Stefani's Australia Travel Tips

Stefani spent seven weeks in New Zealand and Australia. Here from her logbooks are some of her favorite places she visited.

Things to do/see in Bay of Islands, New Zealand:

I was only here for three days so I don't know what all there is to do here.

However the places I did see are:

• The treaty house
• You can go for a ride on a Jet Boat - this looks like a lot of fun!
• You can take a tour to the Cape Brett hole in the rock.
• The waters are full of wild dolphins and whales so you have to do one tour on the water.
• There is a brewery/restaurant here called the Twin Pines Brewery. We went there one night and it was really fun. Try some Black Sambuca!

Things to do/see in Auckland, New Zealand and surrounding area:

• Rotarua thermal pools
• The Novotel (a hotel downtown) offers RAP jumping where you repel down the side of the hotel.
• Of course Auckland University is there if you feel compelled to check it out. Remember I was trapped with no car so I walked around and found odd things. The fun part of going to the University was that school was just starting registration and they were passing out calendars to all the students- It made a nice (free) souvenir for me.
• We ate at a Mexican Restaurant called Margaritas - remember I told you that nobody knew what a burrito was?
• There is a Hurrah's Casino here too. It is in the Auckland tower that was under construction when I was there. It was supposed to be the tallest tower in the world.

Things to do/see in Sydney, Australia and surrounding area :

• Darling Harbour - Shopping area
• Pump House Brewery - Down from the Darling Harbour mall
• Sydney Casino - Make sure you wear the appropriate attire
• Botanical Gardens - Near the Opera House
• Australian Wild Animal Park - Actually hold a Koala here
• The Rocks - Historical area
• Kings Cross - Cruise area
• Tour of the Opera House ($6 and last an hour)
• The Sydney Tower
• QVB - Queen Victoria Building (converted into a mall)
• The Bridge Pylon - 200 steps to the top for a grand view
• The Bridge underwater tunnel
• Luna Park/Olympic pool - site of past Olympics
• Olympic Village - Newly built area
• Toronga Zoo
• Bondi Beach - Must see this world famous beach!
• Manley Beach - Watch out for the jellyfish at all the beaches.
• Maroubra
• Woolongong
• Coogie Beach
• The Blue Mountains - If you are up to a drive, it is a scenic area
• Captain Cook Monument - Not much to see here but it is historical landmark
• Make sure you stop at McDonalds and pick up a packet of vegimite. It's next to the packets of ketchup.
• Make sure you stop at Hungry Jacks for a Whopper
• Australia makes some great champagne so partake if you get the chance
• Pay attention to the wild birds flying overhead, they are beautiful!
• Don,t forget to stop at the Hard Rock Café. It is in a very interesting neighborhood. You'll enjoy it if you are gay!

Things to do/see in Cairns, Australia and surrounding area :

DON'T FORGET YOUR BUG SPRAY!

• The Radisson Hotel is the site of "The Pier" - It is a mall where I spent a lot of time. You can shop here and there are also lots of tourist stands where you can book tours or get ideas of things to see/do. Check it out!
• Paddle Boat tour around the immediate area. The tour shows you a bit of the area and tells you some history. This is where I found out about that story of the crazy guy that tried to hand build the boat that sank. PLUS you get to look for crocs! It was kind of hokey, but they fed me and it was interesting information you might not otherwise know.
• Go up to the Kuranda area and visit that area. There are a lot of Aboriginal art type things (ie souvenirs) and this is where I went to the Butterfly Sanctuary and the tram ride up over the Barron Falls. There were a couple of other things to do up there that were pretty fun.
• Atherton Table Lands tour - I booked this tour through the Kuranda Rain Forest Resort, the hotel I stayed at. It was a tour that that hotel offered and I don,t think anyone else did (offer it). It was definitely worth the time! You might need to call the hotel and see if they still offer it. The hotel is just up the road from the Kuranda shopping area I mentioned above.

The places we went on this tour:

Wrights Creek
Millaa Millaa Falls
Lake Eachem - The Crater lake
The Giant Fig Tree

• You can go on a tour of nearby Islands for the day. I chose Fitzroy Island. It was fun. There are all kinds of out doors types of things to do while you are there. However, different islands offer different numerous activities like biking, jeep adventures etc.
• Watch out for the Cane Toads - they were introduced to get rid of one pest and have since become a pest themselves. Gross!

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