Recently I got the idea into my head to visit Australia for two weeks at some point in time in February. The problem I have is besides the Mana Bar and possibly spending a few hours a day worshiping Yatzhee; I have no idea what there is to do or where to go. My main idea is to go to either Melbourne or Brisbane and possibly hit Sydney as well. My main interests are gaming (video and table top) as well as zoos and aquariums.
What I guess I'm asking for is advice on what there is to do in Australia that a nerd would find interest in.
Melbourne is good for aquariums/zoos and gaming (they also have their own mana bar I also believe) if you go to a place called Minotaur on Elizabeth street in the CBD (walking distance from the aquarium luckily) you could probably find people who would know about other good gaming/table top places to hit...here ill find you a link
http://www.minotaur.com.au/site.asp
Oh and for a cool little shop on Lonsdale Street in the CBD called Wunderkammer check out the link, it is full of old medical instruments, fossils and all sorts of other strange cool things
http://wunderkammer.com.au/
Not sure about the other places, I have visited Melbourne a few times now but not Brisbane or Sydney.
usually the eastern coast is where its all at, my vote would be hitting Brisbane and Sydney. Brisbane is pretty well built and has a variety of attacions and bars, whilst it is also close to the Gold Coast, which has plenty of bars, zoo's and theme parks around the area. Sydney is home to most of the attractions that are australian Icons, the sydney harbour bridge / Opera House and is home to plenty of other attractions like zoo's (yes most australian cities have a zoo)the skytower and interesting places to see, plenty of museums.
On this topic, unless you're planning to get a long way outside the major cities you'll find our reputation for animals that will kill you is grossly overexaggerated. If you go no further north than Brisbane it'll pretty much be a non-issue.
harvz said:
seeing as you would be in a capital city, you should look into cruises (ie, great barrier reef) or possibly from the air.
If you go to Sydney, I absolutely recommend doing some kind of boat trip on the Harbour as it's pretty much the best thing about Sydney.
The Barrier Reef, on the other hand, is a lot further away from civilisation than most people think so you'll spend a lot of time travelling to and from it, and (I feel terribly, terribly unpatriotic for saying this) it's actually not all that special once you get up close and personal with it. All those pretty colours you see on TV you don't get to see in real life because without high-powered underwater lights, everything just looks blue-grey. I did a day trip snorkelling it a few years back and, while I certainly don't regret it, it was kinda underwhelming.
usmarine4160 said:
Don't listen to this crazy person, rent a motorcycle and ride! You won't regret it (unless you don't know how to ride a motorcycle and you fall off)
snip
You should be able to get a trains and buses up and down the east coast (Brisbane / Sydney / Melbourne) pretty easily, be aware that it won't be quick though. Sydney is probably a 12ish hour bus ride north of Melbourne, and it's probably another 12 again further north to get to Brisbane.
Edit: domestic airfares are so cheap that it'd probably be more cost-effective, not to mention faster, to fly.
According to my sources from St Kilda to Kings Cross is thirteen hours on a bus.
I'd recommend flying unless you have a fascination with train travel or buses as the fares are actually pretty comparable. If in Melbourne hire a car and head down the Great Ocean Road, at least as far as Apollo Bay or Lorne.
You can probably find some $50 flights depending on the route / when you want to fly / if you get in early enough or during a sale: in reality, expect to pay more like $100 for each leg, but I suspect that's probably still not that much more than the equivalent bus or train fare. The difference would certainly be small enough that I'd never consider not flying...
Don't go to Perth or Adelaide. They are both complete holes. Stick to the East Coast, the West Coast is incredibly boring. I suggest a good place to stay in is Canberra, it's the capital so there is a lot of museums and other things to do, and its far cheaper than Sydney or Melbourne. You can then drive out to Sydney or Melbourne (About 3.5 hours to Sydney, no idea how long to Melbourne)
Brisbane is alright but I wouldn't recommend it. Full of Queenslanders.
Don't go to Perth or Adelaide. They are both complete holes. Stick to the East Coast, the West Coast is incredibly boring. I suggest a good place to stay in is Canberra, it's the capital so there is a lot of museums and other things to do, and its far cheaper than Sydney or Melbourne. You can then drive out to Sydney or Melbourne (About 3.5 hours to Sydney, no idea how long to Melbourne)
Brisbane is alright but I wouldn't recommend it. Full of Queenslanders.
Don't go to Perth or Adelaide. They are both complete holes. Stick to the East Coast, the West Coast is incredibly boring. I suggest a good place to stay in is Canberra, it's the capital so there is a lot of museums and other things to do, and its far cheaper than Sydney or Melbourne. You can then drive out to Sydney or Melbourne (About 3.5 hours to Sydney, no idea how long to Melbourne)
Brisbane is alright but I wouldn't recommend it. Full of Queenslanders.
Canberra is about an eight hour drive to Melbourne. I don't see how it's any less boring than Perth or Adelaide though. At least Perth has beaches - Canberra just has public servants, and they don't even sell fireworks there anymore
Hahahaha, February, Australia. Do you know how hot it gets here in February? I'd reconsider your timing. However if you must go in Feb, stick to Brisbane which will be slightly cooler than Melbourne and Sydney at that time of year. Maybe.
All major cities in Australia have a zoo, I believe. Melbourne has a kick-ass aquarium apparently, not that I've been.
hold on a sec.....your from Australia?...why did I never notice this before?...well I supose Aus does have a half decent music industry...unlike our film industry (acutally aparently we dont make bad films...its just no one sees them..as for TV...yeah no)
As a proud Victorian I have to say go to Melbourne, there is FAR more to see and do. Brisbane will be WAY too humid/sticky hot and Sydney too crowded (sydney also is a boring city, they dont tell you that is the travel log). Melbourne is the cultural epicentre of Australia, has a badass zoo and aquarium on the river, not to mention the best live music venues in the country. There is a Mana bar here also... i uld go on but that is for you to discover. Its like like All the best cities in the world mashed together without the over crowding.
You're visiting Australia? Here's what you need to know:
Facts:
1) Some Australian Spiders are huge enough to shrug off a bullet.
2) The Great Barrier Reef contains more digested surfer remains than anywhere else in the world.
3) For every 619 vicious animal killers, there is one Australian who will claim, "Oh, relax! He's not gonna hurtcha!" They are lying.
In all honesty though, it's a pretty cool place. Especially the East Coast. Central and Western Australia are beautiful, but there's not actually a hell of a lot to do outside of the east coast - Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Melbourne and Sydney both have some pretty nice art galleries as well, although I'm not sure about Brisbane. Most of our major cities have impressive zoos, and Melbourne's aquarium is very good.
Thing is though, if you're coming in February, then you might want to reconsider the zoos. I can't even begin to describe how hot it can get down here during the summer, and if you get caught in a heatwave, the last thing you're going to want to do is be walking around a zoo. Brisbane is in a pretty good spot, but most of the great beaches in the state are up north a bit near Noosa or Sunshine Beach, or even Port Douglas, although, while it's very nice, it's also a bit out of the way. Sydney's got Bondi Beach, and although that's usually inundated with tourists, there you can usually find a couple of other nice ones somewhat north of the city. Even Melbourne has some nice beaches, in Lorne and Portsea, although you're screwed if you go down and get bad weather.
Last two tips: Rent a car, because whatever happens, you'll be doing a bit of driving. We drive on the left side of the road, so remember that. Finally, no matter what anyone else says, [HEADING=3]DO NOT VISIT CANBERRA.[/HEADING] The place is an utter hole, boring as hell, and has no life to it. It might be our capital, but no one actually likes the place.
TL;DR:
If you're interested in beachy stuff, go visit Brisbane, see Yahtzee and then get out of the city and head north along the Gold Coast, to Noosa or whatever. If you're interested in art, theatre and the like, go for Melbourne or maybe Sydney. Actually, don't go to Sydney. The place is a mess of one way streets, and you would not believe how bad the spiders get. ANYWAY, domestic flights are pretty cheap these days, so, if it takes your fancy, there's nothing really to stop you from flying down from Brisbane to see Sydney or Melbourne.
/edit
Brisbane will be pretty humid in February, so, unless you intend to spend the majority of your time sitting on the beach, you might want to think about somewhere further south. Oh, and I totally forgot to mention Tasmania - for a reason. Don't go there either. It's beautiful, but the Tasmanians kind of ruin the atmosphere.
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