Melbourne anyone??

kite~

Active Member
Hi all,

is it cheaper to book day tours from singapore agency or from australia agency? cos my tour agency charges us the amount on day tour based on APT tours. for eg, to great ocean road day tour, it's about $100+ per person. is that reasonable? if not, will go to aus n book then.
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hi kite

yes, will go back to Melbourne again if i can. cos of the 3 tours that i have, my own free time is quite limited, so there still some places that i cant go eg. St Kilda

abt the agency pricing, let me go home and check as i have the brochure in A$ and you compare btn the two and see how or anyone here can ....
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choose Ramada cos much nearer to shopping area and just directly opp the train station. Ramada is also quite new as they just opened in Dec 02. Duxtion is only nearer to Crown Casino which you can walk there also from Ramada.
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by the way, have a gd impression on Ramada cos we reach the htl say abt 4.45am, by right check-in time is only at 2pm. the night mgr actually check if there are any available room, and yes, there is and he let us check-in withput imposing any extra charge which they shld in the 1st place
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kpo

New Member
i think if you book in melbourne...day trip to great ocean is around A$70. yarra valley is much cheaper. if there are 2 of you, definitely more worth it to self-drive.

for those on F&E, your very first stop shld be the tourist information centre @ federation sq...loads of useful maps/brochures/coupons/tram/bus routes/schedules there...you'll be able to obtain all the info you need...there's also a car rental booth there.

for budget accommodation, astoria @ spencer st is pretty decent (clean, with TV, fridge and microwave) and walking distance to airport shuttle bus station too. we paid ard A$50 per night.
 

tarea

New Member
Hi Cody, Kite~

Cody: email received, thanks a million

Kite~ : I booked from Sakura, at people's park.
it's actually 7days FIT, where it's 2 to depart and join the APT tours over there.

included in the package is a day tour to Great Ocean Road, Phillip Island and a half day dandenong forest + city sights. I will have 3 days of F&E there.

I paid $1264/pax. this includes taxes and an extension nite.
 

nan

New Member
Hi Cody, can I have your write-up too? I have planned to go Melbourne and Taz in March next year (prob slightly more than a week). Bought the maps to these places while I was in Sydney last month, but your write-up will help greatly in planning my honeymoon. Do you have any infor on Taz too?
 

cody

New Member
Hi Lynn, sorry i can't mail you the write-up now, coz i left the write-ups on my office PC and i'll be on leave for the next 2 weeks.

When i'm back, pls remind me ok?
 

tulip88

New Member
Hi, I'm planning for a 7D self drive trip to melbourne in Dec. Anyone can advise me on the iternary? Where should I start and where to stay etc?
 

kerenelu

New Member
Hi Cody,

Can i have the writeup pls? Thanks
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[email protected]

I have just booked a tour package to melbourne during the NATAS fair. Will be going on a 6D trip in early dec. Going on the city tour, followed by Great Ocean Road and Mornington Peninsula.

Like to ask, the agency quote us S$80 for pass to philip island. Is that reasonable?
 

kite~

Active Member
hi kk,

may i know how much is ur melbourne tour? which tour agency u book fr NATAS? thanks.

dear all,
sigh until now my tour agency havent confirm my melbour tour in nov-dec even i booked so earlier in Aug. sigh they said they wil confirm until 3 weeks b4 my trip.
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kerenelu

New Member
Hi Kite,

I will be going with Dynasty Travel. The package is $1248 + $110 (tax) = $1358. Will be adding on $80 for the philip island trip.
 

kerenelu

New Member
Hi Kite,

How do we know whether the trip is confirmed or not? call them rite?

Dynasty told me they have no problem in departing in nov/dec cos it is their peak period and so far over the years, there is no such case of not departing.
 

kite~

Active Member
Hi kk,

yes i hv a bad encounter with this tour agency which i booked at the fair on aug this yr. i dont want to repeat the name of the agency again as i mentioned previously. u can refer to e previous thread. yes they really can do a confirmation on our tour group cos min. need 10 person to go. else 3 weeks b4 they will cancel our tour package. sigh. if we knew this type of thing wil happen, we wont go down to the fair at all.
 

kerenelu

New Member
Hi Kite!

When do u plan ur trip to be? End Nov?

My agency say need minimum 15 to set off. They are able to get 20 to set off all the time. So when we press the lady and ask her what happen if the trip cannot be confirmed, she say sure no problem cos they never experience such things before.
 

kite~

Active Member
Hi KK,

can you elaborate more on ur $1.358k package? does it includes great ocean rd n morning peninsula package?

btw urs is F&E or group tour?
 

kerenelu

New Member
Hi kite!

Yah, my package is as folllows: first day is on the flight, second day is city tour at yarra (?) area, etc etc.. third day is great ocean road, fourth day is mornington peninsula, fifth day is free day and we are thinking of going to philip island, sixth day is flying back.

Mine is group tour
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kite~

Active Member
hi!

finally my tour agency called us n agreed to switch us from tour group to f&E without any charges. now can start to plan liao.
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phew!
 

kite~

Active Member
hi kk,

ok u too. may i know when are u gg? i m gg early dec. hopefully can settle my wedding banquet b4 this trip.
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kite~

Active Member
Hi kk,

hehe i will be gg 1 week earlier than u. :p
yaloh now only tentatively booking of my wedding banquet, will confirm soon. u?
 

kerenelu

New Member
Hi Kite,

My customary will be on 26 oct.. kekekee... Oh, so u going australia for a tour? Not for honeymoon rite? kekekeeke.. i always thought u are going for honeymoon.
 

kite~

Active Member
hi kk,

hehe my customary will be in late 2004. hehe we are not gg on honeymoon, honeymoon wil be next yr 2004. We are just gg Melbourne on a holiday, wanna relax abit. hehe.
wow congrats. where is ur wedding?
 

kerenelu

New Member
Hi Kite!

Hee oic.. that time me and my hubby went to HK for a short holiday. Initially wanted to go back to HK again since it is cheaper and we like the place a lot and that time we didn't cover many places like causeway bay, ocean park, etc. But then on second thoughts, since i have more time in dec, should go to some place further lor. Moreover my hubby never go australia before so we go there lor
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My wedding is on 26 Oct. Stated earlier :p
 

kite~

Active Member
hi all,

finally my tour agency agreed to switch our tour group package to F&E (7D5N). however paid $1.6k (inclusive of airport tax and 3 days car rental to Great ocean rd) per person. not sure ex anot according to my itinerary below. pls. advise where shld i go during my free leisure day n comments how's my itinerary. thanks.

Day 1: Fly to Melbourne (nite time)

Day 2: Arrive melbourne at 2am. Staying at ramada hotel. Free day.

Day 3: Day tour to Yarra Valley & Puffing Billy

Day 4: Free Day

Day 5: Drive to Great ocean road. Car rental (2.2l toyota camry).
Green Pass: Acommodation at Apollo Bay Comfort Inn.

Day 6: Drive along great ocean rd and acommodation at Port Fairy Comfort Inn.
Free admission to Flagstaff hill museum with dinner and 70mins sound n laser show.
(Anyone know where is the museum cos my tour agency hv no idea!!!)

Day 7: Drive back to airport from port fairy. Fly bk to SG.

Is apollo bay and port fairy comfort inn decent n good as it rated 4 stars? anyone stay there b4?
around apollo bay n port fairy, alot of rock formations to see, what can i do over there during e day? what does green pass means?

During day 1 n day 3 leisure day besides tour ard melbourne city, where do u recommend i shld go? thanks.
 

celyw

New Member
Hi Kite,

how about going philip island or Grampian but think you must get a car to these 2 plcs too another alternative is to book day tour locally.

My F&E itinery almost complete too:

Day 1 - 6: In Goldcoast stay at Legend Hotel

Day 7: Transfer to Melbourne stayin my cousin's plc

Day 8: rent a car drive to Great Ocean Road, stay at Port Campbell (accomodation not confirmed yet)

Day 9: drive up to Grampians stay at Halls Gap Motel

Day 10: to Yarra Valley stay at Melba Lodge

Day 11: to Philip Island stay at Tropicana Motor Inn

Day 12: return to Melbourne city

Day 13: depart fof Singapore
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kite~

Active Member
hi celine,

wow u hv a nice itinerary 13Day! btw, my tour agency advised that we dont hv time to drive up to grampians cos very far. may i know how far from great ocean road to grampians?
 

celyw

New Member
heehee...coz we really save up our leaves for our HM mah dats why can afford to go 13 days.
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great ocean road drive to grampian should be abt 2/3 hours depending which part of great ocean road you are.

or you drive from melbourne to philip island abt 2hours?
 

kite~

Active Member
hi celine,

great u hv planned ur HM well. i intend to go for my HM to new zealand next yr after my customary wedding.

hmm 1st 3 days we will not be driving, will b staying at melbourne city. so is it better or worth it to book a day tour to philips island?
cos intend to do some shopping too.

so when r u departing?
thanks.
 

celyw

New Member
hi kite,

thot you are staying at apollo bay & port fairy since your accomodation is apollo bay inn & port fairy inn? still can choose? well go great ocean road is to see the great sights mah purely sight scenes and maybe can visit some local producers (if self drive)

i will be departing in end of Nov.
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when is your wedding thot its nov too how come your HM is next year?? planning my F&E HM not easy takes me months to gather info very tedious but fun too.
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maybe we will go korea/japan next year still dunno which one yet.
 

kite~

Active Member
Hi,

yes tour agency has advised me to stay apollo bay n port fairy comfort inn. but then i realised that port campbell seems alot of stuffs to see. anyway if campbell is better, might try my luck to ask my agency change cos they hvnt confirm with australia side as i just went down on last sat to confirm.

dont be confused. this melbourne trip is purely for leisure not for HM. my customary wedding will be end next yr 2004, then wil decide on HM after that. hehe.

congrats to u!
 

viavia

New Member
Hi Cody, thanx for your infor on Melb and sydney. (I asked for your iti some time back). It was really useful.

Hi kite and other gals, Here's some of my personal feedback for those keen on melb trip. For your free day you may want to drop by Queen Vic. I think it'll be quite a shame to miss it. They are closed on mon and wed though. You can grab things to eat there and get souvenirs fr there too. The things there are pretty affordable (cheaper than sydney i realise). Check out the accessories there (if you are keen on shell accessories which are quite in now), winter wear (you may want to buy some for future use, all these are exp in singapore) esp the boots..those flat ones without heels..i dun seem to see a lot in singapore. And they look nice. I see a lot of girls there tucking their jeans (no..no..not baggy ones pls) into the boots..quite stylo!

I should think it's best to skip those souvenir shops in town and get them all fr queen vic. Some are rather unique ( I can't find in Sydney) and prices are ok. So here's where you want to try grab stuff for folks back home.

Even if you are not big on shopping, it's really good to walk ard Queen Vic. It's Big..so allot more time.

And if you do visit Queen Vic, inside the place where they sell all the hams, chicken kebabs, chicken wraps, cakes, breads etc. There is this stall selling nougats..the caucasian guys there when they see asians, they will shout out to you and ask you: Malaysia or singapore?

They talk very well, can even say "dun pray pray" a la Phua Chu Kang. and all the "lahs, lohs". I nearly wanted to buy from them untill i saw a white worm wringgling in their nougat. Urm...it's really up to you if you wanna buy from them. ( i have the name if you wanna know)

If you are visting winery in Yarra Valley. (Domaine) Chandon (think i got the spelling wrong) is a nice vineyard to go. Fergusson is very commercialised i think. Wine sampling requires AUD3 per small mouthful. Not sure if this is a common practice but the one i went to in sydney is FOC.

By the way Cody..i din like Minh Tan 2. Find the noodles so-so. And the dim sum sucks. So Big (think its meant for ang mohs to eat).And it's really out of the way.

Mei Kong is good though. It's crowded but you just need to wait for a while. It's just opp all the APT, AAT King booking office.

At nite can also visit crown casino. The fireballs outside the crown casino quite nice. It starts at 8pm. Every hr it will start and each time lasts abt 5 mins. So prepare your camaras..can try to do a video clip too.

If you like weekend market. You can also try the sunday mkt at St Kilda. They have rather unique things and are all selfmade. Dun bother buying kangeroo or koala bears elsewhere which are all made in china. There's one stall here selling handmade ones at AUD5 each or 2 for AUD9. I dun see anywhere else selling a made in aust at this price.
One stall sells small (palmsize)boomerangs at 3 for AUD10 each. Makes a gd souvenir too. After the weekend mkt, you can walk along St Kilda Beach..it's quite nice. Or visit Luna Park. It's an old amusement park but the entrance with that laughing face is an icon there. Wlk along Acland st or barkley St, it's jam packed wif rest and coffe joints. Soak in the atmospehere there. There is one thai rest at Barkley called Tien Tien. they do lunch at 7.50. (Considered affordable in aust. Go there, u will know why i call this cheap already..sigh) I luvr their spicy beef with rice. (the sweet sour prok is so-so thou)And the rest's ambience is nice!

Another sunday mkt is at Victorian Arts centre. It's more arty farty i feel. But still good to just browse ard..

Factory outlets are at bridge rd and swan st(think country road, portmans, esprit (i think sydney cheaper), wichery etc)..the NIKE and adidas at smith street are quite good too and they have some surf/beach wear shops there.. I heard from a couple fr perth that footscray has gd shopping too. Too bad i din have time to check it out..
 

kite~

Active Member
hi viavia,

wow i m very impressed on ur write up. thanks for so much info. did u just come bk fr melbourne? did u tour ard the great ocean rd?
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viavia

New Member
Yup. I just came back from melb and sydney. I didn't do a very thorough one at GOR. It was a day trip only. Coz i am not exactly a nature lover but it's like a must see in Melb so i opted for a day trip instead.

When i was planning my itinerary, i asked ard if i should do a day trip or a 2/3 days trip. I have pp telliing me, its a shame to go for 1 day only but i also have some telling me, you see the first formation, you go wow. But when you see more formations...the effect on you dimishes..

Considering my time, budget and my likes..i decided on 1 day. Melb is nice...just that its too cold.
 

celyw

New Member
Hey viavia, really thnx for your detailed write up very useful for us people going to melbourne soon. Thank you.
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anybody got any suggestion for port campbell accomodation? i booked all the accomodation except port campbell...
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Viavia, this Domaine Chandon wine valley need to pay A$3 too thot only Fergusson & Tarrawara need to pay?
 

kite~

Active Member
hi celine,

when r u leaving? me depart early Dec. Wondering how's e weather in early dec?

well i hv booked accomodation at Apollo bay and port fairy. u?

i guess campbell has more nicer scenic views than the rest....?

from e advise of e tour manager, she advised since driving fr melbourne to GOR, might as well stop at Apollo bay instead of campbell. cos one thing, u might feel tired after driving, n oso u might miss out apollo bay areas. next day, will be driving up along campbell n stay at port fairy. then last day, drive to portland n bk to melbourne airport.
 

celyw

New Member
hi kite,

we are going late Nov, weather should be hot i guess..

we will be driving too but after GOR will drive to grampians so wun go port fairy will drive along apollo bay thou.
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kite~

Active Member
hi celine,

oic. in fact we wanted to go grampians too but my agency told me from GOR to grampians very far. Over grampians, is there any acommodation? how long is the journey from GOR to grampians?
Is grampians worth to visit?
Thanks.
 

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