Vacation in Australia

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PlantedTao

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Going to Australia for 2 and half weeks for my honeymoon...
Looking for some good advice on places to see and places to eat / drink.

We will be traveling to Sydney for 4 nites, then to Melbourne for 4 nites, then fly to Heron Island for some great barrier reef action (4 nites) and finally finish the trip in Brisbane...

Thanks in advance.
Jason

Oh, the cameras that will used... the ZI with 50mm and the Xpan with 45mm, may bring the 90mm.
4 rolls of Porta NC, 4 rolls of Foma 100 and 4 rolls of Foma 400...

Anyone had problems with Australian Airport Security not wanting to handcheck your film?
 
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Jason,
You MUST do the Harbour Bridge climb in Sydney. It is expensive but well worth it. Unfortunately, you can't take a camera with you.
Sydney is a blast - you'll love it. Never been to Melbourne but I hear it is very nice.
Eric
 
Whilst in Melbourne, try to make a day trip to the Great Ocean Road... spectacular scenery there!!! There's always the Blue Mountains in the western part of Sydney, the Sydney Beaches, Darling Harbour, Sydney Opera House, the Rocks, Circular Quay.... the list goes on. Whilst in Brisbane, make a day trip to the Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast (Keith lives near there!).

Depending on your mode of transport, if driving from Sydney to Melbourne, you could consider dropping into Canberra for a day/overnight stay if you are into "nationalistic things" or have a liking for history/museums/displays/etc.

In the relatively short time that you have, I'd suggest "just" doing the typical tourist thing as they will give you best exposure to the typical Australian tourism experience. Try not to let your camera slow your honeymoon down, especially the QUOTE great barrier reef action UNQUOTE 🙂

Enjoy your honeymoon 🙂 You'll like Australia 🙂
 
It has been a couple of years since we were in Oz last and we never had any trouble getting film hand inspected at airports, but times may have changed. Sydney is just great and for another suggestion while there, take the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly Beach. Above all enjoy your trip.

Bob
 
A couple of things that are a must do in Sydney -
1) take hike at Blue Mountains.
2) a walk from Coogee Beach to Bondi, and finish it off with a sunset watch from Dudley Page park (a beautiful scene with the sun setting behind the Harbour bridge)
3) as Nikon Bob mentioned, take the ferry to Manly beach, preferably do the night ferry. The city looks magical.
4) A walk around the Sydney central area. It's fun to get lost in the maze of alleys. 🙂

I spent a fantastic 10 days in Australia (Aug 2006, starting from Perth on the Indian Pacific). Enjoy your honeymoon.
 
I lived at Heron Island when I did my PhD (marine biology) - it's a really lovely place to go. It can be windy, so take some clothing to guard against that. The ferry ride across often triggers seasickness - take precautions, or get the helicopter for an incredible view.

Most Australian airports do not provide hand inspection of film anymore, but the scanners are safe. I have taken some individual rolls of Neopan 1600 and TMZ through a dozen or more times with no ill effects.

I grew up in Brisbane, but don't know it so well anymore. The nightlife in The Valley is worth seeing if you like bars and clubs. The salt & pepper squid at The Vietnamese (194 Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley) is delicious. Gambaro's and Brett's Wharf are great places to have a superb seafood meal - order the "bugs" they a kind of small lobster and absolutely amazingly tasty. No connection with any of these places, just a very very satsfied customer. These are the things we do when we go back home.

A trip on the CityCat (a big fast ferry) from the city to The University of Queensland or Apollo Road is fun and has great views.

PM me if you'd like more details or information.

Marty
 
Airport Film Inspections

Airport Film Inspections

Under the Australian Transport Security regulations, airport security people MUST give hand inspection if it is requested. Unfortunately either through inadequate training or laziness many will tell you this is not the case. I now carry a copy of the relevant section of the regs and an email from the top government security guy which I have had to use on occasion. Even the supervisors don't know what they're supposed to do.
I try to make it easy for them by removing all film from cameras and having the film in a translucent plastic tray with the leaders showing.

Do NOT, under any circumstances, put film in checked baggage - always carry it by hand. I have taken ISO 100 and 400 B&W film through airport scans up to five times without mishap, but as the dosage is cumulative there must be a "tipping point" where the film starts to fog. Don't know where that is, but I do know that checked baggage scans will fog ISO 400 film with just one scan.

When presenting film for hand inspection, try to pick the channel where there appears to be a supervisor and ask to speak to them before putting anything through. I once had the unfortunate experience of being held up whilst arguing over hand inspections and someone made off with my camera bag which had already gone through. Fortunately it was an honest mistake and just as I was about to have cardiac arrest he reappeared with apologies and picked up his own, similar looking, camera bag. I wouldn't like to chance it a second time!
 
Regarding film choices, there are a couple of fast reliable mail order sources you could keep in mind, as most camera shops now only stock limited film range.
You can easily get Ilford Delta 100, 400 3200, Fuji Neopan 100, 400, 1600, Ilford FP4+ and HP5+, Agfa 100 and 400 plus most Fuji colour films, slide or print.
Les Porter can usually give overnight delivery to capital city addresses, using Express Post and your credit card. I get almost all my stuff from him. You can Google his web site and get prices, phone and email details.
 
I used to carry a few rolls of TMZ3200 (out of date and useless) so that I could justify insisting on hand inspection. The inspectors don't fall for that any more. They will inspect the few rolls of hi speed film and x-ray the rest.
 
You'll need more film.
It is cheaper in the US. Bring lots of boxes of film as gifts to us!

Also bear in mind that the light here is really bright. Unless it's raining, or you are in Melbourne.

If you do go to the Blue Mountains (not really mountains) just west of Sydney (a very good day trip). You can get there easily by train or hire a car. There are two good options there;
1. Go to Katoomba which has a lookout called echo point where ALL the tourists go. There are good (almost civilised) walking tracks all through there and the scenic railway is a dramatic and easy way to get out of the valley.
2. Go to Wentworth Falls and do a walk circuit that starts at Valley of the Waters, then cuts across the middle of a cliff face to Wentworth Falls (the falls not the town). This walk goes through a really good mix of vegetation and terrain and if you are moderately fit should take less than 4 hours. Take a picnic. BTW waterfalls in Australia will rarely have the same amount of water as falls in younger continents.
What time of year will you be here?
 
Tarzak said:
Also bear in mind that the light here is really bright. Unless it's raining, or you are in Melbourne.
Click to expand...

🙄😀

Actually, the light during good winter weather in Melbourne is great. Today was clear and sunny all day, and during winter the sun stays low so the light is good (not top-down) even at midday. There's been quite a lot of weather like that this year. It gets busy around QV market, Fed Square, Burke and Swanston. There's some good spots with light bouncing off buildings too.

Two weeks ago, near Fed Square:

http://bp2.blogger.com/_eVuup7VV1Yg/SHRiu5ThZWI/AAAAAAAAAKw/tQzAHR7IN_s/s1600-h/1protest23.jpg
 
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Welcome to Australia!

As a Sydneysider all my life, my vote also goes to the ferry trip from Circular Quay near the Opera House to Manly beach. Lots of photo opportunities. Also a ferry from the Quay to Taronga Zoo on the other side of the harbour is well worth it too.

Bondi Beach is a cult beach for travellers and any walk along the foreshore there is nice - if you don't mind dodging New Zealanders and Poms!

As also suggested, the Blue Mountains is a great day trip and you will see the Australian bush at its most rugged.

Hope you have a great time.

Cheers - John
 
Tarzak said:
And it's freezing and pissing down, here in Sydney. And really dark (even before the sun set).
Click to expand...

Haha, it's still cold here, just there seems to have been a lot of clear sunny days (stays cold most of the day, except for a while around midday though). Had some overcast wet days too mind, we're not allowed to complain about rain though; that would be highly non politically correct.

I went to Sydney for the first time a couple weeks ago.

And yeah, watch those drop-bears!
 
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