non guitar related topic (mostly)

[JurgenV]

Hi,
after spending quite some time here in the forum (mostly passive but I posted at least a few hopefully interesting things) I start thinking about flying to Australia. The plan is to stay at least 4 weeks in Australia. At the moment I´m not sure if I should book a guided tour or if I should travel on my own.
Any suggestions on what could be interesting? Not only as a tourist but also as a hobbyist luthier?

Most probably during October. Any places I need to avoid during this time (weatherwise)?

I hope asking this is not a problem. But you guys are the only connection I have to Australia
If it is against some forum rules ignore me or I can try to delete the post.

[TomBicknell]

Hi Jurgen, from a guitar building perspective, I’d recommend the factory tours at Cole Clark and Maton Guitars in Melbourne - I reckon you’d find them very interesting. There’s also several tonewood suppliers scattered around the country who you could visit.

If you’re into country music, the Tamworth Country Music Festival in January is big event and fairly guitar-centric. Catching a performance from Tommy Emmanuel would also be a classic Australian guitar experience.

From a tourist perspective, it’s a very big country, so it depends what you want to see!

Tours for specific locations might be worthwhile, like if you go up to the Great Barrier Reef or the Daintree rainforest, but getting your way around the country is overall very easy, from an organisational perspective. Obviously there are some big distance involved, and precautions if you’re going anywhere remote. An ‘all of Australia’ tour would probably cost a tonne, and you can do it yourself easy enough. Maybe hire a car if you’re here for that long.

[kiwigeo]

Australia is a massive country.....you first need to key in your entry and exit points. Further planning would revolve around the latter.

[Mark McLean]

Hi Jurgen - come on down!
But, as Martin said, be aware of the scale that you are dealing with.

how big is Australia.png (356.13 KiB) Viewed 374 times

October is a good time of year in most of Australia, as far as weather is concerned. In the far north it will be getting hot but not yet too wet, and the dangerous stingers that stop you swimming in the sea in the far north in summer don't become a problem until November.
Because of distances you will need to fly to various parts of the country if you want to see more than one region. You will probably fly into an East coast city like Sydney or Melbourne but make sure you get out of the cities and see some of the country in between. But you won't see it all.

[Dave M]

If you are a diver (or interested in it) then the barrier reef is fantastic. My wife and I spent some time on Heron island which is (was - it was a while ago) a nice low key place right on the reef so day trips were doable rather than liveaboards. The marine life was gorgeous.

The Daintree forest was interesting. Don't want to insult anyone but the Perth area didn't excite us as tourists.

You are in for a good time.

[TomBicknell]

Dave - Perth itself isn’t terribly exciting, I agree, but it’s a good jumping off point to the rest of WA, which has some amazing places to visit.

Go down to the south coast, Albany-Esperance sort of way, for amazing beaches with nobody on them, Margaret River if you like wine, Karijini National Park up towards Exmouth…lots of cool stuff. Albeit with lots and lots of driving.

[JurgenV]

Wow, didn´t expect so many answers.

And yes the country is BIG... Concerning the entry point: at the moment I´m still not sure. If I combine this trip with my new hobby (west coast swing) then it will probably Perth as there will be a WCS Festival with workshops from October 10th to 12th.
From there probably up the west coast except if you can convince me to see the east. I guess the 4 weeks are not enough...

I mean I have actually 8 weeks to spend but I´m not sure I will have a job left if I leave for that long

[TomBicknell]

You easily spend four weeks seeing the sights in WA if you’re willing to do some driving. Make sure you visit Rock Inn while you’re in Perth - great guitar shop, and they’ve usually got plenty of stock from our big local guitar brands, Maton, Cole Clark, Fenech and Pratley.