Summer 2017 Australia bound! Trip report!

[DCPhotoGal]

If you can also try to do the helicopter ride. It is amazing to see the GBR from underwater, in the submersible, and from above.

Do you have any more details on the helicopter ride, like where we would catch it and if it would fit with the itinerary?

 

[Cousin Orville]

Do you have any more details on the helicopter ride, like where we would catch it and if it would fit with the itinerary?

It’s one of the optional activities you can sign up for on the boat ride over to the GBR. We signed up for snorkeling in the morning and the helicopter ride in the afternoon. The submersible didn’t require a sign up. You can squeeze that in between other activities. At your appointed time, they will ferry you over to the helicopter pad. I don’t know if this was important, but I was quick to sign up for the helicopter ride when they announced it on the boat ride over. If there was enough interest, I can see it booking up.

 

[sayhello]

It’s one of the optional activities you can sign up for on the boat ride over to the GBR. We signed up for snorkeling in the morning and the helicopter ride in the afternoon. The submersible didn’t require a sign up. You can squeeze that in between other activities. At your appointed time, they will ferry you over to the helicopter pad. I don’t know if this was important, but I was quick to sign up for the helicopter ride when they announced it on the boat ride over. If there was enough interest, I can see it booking up.

Is it included, or an extra charge?

Sayhello

 

[RSM]

Is it included, or an extra charge?

Sayhello

It was an extra charge. I think it was about $125 per person, but don't quote me on that.

 

[DCPhotoGal]

On day 7, you will go to the aboriginal cultural experience in the morning, then take the coach to Kuranda. You will have some free time in Kuranda, before taking the gondola through the rain forest. In Kuranda, there is the Kuranda Koala Gardens. It is maybe a 3 minute walk from where the bus is. It is one of the few places where you can actually hold a koala. In other places a handler holds the koala, while you can put your hand on its back. Anyways, if you want the opportunity to hold a koala, I'd recommend heading off the bus and going straight to the Koala Gardens, get a ticket, and hop in the line. When we went, there were certain hours that you could hold a koala, then they would shut down for 30 mins or so. There were a few other things at the Kuranda Koala Gardens, but not alot, so it is primarily to hold a koala. In Kuranda, there was some shopping and a few other things to do. There is a reptile museum if you are into deadly snakes and spiders that was actually pretty cool. You can go through the guided lecture in about 20 minutes. Have fun on your trip.

Thank you! Do you think there is enough time do do bird world as well, or just the koala gardens? (I ask because I see I can get those tickets together for a pretty good price on Expedia).

 

[Tsunami]

Byron Bay is a nice spot. But not really near a major city. Unless 2 hours from Brisbane is near. We do do it often. from Brisbane. I am saying its not near so you realise it will take a bit of time to get there. I can highly suggest Byron at Byron.


Is laundry included on abd? Because not many Australian Hotels have self laundry facilities


ps. I guess you could fly to the Gold Coast and be there in an hour.

There is a washer and dryer in each room at the Pullman Palm Cover Sea Temple Resort and Spa (that's a mouthful!) in Cairns. ABD is there days 5, 6, and 7, so perfect timing!

Do you have any more details on the helicopter ride, like where we would catch it and if it would fit with the itinerary?

Heads up, if we are on the same ABD, departing 12/20, Great Barrier Reef on 12/25, all optional activities need to be booked and paid in advance. I had contacted Quicksilver, the company that runs the tour, about details on the options and whether/which were available given we will be there on Christmas Day and they let me know this. They took the payment for our dive, and referred me to http://www.gbrhelicopters.com.au for the helicopter reservations. The helicopter company is having us check in upon arrival to the boat so they can schedule timing with our other activities (1/2 are going on the marine biologist snorkel provided by Disney, the other 1/2 diving). I found the people at both Quicksilver and GBR to be incredibly knowledgable and helpful!

 

[Tsunami]

It was an extra charge. I think it was about $125 per person, but don't quote me on that.

Yes, we paid ~$135 in USD pp.

 

[Cousin Orville]

It was an extra charge. I think it was about $125 per person, but don't quote me on that.

That sounds right

 

[RSM]

Thank you! Do you think there is enough time do do bird world as well, or just the koala gardens? (I ask because I see I can get those tickets together for a pretty good price on Expedia).

On our trip, we got off the bus and bolted straight to Koala gardens, got tickets, and got in line to hold the koala. From the time we exited the bus till completing picture taking was about 30-40 minutes (there were about 12 people in line in front of us). After photos, we wandered around the Koala Gardens for maybe 15 minutes or so. I believe we then had another 60-90 minutes of free time. We grabbed a quick sandwich, and DW did some shopping while Aiden and I went to the reptile museum. So, depending on the lines at the Koala Gardens, I would think you would have enough time to do bird world. Not sure whether the crowd size will be significantly different during their summer. We were there during their winter.

 

[Grifdog22]

Day 8. It was an early departure from Cairns (pronounced Caaaans) to the Gold Coast. Like the trip to Uluru, we are on the Skyjet, so we have to work our way into checkin with luggage. The flight was fine, again Disney bought beverages for everyone, and they manhandled the luggage from the airport. The Disney group took a coach from the airport to the Gold Coast main beach, over an hour's drive north. Here we deviated from the script. This was an OYO day. We cleared some serious bucket lists on this day. When we landed at Gold Coast, we departed the ADB group for skydiving!


DH has always wanted to do this, and landing on the Gold Coast beach was the icing on the cake. The DD twins were gung-ho, and DW wanted them to have an adventure of a lifetime. Clearly DW will do anything for my kids. DD1 says, "Easily the best thing I have ever done, and will do it again and again."


We stayed behind at the airport, and two others in the ABD group signed on with us. The DD told two other ABD guys about this plan, and they decided that it would be a good idea too-- so they came along. We had reserved the trip and time; they did not. So when they called, they were set to go a little before the time we had reserved -- which surprised even them. They returned with no problems, so we got ready.


These people prepare you with everything and they do a lot of this. We are strapped in and helmeted and flotation devices and assigned to one of the tandem divers.



We were outfitted and put through a safety drill and met our tandem masters. We trudged out to their van and five jumpers and five tandem masters popped back to the airport and climbed aboard their prop. DW was reluctant so she was the last on the plane. She wasn't paying attention as this meant she was out first. There were five of us on the plane strapped to five jumpmasters. No door on the plane - wide open as it takes off from the same airport where we landed with ABD.


They skydiving folks were funny, relaxed and made this easy. With the side door of the plane open with us sitting on a bench (with a “seat belt hook” to hold us in, we took off to 12,000 feet. My DW was the first to go out, within the instant the warning the light turned green and her tandem master pushed out the plane.


We got to 12,000 heights and the light went on and the last thing DW heard is "we're up-- throw your legs over..." And she realized he meant dangle her legs out of a moving airplane at 12,000 feet. She didn't jump, her tandem master did. The next thing she knew she was dropping like a stone. Her words "Free fall. I did not know that once you open your mouth, it stays open until your parachute deploys. It is loud--- and unbelievable. Wow - oh wow! Then the chute is pulled, you pop up--and it's very quiet. The view was clear and clean. My tandem guy said, "Welcome to my office." And I just slowly dropped down. It was very pastoral. It may be that I was so terrified dropping like that, so that the idea that I wasn't plummeting to my imminent death made me more calm. And it was a lovely view."





For my jump, once the chute deployed I was invited to steer and guide the chute over the water and to try to make it back to shore…my tandem master wanted to have some fun, so he put me into a death spiral spin…it was a bit queasy for a minute, but then back to normal. My DDs and DW had tandem masters that were a bit more reasonable. See the picture of the chute sideways and that was me in the "spin."




We landed without any incident on a very soft warm sandy beach. No one died. Life was good. The landings were handled by the tandem master, we just lift our legs and they do all the work. We land, congratulate ourselves, and the tandem master unhooks and does all the work while we dust ourselves off and head back to the van to pop over to the office to return our gear. In less than two hours we started, jumped, landed and completed a 12000 foot tandem jump onto the Australia Gold Coast. We all agreed it was fantastic and we are glad we did it. My DW says now that she has done it, she never has to do it again. My DDs want to go again. I recommend the experience. They then took us on the long drive to the hotel, where ABD already had the luggage in the rooms and the Guides were waiting to give us the room keys.


We ate dinner at the hotel buffet, which I do not recommend to those who visit. It was $80 pp and not very good. Most other folks enjoyed a relaxing restful day on the beach, at the pool, shopping or chartering a boat to go out deep sea fishing. This is really a good idea to let people rest if they want to or do things that they want. I heard nothing but positives from the group over the "lack" of ABD activities for the day - it has been a very active and full trip, and especially the kids wanted a day off to play, and this is known as "surfer's paradise" for a reason. Another day rated as excellent.


But first, the Gold Coast - wow - great place to play, relax, and take a breath from a very busy adventure. The Sheraton Mirage hotel is huge, I mean really huge, and it is in the heart of the main beach section of Gold Coast. It is a five star resort with a connecting bridge over to the spit bay with a high end shopping mall, marina and restaurants. The fountains and pools go on and on...from clay tennis courts to oceanfront access, it is quite the spectacular place. However, they nickle and dime you...wifi was $20 per device per day, if you want beverages with the meals, other than water, juice or plain coffee, it's $8.00, etc. Virtually all the other hotels on this trip trump this one for "livability." However, it is truly an impressive place if money is no object. On the other hand, our amazing guides stepped in at check out and all these "charges" disappeared from the bill. Apparently others in our group had already complained … magic at its best.

 

[Grifdog22]

 

[RSM]

DCPhotogal--when in the gold coast, if you want to try a great restaurant see if you can get to The Little Plate. It's a little bit away from the Sheraton Mirage, but the food was outstanding. The best we had on the trip. We took a taxi (about $35-40 each way). Although the taxi seems pricy, our total cost was about even given how much more expensive a meal is around the hotel. Again, hands down the best meal we had on the trip.

 

[DCPhotoGal]

Heads up, if we are on the same ABD, departing 12/20, Great Barrier Reef on 12/25, all optional activities need to be booked and paid in advance.

We are on the Dec 16 trip, so we are a few days ahead. We'll be at Mt Tamborine on Christmas.

 

[OhanaCuz]

Good lord. I'm skimming through and see the pics before I read the text. "ABD took them skydiving?!?!!?" lol

 

[sayhello]

I've got to hand it to you, Grifdog22, you're way braver than I am!! The idea of jumping out of a perfectly fine airplane just scares the *#!$$ out of me! But I'm glad you and the family enjoyed it!

Sayhello

 

[Grifdog22]

I've got to hand it to you, Grifdog22, you're way braver than I am!! The idea of jumping out of a perfectly fine airplane just scares the *#!$$ out of me! But I'm glad you and the family enjoyed it!

Sayhello

My DW says that the photos of the DD's hair standing straight up was not just from the wind and the free fall...

Skydiving was really was a great experience, not just the adrenaline (which was certainly a rush) but as a tandem jump, having to totally surrender all control of everything and just be sure everyone has correctly done their jobs. For our family, it was also an appreciation of trust and the realization of how oblivious we often are to the details of making sure things are "just right." We tend to take far too much for granted. These trips keep reminding us of that. We have safe drinking water, the mushrooms in our food won't poison us, and except for American Airlines, the plane takes off and lands just fine. Our nation are people who are generally comfortable. I can assure you jumping out of an airplane, you are not "comfortable." This was something we wanted to do to press that point.

However, we had no idea what ABD had in store for us for the next few days in Australia, as they also "safely" took us out of our comfort zone. Had we known....yes, we probably still would have jumped out of the plane....but I really need to finish the trip report because the remaining portion of the trip was the best part of all, and why hands down we think the current version of Australia is the best of five ABD we have taken.

Learning the story of these proud nations and coming out of our comfort zone has been a piece of what our family has sometimes looked for on these ABD trips. In Peru, the optional horseback riding at Sol Y Luna into the natives huts and slums was really eye opening for my three kids. Unfortunately, no one else from our ABD group went. South Africa, when we took the last of the 16+ plus day "garden route" extended trips in late April/early May of 2011 was totally life changing. Other than Kapama and the visit to the Cape, the trip Cousin Orville recently described was quite different from ours - except Craig, the very best of all the guides - was still there. Our family still talks about how inspirational and reflective that trip was. And it was. And it is a trip everyone should take. However, we were convinced nothing we did could top South Africa. And try as we might - nothing did for eight years - until now. Six months since the trip, and if someone even mentions Australia, or Tim Tams or anything related, all of us break into enormous smiles. My DD still tears up over this place. And she's right. She has already decided she will live in Australia after college. There are many things that neither words nor photographs can convey - and that is the Australian spirit.

My wife and I continue to debate whether to even finish this report - she thinks everyone should be surprised by this ABD story ending, as it is a Happily Ever After.

Time to take a leap of faith - you all really need to go to the Land Down Under.

 

[sayhello]

My DW says that the photos of the DD's hair standing straight up was not just from the wind and the free fall...

Skydiving was really was a great experience, not just the adrenaline (which was certainly a rush) but as a tandem jump, having to totally surrender all control of everything and just be sure everyone has correctly done their jobs. For our family, it was also an appreciation of trust and the realization of how oblivious we often are to the details of making sure things are "just right." We tend to take far too much for granted. These trips keep reminding us of that. We have safe drinking water, the mushrooms in our food won't poison us, and except for American Airlines, the plane takes off and lands just fine. Our nation are people who are generally comfortable. I can assure you jumping out of an airplane, you are not "comfortable." This was something we wanted to do to press that point.

However, we had no idea what ABD had in store for us for the next few days in Australia, as they also "safely" took us out of our comfort zone. Had we known....yes, we probably still would have jumped out of the plane....but I really need to finish the trip report because the remaining portion of the trip was the best part of all, and why hands down we think the current version of Australia is the best of five ABD we have taken.

Learning the story of these proud nations and coming out of our comfort zone has been a piece of what our family has sometimes looked for on these ABD trips. In Peru, the optional horseback riding at Sol Y Luna into the natives huts and slums was really eye opening for my three kids. Unfortunately, no one else from our ABD group went. South Africa, when we took the last of the 16+ plus day "garden route" extended trips in late April/early May of 2011 was totally life changing. Other than Kapama and the visit to the Cape, the trip Cousin Orville recently described was quite different from ours - except Craig, the very best of all the guides - was still there. Our family still talks about how inspirational and reflective that trip was. And it was. And it is a trip everyone should take. However, we were convinced nothing we did could top South Africa. And try as we might - nothing did for eight years - until now. Six months since the trip, and if someone even mentions Australia, or Tim Tams or anything related, all of us break into enormous smiles. My DD still tears up over this place. And she's right. She has already decided she will live in Australia after college. There are many things that neither words nor photographs can convey - and that is the Australian spirit.

My wife and I continue to debate whether to even finish this report - she thinks everyone should be surprised by this ABD story ending, as it is a Happily Ever After.

Time to take a leap of faith - you all really need to go to the Land Down Under.

WOW! That is quite the endorsement for this trip! Maybe I won't wait until I get that extra week of vacation, and will just go for it in 2019. We shall see. This trip just sounds amazing!

Sayhello

 

[DCPhotoGal]

My wife and I continue to debate whether to even finish this report - she thinks everyone should be surprised by this ABD story ending, as it is a Happily Ever After.

Time to take a leap of faith - you all really need to go to the Land Down Under.

Ok maybe I should stop reading now before I leave on Thursday Anything else I should know from a planning perspective though? The bags are all out on the floor and we are starting to pack.

Oh... do you think it's worth bringing a small tripod to take some star photos at Uluru? Will there be a chance to do that?

 

[Grifdog22]

Ok maybe I should stop reading now before I leave on Thursday Anything else I should know from a planning perspective though? The bags are all out on the floor and we are starting to pack.

Oh... do you think it's worth bringing a small tripod to take some star photos at Uluru? Will there be a chance to do that?

The two photos we posted from Uluru were taken without a tripod. With one, you will get a terrific picture. I wish we had brought one, so yes!

From a planning perspective, we had explored and planned our OYO time with help from previous Disboarders - which was the recommendations that took us to reserve lessons at Manly - so we could have options for how we felt and what we wanted to do.

We also took dried ginger with us for seasickness to/from the Barrier reef and for our post day watching the humpback whale migration. Seas were calm at the GBR and did not need them; absolutely needed the assistance whale watching. Even in the dead of their winter, some locations were hot, so by all means stay hydrated and wear the SPF performance wear to avoid the burns. You'll have laundry opportunities, so pack light!

Our advice is to mingle and visit with Aussies as much as possible. They generally are pretty amazing people who are far more social than folks back here. We had more fun taking advantage of the "opportunities" Suzamber would suggest, while many in our group instead hung near the bus or at the bar in the hotel. (All that said, the Aussie wine was, as they say, "the best." You will have a blast. I wish I were going back again!

 

[Jess_S]

I'm really enjoy this trip report. You've gotten me very interested in travelling to Australia. (I am currently planning trips 3 years out, so it remains to be seen if and when I actually go).

I am so impressed that you didn't let the bumpy start to your trip impact the enjoyment of the rest of the trip. And the sky diving. What a brave family. DH and I agree that we will jump out of a plane wearing parachutes if necessary to save our lives and not otherwise.