Travel Review: Australia Vacation, Kangaroo Island, Cairns, Sydney, Whitsundays, Hamilton Island, Phillips Island, Snorkeling

I would have eliminated Ayers Rock-- it was not anyone's fault that the night we went for Dining under the Stars, it was cloudy and there were no stars.  It was about to rain, so we were rushed out of there. The next morning, we got up at 3:30 am, dressed and went to the lobby for our sunrise camel ride,  only to be greeted by someone who told us it was cancelled due to the overnight rain.  The ride could not be rescheduled, as they were already booked the rest of the day.   Also, the food was barely edible, and they are really limited, with restaurants.  Probably part of the problem, was that the dining facility at our hotel was closed for renovations and we had to go over to the town center to eat.  I couldn't figure out why so many people went to the grocery store, but in hindsight, we might have done better snacking from the room, which is not the way we generally like to travel.  

The hotels were all to our liking, although the hotel in Cairns could probably have used a bit of renovation--I actually inquired, if it had always been that brand of hotel and was told, that in fact, it had been another brand.  We stayed at this brand of hotels recently in China, and they were much nicer.  However, the view over looking the marina was very pleasant.  

In general, Uluru was not to our liking.  The aborigine people have control of the park, and charge a park admission of $25 per person, which I find excessive.  Then you get in the park, and are told by the guide that you can't take pictures of the rock, but for 2 places, you can't visit Kata Tjuta, and that they can only take you to 2 sots to show you anything. (P.S. We have a Sr. pass for the U.S. National Parks, that is good for the rest of your life, and costs $10, so you can understand why I felt it was expensive.)  Thus our tours on consecutive days, were basically the same tour (same places, same stories and same visit to the Cultural Center) , with the exception of one including a sunrise breakfast.  To be honest, I did not find anything overly beautiful about sunrise or sunset in this area.

TRAVEL COMPANY COMMENTS:

We are so pleased that the clients enjoyed the majority of their 3+ week adventure in Australia and Fiji! Unfortunately the weather in Ayers Rock didn’t cooperate. One of the reasons that people travel to Ayers Rock is for the amazing star gazing but our clients experienced a rare period of overcast skies and rain in the desert. As anyone who has traveled and experienced inclement weather knows, rain can certainly put a damper on an otherwise wonderful vacation. We will certainly look into the food options and renovations notes made.