Tuesday, January 7, 2020

AUSTRALIA TRIP DEC 2019


Australia trip

Normally our international trips are planned in the summers of India.  But this time, after lot of insistence from wife, the programme for Australia was made  in early Dec which is said to be a good time there.     Our both the sons Arpit and Kshtij also accompanied us.  Infact to spend quality time with children as another motive behind planning trip in the month of Dec when Kshitij has his winter break.  

We planned our trip for two weeks starting from 6th Dec to 18th dec 19 covering Melbourne, Cairn, Gold Coast and Sydney.
The  trip was finalised by  our Travel Agent Holiday Break (Mr. Luv Bassi) whereby all our ticketing, hotel stay, airport pick ups and drops and important sigh seeing were taken care of within the itinerary.  The Australian supplier was East Australia Tours, Sydney.
Melbourne:
On 6th Dec, we boarded Cathy Pacific at 1.30 am from T-3 IGI Airport, Delhi and landed in Hongkong at 8.30 am (local time).  Our connecting flight was at 10 am and therefore, we spent quality time at HK Airport. HK is an international trading centre and with a population of around 7.4 million.  The HK Airport is having around 90 boarding gates.  Its very passengers’ friendly airport with lot of shopping options.  HK Airport also encourages discarding plastic water bottles and therefore, sufficient arrangement has been done for refilling of water bottles.


On 6th late evening at 11.30 pm we landed in Melborne and against all warning of extreme heat, surprised the weather was pleasant and soothing.  The immigration clearance was very fast.  Our luggage was waiting for us on conveyor belt.  Our taxi (a brand-new MERC SUV) was eager to welcome the us.  Within 30 minutes we reached our Hotel, Experience Bella at South Bank, a beautiful hotel cum serviced apartment with 33 storeys.   Within no time we checked in with great smile of receptionist Mr Vansh, a day time college student (from Karnal-Haryana),
Vibrant, elegant, and multicultural, Australia's second largest metropolis Melbourne frequently tops the list of the world's most livable cities. With its tangle of hidden lane ways, tree-lined promenades, and grand Victorian buildings funded by the 1850s Gold Rush, the city has a distinctly European feel. Foodies will also find plenty to love. Famous Aussie chefs flaunt their talents here, and you can feast on everything, from Greek, Italian, and Indian cuisine to Spanish and Vietnamese fare.

The 7th morning was meant for hop on and hop off bus tour but somehow, we missed it.    Nevertheless, our hotel was so close to Central Business District, we opted for walking tour of the main city.   Weather was cool.  It took us hardly 15 min to reach at the heart of the city, the Flinders Street while crossing the beautiful YAARA river.  This area is part of CBD where all important private and government buildings are situated including VICTORIA MARKET, a huge complex famous for its non-vegetarian raw food, cafes.  cloth and souvenir market. 
Now the next question was to take local mobile phone sim so that communication becomes easy between all the fours of us and hotels and taxis.   Knowing that at airport, SIM cards are sold at higher price, we opted for departmental store where with a mere 15 AUD, we got 45 GB data with unlimited international talks for 28 days from OPTUS telecom.  One AUD is equivalent to INR 50.00

To promote tourism and also to check the pollution the local government has introduced free Tram service in a complete grid of CBD for all the days.   So a person enjoy any number of trips without paying even a single penny.   If you want to travel beyond CBD, you have to  buy Myki Card which  has to be touched to the pad   while boarding.  This card is valid for trams, bus and  light trains.   This Card is available at all departmental stores with a minimum value of 20 AUD.  

Wandering the labyrinth of lanes and alleyways around Flinders, Collins, and Bourke Streets reveals elegant, interesting, and quirky Melbourne at its best. The jewel in the crown is the magnificent Block Arcade in Collins Street.  Several companies run guided walking tours of the lanes and alleyways.
A day trip was enough to cover the main attraction like GPO, Melbourne Town Hall, Regent Theatre, Flinders Street Station, Federation Square, Victoria Market, Fitzroy Gardens.  We also took opportunity to visit Hosier lane which is very popular among tourists for taking pictures in front of street arts created by local talented artists. 

In the evening, we went to Saint Kilda beach a beautiful sandy beach  which is around 6 km from the CBD and one of the most popular attractions in Melbourne.  It was very cold and chilly winds were blowing so it was unbearable to stay outside and took shelter of a pub but it was over crowded so we googled and found an Indian Restaurant around 400 meters from the beach.  We went there walking and straight went inside the BABUJI KA DHABA run by a Punjabi gentleman for the  past 14 years and is very popular in Melbourne. Its owner Mr. Mani met us and offered us KULFIS as a goodwill gesture after we finished our dinner. 

9.12.2019

The Great Ocean Road is an a heritage site with  243-kilometre (151 mi) stretch of road along the south-eastern coast  between the Victorian  cities of Torquy and Allan Ford.
The road is considered a tourist attraction in the area, in which much of the road hugs coastline affectionately known as the Surf Coast, between Torquay and Cape Otway,  The road traverses rain forests, as well as beaches and cliffs composed of limestone and sandstone, which is susceptible to erosion.
The kids were adamant for self driving to cover this great road.     But I was hesitant to drive as Australian  traffic rules are very stringent and penalties are very heavy for any traffic violation.  Arpit took the steering and drove us to this great road upto Apollo Bay covering a return journey of  around 400 km.  In between we enjoyed lunch at Apollo Bay and Tea at an English Café.  While returning we found one Indian Restaurant on the way where we had our dinner.  

We were to return hired car but in Australia commercial establishments close by 6 pm so we had no choice but to park our car in a nearby commercial parking space where we had to shell out AUD 19 (Rs. 1000) a huge sum as per Indian standard
The important thing which we observed that at various places heat measuring instruments are installed which suggest likely Forest Bush Fire in the area and be careful. 

10.12.2019

This was a lazy morning.  We had to return car and therefore, took quite a good time to reach up to garage and return back to hotel.  After breakfast, we again went to CBD, but being Sunday, market was almost closed and road had deserted look.  

We were to fly to Cairn at 4 pm.  Mr. Gaurav, our taxi driver cum owner  came with a shining AUDI SUV and dropped us at Melbourne Airport.  Gaurav told that he hails from Chandigarh and came to Australia somewhere in 2005 as a student and subsequently he bought one car and started taxi service and now he owns four cars and started his own taxi business.  In Australia, it takes only one day to start a new venture for starting any light venture. 

It was Tiger Airline, a local carrier we were to fly to Cairn.   First time, I saw all check in formalities  have to be done  by yourself including handling luggage on conveyor belt.  We purchased our luggage allowance from India itself which was costing around AUD 15 per 15 kgs luggage.  But at terminal the figure went as high as AUD 60 per kg.  Extra luggage was immediately adjusted in cabin baggage and the  process of security check in sailed smoothly.  

We landed in Cairn Airport at 6.30 pm and our taxi drove us to our Hotel Cairn Colonial Resort.  By the time we came out from our room for dinner, we were informed that hotel dinner time was over so we simply ordered Indian food online but was delivered very late a 10.30 pm after much follow up. 

The Resort was very huge so enjoyed evening wandering here and there in there itself. 
Cairns is a city in Cairns region of Queensland, Australia with a population of 1.5 lac.  Its popular among the international tourists for its tropical climate, beautiful buildings, and Great Barrier Reef.  The roads are very beautifully laid with each junction decorated with large Palm Trees and decorative lights. 

11.12.2019

The whole day was reserved for Cruise Tour to Great Barrier Reef.  While we boarded cruise at 9.30 am and after a voyage of around 2 hours we were served lunch. 
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometers (1,400 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometers (133,000 sq mi). The reef is located in the    Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland,  Australia. The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms.
The cruise anchored near one Island known as Green Island where a beautiful beach resort is located with dense jungle created by seeds brought there by Sea birds dropping.  A day long activity is undertaken here including viewing coral reef through Glass boat, snuba diving, snorkeling, semi-submarine, rain forest walk, beach swimming. 
Our catamaran (cruise) sailed us back to harbor at 5.00 pm.  In the evening, we again came back to main CBD area where multi cuisine restaurants, cafes, night market located.  We purchased a few souvenirs and had our dinner at one Punjabi Restaurant and ready to come back to hotel at 10 pm.  We opted for Uber and surprisingly one Lakhwinder from Punjab again there as driver of our Uber Car.  Lakhwinder was working in a hotel as going back to home and he saw surge of Uber fare so switched over his car to taxi and came to drop us.

12.12.2019

We had sumptuous breakfast at hotel and we were ready for our next destination.  A big Toyota car with closed trolley was waiting for us to drop us at Gold Coast Airport.
The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the Queensland,  approximately 66 kilometres (41 mi) south-southeast of the Brisbane.   It has a population of around 6 lacs
Today, the Gold Coast is a major tourist attraction with its sunny subtropical climate and has become widely known for its surfing beaches, high-rise dominated skyline,theme parks, night life  and rain-forest. The city is part of the nation's entertainment industry with television productions and a major film industry. City hosted Common Wealth Games in the year 2018. 

It was Jet Flight  to fly at 10 am for Gold Coast.  But due to strike by the Jet employees, our flight got delayed and started one hour late.  We landed at around 1.00 pm local time and straight away went to our Hotel, MANTRA SUNCITY, SURFERS PARADIES.    It was a huge hotel with around 300 apartments.  Some of the Apartments are permanently occupied and rest are being utilized as Serviced apartment hotel.  This hotel has three swimming pools, restaurants, gyms, and entertainment centre.  The best part is its location.  The CBD and Beach are just on a walking distance. Break fast was also quite extensive.  We reserved four days of our trip to this tiny beautiful tourist city.  We cooked our lunch in apartment and enjoyed the grub with Masala tea and coffee. After having a quick nap of around 30 min we walked down to Surfers Paradise beach just a stone throw distance from our hotel.  Fortunately, being Thursday, it was also day for night market on walking area of beach.  The locals bring their home-made products for sale out of sheer hobby.    
While kids opted for walking tour their own, we went to the  beach and met both the kids at 8 pm in the market.  We spent quite a good time on golden sandy beach where local as well as tourist were either enjoying swimming or simply having sand bath. 
We had our dinner in one Italian Restaurant and came back to our hotel by 10.30 pm.
The market was very well lit, Tram stations are brightly coloured and so is the trams themselves.  The trams and cars ply on same path.  One can enjoy the beautiful view of Trams, Buses while eating outside the restaurant. 
13.12.019
The full day was reserved for visit to Sea World, a world-famous theme park based on Marine life.  The whole park has been designed in such a way that a visitor can spend whole day enjoying rides, animal exhibits and artistic shows.  The park promote animal conservation.  They give shelter to injured wild life and also educate the visitors about conservation of wild life.  
While you enjoy various animals shows, a number of cafes and restaurants are available within the park where you can enjoy your lunch or any meal.    We returned at around 6 pm by bus specially arranged for visitors for Park management. 
We spent evening in hotel lobby and had our dinner at our apartment itself. 

But today being Friday evening, it was next to impossible for us to stay in room so we went to market again and explored a few pubs.  Entry was given after showing our passport.  And as expected wife  Beenu enjoyed a step by step dance with local boys and girls while I  was busy clicking pictures and sipping my lemonades.
14.12.2019
This day was meant for visiting for another theme park named as “Warner’s brothers Movie World”.  This park is famous not only for its multiple type of rides but different kinds of sets for movie making,  Many Hollywood movies have been picturized here.  In the evening all artists working in the Park takes part in the parade and greets all the visitors in the park. 
15.12.2019
We had early morning flight for Sydney.  Our hotel arranged breakfast tables at 6.00 am instead of usual 7.00 am at the request of some student guests.  
We landed in Sydney at around 11.30 am.  And our driver Mr. Puneet was waiting of us at the airport with his new Mercedes.  
Sydney Airport is again a very beautiful and large airport with lot of shopping options.  It look like a big shopping Mall.  
Our driver Puneet who had his house in Mohali was very lively and told us lot of stories about himself, his family and Australia.  He went to Australia some 20 years back as student and now he owns a taxi company.  He is also into real estate business.  This story is common among Indians and particularly among those who hails from Punjab State. 
We checked in our Hotel MANTRA ON KENT, a beautiful Serviced Apartment Hotel, located at very close to the city’s main hub, the Darling Harbour.  After settling down here, we went out.  Kids had ready list of various food items to be tasted at multiple location as Sydney is famous from pastries, cakes and coffees.  So, we went to a Mall and had best of Pastries in a Mall close to our Hotel. 
Our next food destination was a continental restaurant near Bondi beach.  So we first took Train and then bus to reach at Bondi beach.  Google helped us to find the desired location.  A scrumptious platter was served to us a much delight to the kids.   
Weather was cool and pleasant so the beach was over crowded.   It  is the most popular beach in Sydney.  It was already 5.00 pm and we again took the same route and reached at our hotel.  We took stroll at Darling harbour in the evening and used  the opportunity to enjoy our dinner at “Manjit” at huge Punjabi food restaurant on main harbour.   But it turned out to be big “no” for future.
16.12.2019
It was the day for visiting to some important theme parks like Sea World, MADAME TUSSAUDES, and Sydney Towers.  These three locations almost took our 5 hours but fortunately located very close to each other so really had no problem in exploring the same on walking tours. From Sydney Towers, one can see spectacular view of the entire city of Sydney. 



The tower stands 309 m (1,014 ft) above the Sydney's business district, located on Market Street.  The tower is open to the public, and is one of the most prominent tourist attractions in the city, being visible from a number of vantage points throughout town and from adjoining suburbs.
While the shopping centre at the base of the tower is run by the Westfield Group.  It’s a high end shopping Mall cum dining place too.  

Our evening was meant for SHOW BOAT cruise and dinner on deck.    Our tickets were pre booked for Indian vegetarian mail.    It was a huge boat with a capacity of more than 700 passengers.  Boat was like running theater with multi-cuisine Indian dinner and  fruit platter.  And above all, they enthralled audience with cabaret show of singers, dancers, magician and Sydney Harbour Cruising.   

17.12.2019

As per schedule, we boarded hop on hop off bus from Darling Harbour city tour.  Weather was quite good and soothing, so we opted for open top of the bus.  Bus covers around 33 important locations including Sydney Harbour bridge, Opera House, Bondi beach, St Mary’s Cathedral, Kings Cross, Sydney Towers, Circular Quay etc.

We also happened to see one Camp of Sydney Police at Kings Cross.  Surprised to see that policemen were offering free cold drinks, coffees, biscuits and gift to locals as well as tourists.  I engaged one of the officers into talk and he told me that their surveillance system is so strong that they really don’t need security guards at any of their important places like Malls, Railway stations, land marks building, etc.   Besides, this people in the country generally follow the law of the land. 


 At last we went to see the Australian National Maritime Museum,  Entry fee for each one of us was AUD 20, but worth spending. 
Many of the old submarines, ships are on display.  The important thing was that many retired Australian people were acting as volunteers and explaining the importance of each of the vessels.  Spectacularly located at the waterfront of Darling Harbour, the Maritime Museum is a distinctive indoor/outdoor attraction and great entertainment for the whole family.
The museum has one of the largest and most diverse in-water fleets in the world including cold war submarine HMAS Onslow, naval destroyer HMAS Vampire, and the stunning replica of Captain Cook's tall ship HMB Endeavour. One can explore the danger and drama of military life at sea inside the interactive Action Stations experience; a high-tech immersive journey that shows the inner workings of the Royal Australian Navy like never before.
Though we were tired by evening, but a fire to see more, compelled us to go out again.  The kids were guiding us through google map.  So we took Ferry from Circular Bay and went to Manly beach a most beautiful, clean, golden beach.  The town has also been developed as tourist friendly spot.  The market square looks so beautiful that you simply get mesmerized in the evening lights.  After every half an hour ferry service is available for Manly beach and they are very fast and very aesthetically decorated 
18.12.2019

It was a day to see good bye to Australia.  We had morning flight (Cathy Pacific) for Hongkong and from their we boarded for Delhi.  We reached Delhi by 10.20 pm (IST).


Observation:
Population of Australia is hardly 2.5 crore, equivalent to that of  Mumbai and Ahmedabad put together. But country is very safe.  People are law abiding.  Traffic rules are very stringent.  Normally people pay taxes. 
Country has free school education, free medical facility, old age pension, unemployment allowance.  We have not come across even a single beggar there.  It means social security is very strong and therefore, people don’t mind paying taxes.

Importantly, Australia is a home for many Indians particularly migrant from Punjab.  Many of the educated persons from India are working as Chef, Taxi Driver, Truck driver, hotel receptionist, sales man as these jobs give them good wage.  I was told that a truck driver get minimum wage of around AUD 80 per hour.

Australia has vibrant democracy and all its leaders are supposed to be fair.  Integrity and honesty are must  in public life.  I was told by locals that their Prime Minister can be seen in the market with bare minimum security around him.    Prime Minster’s wife use public transport, taxi for her personal use. 





























































































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