General Australian Information

Guidebook

Getting There

However, the advantage of going with Qantas is that you can then get better deals on internal flights. They have improved their planes recently and most of their 747s do now have individual TV screens, but they use 767s on some of their flights to Singapore. BA and Qantas codeshare and, if there's the option, I prefer to take the flights operated by BA.

Getting Around

The trains in Australia have never really recovered from a dreadful start. They were built on a per state basis. Somehow every state managed to choose different gauge, so that by Federation no state had the same gauge as an adjoining one. Even today, most of Queensland uses narrow gauge whereas New South Wales use standard gauge.

I've been on the Country Link long distance trains in New South Wales. They were consistently late, often by more than an hour and no faster than the coach. The track was so windy, it barely hit its top speed. Still you do get more legroom than the bus, though it's a bit boring with no video to watch and people are more inclined to bring their children with them. Metropolitan train services in Sydney are alright and the Perth trains are good if you just want to go to Fremantle or around the city. The Tilt Train offers a pretty good, fast service between Rockhampton and Brisbane. There is work going on to extend it up to Cairns.

You do of course have to book long distance trains and I've found it harder to get a seat than with the buses, which you can often leave until just the day before you want to leave. It does tie you into a more rigid plan.

The most expensive option is to fly internally. There used to be two main operators, but then Ansett went bust. Now Qantas is the only countrywide airline with a monopoly on several locations.

Apart from some of the regional airlines, the only other choice is Virgin Blue, a cut-price airline. They originally started operating out of Brisbane, so have a lot of flights to and from there. Other destinations are less well served, though their network is still expanding.

The cost of flights in general compares badly to equivalent distances in Europe. Fortunately,visitors can either get some flights free with their international flight or passes are available that let you buy multiple flights within the country, usually between 2-6. This obviously means that flying Qantas internationally has its advantages. Not all airports are available on the passes, particularly in Western Australia, so you may have to pay full fare. If you've got plenty of time, there are usually quite a few places to stop off, so flying may be unnecessary. However, there's not a lot to see on the Perth-Adelaide, Karratha-Broome and Darwin-Cairns routes, so it may be worth considering flying them. I once did Darwin to Cairns as a 32 hour bus journey. It's not something I would like to repeat.

Money

Credit cards are accepted practically everywhere, even in taxi cabs, though they charge a hefty surcharge. The locals can also get cash advances in most places and this may work if you've got a Plus or Cirrus card. I don't, so I couldn't try it. You can't get cash advances on credit cards other than at Cash Machines. I used a Nationwide credit card because they didn't charge interest for cash advances, just a handling fee, but they've now stopped doing that. Some smaller places like Monkey Mia and Coral Bay don't have banks, so travellers cheques are also worth considering. If you do get them, make sure they're in Aussie dollars. Some banks charge to cash them, others don't. Some hostels will also change them for you.

Accommodation

If you want to spend a bit more money, you can usually get a motel room for about A$90-100, with ensuite bathroom. Rates and availability do go up in the holidays, especially around New Year. The service is much better because they're all run by professionals.

Food

In the country towns and resorts, the choice can be somewhat more limited, but meat is generally both good and cheap and there's usually a good selection of seafood. Some pubs do good food, usually in the section of the bar that's rather pretentiously called the "Bistro." Expect to pay about $10-20 for a decent sized meal. Clubs such as bowling clubs and the RSL often offer really cheap meals. If you're not local, you can sign yourself in and take advantage of their lower prices for food and drink. They seem to make most of their money from the Poker gambling machines (pokies).

In the major towns, there are also the usual takeways such as MacDonalds, KFC and Hungry Jacks, the local name for Burger King. They're pretty cheap, you can get a meal for about $6. There are also plenty of fish and chip shops, especially on the coast, with some quite exotic varieties of fish regularly available.

No description of Aussie food would be complete without mentioning the meat pie. The most basic is a little over $2 and is made with minced beef. Some places also combine it with pea soup in a delicacy known as the meat pie floater. Bakeries usually stock a whole range of the things, including the indescribable bacon, beef and cheese variety. If you're travelling by bus, you'll stop every 3-4 hours at a roadhouse. The pies are often the safest option.

Drink

Real ale drinkers will be disappointed, because even beers called "bitter" are really only lager-style drinks. I personally drink lager anyway, but whilst I somehow manage to drink it, I don't think that most Aussie beer is very good great. It's a fizzier than European lager and it's usually been artificially carbonated. Of the standard beers I think Castlemaine XXXX Bitter Ale is OK, but it's only really available in Queensland and NSW. In WA I tended to drink Emu Bitter. Carlton Draught is reasonable in Victoria. Drink prices vary with state taxes. In Queensland, half a pint will cost just over $2. In WA, it's over $3.

The best beers tend to come from Tasmania. I can heartily recommend Boags Premium and Cascade is better than average too. The only problem is that they're usually more expensive and often only available in bottles.

Depending on the state, the beer glasses have different names, but they all have one thing in common. They're small. In Queensland they call half a pint a "pot". In NSW and WA it's called a "middy". Amazingly they have an even smaller glass in Queensland, imaginatively called a "glass". That holds 7 fluid ounces. In NSW they do have the slightly bigger "schooner", which hold three quarters of a pint. In Perth, though, you can get pints because there are so many recently arrived Brits.

Australia has got some great wine from places like the Barossa Valley, the Hunter Valley and the Margaret River to name but a few. Again it's more expensive in WA, but there are some real bargains to be had in NSW and Queensland. A lot of restaurants have BYO licenses, so you can stock up at the bottle shop and drink something low cost and nice with your meal.

The other native Australian drink that deserves a mention is Bundaberg rum, which is made in the Queensland town of Bundaberg. It's available neat or in cans mixed with cola or ginger beer. It would make a good Duty Free purchase if they didn't insist on selling it in bottles of 1125ml.

Phones

The cheapest way to call abroad is to buy a phone card. These are widely available and you just call a local number from a phone box, which costs 35¢ a time. These are very cheap, though I did have repeated problems trying to call the UK on weekend evenings. All the lines were engaged and it cost me 35¢ each time to get told this.

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