James Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 (edited) Hey, I'm planning a round the world trip this year and I was wondering if I could get some opinions off people who've been. The only bits I am wondering about really, are going to Thailand and where is decent, im thinking of a month or so in Phuket and then maybe going to Bankok for a week or so. Anyone been to either of these? Are they any good? And also I'm going to fly to Cairns and then drive down the East coast of Oz to Sydney, this is the thing I am really interested in, has anyone done this? Would you recommend renting a car or buying a cheap old vw van or something? And how much realisticly is it going to be for fuel, finidng hostels etc.. the trip is around 2000km, and is it rediculous to expect one person to be able to drive this as my mate can't drive. With that in mind, does anyone recommend sharing the drive with people we meet out there??Any comments, tips etc will be much appriciated.JamesActually while you're all listening, has anyone ever been to Reykjavik before? We're going to spend a few weeks there on our way back from NYC. I've heard it's un-believably expensive, so for a few weeks living in digs what am I looking at? Edited January 28, 2008 by James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haydon_peter Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 I cant really help you with Thailand, haven't been yet but its on my list of things to do!Thailand is meant to be getting more and more touristy and lots of people are saying to get out there as soon as possible. If your into rock climbing Railay Beach in Thailand is meant to be a climbing paradise! Your also meant to be able to live like a king in Thailand for not much money which is all good!I can help you with Australia though, a few other forum members should be able to help you too Here is a thread I started asking for help with my Australia tripI travelled from Melbourne up to Cairns, flew to Alice Springs then went from there down to Adelaide before heading back to Melbourne along The Great Ocean Road. I cant really help too much with transport tips as I cheated a bit by doing more organised tours due to the limited time I had over there but it will be easy for you to travel and meet loads of people as you go!On the Easy Coast you have to do the following!Melbourne! Its such an awesome city!The Blue Mountains - Get a train from Sydney to Katoomba and stay at The Flying Fox Hostel! 3 days in the mountains was one of the best parts of my entire trip!Fraser IslandSail the Whitsundays!Cairns is a really cool place but mainly just pubs and clubs, obviously make sure you go out to the Reef, also in Cairns you can White Water raft the Tully river and do a sky dive, both amazing!Cape Tribulation and the Daintree Forest just up the coast from Cairns.The Great Ocean Road, awesome coastline!I could go on for ages! So many good times!Things I wish I had done:Darwin in the Northern Territory so I could visit Kakadu and the national parks up thereWestern Australia. Everyone I spoke to about the West Coast said it was much better than the East Coast, not so touristy etc...Tasmania is supposed to be great scenery and walksIn the future I plan to go back for sure, Australia is an amazing place, really want to go to New Zealand aswell!For Hostels go use hostelworld.com and hostelz.com to make bookings on the move and to read reviews. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted January 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 awesome, so for all the things you mentioned such as white water rafting etc, are these reasonably expensive? You see I dont wanna blow my budget on things like that becuase im planning on staying in Oz for a couple of months, going on to Sydney to spend christmas and new years there which should be aaaaawesome. Also, does anyone know the dealio with getting work permits on Australia? My mate said that you can only ever get one in your life so I wouldnt be able to go back if I got a job this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haydon_peter Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 White water rafting and the sky dive was about £150, that's done over 2 days and included transport to and from your hostel. It cuts into the budget by quite a bit but your not gonna be able to do both of those things for that price over in the UK!Sydney is expensive too, for example in some places I was getting getting a dorm for about $18-$20 a night but in Sydney it was around $30-$35ish per night. When you change this into pounds its still cheap, and you could get hostels cheaper in the dodgier areas of Sydney (Kings Cross, interesting place, loads of dirty strip joints, hookers on the street, drug dealers, and its the only place in Australia where I felt threatened and nearly got beaten up!). If you plan to be in Sydney for new years book well in advance, I have heard of back packers ending up having to sleep in shop doorways because all the hostels were full! Also expect hostels to bump their prices up even higher at new years!I preferred Melbourne to Sydney but I guess I'm biased due to having mates in Melbourne.You are right with working Visas. You only get one tourist working visa in your whole life. You have to have been accepted for this before your 30th birthday, have no kids or dependants, no criminal record. This 1 year visa allows you to spend up to 6 months working for the same employer. You can apply for a 2nd year extension on the condition that you spent 3 months working for the same employer within the farming industry (e.g. fruit picking). If you get accepted for this second year I don't think you have to use it straight away, I think you can leave the country and go back to use it for another trip. Alternatively you would have to get sponsored by an employer to stay out there working. After you have used the working Visa you can go back but you would be limited to the 3 or 6 month Tourist only visas. Even if you don't have a working visa you will be able to find cash in hand jobs but I wouldn't like to know what would happen if the authorities caught you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted January 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 Ah right, sounds good! As far as im aware, STA travel are going to sort out all our hostels and visas for places such as oz beforehand so it should be ok, i've just found out my mate is planning to go sydney for nye aswell!! how random, but should be awesome. I think £150 for white water rafting, skydiving and hostel transfer included sounds awesome! If there was anything to spend that much on, it would be that! cheers for all your help mate, youve been great. They should make you a senior member.. oh wait they already have lol. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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