Australia Adventure Contacts
Le Meridien
Feb 1 - 3
11 Jamison Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
phone: (61-2) 9696-2500
email: reservations@lemeridien-sydney.com
5 star hotel. Need I say more?
Molly Malones Irish Pub
Jan 30
34 best Street
Devonport7310
Tasmania
phone: (03)6424 1898
This place was OK. Not great, but not bad. There was a bunch of dorm rooms above a little pub (with pokies). The only real problem I had with this place was that they didn’t give/rent you towels. The place was real empty. I think there was only one other person staying there besides us.
Loyds Hotel
Jan 29 & 31
23 George Street
Launceston 7250
Tasmania
phone: 6331 4966
This is a great bargin for the price. A twin share room cost $50A for the night. We have a fridge, private bathroom, three beds, and a TV. It is a little warm, but the price is great.
EagleHawk Dive Center
This is the dive shop. But wait, there’s more! The dive shop is half dive shop, half hostel. They have a loft for you to stay in, and a kitchen and living room. It is pretty cheap, and feels safe and comfortable. But don’t call yet, there is one more thing! The staff wakes you up when its time to dive!!!!!!!
The Pickled Frog
Jan 26, 27
281 Liverpool St.
Hobart, Tasmania
phone: 03 6234 7977
email: info@thepickledfrog.com
www.thepickledfrog.com
Stupid youth hostels… There is an oder to this place that is not pleasing to my nose.
We are in a single person room. Mark grabbed a matress from downstairs and put it on the floor of our room, making it a double. Kinda. Tomorrow night we get a real double room, but I’m not expecting much. After tomorrow night we are moving on. I hope this place doesn’t collapse before then.
Perhaps I was too quick to judge this place. They have a real nice back room, which could be spectacular without too much effort. Back there is a pool table in great shape that only costs a dollar to play. And the beer is also pretty cheap (and strong) and the bar. But wait, it got better. Last night was probably one of the best nights I had. No, I didn’t meet some easy women with American fetishes, but almost as good. Ok, not near as good as that, but still good. My mattress was pure foam last night, giving me the best night’s sleep I’ve had this trip. It was almost as nice as my water bed back home. The great thing is my matress tonight is just like the other one (we switched rooms today).
This is a good place to stay (provided you don’t try to fit two people where there is only room for one). It is fairly clean and the staff is really friendly. There is a decent bar and kitchen, but things don’t get loud or crazy. I really don’t like it when the place I’m sleeping at is loud or crazy. It is great fun to visit those types of places, but I don’t want to live there.
All Seasons Premier Swanston Hotel
Jan 25
195 Swanston Street
Melbourne, VIC 3000
phone: (03) 9663 4711
This is a nice hotel located in the center of Melbourne. The room was reasonably priced.
Ayers Rock Resort
Jan 22 - 24
PO Box 46 Ayers Rock
Northern Territory 0872
phone: (08) 8957 7888
This is a hotel. It is expensive, because this is the only resort in the area and they can afford to overcharge.
Calypso Inn Backpackers Resort
Jan 17 - 21
5-9 Diggers Street
Cairnes
Queensland 4870
phone: (07) 4031 0910
toll free booking: 1800 815 628
www.calypsobackpackers.com.au
We started out in a dorm room here. It sucked. No air conditioning meant we had to sleep with the windows open. There was the hostel bar playing loud music on one side and the street on the other side. Neither of us got a lot of sleep.
We just upgraded to a twin room. It is in a different building, which is quite. The twin room is a lot nicer than the dorm rooms.
Holiday Inn
Jan 15 & 16
334 Flinders Mall
Townsville
QLD 4810
phone: (07)4729 2000
email: reservations@holidayinntownsville.com.au
www.townsville.holiday-inn.com
Finally a real place. It is a hotel, so everything was great. The rates were about $100A a night, which wasn’t as bad as I thought they would be.
Arlie Waterfront Backpackers
Jan 7, 2002
The Esplanade Airlie Beach
QLD 4802
phone: 07 4948 1300
email: awbpack@airlie.net.au
This was an ok place. We were stuck in the dorm room, which consisted of about ten beds in the attic of the place. The air circulation was horrible, so it smelled like foot up there. There was only one shower and bathroom for the lot of us.
Fraser Island
Jan 4, 2002
Happy Valley, Fraser Island
phone: (071) 279 1444
email: fraser@cyberalink.com.au
This is a nice joint. It is a resort villia.
The only thing missing is airconditioning, but the ceilings are high and there is a nice breaze from the ocean, so it is comfortable. Everything is clean and neat. It comes with all the stuff typical of a hotel (fridge, stove, TV, furniture). I’m glad we are finally staying at something other than a hostel.
Hervey Bay
Jan 3 & 5, 2002
Cnr. Coat Harbour Dr. & Pulgul St.
phone: 07 4125 1844
We got a private room again. That is all that has been availiable lately. School is out and it is peak tourist season.
There is no air-conditioning in our room, but it does come with a ceiling fan. The temp inside the room is close to 90, which is quite warm. The room is clean, but there is nothing in it. Two beds and a trash can is all the furnishings we get.
The outside is real nice. There is a comon area, swiming pool, and other nice things. The ambiance is real laid back and chill.
Brisbane City YHA
Dec 31 through Jan 2, 2002
392 Upper Roma Street
Brisbane QLD 4000
phone: (07) 3236 1004
We got a private room here. When we booked through the British Arms we asked for a dorm room. Something got messed up with the reservations, and we ended up getting the private room.
The room is decent sized and clean. It is also airconditioned, which is a great change of pace from what we’ve been staying in. The bathrooms are decent, but not great. All of the shower curtains are useless, so your clothes end us getting wet while you shower.
Gambaro is a real good fish joint on Caxton Street. It is only a few blocks from the hostel. They catch their own food, so it is really fresh. There is a real resteraunt and a take away place across the street. The resteraunt look pretty formal, so we went to the take-away place. It had tables and seats outside making for a good place to have diner.
British Arms
Dec 29 & 30, 2001
70 Seaworld Drive Main Beach
Surfers Paradise, Australia
phone: 07 5571 1776
We got a dorm room in here again. There were six beds in the room, but it wasn’t too crowded. The rooms were clean, the bathrooms semi-clean.
This hostel was outside the city a decent ways. You had to catch the bus to get there (45 minute walk they said). There is a shopping mall and a few resteraunts in the same area as the British Arms. There is also a beach across the street.
This hostel had a party feel to it. The big thing is going out to clubs and getting smashed. Every night the hostel does something as a group, which gives you something to do.
Cape Byron Hostel
Dec 28, 2001
Cnr Middleton & Byron Sts NSW 2481
Byron Bay, Australia
phone: (02) 6685 8788
This was an apartment styled hostel. It was located a few blocks off the main strip and beach. We were close enough to easily walk, but far enough for peace and quiet.
We booked a drom room. We had three other roommates. The rooms and bathrooms were both clean.
This is definately a drug (pot) city. You can smell it everywhere, and see it lots of places. I don’t think this hostel really minded it, because one night there was a girl hitting the pipe hard outside our room.
Forbes Terrace
Dec 25 & 26, 2001
153 Forbes Street
Woolloomooloo 2011
Sydney, Australia
phone: 9358 4327
I was not impressed with this place. We booked a private room. It was smaller than the dorm room I had in college (small). We barely had room to lay our bags out and move around. There was a bunk bed for us to sleep in. Part of the reason there was little room was because there was a small fridge and a sink in the room.
The staff was pretty nice. It was a guy running the joint. He was helpfull, even letting me try to conenct my comuter to his dial-up service (didn’t work).
The bathrooms were not clean. They were kinda worn down and disgusting.
There were hookers working it outside the hostel one night. They were really skanky, so this was a bad thing. There was also a crazy old man walking up and down the street one day.
Cross Court Hotel
Dec 24, 2001
Cross Court hotel
203 Brougham St, King’s Cross
Sydney, Australia
phone: +61 2 9368 1822
fax: +61 2 9358 2595
http://www.crosscourthotel.com.au
This was a nice little place. We booked a private room here. The rooms were a decent size with a twin bed and a double bed. The view from the room looed out onto the harbor giving us a glimpse of the Opera House and the Bridge.
There was no air conditioning or phone in the room. There was no internet at the hostel, but there were plenty of places close by in the city. The bathrooms were clean and the staff was friendly.