Options
October 10, 2013 Grand Australia & New Zeland Suggestions???
I am taking the 10/10/2013 Grand Australia & New Zeland Tour. I will be a solo traveler as friends and family cannot take that much time off. I upgraded through Tauck to the Quantas Business Class. Feel it is worth it, as it will be my Trip of a Lifetime. I had saved American Airline miles for over 20 years to be able to do this trip first class or business class. No Such Seats avaiable from Quantas - the One World partner. Very Disappointing. i AM INTERESTED IN THE FLORA & FAUNA OF THE COUNTRIES, and hope to use my free time to visit wildlife zoos and habitats.
If you are going on the October 10, 2013 trip, I would love to touch base...Would be nice to know a few names of fellow travelers when we get there. I live in South Orange County, California and am arriving 2 days ahead of time in Melbounre to rest and get oriented. I am 58, and this will be my first Tauck trip. Any suggestions, and travel tips, plus reccomendations of wildlife zoos and habitats are appreciatated. Valerie
If you are going on the October 10, 2013 trip, I would love to touch base...Would be nice to know a few names of fellow travelers when we get there. I live in South Orange County, California and am arriving 2 days ahead of time in Melbounre to rest and get oriented. I am 58, and this will be my first Tauck trip. Any suggestions, and travel tips, plus reccomendations of wildlife zoos and habitats are appreciatated. Valerie
0
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
My husband and I went on this tour in March. You'll have a wonderful time. We went into Melbourne 4 days prior to the tour's beginning and one of the things we did was go on a fabulous small group tour with a company called Echidna Walkabout. We saw many animals in their natural surroundings...an awesome experience. I would highly recommend this trip. You can check out their website and see what they have to offer that might interest you. You will get a chance to go to something that is "similar" to a zoo when you are in Sydney. This place is called the Featherdale Wildlife Park. (But, this experience while very good is nothing like seeing animals in the wild.) Try to allow yourself enough time to experience all that Melbourne has to offer, too.
So sorry to hear about your Qantas story, but I can't say I'm surprised. The word on the street is that it is nigh on impossible to get a points upgrade on Qantas. My membership number with them is 4 digits long and begins with a 2, so that tells you how long ago I became a loyal member. I don't fly internationally with them, or their code shares if I can avoid it. If your flights are not set in stone, you might like to investigate Air New Zealand. They don't fly first, but their business class across the Pacific is very comfortable ... I've done it many times and will fly home to Melbourne with them again this August. There are a number of comments from previous Tauck travellers to Australia on this forum if you need a US view.
Now, Melbourne! Here are a couple of suggestions to fit in with your flora and fauna interest.
Your hotel is very close ... a short stroll through lovely gardens to: http://www.rbg.vic.gov.au ... the Royal Botanic Gardens. Historic, unique and world renown. They even won grand prize at the Chelsea Flower Show a couple of years ago. They have their own collection of wild, native fauna! Just an added extra.
Next suggestion is the Zoo. A zoo, you say? I know I'm biased, but our zoos are pretty special. http://www.zoo.org.au The Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens, to give it it's full name, makes a speciality of the gardens, too. You can visit the zoo via a short walk from your hotel to a tram, which will take you directly to the Zoo just on the edge of the city centre. Close to the borders of outer Melbourne is the Werribee Open Range Zoo and a little further in another direction is the Healesville Sanctuary. You can take tours to these campuses. The Concierge at The Langham will be able to help. Werribee specialises in large exotic animals and Healesville works with Australian native fauna, often endangered species.
With only 2 days to see a city that's home to 4.25 million residents, you will have to get your skates on! So much to see, do, eat, meet, learn, enjoy. Start training now!
Cheers,
Jan
My sister and I are signed up for the Australia/New Zealand trip which begins in Melbourne on October 7, 2013. I'm not sure if this is the same trip you will be on or not since the Forum lists the trip as Oct 10th. If this is the same trip, it's nice to connect with you ahead of time. We will be arriving in Melbourne on the morning of the 6th, just one day ahead of time for the tour.
Lynn
You will love the flowers. I so enjoyed walking around the gardens behind the hotel every morning in Melbourne. The hotel in Sydney is very close to gardens and you can walk through them to go to the Sydney Opera House. I recommend getting tickets. If you wait till the day you do the tour they are 50% off.
Also, the gardens in New Zealand are wonderful. On the day we did the Milford Sound Cruise 3 of us took a helicopter trip to the top of a glacier. It was the most amazing thing and the scarcest thing I have ever done, but so worth it if you have the nerve.
I too was a single traveler on this tour. We had a close group and really enjoyed ourselves. There was 29 in Australia and 28 in New Zealand.
I am also taking the October 10th Grand Australia and New Zealand tour. I am a solo traveler as well and look forward to making new friends. I am arriving in Melbourne two days early and staying in Auckland two additional days. This is my first trip to Australia and New Zealand. My late husband and I had planned for more years than I can remember to do this trip after I retired. Even though he is gone, I am going to do it myself.
I arrived 2 days early and the next morning woke at 5 AM on my own went to bed around 9 the night before. I had booked an all day trip down the Great Ocean Road. It is a beautiful trip and was not too much with the good night sleep I had gotten after the long flight. I used Melatonin for a sleep aid and had no issues.
Enjoy.
As a Melbourne local I am more than happy, as regulars here can attest, to answer questions or provide suggestions for enjoying Melbourne or starting out in Australia. I am very familiar with Auckland, too, so if you have any NZ questions ... let me have 'em!
Now Cricket28, I assume you are from the US ... many pardons if I'm wrong! But qith a sign on like that, and since page 12 of a Google search still brings up the game, I'm gunning for a Young and the Restless or a 60s surfing theme?? Ahh .... those were the days!
Although I do realise you would have had it otherwise, sisters are doing it for themselves and I'm really glad you decided to visit. So, come on down and have a wonderful time.
Cheers,
Jan
Hi Lynn; E-mail me at : Valeriem1@cox.net and we can connect and exchange info. prior to the trip. Look forward to meeting you. Valerie
Hi Cricket,
You can e-mail me at: Valeriem1@cox.net and we can connect and exchange information prior to the trip. I have a Bunco friend named Cricket.
Valerie
We are from England really looking forward to meeting everyone on this our 5th Tauck experience. We are arriving Melbourne on the Saturday to allow travel to settle prior to the tour starting Monday evening.
See some of you there.
Richard