Visiting Australia in Febuary

[StBishop]

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.

Look if you don't mind hot tropical weather by all means come and visit. Especially if you mean to visit the capital of awesome Brisvegas.

Queensland makes up for its hot&humid weather by having hot beaches with equally hot women and men in varying degrees of unclothness.

If your after aquariums then go visit Under Waterworld (Mooloolaba Sunshine Coast roughly two and a bit hours north of Brisbane). If your feeling adventerous hire a chartered boat and visit the greatest aquarium of them all the Great Barrier reef.

Queesnsland has many zoos but probably the most widly known is Australia Zoo (About an hour drive north of Brisbane) of the late Steve Irwin fame. Apparently it's pretty good but also expensive. Deals can be made with some hotel chains.

Brisbane is much much smaller than Melbourne and Sydney and a bit more laid back. Melbourne has the best food scene in Australia and Sydney the best bars, but don't let that worry you Brisbane has some great eating establishments and drinking dives of all soughts - notably the Mana Bar!

...Wow. I just realised I should get a job for Tourism Queensland or something ;-)>

I hate the term "Brisvegas". It doesn't even make sense. There's like 1 casino, it's not exactly "happening" and there's really nothing open after 10pm outside of the valley.
If you'd said Brisney Land it would at least sound like the thing you're naming it after.

GOSH!

[/vendetta against a stupid nickname]

OT: Don't do it, Wait until June/July.

Go to Melbourne it's more touristy. Brisbane is awesome it live in, boring to visit. Visit the Gold Coast (Surfer's Paradise specifically) and catch the train to Brisbane (takes about an hour) to visit the Mana Bar.

If you take my advice on Melbourne, go to their Mana Bar, Yug (the other Mana Bar guy who moved down to Melbourne to open another Mana Bar of AustralianGamer.com.au fame) is a little more likely to party with you than Yahtzee.

Other people have gone into greater detail about what to do in each city, I don't do touristy stuff much/at all beyond photo's with big things (Big Banana, Big Mango, Big Cockatoo, Big Galah etc.) because I grew up in tourism towns.

Actually, go to brisbane, visit the mana bar and then catch a train (go first class so you get a compartment) up to cairns then catch the SkyRail up to Kuranda, visit for the day and catch the Scenic Railway back down then go up to Port Douglas, visit Low Isles and the Great Barrier Reef, then buy a tent and rent a car and Visit Mossman Gorge, then head over the River into the Daintree Rainforest.

 

[Todd Ralph]

I currently live in uruma-shi Okinawa Japan so driving on the left side is currently the norm as well as hot as hell weather.

 

[thom_cat_]

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 was sooooo boring when I went there. The streets are empty, it's dull, there's nothing of real interest. I think Questacon was about the only entertaining thing there. Maybe the war memorial. It's kinda like wandering into a club and there's nobody on the dance floor, just the owner bragging about how much of a good time everyone is having. So many smiles! When in reality everyone just wants to leave but they've paid the entry fee and feel the need to leech what little worth they can out of the place.

Sorry that was harsh :3

 

[Alphonse_Lamperouge]

Dude, i hope you dont have very high hopes for the Mana Bar. its hugely underwhelming. in Brisbane, at least, its just about the smallest bar i have ever been to, maximum capacity is like 35 people....including staff. the drinks are expensive and the only decent game they had was CoD. and i don't even like CoD. they also had Street Fighter, if that's more your style. i would recomend the Bunker in the city, its a pc gaming venue...although you have to drink BEFORE you go in

 

[NotSoLoneWanderer]

It's already been said but watch out for spiders.

 

[Alphonse_Lamperouge]

@SaintBishop

if you think there is nothing open in Brisbane after 10 pm, valley or no, youve either never been there or you have the social life of a Catholic nun. that is all.

 

[Neocavo]

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.

pretty much youve decided to come to australia during fire season meaning going to victoria will send you home roasted...see the news last year about our bushfires?...probz best to stick to Brisbane, Sydney and the gold coast. dont bother going to Canberra its lame. Id say come to adelaide we have the pimp pad which is about to get its liqour license...similiar to the mana bar but run by pimp tv but there is simply fuck all else to do here XD

 

[Archangel768]

Okinawa, Japan?

How about we swap places? You buy a return ticket and when you arrive in brisbane I'll pick up the ticket for the return flight back to Japan. Sounds like a good deal?

Awesome! I'll be waiting at the air port.

I would suggest going to Supanova but that's in April.

Besides the Mana bar I dunno what would be that interesting that's 'nerdy'. I don't go to a lot of things that often and when I do it's usually something at a friends house like a LAN or going to some Antique Fair because my parents like that stuff and it's a good reason to get out of the house.

 

[stitchface]

Dude, i hope you dont have very high hopes for the Mana Bar. its hugely underwhelming. in Brisbane, at least, its just about the smallest bar i have ever been to, maximum capacity is like 35 people....including staff. the drinks are expensive and the only decent game they had was CoD. and i don't even like CoD. they also had Street Fighter, if that's more your style. i would recomend the Bunker in the city, its a pc gaming venue...although you have to drink BEFORE you go in

Sadly, this is similar to the Mana Bar in Melbourne. Pretty sure maximum capacity isn't much more than the one in Brisbane. It's still an experience though and the only alternative is to going drinking at the EB on Swanston Street and play Mario Kart Wii. When it comes down to it Melbourne's night life is only good on a Friday or Saturday night but it does have a nice variety of different clubs and bars to go to.

In terms of gaming places and all things geeky there's Minotaur on Elizabeth St, Mind Games on Swanston St and a few Japanese hobby stores here and there (but you're coming from Japan so why bother?). The only free to play gaming store I can think of is EB on Swanston Street and they only offer Nintendo games.

For a decent place to eat walk up Lygon Street. It has some of the better restaurants around and nearly all of the spruikers will be throwing free entrees and wine at you just to compete with everyone else.

Final words; go to the beaches in Brisbane (they have some of the best on the eastern coast), visit the Great Barrier Reef, at most do the bridge climb in Sydney, eat out in Melbourne.

 

[Ectoplasmicz]

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.

i'd reconsider syaing melbourne has a kick-ass aquarium. Its one of the worst ive been to.

OT: Brisbane is relatively dull, travel up or down the east coast for a good adventure. Sydneysiders are smug F****, so your only option is to come to Melbourne. There are too many reasons to come, but great atmosphere!

 

[Todd Ralph]

so from what I've gathered my plan is something like this. Fly in check in to a hostel in Melbourne live up the culture gathering experience during the morning afternoon; ie aquarium which is a must (I've already been to the Atlanta and Okinawa aquariums which are high up there on being the largest ones in the world) zoos and museums and enjoying the British Australian culture. The Mana bar isn't my high point its just something i want to come check out and experience. Fly up to Sydney and check out the harbour tours and what not. I'm scuba cert so hopefully there are plenty of diving spots close to the east coast.

day time will be culture while night time im hoping australia has a decent night life in melbourne.

 

[Astoria]

It depends what you want really. Sydney has touristy places such as the harbour and opera house, Melbourne has the aquarium, MCG and more that sort of thing and Brisbane has the theme parks and from what I've heard and briefly seen a good nightlife. Melbourne will be the coolest but Brisbane will have amazing thunder storms.

 

[Todd Ralph]

As a son of the wind and moon I honestly wouldnt mind a thunderstorm or two any good scenic areas or is the east coast that highly urbanized?

 

[Supertegwyn]

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 was sooooo boring when I went there. The streets are empty, it's dull, there's nothing of real interest. I think Questacon was about the only entertaining thing there. Maybe the war memorial. It's kinda like wandering into a club and there's nobody on the dance floor, just the owner bragging about how much of a good time everyone is having. So many smiles! When in reality everyone just wants to leave but they've paid the entry fee and feel the need to leech what little worth they can out of the place.

Sorry that was harsh :3

Did you go on a Sunday? Sundays are the emptiest and most boring day of Canberra. Everyone is at home, hardly anything is open and the place is deserted. Fridays are good though. And what are you saying there's nothing of interest? Theres:
The National War Memorial
The Zoo
The Film & Sound Archive
Questacon
National Portrait Gallery
National Library
Floriade (not open in Feb though)
Old & New Parliament House
Mount Stromlo (pretty screwed up after the fires though)
National Museum

Those are just the things to do in the daytime, there are HEAPS of bars in civic that are full of people on a Friday night.