I’ve certainly discussed how long the trip to Australia is, so won’t go into any more detail about that. We obviously enjoyed the trip and it was something we’d been planning for a long time. There are some items of note, however, for anyone else who may be considering going. If you dive, and have never been to the South Pacific, you will see those remarkably colored fish such as the different varieties of angel and butterfly fish that are truly beautiful. The clown fish are of course unique and the soft corals are lovely. We only saw one or two unfamiliar species though as compared to diving in Fiji. Therefore, if the intent is to dive the Great Barrier Reef, that’s fine, but diving is very expensive in Australia and you might want to compare costs in other parts of the South Pacific.

In general, we found Australia to be expensive, but do keep in mind that we were in all the tourist “hot spots”. Considering the number of backpackers that travel there, we have to assume that there are less expensive places to hang out than where we did. Another surprise was the almost constant surcharge for using credit cards – between 1 and 3% depending on the place and the card used. American Express – our prime card for travel – was the most expensive in the 90%+ places that added the surcharge. Sydney was particularly surprising when we saw a sign in at least two restaurants about what we gathered was a state law where they apparently pay service staff 10% more for Sundays and holidays and pass that cost directly to the customer. Again, we didn’t see that sign in every restaurant, but it was in two that we were in. Therefore, dining out on a Sunday or holiday and using a credit card meant we paid from 11% to 13% in addition to the regular price. Now, since I am discussing costs, it should also be noted that tipping is not a custom in Australia, but of course, there are plenty of hints around that you can do so and it’s a difficult habit for Americans to break. Most of us tip around 10% – less than here in the States, but we do tip nonetheless.

Sydney versus Melbourne. We did not visit any of the other large cities and there is an on-going friendly (we think) rivalry between the two cities. Both have their good points, but quite frankly, I’m not sure that there is a need to visit both unless you happen to be a lover of big cities. We did not go to the Blue Mountains, the hour trip from Sydney, and had we, that might have swayed toward the “Sydney is better” opinion. The Yarra Valley Wine country out from Melbourne was naturally a draw for us, but might not be for someone else.