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Australia/Travel from Sydney to the Reef

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Expert: - 8/2/2010


Question
Hi, I am a first-time visitor to Australia. I plan on visiting my family in Sydney in late October. However, it will be extremely boring just staying in Sydney for 10 days. I'd like to visit around other places. Do you happen to know any good travel agency that runs local trip? I heard Reef should be a must-see. What do you think? Thanks a lot!

Answer

Barrnigton Tops nation
A few things arise from your question.
Firstly, I'm not sure what you are interested in if you will find Sydney boring for 10 days.  Personally, I could spend a fortnight there and never get tired of it but my interests must be different to yours.
Secondly, the reef is worth a look, but only if you're up that way.  Do you realize that it's a couple of thousand kilometres away from Sydney and then, you have to get on a boat because it's 40-70 kilometres offshore?
As for other trips, I would recommend the Blue Mountains (easily reachable by train from Sydney# and I could easily spend days up there.
Then, there's Newcastle where I come from.  Here there are Australia's most popular vineyards just one hour away; one of Australia's finest bays #Port Stephens# just 45 minutes away where you can go diving and whale watching; wonderful rainforest 1 1/2 hours away #Dungog or Gloucester).
Then there's the Southern Highlands which will be in full spring bloom around then. Apart from the flowers they have some wonderful national parks nearby.
The best contact for tours would be the New South Wales Tourist Information service as a starting point.
Hope that helps you somewhat.  You could also look up virtualtourist.com
Cheers, Ian
    Questioner's Rating
    Rating(1-10)Knowledgeability = 10Clarity of Response = 10Politeness = 10
    Commentthanks so much. I have never been to Sydney before, so I thought 3 days would be enough. I had no idea there were so much else to do in Sydney. Your answer is very helpful..thanks a lot


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Ian Smith

Expertise

Very good knowledge of N.S.W. from beach to bush to Broken Hill. Have also travelled in a lot in Victoria, Queensland (to Townsville), Tasmania, South Australia and a few weeks in southern W.A. Used to be Hunter Valley Tourist Officer. Contact me for sights to see, not which disco or pub to recommend. Have also spent months in Europe, particularly the following: Italy, Germany, Spain, England, Scotland, Belgium, Holland, Austria and Czech Republic. I am a retiree and have a Winnebago Motorhome which I plan to use over the next few years (and have done some trips already).

Experience

I have surfed, raced motorcycles, ordinary cycles and a bit of fishing through much of the area as well as working there selling 5 days a week. I also have many photographs which I am currently working at putting on the computer. I have an extensive catalogue of where I've travelled at virtualtourist.com under "iandsmith".

Organizations
Hunter Valley Veterans Cycling Club

Publications
REVS, Surfing World, Soccer Weekly, Australian Motor Cycle News, Womens Weekly.

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