Money

The following website describes every thing you need to know about Australian money.

http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/currency.html

It doesn’t tell you that the 50 cent piece is 4-5 centimetres in diameter and could probably be rated as a deadly weapon. I know for sure they can become quite heavy in your pocket. You will also note that there are no one and two cent coins although they did exist when I lived there. You will see salespeople rounding the cost of purchases up or down in order to give you change. The $1 and $2 coins are smaller than the 20 and 50 cent coins but to avoid confusion they are a golden colour rather than silver. Why the size differences? I believe the face value of Australian coins is equal to the material that is used to mint them. Am I right?

Blue Mountains

Our first stop was Katoomba in the Blue Mountains an hour and a half drive West of Sydney. The Blue Mountains derive their name from the blue colour of the oil the numerous eucalyptus (gum) tree leaves emit into the air. It is not dangerous but don’t be surprised if you come home smelling of eucalyptus cough drops and chest rubs. Katoomba is a small town built at the top of an escarpment. It is picturesque, somewhat eclectic, mixing Sydney chic with South Coast beach hippie, and cool in Winter with fog that gives the place an eerie feeling. The views from the escarpment are spectacular when the fog lifts and the rain forested valleys are great for hiking and observing wildlife. We saw many birds including the reclusive Lyrebird which can imitate the call or song of most other birds in the forest. The biggest tourist attraction is the incredible Three Sisters rock formation, rising almost a thousand meters above the forest floor, and well worth the visit.

We stayed in a charming three bedroom house. One of our “coup de coeur”.
http://www.bluemts.com.au/leuraretreat/katoomba_retreat/kat_main.htm

Car Rentals

Unless you are traveling in high season or you have specific requirements, as in five people and lots of luggage, then my advice is to wait until you arrive to rent a car. We found that renting in advance did not give us lower prices and as the car models are different to North America it is better to see before you rent. We rented cars at Sydney, Brisbane and Cairns airports. At all locations the rental companies (Hertz, Avis, Budget, Europcar, Thrifty) are all found together in the airport proper. This gives you the opportunity to window shop creating competition and possibly lower prices. If you need to reserve in advance go to the Vroom Vroom Vroom website.

http://www.vroomvroomvroom.com.au/

Airfares

I don’t need to tell you airfares very from season to season and from month to month. Prices very by hundreds of dollars between high season (Summer) and low season (late Autumn). You should also note that the seasons are the opposite of North America’s. We chose to leave in May 2009, May being one of the lowest seasons. We had to compromise on the weather as May is the start of Winter in the antipodes.

At the time I booked our flights the cost from Ottawa to Sydney on Air Canada was $2,122 plus taxes. For QANTAS it was $1,429 from Vancouver to Sydney, add $358 Ottawa to Vancouver round trip on Air Canada. We chose QANTAS as it was a lower fare, the company has a great safety record, and the price also included three free flights within Australia. The name for this package is the Aussie Pass. On the topic of taxes, the real price on QANTAS was not $1,429 rather $1,957. Can you believe over $500 in extra charges and taxes?

http://www.qantasvacations.ca/aussieairpass.htm

Kangaroos

South Africa has its big four – elephant, lion, cape buffalo and rhinoceros. Austalia’s big four includes the kangaroo, emu, koala and platypus. If you can see these animals in the wild more the better. We were lucky. By traveling to Australia in Winter we spotted kangaroos almost everywhere and any time of the day. In Summer kangaroos come out at dawn or dusk or as evidenced by the carnage on the roads (what a smell!) at night as well. We were advised by locals to just run into them with our car as swerving could result in greater injury to car and person. As we had a rental car and they don’t take kindly to kangaroo-induced dents we restricted our driving to daytime. The best area for kangaroo spotting we visited was the corridor from Lithgow to Mudgee and the area surrounding Mudgee. We also saw rock wallabies on our walk to “The Rock” near Wagga Wagga. Does anyone know the difference between a kangaroo and a wallaby? We also saw many kangaroos at zoos where we could pet and feed them. For those of you unfamiliar with Australian fauna, kangaroos are marsupials (animals with a pouch) in which they carry their live young for many months. Kangaroos come in all sizes, from the one foot tall Pademelon to the six feet tall Red Kangaroo. Therefore the answer to the Kangaroo / Wallaby question is not that they are different sizes. So what is the answer?

Insurance

I thought the extra $500 I paid in taxes and insurances per ticket and my trusty VISA AeroGold card would be enough to cover all my insurance needs (e.g. lost baggage, car collision damage). I was incorrect. Flight cancellation insurance was not included. As Marielle’s mother was very ill I thought it best to buy this insurance. It cost me $0.06 for each $1.00 insured. I also bought medical insurance as my Canadian Government medical insurance plan did not cover dependents over 21 years of age and not attending a full-time educational institution or periods of travel overseas of more than forty (40) days.

Australian VISA – Electronic Travel Authorization

When I applied for an Australian Visa this service was available to very few countries. I now note that most European countries are included.

“An ETA is equivalent to a visa, but there is no stamp or label in your passport and there is no need for you to visit an Australian diplomatic office to submit an application.”

ETAs are also cheaper than traditional Visas. Right on Australia!

http://www.eta.immi.gov.au/

Setting up a bank account in Australia

I chose the Commonwealth Bank of Australia as I had banked with them when I lived in Australia. A simple matter of filing out a form online and sending a bank draft was enough to establish the account. Drawing money from it was another matter. In order to draw money from it, which incidentally I could do from North America, I had to self identify. After a few fruitless attempts to complete forms and send copies of passports and driver’s licences to and fro across the Pacific I gave up. Instead when I arrived in the local Commonwealth Bank in the Blue Mountains I was able to self identify by producing my password and as they say in Australia ‘Bob was my uncle’. It was easy. I used that faithful bank debit card almost everywhere for the rest of my trip. The card is called the Commonwealth Bank Maestro KeyCard and it works on the eftpos system internal to Australia and the Cirrus system overseas.

Exchange rates and how to benefit from them

It was Marielle’s idea to check out the exchange rate between the Australian dollar (AUD) and the Canadian dollar (CAD). In September 2008, nine months before our expected departure, the exchange rate was in our favour by 21%. That is every $1 CAD could buy $1.21 AUD. I immediately set up a chequing account in Australia and transferred money into it. Despite the steep bank charges, by the time we were ready to leave I had made an average of 15% on every dollar. To avoid bank charges ($35 CAD per transaction), do a few large transactions rather than many small ones.