JOAN SCALESanswers your travel questions
How should we organise our trip to Australia?
Q My parents-in-law are considering a holiday in Australia next April. As they are retired they want to get an idea of a budget, including internal flights and so on. Also, somebody told them Irish pensioners could apply for free bus travel there. Can you shed any light on this?
TG, Dublin
Internal flights in Australia are very reasonable, but of course it depends on where you are travelling to and from. The hourly flights between Sydney and Melbourne cost from about 70 Australian dollars (€42) each way. Try Qantas (qantas.com.au), Virgin Blue (virginblue.com.au), Jetstar (jetstar.com.au) and Skywest (skywest.com.au).
You should also visit immi.gov.au, where your in-laws can apply online for free eVisitor tourist visas. They do not need to send in their passports: after they have registered, Australia’s immigration system will recognise their documents and clear them to enter the country when they arrive.
The travel concessions you mention are available only to older Irish people who have moved to Australia. In Perth, however, the Central Area Transit buses are free for everyone, and Melbourne has a free tram that loops the city.
Q We have been invited to a wedding in Melbourne at the end of March. We have two small children, so we’d like to go on a comfortable, child-friendly airline, preferably travelling through the night, with a short stopover and reasonable prices. What are our options in terms of renting a house with a garden or safe outdoor space for up to three weeks? And is Melbourne a child- friendly city?
DC, Dublin
I would suggest flying from Dublin via Abu Dhabi with Etihad Airways (etihad.com), which has a good reputation for service and child-friendliness. After a first leg of about seven and half hours, the second leg flies through the night. Expect to pay about €3,300, including taxes, for the four of you.
The Economist recently named Melbourne, for the eighth year in a row, one of the world’s best three cities to live in, so it is a great place to visit. You can get an idea of its family activities at visitmelbourne. com/family.
Victoria is Australia’s smallest and most diverse state. Healesville Sanctuary, an hour from Melbourne, is the country’s leading wildlife park (zoo.org.au/healesville sanctuary). Phillip Island (penguins.org.au), home of the nightly Penguin Parade, when little penguins waddle from the sea to their sand-dune burrows, is also close to the city.
Melbourne does not have a lot of holiday rentals; check out what is available on realestateview.com.au. If you register your interest on the site, it will send details of new properties as they come in. I have also seen some houses to rent on holidaylettings.co.uk.
Q My wife and I are hoping to travel to Australia in January for six months. What’s the best way to take or access funds? I had considered using my credit card, clearing the bill monthly by direct debit at home, but I believe there are additional charges for using your card outside the euro area. Could I use a Laser card, or should I consider traveller’s cheques?
BM, Tipperary
All Australian banks, and their cash machines, charge for withdrawals. Credit cards are charged at the exchange rate and, sometimes, an additional cross-border fee of 1.75-2.75 per cent. Traveller’s cheques are still widely used, but not all banks here issue them. Check with your own bank. For €25 Usit will set up an Australian bank account for you; it takes five days to initialise. You can call Usit’s Dublin office on 01-6021906, or see usit.ie. For more information about the country, and ideas for your trip, see australia.com.
Go Contact
E-mail questions, with your name and address, to jscales@irishtimes.com.