Travel Review: Australia Vacation of a Lifetime, Sydney, Blue Mountains, Uluru, Darwin, Cairns, Port Douglas, Daintree,...

Deal with communication as soon as you arrive. Buy a disposable phone plan. Well worth whatever the fees are ~$100. We spent 100s more trying to use phones in hotels. Also read the fine print. Most tours include limited activity and any extras (extra dives for example) cost extra. Don't rent cars! We used AVIS and a local operator in Port Douglas and in both cases they slammed us with minor dent fees and for a flat tire -- really renting cars are becoming scams these days. If you do, get insurance ahead of time. Otherwise, the itinerary was perfect in the time I had. Alice Springs worth the day in and out to get to outback Safari and Uluru/Kings Canyon. Port Douglas wonderful with Reef and Rainforest. Don't spend too much time in Sydney--two days we had was plenty. Bondi beach was worth the one day of jetlag rest we built in in the beginning.