Back from Australia New Zealand...comments + what I would do if I could do it again..

[Dogphish]

Well, here it is 3:30 am and I am wide awake...jet lag truly sucks. I will give all the knowledge and tips I gained and try not to ramble.
I left for Auckland New Zealand and Sydney Australia November 19th and got back December 3rd. The trip had an ominous start as we landed in Los Angeles on our outgoing connection, we heard a "pop" sound followed by a "fwoop, fwoop, fwoop" noise...I suspect we blew a tire on landing. Leaving L.A. later that nite, our flight was taxing, when we were called back to the tarmac...we were told we had luggage on-board that belonged to a no-show passenger and for security reasons it had to be removed. At this point my melatonin kicked in and I passed out waking somewhere over the Pacific 4 hours later...the delay was a good hour and a half.

 

[Dogphish]

We went on Quantas air...later found that stands for Queensland, Northern territories Air Service, a company founded in the 1920's in Australia. Quantas has a great track record and cheap flights...the total cost per person was 1085.00
That included a stopover in Auckland N.Z. What quantas will let you do on a Sydney trip is add a destination for an extra 100.00..you can stay up to 30 days at your stopover, we stayed 4.
Security on airlines is constantly changing, the newest rules are no congregating by the bathroom.
I asked a stewardess about it and she basically indicated that they want no groups by the sealed pilot door, especially when the airline staff is busy serving food and drink. Customs now is fingerprinting foreigners, I ran into a Canadian from Ottawa who was printed..

 

[Dogphish]

If you choose a layover, you must in advance get a permit, in my case it was N.Z. cost was 12.00 and asked few basic questions Passport#, intentions,length of stay etc this was all done on internet, took 10 minutes and a visa card.
Back to flight....very new plane seats had an LCD screen built in which allowed you to watch movies about 10 were offered, as well as comedy channel, nature channel, even Nickelodeon, as well as play solitaire or shoot up aliens....really pretty cool, and helped time pass. I viewed I Robot, Manchurian Candidate, Anchorman and A Shark Tale and a dcocumentary of an Aussie that trecked from south australia to north, with only a gun, a dog, a tent and few supplies, that was very interesting.
The airline food has not changed in quality...we will skip that subject..

 

[Dogphish]

The return flight Sydney to L.A. took exactly 13 hours. I will talk about Australia first as it is fresh in my mind, we spent 8 days there. If I could do it again I wolud spend more time in N.Zealand, more on that later. Imagine being a foreigner and deciding to come to the United States with 8 days to see a whole country you know nothing of..what to do, where to stay, where to eat, how to get around, etc... before I left I visited internet travel sites (Fodors was helpful) and read the forums and read the comments from tourists, both good and bad. Lodging I chose a B+B (Bed and Breakfast) they offer fairly reasonable lodging, usually a spare bedroom and breakfast. I did not want to stay in downtown Sydney and pay $200 (150.00 US) a nite and fight it. ( We had a great B+B in N.Zealand for 100.00 (72.00 U.S) more on that later)

 

[Dogphish]

The bed and breakfast was in Hunter's Hill about 30 minutes by bus or ferryboat. ( We rented a car and drove N. Z (New Zealand ) the transportation system in Sydney is fabulous, no car needed, more on that later. Anyhow the B+B was in an old turn of the century brick home..126 a nite ($90 U.S) we were in a 8 by 10 foot room with two single beds and a ceiling fan. After the fabulous treatment in N.Z I had high expectations here...not to be. She proclaimed on the internet to be a gourmet cook...homemade jams and the like...yeah right, there is a tooth fairy, I pissed her off by asking for seconds on the ham and eggs....the couple was in their late sixties and I believe were basically broke, probably inherited the home making a living off the internet bookings. There was another room booked out next to ours, we did have a seperate bath and shower..

 

[beantownjim]

HEY DOGPHISH I DONT FEEL LIKE READING A BOOK DID YOU GET ANY BROADS OR NOT CUT OUT THE REST OF THE CRAP.JESUS CHRIST JACK ARE WE GOING TO HAVE TO LISTEN TO THIS SCREWBALLS WHOLE TRIP NEXT THING HE WILL BE TELLING US ONE OF THE MATES DOWN UNDER IN AUSTRALIA FONDLED HIM.HEY DOGSH-T SORRY I MEANT DOGPHISH MY BAD I DONT HAVE TIME FOR STORY TELLING I AM HANDICAPPING GAMES JACK WHERE DO WE GET THESE GUYS

I WILL NEVER FORGET THE GREAT CASCADE ROBBERY OF 2003 THE DAY LENNY AND CASCADE SPORTSBOOL STOLE 660 DOLLARS FROM ME (THANK GOD THESE CROOKS ARE OUT OF BUSINESS)

 

[Dogphish]

This is a good spot to talk about transportation....Sydney is a harbor town with many, many suburbs. For $40.00 ($30.00 U.S) you could purchase a seven day pass at Circular Quay (pronounced Key) this is THE tranportation hub for the city, surroundind beaches, and any areas you would need as a tourist...the pass covered all bus, (except explorer bus) trains, and ferryboat passage you could need ( the monorail which runs in a small section of downtown and darling harbor is not included)...this is a screaming buy...we kept track, more or less of all transport cost and it would have been $200.00 plus apiece.. from Circular Quay you could transport virtually anywhere in the area. It was quite enjoyable riding a ferry everywhere we could. The main ferries seated 500+ people, the open bow "Rivercats" seated 150 and ran to the more obscure towns.

 

[Dogphish]

As you rode the ferries thru the harbor you would see yachts, river taxies, tour boats, jet boats, kayaks, tugs, freighters, etc. The ferry boats run heavily during rush hours, and more sparsely up to 11:30 to many locations...easiest is to get a schedule. The harbor is extremely clean...lots of signs about trash and butts...the locals are very environmentally aware. The harbor waters we were told, in areas, contained tropical penquins (did not see) jellyfish (did see) and besides the usual sealife, an occaisonal great white has been sighted in harbor ( did not see) The bus service is tremendous, mostly very clean, many air-conditioned very, very punctual...if you missed a ferry, you could bus it quite late. We road the train once, there is a central station in the Chinatown area....we went down three escalators well below street level and it was stinky and hot and running late....did not attempt subway train again.

 

[Chanman]

So far a good read Dogphish, (even the one from our Ambassador-at-large).

 

[Dogphish]

Beantown....I am floored that you could read a book...get your crayons out and connect the dots in your kiddie book....yeah there were broads, yeah topless beaches....I will get to it...I figured maybe someone out there would have an interest in travelling down under and how to do it on the cheap...there is more to life than supporting your bookie and his family's lifestyle...

 

[Dogphish]

Our fourth day in Sydney a heatwave rolled in...it hit 107 degrees, it was pretty miserable at the Bed + Breakfast, the house had a wheezer of a central air system and the old couple, even though the house had zoned air, kept our area warm..they even went so far as to turn off the ceiling fan when we left the room...it was nonsense asking for cool. At this point we were confident enuff with the tranportaion to find a motel with good air. That nite we went to the pub and I asked a fella where a good air-conditioned hotel- motel was located close by..his name was Brian about 45ish. We told him the B+B story and he chuckeled and said " Is it Carmel's down the street?" yeah she had a reputation....he suggested one in Gladesville about 3 kilometers away, even called it for us..it was 89.00 (65.00 U.S) had super air and real beds (one queen one single) Me and Dave sent him and his table a round of beer as thanx, and he invited us over to his table and we swapped culture stories.

 

[Dogphish]

I will say this about the Ozzies...they like to talk and drink beer...Brian and his friends expressed great support for our efforts in Iraq stating "someone has to be the world's policeman" and he added that Australia has sent willingly it's proportional share of troups..they really like america....we talked about ww2 thru vietnam, as there was a show on the tv called the color of war, narrated by Russell Crowe on the Anzac's contribution to both...(Anzac stands for Australian, New Zealand army corp.) as the beer flowed ; everyone at the table insisted on buying a round in return for the one I started, the topic got around to cricket....me and my friend Dave had watched a game of rugby on the TV while in N.Z (the N.Z. Blacks had kicked the crap out of Wales) Rugby kind of made sense, kinda like American football only less protective equipment...a game of field position, but cricket made no sense even after they tried to explain it...maybe someone here can clarify it, a game can last for days...It got on midnite and the 5% content beer wacked us out so we said our goodbyes..

 

[Dogphish]

Things to do in Sydney...it gets better Beantown

Things to do in Sydney...it gets better Beantown

The strip clubs are in the King's Cross area an area of smutty bookstores and the like...when we exited the subway there was a couple on the concrete with their heads bashed in bleeding badly surrounded by policeman and a wailing ambulance coming...mugging victims? Did not care to stick around...there are maybe 5 or 6 strip bars in area, all with bouncers at front doors, this is a rough area. We settled on a club, they all charge a cover about 15.00 apiece. I have been a regular at strip clubs since the late 1960's and never expected this sh*t, a dancer comes out with Bikini on and hugs the pole and smiles at us..it is 8 pm and we are the audience...no T or A being showed. Finally she beckons me over and explains it....they do not disrobe till someone gives them a twenty dollar note, than you get a dance. Eighty gets you the promise of a good private 15 minute dance. We pass.. the next dancer is a tall leggy blonde in here twenties with a dynamite smile...I forked over the twenty got the full monty with those killer legs wrapped around my head....turns out her name is Tiffany from N.Zealand, I said what is your real name and she says it is really Tiffany. She said when she started dancing she was asked to pick a stage name but could not think of one so Tiffany it was...since we had been to N.Z we had a good long talk.... going to break here, more later...

 

[beantownjim]

THIS IS TORTURE JACK IF YOU DONT PULL THE PLUG ON THIS CLOWN I AM GOING TO BAN MYSELF FROM THE FORUM I CANT TAKE IT :ban:


JESUS SAVES,AND ESPOSITO SCORES ON THE REBOUND

 

[kosar]

Good write-up, dog.

 

[freelancc]

Beantown....I am floored that you could read a book...get your crayons out and connect the dots in your kiddie book....

:142smilie :142smilie

 

[redsfann]

great stuff, dogphish..

My mother returned from NZ/AUS on Nov 22nd after 33 days of visitng both countries, and other than the titty bars, beer drinking and topless beaches(imagine a 68 yr old women having no interest in those things...LMFAO!) her reports are similar to yours--she was in the Outback when that heatwave you describe hit...112 degrees F a couple of the days for her and the tour she was on....She also spoke very highly of NZ--they spent a great deal of time on the south island looking at glaciers and whatnot--but she enjoyed the whole trip, as would anyone, I'm sure.
She hasn't bothered to send me her digital pics yet--I'm going to give her a call right now and make sure she sends them ASAP...
Glad you enjoyed yourself and I wish I'd have seen your post before you left. A degenerate that posts with the handle of 'Anders' here at Jack's is in Hamilton, NZ, and I'm sure he would have enjoyed tipping a few cold ones with you...

 

[bombercoops]

Good stuff DF! I wish you had of got up to the gold coast and had a look around- absolute paradise! Going back in just over three weeks and can't wait. I bet you saw some sights at the cross when you went to the strip joints. That place can get out of control in a hurry. Glad to hear you had a good time though and look forward to reading what else you have to say about your trip.

 

[Dogfish]

another dogfish,are we related?

dogfish not to be confused with dogphish

 

[Dogphish]

More what to do in Sydney .. Topless Beaches Bondie

More what to do in Sydney .. Topless Beaches Bondie

Hi Dogfish...do not think we are related....I use Dogphish as it is my poker name....

There are many dozens of beaches around Sydney..topless is optional. There is some nude beaches, Lady Jane is one...my ozzie drinking buddy Brian told me Lady Jane has been taken over by the gays...The one all tourists know of is Bondie Beach..pronounced Bondye. We went there on a Saturday via bus. This is the Coney Island beach for aussies...mostly family. Some topless in more secluded areas and away from kiddie area out of the many thousands of people, I counted about a dozen topless or as aussie men call them " White Pointers" I was very disappointed with the beach as it had little shade and was very touristy. Not to mention some drunks with a boombox on full blast playing the same CD over and over and over with no regard for any living thing...