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Dear Tina, The visit to Australia was fantastic and really that nice which people told
us it would be. Down below life seems to have a different meaning and people were just so nice. We met only 2 unfriendly Aussies, both at
Cairns airport customs and check in staff.
Both
Sydney and
Hunter Valley were fantastic, Sydney a little chilly but people so friendly. Sydney - Cairns via the International terminal is no hit,specially if you are onward booked, as we were, out of Cairns domestic.
The luggage handling and the time almost made us to miss the
Dunk Island flight. Sydney said that the luggage could be tagged directly to Dunk, but Cairns were of a different opinion, so all luggage had to be taken to customs again and back to Domestic !! That´s where we met the two unfriendly guys who had no understanding why people got frustrated, not only us.
Dunk and
Bedarra Island were absolutely top. Different style, because different customer segments but just so organised and lots of nice staff. My wife got some cold,so at Dunk she got medicine from the Royal Flying Doctors which was taken to Bedarra at a fraction of cost. Food was superb and so the wine.
Kewarra was nature at its best. I met the President and owner of the place and he tought me a lot not only about the rainforest but lots of other environmental projects going on in Queensland. They offered an upgrade to a suite, which we of course did not mind.
Finally
Singapore where we stayed for the 20th time at
Oriental. I am attaching one from the Reef taken with my Sony digital which would give you some idea about the beautiful nature. My wife on a tiny atoll. Best regards," B.A., Sweden (26 Oct 02)
•"Dear
Kylie, Thanks heaps, you have made the whole experience of organising a holiday a very enjoyable one. Again Thanx," J.B., Melbourne, Australia (24 Oct 02)
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Dear Gayle, Thank you so much for the wonderful arrangement that you did for us during our trip.
Angsana was great, the limousine driver was on time and very polite. Snorkeling and diving were very exciting, never have we seen so many fishes, corals, and clear deep blue water. Perfect.
The
Kuranda tour was a little bit disappointing. It was very dry and the waterfall was not so spectacular as it should have been. Nevertheless, it was fun to ride the
SkyRail and the
Kuranda Scenic Rail, Our only wish was that the tour should have been a better organized with a tour guide along the way, explaining the sites, and perhaps helping us with getting tickets etc.
The
Tjapukai events also could have been better organized, better dances etc. Last year we went to the the Mayan in Mexico and the culture/dancing were spectacular. I know our aboriginal dances could be better.
We love
Palm Cove, the beaches, the tranquility and the friendliness of the people there. I just hope the town have a fruit stand where I can buy fresh fruit, banana, mangoes, coconuts etc. Once again, thank you for helping us to have a fabulous holiday!," A.L., Los Angeles, USA (23 Oct 02)
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Dear Sonia, Thank you for recommending
Green Island - we had a wonderful time there. The food was excellent, the accommodation extremely good and the staff very friendly and helpful. The weather was great too both at Green Island and in
Brisbane, and so it all added up to just the holiday break we were looking for.
Importantly for me I was able to arrange through
Great Adventures a one-on-one SCUBA course (at some cost) during our week at Green Island and so I am now a fully qualified open water scuba diver – thus achieving an ambition of mine!!
The only (slight) downside to Green Island from our perspective was the large number of day trippers, but I guess the Island would not be economic to run without them. Before they arrived (up to about 10.00am) and after they left (about 4.00 to 4.30pm) it was pure paradise for us!! Anyway, thanks again for organising a memorable holiday for us – much appreciated!!! Best regards," P.C., Sydney, Australia (22 Oct 02)
•"Dear
Kylie, We had a lovely trip and all your arrangements were excellent... We particularly liked
Mt. Lofty House. The
Piccadilly Restaurant there is outstanding, as are the people who work there. We had fabulous meals at "
1918" in
Tanunda and at
Vintner's Bar& Grill (in a little town near Tanunda). The
Barossa Valley exceeded all expectations. What a lovely place! And the wines!!! We shipped back two cases.
The
Reef View on
Hamilton Island was a beach hotel set up for the masses, but that's what we expected. Next time I'll spring for Hayman.
Reefworld was a once in a lifetime experience. We went late in the day and had the place almost all to ourselves (about 3 other people there).
You were very right sending us to
Brighton Beach Novotel - perfect place to stay in order to go to the airport next morning. We love Australia, the people, food, wine, everything. If our son's visa didn't run out in December, I think he'd stay. Thank you for all your help and conscientious service. I will certainly recommend Kylie Howard to anyone who asks me about a travel agent in Australia. Best regards," S.S., Michigan, USA (17 Oct 02)
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Dear Sonia Now that my travellers have returned safe and happy from
Coolangatta (unlike those poor people who had loved ones in Bali), I'd like to thank you ever so much for all the extra effort you put in to help our group get there and have lovely accommodation. It is never easy getting a large group organised (and even trying to make everyone happy with arrangements if impossible!!)but I think we did it this time!!...
Thanks especially for your efforts at the end - all those travellers made the journey and were happy with the arrangements. So Sonia, you and Globenet Travel have done it again!! Many thanks," J.R., Bendigo, Australia (16 Oct 02)
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Hi Tina, It truly was the best holiday we have ever had! Our accommodations were terrific.
Sydney was beautiful,
Hamilton Island was terrific and
Cairns was a blast! Thank you for everything," B.G., California, USA (16 Oct 02)
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Hi Tina We had a wonderful time and everything went completely smoothly. The
Brampton Island Resort is glorious, the room was comfortable and relaxing, and the staff there are sensational! We ate like pigs, drank huge numbers of exotic cocktails, snorkelled everyday around the island's 7 beaches, went catamaran-ing, jetski-ing....really lived it up! Your service is wonderful. I will definitely use GlobeNet again... Thanks so much for your help Tina! Cheers," K.&K. P., Sydney, Australia (15 Oct 02)
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Dear Shelley,Thanks for all your arrangements they worked out really well. Some feedback:
1.
Heron Island Thought is over rated - rooms nice - food very good. Trip out on the launch was awful - 90% of the passengers were sick!! Birds overpowering, noise, smell, etc I would only recommend to divers and bird watchers
2. Tropical Queensland was great. Loved the
Reef House at Palm Cove - superb!
Daintree tour was excellent. Escort was great. Lunch very good. Itinerary just right. Only thing that was disappointing was the river cruise part - no crocs because the water was too warm! The guide on the river boat was not good at all.
We also took the trip to
Kuranda - the
SkyRail and the railway were both good. Thanks again for your help in making our vacation a success. I thought your "on line service" was great." A.S., Vancouver, CANADA (15 Oct 02)
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G'day Kylie, We have been home four days now, and are almost adjusted to our new time zone... it does take a while. Our trip was fantastic and there were really no worries. We absolutely loved
Dunk Island, and next time we will stay longer!
There was plenty of activity for all of us and there was never a feeling of too many people...had a great night walk there, the snorkel trip aboard the
MV Calypso was just the right size boat and number of people, did kayaking, fishing, sailboating, golfing and hiking on the island and the accommodations were very nice. We had an end room which was especially nice as it looked out on the gardens.
We enjoyed the drive from
Cairns as it gave us a feel for the country, but next time we will take the plane to and from Dunk.
The Daintree was our favorite... what a very special spot when we crossed the ferry boat and entered the rain forest it was magical.
We also did this at dusk and arrived at
Coconut Beach Rainforest Resort at night. This was a great time to arrive: torches blazing and dark jungle paths! Again we had a great room on the end of the building (the treehouses have 3 units per building) and ours was about 12 feet up in the jungle trees. And the beach there is one that is so beautiful it has been photographed for a postcard.
We had the best reef trip here with the
MV Rum Runner... they take you to a small sand cay and anchor inside of it, so the water is very calm... The crew was super, food and wine on board, and the reef and fish and turtles and one shark were all thrilling.We found some excellent small restaurants there, and spent time on the beach and driving around the area. Darwin was hot...34 to 36C.
The
Mirambeena Resort put us in a basement room with no window in the oldest building in the complex, so we upgraded to the top floor of the new wing and it was great. The
Yellow Water Cruise was fantastic...saw more crocs than we could count and the bird life was overwhelming... as birdwatchers we were in heaven. We did not do as much walking as we had hoped due to the heat and the flies (no mozzies) but did get to the rock art. The flight was a great way to see the country and we loved it.
We had a very nice room with a good air conditioner at
Gagudju Lodge, and enjoyed the early morning walks with the rangers there.Our one "free night" we stayed at the
Rum Jungle Bungalows and would highly recommend it. It is in the town of Bachelor, just outside the
Litchfield Park. They have 6 very nice bungalows set in the midst of palm and tropical gardens, a small swimming pool and a small restaurant all done in Indonesian style...very nice young couple. $95.AU.
The Blue Mountains were a welcome change in temperature and we had the best walk of the entire trip just outside
Blackheath, it was the Grand Canyon walk, down into the rainforest and then back up by another route...3 hours and 130,000 million years back in time. Also the movie "The Edge" is a fantastic big screen tour of the wild areas of the park. Enjoyed our B&B there and in Sydney.
We really liked
The Rocks in Sydney, and think your suggestion of the holiday inn would have been great... however the intercontinental was also very nice. David and Bryce are back in school and we will be back to work soon. We will have photos soon and will send you one. Thanks so much for your help in organizing such a great holiday. Fondly," C.&J. J., Hood River, USA (14 Oct 02)
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Hello Zoe, The trip was great but not long enough ! Your recommendation for the
Hayman Island Resort lagoon room was great. Leigh& I both enjoyed it very much& would like to return someday. I see what you mean about the food prices - this is obviously where they make their money! Thanks once again& I have let all my friends know about GlobeNet Travel Cheers" B.W., Melbourne, Australia (14 Oct 02)
•"
Dear Shelley, Hi, and thank you for doing a wonderful job of arranging our recent trip to
Hamilton Island and
Club Crocodile Long Island, we had a wonderful time. Everything went very well, and we will be going back. I thank you for your patience & understanding, when we changed some of our plans in the last week, and we still managed to get exactly what we wanted. I have attached a photo taken on Long Island." M.C., Robina, Australia (13 Oct 02)
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Kylie the family had a great time visited the reef, snorkelling etc lotsa sailing at
South Molle Island Resort. Vicki enjoyed the no cooking washing up... weather was almost perfect the tides could have been kinder what with new moon& king tides we missed a bit of water sport - the king lows were around early pm and sailing stopped - still there was golf tennis and walking to make up for will send some photos in a few days cheers," G.R., Sydney, Australia (12 Oct 02)
•"
Tina It was quite a honeymoon. We had an absolutely fabulous time and would thoroghly recommend
Dunk island to everyone. Food was delcious, accomodation and service of high quality and lots of things to do for everyone! Thanks," S.A., London, UK (8 Oct 02)
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Hi, Kylie!... Our holiday in Australia was everything we had hoped for and more. If we had the opportunity to do it again, we would change very little. We enjoyed seeing the different animals, vegetation, and landscape. Australia is an amazing continent and a month certainly doesn't do it justice.
As to the tours, the driver (Clinton) on the
Kakadu, Litchfield, Katherine Gorge tour (
BillyCan )was close to, if not the, best driver/guide that we have seen. He made an extra effort to show us things of interest that we probably would have missed on our own.
It was refreshing to see that no one had their hands held out for tips at the end of the tours, something that is very common (and not appreciated) in other parts of the world. There was not a single tour that we did not enjoy or would hesitate to take again or to recommend to others...
We found that in all the hotels there was every effort to assist in checking and confirming the tours. We really appreciate all your efforts on our behalf. Your concern about the noise at the
Gladstone Hotel was unexpected and, luckily, the hotel was completely quiet. We were reassured, however, that you were taking care of us even at a distance!
Thanks, Kylie, we were very impressed with your service, and will be passing your name along to other friends who plan to visit your wonderful country. Thanks again, cheers!" D.& G.P., Calgary, CANADA (8 Oct 02)
•"
Hi Kylie... Dunk Island was fabulous, spent most of our time on or in the water! Everything went very smoothly, no probs at any point. Sad to say we forgot the camera!! So no photos I'm afraid . . just as well we went there 15 years ago so can look at our old shots! Regards," R.L., Brisbane, Australia (8 Oct 02)
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Hi Tosh, Thanks so much for putting this itinerary together... you've successfully managed to sell us
Couran Cove as the location. To be honest I am delighted to have found a travel agent as helpful as you (it was difficult) ... really do appreciate your efforts very much. Regards," S.J., Sydney, Australia (8 Oct 02)
•"
Dear Sonia The honeymoon was wonderful and everything went extremely smoothly. Both
Silky Oaks and
Lizard Island were fantastic and I would recommend to absolutely anybody! Finally I would like to say how pleased we were with the exceptionally friendly, helpful service you provided to us in organising our trip, it was excellent and I will certainly be using GlobeNet Travel again. Kind regards," E.C., London, UK (7 Oct 02)
•"
Hi Gayle Just like to thank you for all your effort you put in for us. We all arrived back safely last Tuesday from
Club Crocodile Long Island. Everyone had a good time.
The Whitsundays are lovely.
We went on
The Great Barrier Reef cruise out to
Hardys Reef and also the cruise out to
Whitehaven Beach and
Bali Hai. We saw a lot of the other Islands in the Whitsundays this way. Had a stopover on
Daydream. Very nice. Once again, thank you very much. Will keep in touch when we are ready to go again. Regards" H.K., Sydney, Australia (5 Oct 02)
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Dear Sonia, I must congratulate Globenet and in particular you, for the outstanding service and attention you have given me. It is only a small holiday but I will remember this when booking any future holidays. And you can pass that on to head office too if you wish! Thanks," J.F., Melbourne, Australia (3 Oct 02)
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ZOE, Just wanted to send you a quick note to say thank you for organising our trip to
Great Keppel Island. We had a GREAT time - one of the best holidays I've had. Thanks again for all your help." R.M., Sydney, Australia (30 Sep 02)
•"
Hi Sonia, 350 sleeps until we're back on
Lizard Island. Overall we had a fantastic trip. Lizard is an exceptional experience. The quality of the accomodtion, staff, quiet and calm, and food is outstanding. Being on the
Great Barrier Reef obviously makes it that much more of a great location since Sue loves the water and snorkeling. we expect to go back there next September.
The rainforest and
Daintree Lodge were also a great time. The Eco-Lodge isn't for everyone. It is run on a much smaller scale, and while it is a quality experience it is not for those seeking real "luxury" or an upscale experience. I'd called it "funky" upscale. Is is a very authentic rain forest experience, I believe more so than
Silky Oaks (which we visited for dinner). Silky Oaks felt more like a resort, while Lizard felt like a hideaway or special place.
The spa at
Daintree is excellent. In fact that is my one criticism of Lizard....apparently keeping staff on island resorts (in certain functions, and not only at Lizard) is a challenge and as a result they often get more junior staff. I felt this to be true of their spa staff, and the quality of massage was not comparable to the overall standards of Lizard, or other resorts I've been to. I shared this on my feedback form there...
Thanks again for your help in plannng a great holiday. Best regards," J.M. Los Angeles, USA (18 Sep 02)
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Hi Jo, Well we are back!! And I am happy to report we all survived!! (various degrees of hangovers, seasickness and sunburn not counted) I would just like to thank you very much for your organising and help over the past few weeks. The accomodation was fabulous. Exactly what we wanted. "
Nautilus" remembered to pick us up and deliver us to the right place this time (it was the same driver so we gave him a hard time about which
Cairns Airport he should drop us at). A small hiccup when leaving with a 2 hour wait at the airport due to a cancellation but otherwise everything went smoothly.
Once again, thanks for your help. We plan to make it an annual performance so will be in touch again I'm sure." D.B.,. Melbourne, Australia. (17 Sep 02)
•"
Dear Jean...the Itinerary looks GREAT! We are very happy with it and expect to have a wonderful honeymoon, thanks to you and all your hard work. Thank you again for finding us the perfect Honeymoon destination and for doing it at such short notice. Best regards," L.W., Sydney, Australia (17 Sep 02)
•"
Kylie, I just wanted to let you know that we're back from our trip and it was fantastic. All the transfer and connections went smoothly (with two slight exceptions I'll get to later). I was very impressed with Australia. Not only was it beautiful, but everyone was absurdly friendly, and everything seemed incredibly clean, modern and organized, even in remote places, which is a big difference from where we live (barely controlled chaos). It got to the point where the extreme organization was funny, in practically every tour and resort we were given detailed instructions on where the toilets where, the correct procedure for eating, how long each leg of the trip would be, etc. The only real problem we had was that it was colder than expected. We wore the same pants and sweater for 3 weeks and had a bag full of shorts and t-shirts.
There were some advantages, the desert wasn't hot and the hills of
Adelaide were a gorgeous green, but it's always hot here (25 to 35 celsius, even at night) so we were not adequately prepared.
The water was also extremely cold, although I put on a wet suit and got in anyway at
Lady Elliott Island. I think a month later might have been perfect. With respect to the accomodations, I think you hit the nail on the head pretty much every time...
The
Great Ocean Road Tour was a blast, on the other hand. The driver was funny, he gave some information but also played cool music throughout, the tourists were young and you could choose where to eat lunch and dinner. Anyway, these are nits which I thought you might find useful. Like I said, I'm incredibly impressed with the way our complicated itinerary ran like clockwork. You budgeted the right amount of time in each place, we were busy, but not rushed, and your selections and recommendations were great.
We even hiked
King's Canyon, which was a great experience. I love your country. Sometimes it's hard to tell from the inside, but it really is close to paradise. The cities are cosmopolitan, but attractive, safe and clean. People are well off. The infrastructure is in great shape (no potholes anywhere!) and you've got huge, wide open spaces. It's amazing.
I already have a list of places to visit for my next trip (Western Australia. Tasmania, New Zealand) and am looking forward to it even if its a few years from now. Thanks for everything." N.B., San Juan, Puerto Rico (17 Sep 02)
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