TRAVEL SPECIAL...TRIP PLANNER AUSTRALIA

TRIP PLANNER AUSTRALIA  How to plan a vacation to Australia, what to see, where to stay and how much it will cost you. BEFORE YOU LEAVE... AIR FARE If you book online or via a travel agent, you’ll pay 55,000-65,000 per person for a return flight. However, low-cost airlines like Air Asia and Jetstar will be cheaper due to the stopovers. So, you could save 1,500 per head by taking Jetstar’s Singapore-Melbourne flight ( 34,380) and Delhi-Singapore flight ( 25,451). EXCHANGE RATE At the moment 100 will get you Australian dollar (AUD) 1.73. However, the AUD is expected to appreciate this year. VISA The online application route is not open to Indian citizens. Submit a paper application, Form 48R, at the Australian High Commission or via VFS Global. The Australian Visa Office has arranged with the latter to take visa applications for a service fee of 601, and a visa fee of 6,600. You can only pay the visa fee via a bank draft in favour of Australian High Commission, Delhi, at a Delhi branch. TRIP EXPENSE For a backpacking trip, the average daily expense per person (stay, food, local transportation) will be 1,800-2,500. Most mid-range tour packages without air fare will cost 8,500-10,000 per person per night. A ballpark figure for allinclusive deluxe tours is 25,000-30,000. As per Kashikar, the average expense for Indian visitors is 2.69 lakh. ACCOMMODATION It won’t come cheap. While hostel dorms cost 1,100-1,500 a night in most tourist places, private rooms cost upwards of 3,500 per night. The average price of hotels in the country in the first half of 2012 was 8,429. It will obviously be higher this year. LOCAL COMMUTE Make the most of the hopon-hop-off buses in major cities. Also check out Oz Experience, which applies the same concept to longer tours across Australia (ozexperience.com). The only way to pack as many places as possible in a short time, is to take flights. Trains are for romance and fun, not speedy travel. TOURIST ATTRACTIONS FREE Royal Botanical Gardens, street performances at the Darling harbour, Sydney harbour walk, the Rocks, Port Campbell National Park, Koorie Heritage Trust, the Great Ocean road (including Wye river for Koala spotting), Brambuk Cultural Centre. PAID Madame Tussauds wax museum: AUD 38 Whale watching cruise: AUD 75 onwards Shark Dive Xtreme at Manly Sea Life Sanctuary: AUD 195 onwards Australian museum: AUD 12 Dreamworld: AUD 94.99 Sydney Tower Eye: AUD 26 Aboriginal heritage walk in Victoria: AUD 25 Eureka Skydeck 88: AUD 18.50 Snorkelling or scuba diving trips to discover the Great Barrier Reef: AUD 128 onwards (indicative rates) You can buy the Merlin Attraction Pass, offering unlimited entry to 11 best attractions, such as the Under-Water World, Sea Life Aquarium, Sydney zoo, Illawarra Treetop Adventure, and some of the abovementioned places. The pass costs AUD 100 and is valid for a year (http://www.experienceoz.com.au/sydney/attractions/merlin-annualpass/merlin-annual-pass). * Rate per person OTHER SITES Beach: Bondi and the Gold Coast may be more famous, but Cape Peron, Casuarina and Adventure Bay are good too. Culture: Mount Borradaile, Wilpena Pound, Canberra. LAURA ABORIGINAL DANCE FESTIVAL BEST TIME TO VISIT Avoid a trip in Dec-Jan. Summer lasts till Feb-Mar, then autumn sets in. So, plan in May and skip the high season rates. Skiers can aim for Jul-Sep. DON’T MISS... The two-night Laura Aboriginal Dance Festival will be held from June 21-23 this year. This biennial event celebrates and showcases the culture of over 25 of the continent’s aboriginal communities through song and dance, crafts workshops as well as boomerang and spear throwing contests.     TRIP  TRAIL If you want to see this vast continent, a minimum stay of 14 nights is advised by Nishant Kashikar, country manager, India, Tourism Australia. Here is a sample itinerary to help you plan. Start with an overnight stay in Brisbane and drive down to the Gold Coast the next day. On day three, take a flight to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. After three nights, making time for trips to Daintree Forest National Park and Kuranda, fly to Sydney for another three nights, including trips to the Blue Mountain and Hunter Valley for a wine tour. You could add a night and stay at the valley to take a hot air balloon ride. Then head to Melbourne for three nights (with a trip to Phillip island) and another three in Adelaide. From the latter, you can make a full-day trip out to Kangaroo island, a wildlife sanctuary without fences. You can take a flight back home from Adelaide. Sushmita Choudhury Agarwal ET130128