Summer 2017 Australia bound! Trip report!

Yay! I was so excited to see this today! We are heading on this ABD in a few weeks and I'm so appreciative of the time you took to write this.

Question for you. We received the suitcase weight and dimension limits recently, which are....hard. My son was already packed and we had to purchase a new suitcase and re-do it. With only 15 lbs for all carry-ons combined, I am looking to shed a few things. How necessary is a water bottle? I always carry one on vacation, but it's stainless steel and may be too heavy for this one. Are water and snacks easily accessible if I don't bring them?

Another question is in regards to early mornings. My son has special needs and is not an early riser, so want to prepare him in advance if at all possible. Assuming the flight days to Uluru and Gold Coast are early, as well as the sunrise camel ride ;). Any others come to mind?

Thanks again for sharing your trip! I'm so sorry it had such a terrible start, but glad to hear the rest of it made up for it!
 
Yay! I was so excited to see this today! We are heading on this ABD in a few weeks and I'm so appreciative of the time you took to write this.

Question for you. We received the suitcase weight and dimension limits recently, which are....hard. My son was already packed and we had to purchase a new suitcase and re-do it. With only 15 lbs for all carry-ons combined, I am looking to shed a few things. How necessary is a water bottle? I always carry one on vacation, but it's stainless steel and may be too heavy for this one. Are water and snacks easily accessible if I don't bring them?

Another question is in regards to early mornings. My son has special needs and is not an early riser, so want to prepare him in advance if at all possible. Assuming the flight days to Uluru and Gold Coast are early, as well as the sunrise camel ride ;). Any others come to mind?

Thanks again for sharing your trip! I'm so sorry it had such a terrible start, but glad to hear the rest of it made up for it!

The suitcase weight and dimension limits are not ABD but domestic airlines. One of our fellow travelers far exceeded the limits, but had called ABD in advance and made "arrangements" for this. Otherwise, it really is enforced by the airlines. Again, on this trip, on the domestic flights each of us has to take our luggage and check it through with the airline and check in at the airline counter. You'll have an advantage - we had to pack for cold at Sydney and Uluru and warm for Cairns and Gold Coast. You won't have to bring coats hats and gloves.

We used our own water bottle extensively. However, Disney provides water and snacks nearly constantly. On our trip, even though it was their winter, the group went through about three cases of water each day. This is a very active trip.

There are many early mornings. Uluru is very early. The next morning is also early for departure to the reef. The next two mornings are also early, but not as much as Uluru. The Brisbane morning is also early. If your son is a special needs child, at Brisbane when sea kayaking try to pair him with the local guides, and not the ABD guides or yourselves unless one of you is pretty strong. Many people found this challenging, and our ABD guide had to be towed by the local guides as she was paired with a child and couldn't keep up. I'll get that posting up I hope shortly. (It was my favorite day of the trip, with Skydiving (OYO) coming in second).

You are going to love this trip. It gets better each day.
 
Yay! I was so excited to see this today! We are heading on this ABD in a few weeks and I'm so appreciative of the time you took to write this.

Question for you. We received the suitcase weight and dimension limits recently, which are....hard. My son was already packed and we had to purchase a new suitcase and re-do it. With only 15 lbs for all carry-ons combined, I am looking to shed a few things. How necessary is a water bottle? I always carry one on vacation, but it's stainless steel and may be too heavy for this one. Are water and snacks easily accessible if I don't bring them?

Another question is in regards to early mornings. My son has special needs and is not an early riser, so want to prepare him in advance if at all possible. Assuming the flight days to Uluru and Gold Coast are early, as well as the sunrise camel ride ;). Any others come to mind?

Thanks again for sharing your trip! I'm so sorry it had such a terrible start, but glad to hear the rest of it made up for it!


I would be careful about the luggage weights. I was on the next trip in July and a few families had to pay extra for having carry on and checked luggage over the weight limit. The jetstar flights seemed stricter than qantas, if I recall corrctly.
 
The suitcase weight and dimension limits are not ABD but domestic airlines. One of our fellow travelers far exceeded the limits, but had called ABD in advance and made "arrangements" for this. Otherwise, it really is enforced by the airlines. Again, on this trip, on the domestic flights each of us has to take our luggage and check it through with the airline and check in at the airline counter. You'll have an advantage - we had to pack for cold at Sydney and Uluru and warm for Cairns and Gold Coast. You won't have to bring coats hats and gloves.

We used our own water bottle extensively. However, Disney provides water and snacks nearly constantly. On our trip, even though it was their winter, the group went through about three cases of water each day. This is a very active trip.

There are many early mornings. Uluru is very early. The next morning is also early for departure to the reef. The next two mornings are also early, but not as much as Uluru. The Brisbane morning is also early. If your son is a special needs child, at Brisbane when sea kayaking try to pair him with the local guides, and not the ABD guides or yourselves unless one of you is pretty strong. Many people found this challenging, and our ABD guide had to be towed by the local guides as she was paired with a child and couldn't keep up. I'll get that posting up I hope shortly. (It was my favorite day of the trip, with Skydiving (OYO) coming in second).

You are going to love this trip. It gets better each day.

Thank you! I think I will try to fit the water bottles as I don't want to create so much waste. My camera equipment alone weighs most of that 15 lbs, but perhaps I'll make the children carry it!

Great tip on the kayaking as well. We have a kayak at home, but it's a small lake versus a big ocean and I'm guessing that will be quite different. My son dislikes kayaking with me anyway because I stop to take too many photos. :) He's also newly 10 so not so strong yet! I think it was you who posted about the Byron Bay day in a prior post? It made me so excited for this day, in particular!

We are so looking forward to this trip, and your report is making me even moreso! Thanks for taking the time.


I would be careful about the luggage weights. I was on the next trip in July and a few families had to pay extra for having carry on and checked luggage over the weight limit. The jetstar flights seemed stricter than qantas, if I recall corrctly.

Thank you! That is good information!
 


Hey you lot! The trip report continues. Back to the airport with a domestic flight to Cairns. Due to security, we are hauling our own luggage to check in, and wait and wait in line. The seats were spread pretty much across the plane on this leg, and some families were not totally together. All the domestic flights we took on this trip were fully booked planes. The trip was uneventful and we checked into the Sea Temple hotel. Cousin Orville has given an excellent overview of this in his trip report and I think we may have had nearly the same room location. Please see his report! These rooms at the Sea Temple in Palm Cove are bigger than many apartments. Our room had a huge amount of space. We had two large bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, a laundry room with two large dry racks, a full kitchen, a large dining room which was tied to a living room area with sofas and TV, which opened up onto a large open air porch with could be closed up with wooden shutters. As this was the middle of the trip, we immediately made full use of the washer and dryer. Tonight was the Junior Adventurer’s dinner, with the rest of us also eating as a group. The food was excellent. To speed things along, as they often did on this trip, we had pre-selected our choices from the menu, so that within only a few moments of seating, the dishes were served. Really enjoyable dinner. We were seated at a huge long banquet table, so visiting with others was pretty limited to the two beside you and across. I sampled several excellent Australian wines that evening, and took some back to the room to sip on while sitting on a massive porch just enjoying the evening. The DD went exploring. A nice quiet evening to settle in.


Day six


Off to the Great Barrier Reef. We had a full and tasty breakfast buffet – not as extravagant as Shangri La, but good. My DW wrestled with the coffee machine as it did not want to produce more than one flat white coffee. The staff agreed to help, and from here on brought us whatever we wanted instead of having us break their machines. My DD loved the yogurt smoothies.


Onto the bus to reach Cairns and then onto the Catamaran. This was a large, sleek boat that flew across the water. DD found a young man to portray the “Titanic” scene on the boat’s stern.

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Both DD said this was truly a wonder, and indescribable as to how beautiful it was. ABD had a marine biologist who explained to the group a little bit about the reef. The boat was full, and ABD was only a small part of it. During the trip out, you selected what and when you wanted to do things. The day was divided into three parts – two activities and lunch. DD and I started with snorkeling, so we could go ahead and get gear and wetsuits and get them on before arrival, as doing this second or third meant you would spend some of your time on equipment. DW chose to pay the extra fee and try the bell helmet diving as she does not swim. The equipment was easy to use. Unfortunately, I forgot some details from all the snorkeling I did in the Florida keys. I have a very large mustache and had just restarted growing my beard. This does not make a very watertight seal on the snorkel mask. Okay, it makes no seal at all…leaks like the Titanic… Normally a little petroleum jelly solves that, but I did not bring any and ABD and the company said they had none. So large breaths when diving down! My bad, as I knew better. I had taken the family to the public pool a few times to teach them snorkeling, as it is not instinctive or intuitive, especially if you are diving down and have to blow the snorkel. That practice paid off for the family. I recommend this to all coming on this trip if they have no snorkeling experience. You don't want to "learn" during your limited time, and diving down is really the best way to see things.

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Snorkling with the biologist was crowded. Most in the group were inexperienced, and everyone kept bumping into each other. She had some great stuff to say, but we ended up departing the group after only a few minutes, as we all had been kicked and bumped. The water was murky, perhaps from so many people each day, so you really had to dive down to get the good colors to shine through. It was great fun; both twins would swim with the fish and follow them. About midway through, DD Anna began itching and exited the water. It turns out she was allergic to the disinfectant they used on the wetsuits. She popped a Benadryl and got lunch for everyone. DW enjoyed the diving helmet, except that it did not go to the bottom, but only deep enough to submerge you. She expected to go all the way down; instead her head was just below water level. Fish swarmed all around them, as the staff dropped food to them. We also watched those who had PADI certification (for an extra fee) take off away from the area to SCUBA dive.

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We also took a ride on the submersible submarine. When it returned, as we had taken such a short lunch, we again suited up and went back for more in the water. The temperature was comfortable, and again we ended up swimming and visiting with Aussies rather than the ABD group, as they were more social and just grinning from ear to ear. We were some of the very last out of the water. DW had enough, and DD was still a bit itchy. DD2 and I could have spent the day there – I guess if you’ve done snorkeling, you can do this all day. For what its worth, I recommend the Florida Keys (not from the islands, but from a sailboat way away from the islands) as I found very similar.

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It was a quiet trip back – most of our ABD adventurers were quiet/napping/or sitting. We strolled the boat and marveled at the stories the biologist now had time to tell. We tracked her down, as no one was talking to her, and she was delightful.


Back to the hotel for OYO time and dinner. DW and DD1 had enough of the ocean for the day, so we wandered the hotel, and the girls played in the pool while I finished laundry and repack. DW just rested. We walked to Palm Cove for dinner, and found a grocery/fast Made To Order supper. The fish and chips were fresh, huge and delicious. The subs were in a similar manner outstanding. All wrapped in today’s newspaper and tossed to you at the counter. We sat outside and visited briefly with another ABD family who were just finishing up. A nice place to stroll and wander at night.
 
I would be careful about the luggage weights. I was on the next trip in July and a few families had to pay extra for having carry on and checked luggage over the weight limit. The jetstar flights seemed stricter than qantas, if I recall corrctly.
Yes, the family I was referring to had made arrangements to pre-pay for this, and it was apparently a pretty significant chunk of change. They do weigh and check your luggage and stuff.
 
I think you must have missed my first post. ;)

Your day at the reef looks amazing. I'm going to have to do some experimenting before I ever do this trip, because I have a very hard time snorkeling due to a deviated septum. I have a hard time getting a seal. But I've seen some full-face masks that might be work investigating.

Your poor daughter, allergic to the disinfectant!! It's a good thing she had Benadryl!

From what I hear, the Barrier Reef just ain't what it used to be. That's really too sad. But sounds like you guys had a spectacular day!

Sayhello
 


Yes, the family I was referring to had made arrangements to pre-pay for this, and it was apparently a pretty significant chunk of change. They do weigh and check your luggage and stuff.

That is good to know! We don't have anything that critical we would need to bring. My daughter's school books and my extra shoes can stay behind! I'll plan on doing laundry mid-way as you did and should be fine.

Sorry to hear about your daughter's reaction to the disinfectant, but glad you had a good day otherwise. Your pictures are great and clear. Especially love the one of your girls underwater. What an experience!
 
Continuing to love this report! Keep it coming.

One more quick question (that I ask EVERY adventure in hopes that things have changed)--Did you bring gratuity $$$ with you (in US currency) or tip in Australian $$$ or did the guides have PayPal/Venmo? I hate this every trip (I am not a cash person) and really hope for the day that we can do this electronically. It's a well-deserved chunk of change that I would prefer not to have to carry on my person!
 
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.
 
Continuing to love this report! Keep it coming.

One more quick question (that I ask EVERY adventure in hopes that things have changed)--Did you bring gratuity $$$ with you (in US currency) or tip in Australian $$$ or did the guides have PayPal/Venmo? I hate this every trip (I am not a cash person) and really hope for the day that we can do this electronically. It's a well-deserved chunk of change that I would prefer not to have to carry on my person!
On our China ABD, I was able to tip our US Adventure Guide using PayPal. China, however, has PayPal blocked, so I needed to get cash Yuan for the Chinese Adventure Guide (Joe). I think at this point it depends on the Adventure Guide and the locale.

I must admit, using PayPal makes it *much* easier! However, the US Guide thought I could use PayPal to pay the Chinese Guide as well, so I had to scramble to find an ATM when Joe told me he couldn't accept PayPal. (PS, there's one 3 short blocks down the Bund from the Shanghai Penninsula!)

Sayhello
 
Day seven

We were driven by bus to the Aboriginal Park in the morning. Walk in the door, and greeted by indigenous people--- who proceeded to give everyone traditional tribal facial markings, with mud and paint. It was fun watching a few of the more hoity - toity people who were edging away from this introduction get mud and paint slathered on their make up.

The kids all liked it though. As an aside, from about the second day on, all the kids, from about ages 12-19 hung out together, and it continued for the rest of the trip. In fact, around this time, a core of these comrades formed, including our twins, 2 boys (15 and 17) from California And 2 Texas boys (16-19.) It was like they were running their own sub-group of the adventure. None of these kids had anything in common before this trip. They still call and "face time" and text and Snap Chat and stuff to this day. By this time, they were a firm pack.
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After receiving our "rankings" we were directed to a musical treat of aboriginal music and dance, and then were brought outside to try our own hand at Aboriginal sports. Several of the youth almost immediately got their boomerangs to come back. The teachers were patient and kind. An Asian woman in our group threw hers like a baseball. When the proper technique was demonstrated, she continued to toss it like a baseball. Her final throw was perfect, and she screamed when the boomerang came right back to her and nearly hit her in the face. I'm sorry, but it was funny. With all of us laughing, not at her, but just at what happened, she started snickering too and finally became one with the group.

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Then we tried spear throwing. They tried to teach us.... but you would never know it from our efforts. The Aboriginal people make it took easy… and most looked like a bunch of wounded birds, flapping and flailing out arms around. It’s a good thing that all the food was provided in the tour package! DDs and DH had already mastered the spear throwing while at the Philmont Scout Ranch at the Anasazi "Indian Writings" basecamp in New Mexico. Creepy how the tools used in New Mexico over 1500 years ago are so similar to those in Australia from that same time period forward.


Here they also made it clear that you need to watch very carefully when you want to buy genuine Aboriginal artwork and crafts. There is rip-off everywhere, which not only cheats you, but also harms the income that the true artists should be earning! Lots of people out there in the world with fakes, trying to rip off all of us! Buyers beware! So buy a bunch of stuff here! Listen to what they say and you'll be fine.


We were next taken into a room for a short aboriginal story. This was an audio-visual/live action presentation that was moving, marvelous and motivating on the aboriginal history and treatment. Disney itself could not put together something this good. Unlike the aboriginals at Uluru, these folks directly engaged with us and were happy to talk as well as explain their views on things. Don't miss this!


From here we headed up the skyrail. Wow. Amazing scenery. Amazing things to see, do, touch, visit, and play.

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THen there was time for hiking and exploring both in the Town and around it. We did.

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We followed the advice of other Disboarders, and also skipped lunch to go play with a Koala bear. But we really took full advantage of the opportunities to hike, climb and explore as well.

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Then the omen. A giant Scooby doo poster in one of the shops just as we were departing. Scooby had "the look." Ruh Roh. As we had squeezed every last minute of the time allotted (with our faithful father/son companions joining us) we lined up for the skyrail return. Just before boarding, we watched several large bolts, screws and pieces of metal fall out of the skyrail mobility engines and drop to the floor in front of us. The skyrail operators were oblivious - we called out to them and they saw hardware strewn about the floors and slammed the brakes on the system. Our bad luck returned. For about 45 minutes they repaired the system, while our ABD group waited for us at the bottom. We texted Amber to advise there was an "accident" on the Skyrail and we were delayed. They could tell because it wasn't moving. On of our companions, a doctor, texted Suzamber that there was "blood everywhere." He took several seconds before following up with the text of "Just kidding". I don't think we were ever forgiven for this one. What were we thinking? Our evening feature was the private Crocodile Farm tour and dinner......yikes!
 
Then the omen. A giant Scooby doo poster in one of the shops just as we were departing. Scooby had "the look." Ruh Roh. As we had squeezed every last minute of the time allotted (with our faithful father/son companions joining us) we lined up for the skyrail return. Just before boarding, we watched several large bolts, screws and pieces of metal fall out of the skyrail mobility engines and drop to the floor in front of us. The skyrail operators were oblivious - we called out to them and they saw hardware strewn about the floors and slammed the brakes on the system. Our bad luck returned. For about 45 minutes they repaired the system, while our ABD group waited for us at the bottom. We texted Amber to advise there was an "accident" on the Skyrail and we were delayed. They could tell because it wasn't moving. On of our companions, a doctor, texted Suzamber that there was "blood everywhere." He took several seconds before following up with the text of "Just kidding". I don't think we were ever forgiven for this one. What were we thinking? Our evening feature was the private Crocodile Farm tour and dinner......yikes!
It could have been worse. You could have been stuck *on* the Skyrail!! I hope those people on it didn't know why it had stopped! :scared1:

Looks like a fabulous day otherwise!!

Sayhello
 
The Crocodile farm - what a place. The surprises were never ending, and we were given several opportunities to provide "blood everywhere" but fortunately declined the invitation. These animals may be huge and cold blooded, but they can travel up and out of the water in seconds. From my perspective, they were incredibly tasty too. The boat tour, the demonstrations, the hands on and the dinner were all over the top. Great great time. Tomorrow we would regret over indulging. But that night was excellent.

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Day seven
We followed the advice of other Disboarders, and also skipped lunch to go play with a Koala bear. But we really took full advantage of the opportunities to hike, climb and explore as well.

Can you explain more about this? I'm sure my daughter would love to meet the koala. (Enjoying following your report--we leave for our trip in a week!)
 
Can you explain more about this? I'm sure my daughter would love to meet the koala. (Enjoying following your report--we leave for our trip in a week!)
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.
 
That’s all the bad we’ll say on this trip report - End of the negatives as there is no way in HELL we will ever do business with AA again, so no worries in the future, right?

We are also flying from Virginia... your story makes me feel better that I went with the United (Dulles/LA/Sydney) route. And that I chose the 6 hour layover option instead of the 2 hour layover. Let's just cross our fingers it doesn't snow next Thursday and delay anything!
 
Absolutely amazing! Thanks again for sharing and for the photos. We leave a week from tomorrow and are getting more excited by the day. It also helps that is 11 degrees F currently here and in the 70s in Sydney. Ahhh.

I will now block out of my mind two things from your report - 1) the wind on the bridge (I am in the same situation as your wife - she gives me hope I can do this!), 2) the bolts, screws and metal falling off the tram. I will be henceforth blissfully unaware. :laughing:
 
We also took a ride on the submersible submarine. When it returned, as we had taken such a short lunch, we again suited up and went back for more in the water. The temperature was comfortable, and again we ended up swimming and visiting with Aussies rather than the ABD group, as they were more social and just grinning from ear to ear. We were some of the very last out of the water.

So you were able to go on the submarine and also do two snorkeling trips? We were trying to figure out how that worked in terms of maximizing time in the water. My husband is really excited about this part of the trip.
 
So you were able to go on the submarine and also do two snorkeling trips? We were trying to figure out how that worked in terms of maximizing time in the water. My husband is really excited about this part of the trip.
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.
 

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