A family of 7 (6 big and 1 small), 18-day RV from the south-east of Australia, travel more than 3000 kilometers.
The expenditure is about $140000, with a per capita cost of less than $20, 000. The main expenditures are as follows:
- Ticket: 57000 yuan
- Visa fee: 1065 / 7 = $7455,
- (car rental, fuel): $32000
- Eat (supermarket food): 8000 yuan
- Stay (camp, city hotel): 20000 yuan
- Other (ticket, helicopter): $10000
Self-help tours are about doing homework. Time-limited holiday self-help tours, the homework before the trip is particularly important! The degree of preparation for homework is absolutely proportional to the level of fun! Add the family with the mouth, along with sex travel is not reliable. To play well, it is bound to require full preparation before the trip and the detailed planning of the itinerary!
First of all, read a variety of travel strategies, learn how others plan their itinerary, what factors have been considered, and what are the precautions. In this way, the strange destination begins to feel a little bit, so you can start to plan your own itinerary, and go deep into the scenic spots, hotels, camps, routes and so on in your itinerary. Improve your schedule step by step.
Before departure, it is best to make a general itinerary, including various important information, such as flight number / departure time, hotel and address, camp address and telephone number, so that you can check and navigate the journey at any time.
Google Maps is a good tool to map routes and attractions one by one, clear at a glance, and can be adjusted at any time, and can also be shared with your family.
Tips of Australia
[ticket] after price comparison, the final choice of Ctrip: Kuala Lumpur transit Malaysia Airlines. Adults return about 8500 yuan to and fro.
Visa [visa] how to prepare visa materials everywhere on the Internet, not to mention, anyway, the Australian Embassy wants you to prepare as detailed as property disclosure. The per capita cost is 1065 yuan.
[traffic]
Book a RV directly through the website http://www.britz.com.au/. Britz's RV is a bit older, its interior facilities are not very good, such as the water is not very smooth, refrigerator doors are not tightly closed, and so on. It is recommended that you consider a slightly more expensive Maui RV.
In view of the fact that the number of people is over 6, a six-person RV cannot be rented, and for safety and comfort, it is decided to rent a complete four-person RV and a small car.
Australia has fewer cars, most highways have only one lane in one direction, and no overtaking is allowed, with one Overtaking lane/ crossing lane every few kilometers or a dozen kilometers. If you want to overtake, go straight. If you want a car, go to the left side.
Australia is sparsely populated, and road-side gas stations are rare, even the second-highest-speed A-way. It's best to fill up a pile of gas stations near the town, which can cause a lot of trouble if you miss them. It is recommended to form a good habit of filling up half a box of oil. When the fuel tank is only about half of it, be sure to fill the nearest town with a full tank.
[accommodation]
All but stay in Sydney for the convenience of the hotel. For comfort, camp options: 1 Cabin (cabin with kitchen, shower, bathroom, 2 to 4 people) 1 Powered Site (parking RV, 2 to 4 people).
Note: hotels in Australia, camps are required to check out at 10AM in the morning, not to think it is 12:00 in the country.
[eat]
As a result of the full-featured RV and night camp with kitchen Cabin, so all three meals a day to do their own rich food, did not go to the restaurant, eat relatively customary, did not upset their stomach. For this reason, along the way to the supermarket once a day to prepare rich ingredients for three meals in the morning and evening.
The most famous local supermarkets are Coles and Woolworths.. Every time shopping tickets must be kept, many gas stations show supermarket tickets can be cheaply refueling. There are no drinks in the supermarket. The drinks are located next to the supermarket.
The breakfast is usually milk, cereal, bread, oil, eggs, bacon.
At noon every day in the middle of the rest, in the RV with the ingredients prepared the previous day to make a rich fast lunch.
Dinner is the most important main meal every day, also the most abundant, usually eat local steak, mutton, taste first-class.
Because we are all Chinese stomach, like to eat rice, but there are no electric cookers in the RV / camp, so decided to take the old rice cooker at home before traveling. It turned out to be the smartest decision on the trip, and it was a pleasure to have hot rice every day.
Australian supermarkets are hard to find domestic vegetables, and they are extremely expensive. Green vegetables for sale, 3 vegetables tied together to 2 or 3 Australian dollars, if you are ready to stir-fry a plate, must be four bales, that is more than 50 yuan ah.
[play]
Families are welcome to travel in Australia, many of which are priced at family ticket, a couple of children under the age of 16. Family refers to two children under the age of 16.
[suggested article] junction board, portable battery, charging line, car charger rice cooker, chopsticks, fresh-keeping bag, garbage bag, laundry powder, nail clipper high-power sunscreen
Walkie-talkies, binoculars, flashlights
[sockets] Australian receptacles have very few eyes, basically three-eye sockets, and the same as the domestic models in China, the voltage is 220V. Since most phone / camera charging sockets are double-eyed, you have to bring a junction board, and it's the type with multiple two-eye sockets, or you'll freak out. [phone card]
After leaving customs at the airport, go directly to the outpus counter and buy a SIM card, similar to the domestic Shenzhou Card. A valid card for 15 days is A $30, and a valid card for 30 days is A $60, all withholding A $2 a day, including 1) unlimited telephone calls in Australia. Enough for you to talk to your Australian friends on the phone; 2) 3G traffic is 500m per day, enough for you to navigate with Google Maps and use personal hot spots to join your family at random Weibo, WeChat, and extra traffic to watch Spring Festival Gala in camps at night, ha.
Itinerary brief
[2014-1-25 Beijing via Kuala Lumpur (MH361) to Melbourne (MH129)]
Take a taxi appointment to the airport at 10:00 in the evening. The plane was nearly an hour late, fortunately enough time was left for the transfer. About 6 hours flight to Kuala Lumpur and more than 1 hour transfer to Melbourne. The flight takes about 8 hours to Melbourne at more than 9 pm local time.
Due to the late arrival of the same day, we went directly to rent a car the next day, so we did not book a hotel in Melbourne, but instead booked a hotel near the airport, Best Western Airport Motel & Convention Centre (33, Ardlie Street, Attwood,Melbourne VIC 3049, Tel03 9333 2200). Call the hotel when you arrive. A few minutes later, the hotel sends a car to pick up. The hotel owner is Chinese, hired some summer internship students, so the airport pick up, the hotel front desk are Chinese-speaking students.
[pick up the car on 2014-1-26, look at the penguins on Philip Island]
Back and forth of the 18-day trip, the next day 1-26 the most story, the plot twists and turns, gave us a demeanor, thought that this trip is not going well, fortunately, all in danger, and the next 16 days all smooth water.
Since 1x27 is an Australian holiday, car rental companies are on holiday and cannot pick up their cars, so they have to pick them up the next day at 1: 26. The next day we called a big taxi, enough to carry seven people, four suitcases, five non-drivers to Queen Victoria Market, and the two of us went on to the rental company.
The RV is booked directly through the website http://www.britz.com.au/, with a 2-6-person RV to choose from. Since it takes half an hour to pick up the car in advance to Britz, the waiter delivers the chair free of charge, the tent. Britz's RV is relatively old, and the facilities inside the RV are not very good, such as: the water is not very smooth, the refrigerator door is not tightly closed, and so on. Suggestion: consider a slightly more expensive Maui RV.
Right rudder, driving a huge RV on the left is really a difficult task. It is almost full of driveways. You always feel that you have to collide with the car coming from the other side, and the car instinctively floats to the left, so you have to consciously control the car to the right. Otherwise, you'll encroach on the left lane. Fortunately, they are all more than 10 years old drivers, quickly adapted. It is in the turn, every morning just on the road in two cases, need to pay special attention.
Cars, for convenience, are also booked through Britz. This is a mistake, Britz itself does not have a sedan, just to provide an intermediary booking service, the vehicle is actually Europcar company. Although I have prepaid Britz via the Internet, Europcar still needs my credit card to pay $1 for vehicle security. Unfortunately, Europcar does not accept UnionPay's credit card, and I only have a UnionPay Visa credit card with the UnionPay logo. After a lot of communication with Britz,Europcar or no solution, finally had to cancel, change to other car rental companies. Unfortunately, it was a long weekend when Long weekend (1 / 26 was Sunday and 1 / 27 was an Australian holiday) and all nearby car rental companies had no car to rent. Finally came to Avis, the first female receptionist said there was no car, later another male receptionist said he had a car, but the seat asking for more than A $1400, normal should be less than A $1000. There is no alternative but to accept the terms of humiliation. Suggestion: if you want to rent a car, you can book international brands such as Avis,Hertz,Budget directly through the Internet. Do not book a car from a local brand rental company. You may not accept a credit card with UnionPay logo.
Camp, I hear there are a lot of camps in Australia, you can book by phone at any time. After picking up the RV and sedan, it is more than 4: 00 p. M., call to book quickly. As a result, all the camps around the destination were full of fully booked, for the damned long weekend. Regardless of the number three, seven, twenty-one, drive to Phillip Island to see the world's smallest penguin homing, Penguin Parade.. After watching it, Google Maps took a look at the nearest camp and went straight there to take a chance. Luck was good, and there was the last Powered Site,$90.. After the storm, there were no more camps. Every day after lunch, the phone booked the camp for the night.
Advice: in the event of holidays / long weekends, be sure to prepare in advance, including cars, hotels, camps, supermarkets, etc. Different from domestic, the more weekends / holidays abroad, the more early the scenic spots / shopping malls / car rental companies get off work.
[2014-1-27 koala @ Philip Island]
Drive from Phillip Island to (Great Ocean Road), on Dayang Road to experience Bell Blvd's ups and downs of, Bell Beach and Angelasea Beach's beautiful beach to camp Bimbi Park Camping Under Koalas (90 Manna Gum Dr, Cape Otway VIC 3233,03 5237 9246, bimbipark.com.au).
The camp is especially recommended by friends, mainly because koala is everywhere on eucalyptus trees around the camp. Still, for 16 days in Australia, only this is the best place to see koalas in the wild. With the exception of koala, the camp has nothing to recommend, no grass on the grass, a higher price for all services, such as a $1, 3-minute bath.
[twelve disciples of Ocean Road on 2014-1-28]
From Bimbi, continue along Ocean Road through the famous twelve disciples, the beautiful town of Campbell Port (Port Campbell), camp Port Fairy Caravan Parks (111 Griffith St, Port Fairy VIC 3284,03 5568 1060, portfairycaravanparks.com).
The camp is highly recommended in environment 5: 2 minutes away from the beach; camp facility 4: public facilities are good, bath free; price service 3: a little expensive.
The helicopter experience of the 12 disciples' attractions, though more expensive (A $145 per capita), suggests seeing the 12 disciples from a completely different angle.
[2014/1/29 Mount Gale]
Leave Port Fairy, and continue along Ocean Road, through the famous lighthouse Nelson Lighthouse, to the beautiful town of Mt. Big4 Blue Lake Holiday Park (Bay Road, Mount Gambier, 5290, 08 8725 9856, the first Big4 camp near Gambier).
The camp is highly recommended, surrounding environment 5: adjacent to the dreamy Blue Lake; camp facilities 4: beautiful camp, perfect public facilities, free bath; Price service 4: more reasonable price Cabin (kitchen, bath, bathroom) 123 yuan Powered site 40 yuan.
[new year's dinner on 2014-1-30 @ Lobbe]
BIG4 Robe Long Beach Holiday Park (70 / 80 Esplanade, Robe SA 5276, Australia, 08 8768 2237, big4.com.au), which leaves the dreamy Blue Lake, route, where lobster is rich in the Beach Port, camp.
The camp is highly recommended, surrounding environment 4: adjacent to the beach; camp facilities 4: beautiful camp, well-equipped, free bath; price service 3:Cabin (with kitchen, bath, bathroom) 149 yuan Powered site 40 yuan.
The whole family prepares a New year's dinner.
【2014/1/31 Adelaide】
Leave Robe, and head for Adelaide. Take a break in a small town called Meningie and feed the seabirds. Before entering Adelaide, after a saline-alkali land, presented a completely different geographical appearance, started many days of saline-alkali driving experience. (evening cantonment of Big4 Adelaide Shores Holiday Parks (1 Military Road, West Beach SA 5024, 08 8355 7320, adelaideshores.com.au).
This is the only three-night camp on our RV trip, oversized, with more than 400 Powered Site,100 and more than cabin, full. I had to book a RV tent because I didn't book Cabin,. Fortunately, the temperature was about 40 degrees over the past few days.
Recommend the camp, surrounding environment 4: adjacent to the beach, close to Adelaide; camp facility 4: beautiful camp, well-equipped, free bath; price service 4:Powered site A $85.
【2014/2/1 Adelaide Big4】
The local temperature reached 40 degrees, so he stayed in the camp watching the Spring Festival Gala with iPad.
[2014-2-2 kangaroo island (Kangaroo Island)]
Although the temperature is still 41 degrees, also had to know that there are tigers in the mountains, favouring kangaroo island.
Originally planned to join the kangaroo island one-day tour of the group, pick up the car to send, see the price gave up, or drive it. Drive more than 100 kilometers to the dock, lucky, 5 minutes ahead of time, caught up with the 10AM ferry, with a passenger ferry to the kangaroo island.
Drive all the way from the Ferry to attractions such as the magic rock (Remarkable Rocks), flagship arch, (Admirals Arch), Borda Cape Lighthouse (Cape Borda Lighthouse), a one-way drive for more than two hours. Since the shadow of the kangaroo has not been seen so far, everyone expects the kangaroo to appear on the kangaroo island. Unfortunately, there is no shadow of the live kangaroo in the autumn water, but one dead kangaroo after another has been killed on both sides of the road. Everyone joked that "Australia does not seem to live kangaroos, some are dead kangaroos." History tells us that miracles often occur when you are about to give up. After visiting the attraction and returning to the ferry, a lonely kangaroo was first found on the side of the road, and the car was shot like a lover. History also tells us that miracles often occur one after another. Just as everyone was immersed in the joy of finally seeing the live kangaroo, a group of kangaroos appeared in the grass a little further by the road, so they stopped and screamed and photographed again.
Later, it was slowly discovered that, due to the heat, kangaroos only came out in the west of the sun until the next morning.
[2014-2-3, (Yorke Peninsula), York Peninsula]
With the joy of seeing the kangaroo, he left Adelaide, and went to (Port Victoria), the small port town of York Peninsula, and saw a completely different view along the way, with an endless golden prairie on both sides of the road, and occasionally some cattle and sheep.
It was planned to sleep late in the York Peninsula camp, but in order to reduce the number of days to catch, it was decided to open a little more today, choosing Blanchetown Riverside Holiday Park (Sanders Street, Blanchetown SA 5357,08 8540 5070, blanchetownriverside.com.au, 200km away. Upon check-in, we found that the entire camp was our family, monopolized the entire camp, gave a separate kitchen, two separate showers / bathrooms.
There was a chance to try this camp, with fewer people, just by the Murray River, with parrots on the trees and pelicans in the river. You must have been woken up by a bird in the morning. Environment 4: next to the Murray River, like a bird park; camp facility 4: small camp, well-equipped, bath free; price service 4: because it is inland, so the price is only A $32 cheap Powered site, cabin discount A $85.
[2014 / 2 / 3 / 6 through southeastern Australia]
Three-day journey of 1500 kilometers across the interior of southeast Australia (York Peninsula (Yorke Peninsula) > Blanche Town (Blanchetown) > Lenmark (Renmark) (winery) > Mildeira (Mildura) > Hi (Hay) > Voga (Wagga) > Canberra > (Jervis Bay) (Beach in Jarvis Bay, (digging abalone) > Karma (Kiama), originally planned not to go to Canberra. As he crossed inland areas, his son repeatedly said he wanted to visit the Australian capital, which is "tiny land", so he temporarily changed his route and made a detour to Canberra.
Thought it would be a monotonous 3-day trek, but brought us one surprise after another.
Surprise one, the scenery along the way is changeable. There is a salty-alkali style, as barren as no man's land; a golden prairie similar to the Yorkshire Peninsula, like autumn; Between the saline land and the golden grasslands, vineyards often sprang up like a leaf oasis; from Canberra to Sydney there were green bushes, like summer.
Surprise two, all the way to see a variety of animals. In addition to the common cattle and sheep, many ostrich were accidentally seen in the saline-alkali areas; in Canberra, kangaroos breaking into the camp were seen at night, and herds of kangaroos were seen grazing by the camp in the morning.
Surprise three, abalone's eastern coast. After leaving Canberra for the eastern coast of Australia, they found abalone covered in rocks on the beach.
First day in camp Hay Big4 (4 Nailor Street, Hay NSW 2711, 02 6993 1875, haybig4.com.au).
The next day in camp Canberra Carotel Motel & Caravan Park (150 Aspinall Street, Watson ACT 2602, 02 6241 1377, carotel.com.au). Recommended index 4, recommended reason: kangaroo infestation. The price is not cheap because it is close to Canberra.
Day 3: camp BIG4 Easts Beach Holiday Park (Ocean Street, Kiama NSW 2533, Australia, 02 4232 2124, eastsbeach.com.au). Recommended index 4, recommended reason: beach, camp is very large, well-equipped.
[2014 / 2 / 7 / 9 / Sydney]
Officially heading for Sydney, the final destination of the trip, via Wolonggang (Wollongong) (waves) > Coledale Beach (Beach, waves, abalone digging) > Sydney.
Stay at Martin Square Medina Hotel apartment (Medina Serviced Apartments Martin Place, 1 Hosking Place, Sydney NSW 2000, 02 9224 6400). This hotel is your choice if you come to Sydney and want to be close to the famous attractions and make your own delicious meals. Located in downtown Sydney, the hotel is just a 15-minute walk from all attractions (such as the Sydney Opera House, Harbour Bridge, Botanical Garden, Government House, Hyde Park, Museum). After dinner, you can stroll around to enjoy the beautiful night view of Sydney Opera House, Harbour Bridge.
Day one hiking:
From Hotel > Ring Terminal (Circular Quay) > Sydney Opera House (Sydney Opera House) > Sydney Royal Botanical Garden (Royal Botanic Gardens) > Governor's House (Government House) > Hyde Park (Hyde Park) > return to the hotel.
Day two trekking:
From Hotel > from Hyde Park > Australian Museum (Australian Museum) > St. Mary's Cathedral (St Mary') S Cathedral) > New South Wales Gallery (Art Gallery of New South Wales) > (Circular Quay) > Manley Beach (Manly Beach) (Ferry > (Darling Harbour) (Ferry at Darling Port) > (Sydney Tower) > Queen Victoria > Sydney Tower (Sydney Tower) > Queen Victoria Building (Queen Victoria Building) > back to the hotel.
If you have a child, don't miss Sydney Sunday. As long as there is a child, the whole family (no matter how many people, no matter who they are) can pay $2.50 each for a transport pass, and take all ferries, cars, subways, etc., all day long. Just in time for Sunday, we took the ferry to Manley Beach, Darling Harbor and so on.
[return to Beijing on 2014-2-10]
Return from Sydney to Beijing via Kuala Lumpur.
