Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day 13th Edition - To Parent Directory

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CHAPTER 2 . PLANNING AN AFFORDABLE TRIP TO AUSTRALIA
Remember, unlike in the Northern
Hemisphere, the farther south you go
in Australia, the colder it gets.
THE TRAVEL SEASONS
Airfares to Australia offered by U.S.
airlines are lowest from mid-April to
late August—that’s just the time when
it’s best to travel in the Red Centre, the
Top End, and the Great Barrier Reef!
HIGH SEASON The peak travel
season in the most popular parts of
Australia is the Aussie winter. In much
of the country—Queensland from
around Townsville and northward, all
of the Top End and the Red Centre,
and most of Western Australia—the
most pleasant time to travel is April
through September, when daytime
temperatures are 66°F to 88°F (19°C–
31°C) and it rarely rains. June, July,
and August are the busiest months in
these parts; you’ll need to book
accommodations and tours well in
advance, and you will pay higher rates
then, too.
On the other hand, Australia’s summer
is a nice time to visit the southern
states—New South Wales, Victoria,
South Australia, Western Australia
from Perth to the south, and Tasmania.
Even in winter, temperatures
rarely dip below freezing, and snow
falls only in parts of Tasmania, in the
ski-fields of Victoria, and in the
Snowy Mountains of southern New
South Wales.
Perhaps the best months to visit
Australia are September and October.
It’s often still warm enough to hit the
beach in the southern states, and cool
enough to tour Ayers Rock. The
humidity and rains have not come to
Cairns and the Top End (although it
will be very hot by Oct), and the wildflowers
are in full bloom in Western
Australia.
LOW SEASON October through
March (summer) it is just too hot, too
humid, too wet, or all three, to tour
the Red Centre, the Top End, and
anywhere in Western Australia except
Perth and the southwest. The Top
End, the Kimberley, and North
Queensland, including Cairns, suffer
an intensely hot, humid Wet Season
November or December through
March or April. In the Top End and
Kimberley, this is preceded by an even
stickier “build-up” in October and
November. Some attractions and tour
companies close, floodwaters render
others off-limits, and hotels drop their
rates, often dramatically. So if you
decide to travel in these areas at this
time—and lots of people do—be prepared
to take the heat, the inconvenience
of floods, and in tropical coastal
areas, the slight chance of encountering
cyclones.
HOLIDAYS
In addition to the period from
December 26 to the end of January,
when Aussies take their summer vacations,
the 4 days at Easter (from Good
Friday to Easter Monday) and all
school holidays are very busy, so book
ahead. The school year in Australia
is broken into four semesters, with
2-week holidays around Easter-time,
the last week of June and the first week
of July, and the last week of September
and the first week of October. Some
Tips Steer Clear of the Vacation Rush
Try to avoid Australia from Boxing Day (Dec 26) to the end of January,
when Aussies take their summer vacations. In popular seaside holiday
spots, hotel rooms and airline seats get scarce as hen’s teeth, and it’s a rare
airline or hotel that will discount even a dollar off their full tariffs.