What you talkin' about Willis?

Koji Suzuki...he da man!

Australia and New Zealand are out of the question for a holiday now. Ten years ago they were relatively inexpensive.

Same with Switzerland - no more skiing in Davos for me. It's Austria instead.

Airfares depend heavily on the time of the year. From about £700 London to Sydney return.

Food and accommodation was not expensive 10 years ago. I also booked internal flights in the UK. Cairns to Alice Springs. Alice Springs to Sydney.

Last edited by Kingston1an (2013-02-05 04:59:17)

I sent someone business class to Perth from the UK two weeks ago and that was three and half grand GBP with Emirates. The going rate for economy varies between 700 - 1200, as Kingy says, depends on the time of year.

As for GBP its devalued by 20-30% against most currencies in the last few years, all part of the great strategy to make Blighty a cheap and cheery place to do business and reinforced with unbridled immigration from the third world, this plan is coming along quite nicely.

yeah - those trips are dreadfully expensive and I suppose they are a must see for tourists. But the airlines gouge on those trips.

Driving is the ordinary Australian way to see stuff but I suppose driving 3 or 4 x 12 hour days across desert @ 110kph in 30C +, not only in the one country but often within the same state, (sometimes even the same language!) isn't all that attractive to people from EU. Plus it wastes time if you are on a short trip.

You can see a hell of a lot of stuff thats very different from EU/UK etc just within 1 hour drive of Melbourne. Within 3 or 4 hour drive you can get into desert in Victoria. Or Rainforest within an hour drive of melb.  Plus surf beaches within 1 hour @ 110Kph on freeways. Kangaroos on suburban golf courses within 20 minutes of CBD. And so on. Like everywhere  I suppose. Its  possible to do it all very cheaply here if you don't fall for the tourist stuff.

Maybe I'm a cheapskate, but I cant stand paying through the nose to see what I can see better on a TV doco.

We'll probably do Japan for two weeks for Around $5,000aud = 3,296.83 GBP for 2 all up.

We'll have a great time and stay for a week with a local in an out of the way mountain /coastal place in his house for a week as well as a week in Tokyo. We wont be going from place to place to see it all . But thats not my style anyway. I know people who are paying $7,000 each and not doing anything as interesting as we are.

Next time you want to travel here - I'll draw up an itinerary for you.

Last edited by fxh (2013-02-07 00:33:04)

If you are going through HK consider a few days at least in Taiwan. Its underrated. No western tourists to speak of. Cheap, first world, interesting, more genuine temples than mainland and Chiang Kai Shek managed to snaffle most of the best treasures away from the mainland for the National Museum Taipei. Only 1.5 hours from HK.

Last edited by fxh (2013-02-07 19:48:45)

I should add re Taiwan- my daughter has lived there for just on a decade and I've visited many times - and also organised a visit by 30 Taiwanese artists to Australia amongst other things - I have now Taiwanese friends of all ages -  My daughter also speaks Mandarin very well, is politically involved to some extent, so is not your typical big nose with limited understanding of whats going on.

I'm happy to boost the place and give genuine advice about visits and itineraries if anyone asks.

See if Sauron will grant you a visa.