Australian Traveller Reviews #19 from GlobeNet Travel Australia

• "Hi Zoe Thanks for your thoughts. The holiday was great. The Couran Cove Resort is definitely a good place to take the kids - the beach, the pool, kayaking on the lagoon, bike riding, fishing in a tinny or off the pontoons, chasing wallabies, mini golf, playground and that's before going to kid's club.

We only ended up utilizing kid's club for two evening sessions - that gave us a peaceful dinner for two in the restaurant each time. We were very happy with the quality of the accommodation (Marine Suite ) though I wouldn't recommend staying in any of the non-marine accommodation as they are not air conditioned and are quite a way out if you are walking.

The food at the resort was outstanding - though a bit expensive when it came to lunches and snacks. We managed to average $200 per day for food - 2 adults and 2 kids (that includes cooking our own bacon and eggs on toast each morning using supplies from the general store and all drinks, snacks, lunches and dinners). I would have liked cheaper lunch options eg sandwiches to supplement the a la carte menus at each of the food outlets.

My recommendation here would be, if the opportunity is there, do a grocery shop on the mainland before heading over. Take stuff to cook all your breakfasts yourself and for snacks and alcohol for afternoons/evenings. This can potentially save you from a steep food bill at the end. The only real complaint we had about the resort was the housekeeping. They were "hopeless". 2 days out of 7 we received the correct number of bath towels and 0 days for beach towels - despite numerous phone calls. They never once went onto our balcony and tidied up and the vacuuming was "quick".

For your information, everything went quite smoothly with the trip - transfers etc. - though in hindsight, the flight/bus connections were too far apart. We had to wait for 1 ½ hours on the way there and 2 hours on the way home - Coolangatta Airport is not the most interesting place to be, especially with an active 3 yr old. Alternatives may be adjusting flights or utilizing a taxi (which may be cheaper than Brunels).

My ratings are as follows...
Brunels: ***** very courteous and on time
Check in/out& ferry: ***** smooth transition of baggage and on time
Marine Suite: ***** very comfortably furnished, liked the TV and A/C in main bed as well as living room. 2 sofa beds in living room ideal for kids
Food quality: ***** great variety and always cooked to perfection
Service from staff: ** resort cleanliness needed work (wallaby poo on pool lounges at midday still), café service slow, housekeeping as above
Variety of facilities: ***** great mix for all ages
Value for money: Accomm- ****; Food- ***; Overall - ****

Would I go back?? I am not sure. Getting there and back is a bit long with kids given the different transport required and I guess once you have been there then going back wouldn't be as good. Do I regret going there?? Not at all!! Would I recommend it to others?? Yes Hope this assists you with enquiries from others and feel free to email me with specials that you may do. Kind regards" David P., Sydney, Australia (21 Jan 04)

• "Thanks Kylie, We had a great holiday and your arrangements were great. The weather was perfect. It started to rain the day we left. My thoughts are Port Douglas is about 20 times better than the Gold Coast. I can't image why people would want to go to the GC after having been to Port Douglas or Noosa.

We felt the Rydges Hotel is looking tired and will return to Port Douglas but Rydges is now truly for the budget conscious. We felt Sheraton Mirage is probably still the best there. We would book in there. I would not recommend Rydges to anyone. In terms of Reef day trips - Poseidon is great, as is Sailaway. We also did fabulous trips to the Daintree and Cape Tribulation as well as Kuranda. A car is virtually unnecessary as there is a regular and cheap bus service from the hotels to the centre of town. Thanks again" L.B., Sydney, Australia (21 Jan 04)

• "Hi Elisabete Cheers ......all done now ...ready to go. A shed load of printed matter - just as well we are flying club class - need the extra luggage allowance!!!!! Once again a massive THANK YOU for all your help and patience We have been in discussion and negotiation for over 2 months - since 4th November. Whilst the process has had its moments it has been generally exceptionally smooth - oh the power of the internet !!

I must compliment you for your professionalism and appreciation of the detailed manner in which I work - it has been a pleasure to work with you. Please show this to your 'boss' or let me have his/her name, Kind Regards" Mike P., London, UK (20 Jan 04)

The SuperStar Leo Cruise
Click to enlarge

• "Hi Kylie Thanks for your email. We had a marvellous time and we were treated like royalty. The SuperStar Leo is a beautiful ship and we thoroughly enjoyed everything on offer. Got a bit sunburnt though! Too much lounging around the pool. Attached please find our embarkation photo for your records. Many thanks for arranging things so beautifully. It was really worth the money." J.S., Perth, Australia (19 Jan 04)

• "Dear Kylie Hi and a very Happy New Year to you too. Sorry! I really wanted to write to you and thank you for arranging everything for us in Perth. Our holiday was really good thanks to all your assistance in arranging the baby play-pen to the baby high chair for Leaena. I was so thankful for the high chair as well as the play-pen. I could eat in peace as well as ensure that Leaena could sit down for a meal without her wandering around and the of course the play-pen came in handy when we needed to do some stuff and don't want her in the way.

The service in the hotel was good and the shops was nearby and so convenient for us. We could even walk to the city or take the bus which was just outside the hotel area. My husband was so pleased with everything that you have arranged for us. I must say our stay wouldn't have been so great without your help in seeing to all the details because we had the baby and wanted everything to be nearby and accessible to all the facilities. I will definitely recommend all my friends over here in Jakarta who would travel to Australia to contact you. Thank you once again for everything and for a job well done. Our stay in Perth was a memorable one thanks to you." A.C., Jakarta, Indonesia (19 Jan 04)

• "Hello Gayle We loved our holiday and all the travel arrangements and accomodation were brilliant. Thank you for the excellent work you did for us. We attach herewith a couple of pictures taken at Kingfisher Bay Resort, Fraser Island. With kind regards" Alfredo & Martina V., Rome, Italy (19 Jan 04)

• "Hi Zoe, I just wanted to say a huge thank you to you for helping to organize my husband and myself's recent holiday to Hamilton Island for our honeymoon. It was so awesome and we have a magnificent time. Our room was perfect and everything was great. We wanted to say thank you for all of your organization and help, it was much appreciated in helping us have a perfect honeymoon. Thank you again" Meredith & Daniel H., Oxford Falls, Australia (19 Jan 04)

• "Zoe, You are the best! This is going to be such a wonderful trip thanks to your help in making all of these arrangements in such a timely manner. I also gave our itinery with the Intercontinental in Sydney, Rendezvous Allegra in Adelaide & Kangaroo Island to a local travel agent who went through Brendan and their quote was over $1,000 US dollars more than yours. (And you did it quicker, with more information and good advice.) THANK YOU!" Julie J., Washington DC, USA (16 Jan 04)

• "Hello Zoe, I would like to wish you happy new year. We had a great time on Heron Island. Everything worked fine and it was definitely one of highlights of our trip. Best regards" Erik G., Berlin, Germany (13 Jan 04)

• "Hi Kylie Just want to thank you for your help with the Bookings in the Holiday Inn Brisbane and Sheraton Noosa. Everything went to plan and it was very smooth sailing all the way. The Holiday Inn was a great Location only a couple of minutes walk to Queen St Mall and Coach and Train right at our doorstep. Many thanks we will be in touch again" N.B., Auckland, New Zealand (13 Jan 04)

• "Dear Gayle, Our vacation to Australia was great. Some of the things we will remember most are the beautiful coastline we saw on the Great Ocean Road tour, the beautiful country side. We saw much of this on the Yarra Valley wine tour.

The wildlife was wonderful too. For the first time in our life we saw kangaroos, koala bears and the cute penguins. We were also very delighted at how nice everyone was. Usually on a vacation there are nice people and some not so nice people. Australians are ALL nice, and that helps make a vacation so much more enjoyable.

Melbourne is a beautiful and not so big city. We wished we could have stayed a day longer, because we had so many tours we didn't get to see it all. And Sydney Harbour is as beautiful as we had pictured it would be. Overall we had a great time and have never had a more enjoyable and picturesque Christmas and New Years. We appreciate all your help in setting it up. It all went perfectly. Thank you" Ray & Missy C., Bahrain (10 Jan 04)

• "Hi Zoe, thank you once again for all your help, you provided excellent service and i will recommend GLOBENET TRAVEL to all my friends. I will talk to you after our holidays hopefully with all good things..:) Have a Great New year and all the Best Kind Regards" James K., Flagstaff Hill, Australia (7 Jan 04)

• "Hello Gayle, A Happy New Year to all! I hope this final installment of the trip chronicles finds you all well and looking forward to the New Year: The last ePostcard left off with us in New Zealand leaving the Hawke's Bay/Napier area on Dec. 13th.

From there we headed northeast to Gisborne along the coast road. Gisborne is the first "city" in the world to greet the new day each day (farthest east before the International Date Line). We stayed there overnight, and since the surf wasn't up (we wanted to try some surfing), we continued north to the lovely beachside resort town of Mt. Maunganui. We spent a couple of days in "The Mount", taking a surf lesson and hiking up the mount (ok, it's really just a hill, but we didn't name it). The motor camp we stayed in was right at the foot of "The Mount" and right on the beach. Probably the best accommodations in town!

But, alas, our time in the camper van and on the North Island had drawn to a close. On Dec. 17th, we hit the road back to Auckland and caught a flight to Nelson, which is in the northern part of the South Island. From Nelson, we caught a shuttle to Picton (2 hrs) and then took a water taxi up the Queen Charlotte Sound (1 1/2 hrs - can you say planes, trains and automobiles!). We spent the next three days hiking from lodge to lodge on the beautiful Queen Charlotte Track.

On day four, we chartered a 25 ft. sail boat and spent the day plying the waters of the adjacent Kenepuru Sound. From the Queen Charlotte, we popped back over to Nelson and headed north to the Able Tasman Park, where we stayed at the Awaroa wilderness lodge. The day we arrived was glorious day. We took a short hike around the lodge and planned to do some sea kayaking the next day. Sometime in the middle of the night, the weather decided to change and the downpour began and continued into the next day with no forecasted end in sight! Since there wasn't much to do but sit around the lodge, we decided to head back to Nelson a day early.

Upon returning to Nelson, we checked into the Muritai Manor, a lovely B&B just outside of Nelson. We spent the Christmas holidays at the B&B, which included an excellent home cooked Christmas dinner with the host's friends and other B&B guests beside the pool. We left Nelson on Dec. 26th and headed south to Christchurch, the end point of our trip. Along the way we stopped to check out the Ohau Point seal colony (a whole bunch of seals just right off the road!) We had hoped to go whale watching in Kaikoura on the way down, but all the trips were full (and the seas quite rough - for the "next trip" as it was highly recommend by everyone we spoke with). We spent the last two days of our trip in Christchurch, where we tried surfing again and prepared for our trip home.

On Dec. 28th, we flew from Christchurch to Sydney to Los Angles to Denver. Needless to say, after 7 weeks "Down Under", including 12 flight segments, 14 different hotels, 10 nights and 1200 miles in a camper van, and 1000 digital photos, numerous Aussie and NZ wines, it was great to collect Sashi from our friends on our return to Denver and enjoy a good night's sleep in our own bed/home! Looking forward to touching base with you soon....." David W., Denver, USA (6 Jan 04)

• "Hi Gayle, After flying from Perth to Sydney to Auckland on Dec. 3rd, we boarded the 11:45 p.m. ferry from Auckland harbor to Waiheke Island. Waiheke is home to numerous wineries, and due to new fast ferries (30 min), is increasingly a "suburb" of Auckland (quite a lovely one at that!). We settled in for three days on Waiheke, enjoying some nice weather while touring the islands beach, scenic hills and bay and wineries.

Next, it was time to start "roughing it". We headed back to Auckland to pick up a camper van. The plan was to spend 11 days touring various places on the North Island. We loaded supplies and got situated in the van and headed north towards Whangarei and Tutakaka, where we planned to dive the Poor Knight's Islands, one of the top 10 dive spots in the world (according to the late Jacques Cousteau).

Unfortunately, the weather turned and four days of heavy rain hit. Having traveled the distance, we dove the Poor Knight's in low light and visibility, seeing a variety of different sub-tropical sea life. A special treat on the way back from the dive was a large pod of friendly Pilot Whales. Due to the weather, we cancelled our journey north, heading south and east towards the dry part of the county.

After a brief stop for a thermal bath in Rotorua (raining), we pushed on to Napier and Hawks Bay, which has the world's largest concentration of Art Deco style buildings due to the total destruction and rebuilding of the city in the 1920's. It it also one of the more prominent wine regions in New Zealand due to the Mediterranean-like climate. Luckily, while the rest of the country was shrouded in rain, the climate in Napier lived up to it's billing and we had four lovely days in the area. We stayed in town one night, then spent three nights in the camper van right on the beach, at Ocean Beach. More later..... Wishing you health, happiness and all the best this holiday season!" David W., Denver, USA (6 Jan 04)

• "Hi Gayle, Here's the last installment from our Australian portion of the trip.... On Nov. 24th, we flew 5 1/2 hours across the whole of Australia, from Brisbane to Perth. After a brief overnight in Perth, we headed south to the Margaret River area, which is know for it's world class surfing (watched some, didn't have a chance to try it), beaches and some excellent vineyards. We stayed at the lovely Basildene Manor and toured many a fine winery (Voyager, Leeuwin, Xanadu).

Due to a lack of available turkey, we had a somewhat unconventional Thanksgiving dinner of fine appetizers and wine on the balcony of our hotel room. We also descended 367 steps into the Lake Cave, one of the numerous limestone caves in the area. On our way east to Pemberton, we visited Cape Leeuwin, the most southwesterly point in Australia, where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean (Antarctica is the next landfall the south - and it's a long way west until you hit Africa!).

The weather went from fine, to cloudy, to rain in Pemberton, so we were limited to a short hike in the Kauri forest, a dizzying climb up to the fire watch at the top of a 130 ft. Kauri Tree, and a nice lunch at Gloucester Wines, one of the local wineries. We took off early on our third day there, heading back north to the the sailing mecca of Fremantle, which is on the coast 15 mi west of Perth.

During our Fremantle stay, we actually spent most of our time on Rottnest Island, which is just off the coast. Day one we went diving near the island (sub-tropical type....water was a little chilly!). Day two we rented some bikes and rode around the largely undeveloped island (mostly park land) taking in the numerous white sandy beaches and coves, marveling at the sparkling, but cool aquamarine waters. We wrapped up our visit to Western Australia on Dec. 3rd, heading out early to the Perth airport, catching a 6 a.m. flight to Sydney, then connecting on to Auckland...... More later from New Zealand!" David W., Denver, USA (6 Jan 04)

• "G'Day Gayle and a belated Happy Thanksgiving! On November 20th, after enjoying Hamilton Island (per the last ePostcard), we flew to Cairns and boarded the "Spirit of Freedom" live-aboard dive boat. It is an excellent vessel, with 5-star accommodations, food and crew (definitely a bit of an upgrade from last year's "Perfect Storm" fishing trawler-style vessel). After a timely departure at 12:00 p.m. from the docks in Cairns, we steamed through the night, north on the Great Barrier Reef, east into the Coral Sea and onto Osprey Reef (around 120 miles).

Arriving at Osprey Reef the next morning, we dove for three days straight, getting in 4 dives each day. We saw an incredible array of fish and corals (a minor sampling attached!), including many sharks (harmless for the most part, although we saw a Hammerhead at a distance!). On the morning of the third day, the dive crew from the boat did a live shark-feed while we watched from a respectable distance.

Basically we got a birds-eye view of why it's not a good idea to get between a shark and some bait! After another overnight passage, we returned to the Cairns docks early Monday a.m., "cooling our heels" on the streets to burn off our accumulated nitrogen until we were safe to fly that afternoon (for those non-divers, you have to wait 24 hrs. between your last dive and flying). We then took to the skies, heading west across the whole of Australia (5 1/2 hours) to Perth........ More to come from Western Australia...... Hope all is well!" David W., Denver, USA (6 Jan 04)

•"Hi Tina, Back in good old ice cold Switzerland... I'd rather be somewhere else, honestly said... Heron Island was awesome, Kingfisher Bay & Fraser Island adventurous (good car!) and Riley's on Sydney's Northern Beaches unexpectedly special, personal and great! We spent a great holiday in OZ, everything worked out fine - thanks very much for your help! I will certainly recommend you to whoever lucky person travels to OZ next... Sniff. Regards." Andrea H., Zurich, Switzerland (6 Jan 04)

•"Gayle, The holiday at Lizard Island was great and we could not fault the arrangements. Itinerary was clear and accurate, and all went off exactly as predicted. We had a great time, and were impressed with your organization throughout.

We did have our usual agent give us a quote at he same time, and although the prices were the same we went with you due to the speed and quality of the service. Our confidence in that regard was well rewarded. We will definitely call you guys first for our next Qld Island holiday! Many thanks to you and the team, and a Happy New Year." Richard C., Brisbane, Australia (5 Jan 04)

•"Hello Rene, the dream holiday went, if was absolutely excellent. Your arrangements for Port Douglas were spot on, the Mandalay and Shalimar was beautiful I would recommend them to anyone. Went Snorkelling on the Reef, Just breathtaking. Flames of the Forest was amazing night, that is a definite for you to recommend also. Thanks for your time & patience." Peter T., London, UK (3 Jan 04)

•"Dear Rene - I can't tell you how great the vacation was other than it was certainly an ambitious schedule. The places you had for us were great. The best part of the trip was the Great Ocean Road and the cute Port Fairy town. Wished we could have done Adelaide longer, but we knew we had to get thru the Grampians and into the next little city at the base before night fell.

Our next trip will be opposite. We'd like to go to Sydney. I will certainly write you WAY before the dates so you can help plan it for me. Again, thank-you and I have"put you" in my favorites so I don't lose touch. I will try and find a pic, but no one offered to take a family pic of us all together. Will see what I can come up with. Sincerely," Nanci M., USA (3 Jan 04)

•"Sonia, Happy New Year! Just wanted to drop you a line to tell you what a wonderful time we had on Heron Island. Place was wonderful, staff were friendly and helpful, food was excellent and plentiful, drinks were cold and reasonable..... Perfect!! All the best to you. Kind Regards" Mark N., London, UK (2 Jan 04)

•"Hi Rene, Thank you so much for all your help and assistance. Our Hamilton Island holiday was absolutely perfect, we loved it. I appreciated your superb service greatly - we enquired through a lot of travel agencies and Globenet Travel was by far the most efficient with without a doubt the best online service we have ever experienced. Thank you again Rene you are a credit to the company. Kind Regards" Jade and Marcus T., Sydney, Australia (2 Jan 04)

•"Hi Zoe, We arrived home today at about 5:30pm Dec 30th after 17 hours of flying via Auckland and L.A. After the lovely heat of Queensland we arrived to -2% and buckets of snow to the delight of the kids. We had a great trip. We spent our first day in Australia touring Sydney, mostly the harbours, aquarium, and Botanical Gardens.

Couran Cove was wonderful. We did rent bicycles and made use of the entire resort. We were able to see lots of wallabies and large lizards. It did take us a few days to get to know the island.

We then spent 5 nights up at Dave's brother's unit in Coolum. Again mostly swimming and body surfing. We all took a surfing lesson at Noosa on Dec 23 which was great fun. Then back to Brisbane for our last 3 nights. Managed to spend the 27th at Steve Irwin's Zoo and were lucky to be there when Steve was there to do a crocadile show.

Thanks Zoe with your help in organizing our first week. We really appreciated your efforts. You have a wonderful Country and we plan on returning. Regards" Barb & Dave S., USA (31 Dec 03)

•"Hello Zoe, We had a wonderful trip and we thank you for all of your fantastic assistance. You made it a trip of a lifetime. Thanks ." Joe K., USA (31 Dec 03)

•"Dear Elisabete, The holiday went extremely well, only one day of rain, which was welcome as the first couple of sunbathing periods were a little excessive. The venue was just perfect, it was only in the restaurant that we accepted that there was more than 30 people on Heron Island. The place appeared almost deserted most of the time. The food was perfect and the room very comfortable.

There was no hitch in any of your arrangements, I made a flight change on the way up so we could spend a night in Brisbane before going to Heron, and we took the Helicopter back, to add to the experience. I have nothing but praise for your help and as a result the holiday was one of the best I have ever had, anywhere in the world.

Keep up the good work and I will have no hesitation in putting a number of people in touch with you who have seen our pictures and want to visit. I have attached a picture, not of the beach but of an amazing sunset, typical of many, but so beautiful. Our very best regards, and a happy Xmas to you all with a great new year ahead for you I am sure," Ted & Susana, Sydney (17 Dec 03)

•"Hello Zoe, Thank you so much for all of your help with our first trip to Australia! All the accomodations were wonderful and we had a great time! The Beach Club on Hamilton Island was outstanding." Holly P., USA (17 Dec 03)