited by nothing, I'm 24, have enough cash to do some cool stuff, and am willing to rent a car and drive to wherever, or to pitch a tent and go backpacking or go biking.

Thanks

[slickpoppa]

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I'm going to Sydney Nov. 1st, and have only booked my flight and have yet to make any other plans. My brother will be meeting me Nov. 2nd, he is flying in from China, as his work has him there for 6 months(I'm from detroit).

Anyway, He'll be there for a week, and then I'll be there by myself till the end of november.

I've read Josem's thread, but I'm gonna be there mostly by myself for a month. I'm wondering what I should do, what I should see, and where I could meet people to hang out with (hostels or what have you).

I'm pretty much limited by nothing, I'm 24, have enough cash to do some cool stuff, and am willing to rent a car and drive to wherever, or to pitch a tent and go backpacking or go biking.

Thanks

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I'm very jealous. My time studying abroad and traveling in Australia was the best six months of my life. Part of that time I was traveling by myself and it was pretty easy to meet people. Probably the best way to meet people is to take the Oz Experience Bus from Sydney to Cairns and stay at hostels along the way.

As far as specific things to do:

Sydney
- Go to the Taronga zoo
- See a show in the Sydney Opera House (make sure its in the main theater)
- Walk the Harbour Bridge
- Go to Bondi and or Manli beach
- Walk along the cliffs between Bondi and Coogee beach
- Walk around the Royal Botanic Gardens on a nice day
- Take a train to the blue mountains and go abseiling
- Go on an overnight surfing trip to one of the beaches a couple hours outside of Sydney
- Nightlife: The Rocks and Darling Harbour are the standard places to go out on a weekend. The Rocks is more of a pub scene, whereas Darling Harbour is a bit more upscale. During the week, a good place to go out is Coogee. The two best spots there are The Palace and the Coogee Bay Hotel. They tend to be filled with a lot of American study abroad students (including lots of hot chicks), but locals go there too. Bondi is a good place to go out on Wednesday nights, and it's less of an American scene.

Elsewhere:
- Visit Ayers Rock aka Uluru and doing a 3-5 day camping trip there. The stars at night are awesome
- Go on a camping trip near Darwin. The landscape is much different that the area around ayers rock and you will probably get to see some crocodiles
- Go scuba diving on the great barrier reef. Cairns is the most common place to do this, but there are a lot of smaller places that might be better but less well known.
- Take a sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands and definitely visit Whitehaven beach (the most beautiful beach I have ever been to. It is deserted and the sand is as white as baby powder.)
- Hang out in Surfer's Paradise for a couple of days and party there at night (Surf'n'Sun Backpackers is a really good hostel there)
- Drive along the Great Ocean road
- (I've heard Melbourne is a cool city, but it's one place I actually didn't go to, so I can't give any details on what to do there)

Theres a lot more to but that's a good start

Also, I highly recommend going to New Zealand too if you have the time.

[The Legend]

Wow, thanks a lot. I think I'll do that Oz bus.

Going to clubs with my bro will be fun, but by myself would be weird, thus the want to find perhaps a steady group to hang with.

I'm pretty social so it shouldn't be too hard.

I quit my engineering job because it was boring and I have about 6 months living expenses. Figured I may as well do this while I'm young.

[Ganjasaurus Rex]

Australia rocks. The girls... yummy.

[WhoIam]

Some random thoughts: I've heard from multiple people that the huge red rock in the middle of nowhere (forget the name) isn't worth it...I liked Melbourne better than Sydney and the casino is better...Aussie guys have have a really odd sense of humor. It's hard to describe--you'll understand when you get there...I liked New Zealand better but the girls aren't quite as hot.

[Idiotex]

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Wow, thanks a lot. I think I'll do that Oz bus.

Going to clubs with my bro will be fun, but by myself would be weird, thus the want to find perhaps a steady group to hang with.

I'm pretty social so it shouldn't be too hard.

I quit my engineering job because it was boring and I have about 6 months living expenses. Figured I may as well do this while I'm young.

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Hey legend, I'm from Perth, Western Australia. I've spent loads of time in Sydney and Melbourne though. If you enjoy "touristy" stuff you'll love Sydney. And it is a beautiful majest city / harbour which is great to check out. The first guy that replied was spot on with what he said to visit. I was there a couple of weeks ago and did similar stuff. I don't love touristy stuff but as far as that goes, it was okay.

Definitely go to the Cliffs just past Bondi beach (can't remember the name.. maybe they're called "The Gap?"). It's just an amazing piece of coastline that you can check out for free. If you hire a car I would also head to the blue mountains (you can just catch the train actually) and check out the scenery. They have this crazy train thing that heads down a mountain at like 70 degrees. And then you can catch this crazy thing that runs a wire back up to the top overlooking this enermous gulf. Hard to explain.

Melbourne is a more of a "cultural city". Very generalized description. But basically Sydney is a giant corporate machine. It's still got some cool stuff, but it's just another giant city. Melbourne has loads of great bars, the casino is a lot of fun (pretty huge poker room that some 2+2ers frequent). Melbourne is one of the sporting capitals of the world (we don't have a lot of massive sports in common with someone from Detroit though). But yeh, hit the MCG to watch some cricket or something. Lol.

Melbourne has some great bars if you know where to go. If you're a pro / semi-pro poker player and want to meet / shag loads of tourist I reccomend staying at Urban Central backpackers. It's a five minute walk from Crown Casino, and 10 min walk into the city. It's a great backpackers with it's own bar and club and you will make friends getting drunk there in no time. http://www.urbancentral.com.au/

What else? I think you will have a blast drinking / shagging heading up to Queensland / Cairns with a whole bunch of backpackers. If you feel like doing something else completely head over to Perth at some point. Amazing hot weather with great beaches. Hire a car and head down south to the wineries if you're into that kind of thing. There's a bit more of a relaxed vibe over here.

I will be in Melbourne staying at Urban from like the 24th of Nov - Dec 3rd. Should be a blast.

Can't think of anything else right now. But definitely hit Melbourne and North Queensland / Cairns.

James.

Edit: Btw we definitely have a different sense of humour. One of my mates is living in England at the moment and he said no one over there gets our humour and that they just look at him weird. Haha.

[Idiotex]

Oh yeh the giant rock in the middle of nowhere probably does suck. It's basically a giant rock that has become an insane tourist attraction for whatever reason. The only reason I would bother to check it out would be to meet / drink with girls on the bus trip. Okay maybe the view on the rock would be cool for 5 minutes but it's not my thing.

Sorry if I seem immature but I tend to focus a lot on girls / drinking on these trips. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Ganjasaurus Rex]

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Sorry if I seem immature but I tend to focus a lot on girls / drinking on these trips. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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As well you should, mate.

[The Legend]

Sounds perfect, as I have an insanely odd sense of humor as well. I think after the first week with my brother, I'll head over to melbourne, check out that backpackers club and what not.

Would it be more financially viable to rent a car, or just hire a taxi?

[Danastasio1]

There's a Justin Timberlake concert at Acer Arena in Sydney November 13th.