Testimonials

Our adventure around Australia could not have been better.  All your planning and arrangements worked out to perfection and ran like clockwork.  We enjoyed each and every day in Sydney, Alice Springs, Ayers Rock, and Cairns.  Each area we visited brought new and exciting experiences. The Cairns diving was an adventure in its self.We met have many people through our travels, but it would take a lot to beat the friendliness of the Australian people.  They helped make our entire vacation a wonderful experience.I would like to thank you and About Australia for all the hard work it took in planning each and every detail.  If About Australia ever needs a recommendation, don’t hesitate to ask us for one.

Regards,

Evelyn & Ronald (May 2012)

Our experience with About Australia was one of the best we have ever had with a travel agency. Melanie was most helpful and arranged our trip to exceed our satisfaction. Although we hadn’t originally planned to visit New Zealand, her recommendation was much appreciated, for we LOVED everything about New Zealand. All of the cities and tours throughout Australia were absolutely amazing! We would recommend About Australia to anyone and hope everyone gets a chance to visit down under!

Tyler and Carissa (May 2012)

We had the most incredible trip ever! This pic is Sydney and I with two Dingos at Australia Zoo. I will book my next trip with you guys!

Thanks Again!

John

Ryan & I were snowed-in in Christchurch & when we were stuck for two days, Melanie re-booked our flights/activities and changed our trip around so that we didn’t have to miss Sydney all together.  –AND, she faxed all of our new vouchers to our hotel, so we were off & running once we landed in Sydney. I love Melanie.  :)

It is absolutely ok to use my email on a limited basis for referrals.  ;)I’ve also attached two pics from my trip.  One from Sydney & one climbing in an ice cave on the Franz Josef Glacier.  (so cool!)

Thanks again!

Lisa

Just wanted to drop you all a note….we’re back in the land of crippling debt and crashing markets! Vienna and I had a terrific time!

Our week was essentially* glitch free…presenting the vouchers got to be kind of a kick– as soon as merchants or tour guides or hotel staff would get a look at them they’d say “OK, you’re all set..” and move on to whomever was after us in line. Our first interaction with Sunbus wasn’t great, but in retrospect I can’t really fault them.

Our arrival in Sydney was scheduled for 6:30 am on 31 July, and indeed we touched down at 6:24.Our seats were at the very back of a gargantuan 500+ seat A380, so we were the last ones off, which meant we were the last ones through a thick customs line, and then last to get our luggage. We then had the misfortune to be mis-advised by no fewer than three (3) separate airport officials about the location of “The Meeting Point” in Sydney airport, only finding it at 7:50 after consulting a fourth person, one of the senior-citizen airport volunteers. At 8:38am, having waited over 3/4 an hour I called the Sunbus phone number and spoke to supervisor/dispatcher “Enzo” who immediately reassured me that “he’ll be there any minute now.” 25 minutes later at 9:03 the driver still hadn’t appeared so I called Enzo again and was told “He picked up a group from flight 12 at 8:00 am…” at which point I told him that “we’d arrived at the meeting point at 7:50,” so, hmm.

Anyway, the guy arrived mere minutes later (9:06) so no real harm done, and in fact a little extra chair time at the airport was the worst thing that happened the ENTIRE TRIP: All week, shuttle drivers, coach drivers and tour guides were essentially infallible as far as we’re concerned, and as I said earlier those vouchers–loaded with every conceivable detail–were treated like golden tickets: I consider us beyond lucky and am grateful for your thorough work leading up to the trip.

THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!!

Steve & Vienna

We had a wonderful time in Australia and were pleased with our experience with About Australia.  I would be happy to be a referral if needed.Attached is a photo from Sydney. We had a great time diving the Great Barrier Reef, plus the Harbor Bridge Climb was wonderful – loved the view.

Thanks,

Terri

Dear Paul,

I’m sorry I haven’t gotten back with you and your associates to THANK YOU so much for the planning and your attention to detail for the Edwards vacation in New Zealand and Australia. It was great; tiring, but wonderful. Carolynn and I appreciate very much your making our life time trip a wonderful memory to last a lifetime. If we can assist with references please don’t hesitate.

Thanks again,

Phil

Hi Frank & About Australia,

We are home and had a wonderful trip. Thank you for all your work. I must say that pretty much everything you chose for us was terrific. So, here I’m going to note the minor things that weren’t perfect, just so you know for the future. Please understand, they are minor and overall the trip was A+.In Brisbane, the Coachtrans from the airport kind of stinks. Way too many people and way too many stops for two families traveling with tired children. I would have been glad to have paid more for a more direct and private ride into town. The transportation in Sydney was smaller and more direct, thus great, and Darwin and Pt. Douglas worked out fine.

The only disappointment in our touring was the breakneck schedule of our rainforest day. The skyrail up was great. When we got to Karunda, we had almost no time for the butterfly farm and absolutely none for the town. That was a huge bummer, since the town looks so cool. The Rainforest Centre is neat.

However, again the pace was breakneck while we were in there and also we got straight off of the bus from there onto the train without any time to explore town again. Personally, I thought the train was overrated, but that’s just me. However, I think if that tour is going to be a day, there needs to be an earlier departure and a later pickup and more free time. Another idea that we had was staying in Karunda or Cairns overnight afterwards, so the airport would be easier to get to. It is not fun getting back to Cairns from Port Douglas.

All in all, though, great trip, and we are truly appreciative.

Megan

Hi Steffinie and Kim,

We had a G R E A T time on our trip.  Kim was wonderful in helping us plan and book our excursions along with answering our endless questions and giving us the details.  We didn’t really know where to start and Kim had lots of options for us.  The excursions she recommended where just what we wanted to see and the things we wanted to do.Can’t say enough good things.  Even the weather was wonderful!  We opted to skip Sydney and see the animals and the reef in Cairns and Brisbane.  Just not enough time to do it all.  We decided to skip the city (what was manmade) and see the animals (that God made).It was a good choice for us. The only disappointment was the Ibis Hotel in Brisbane.The Novotel in Cairns was nice.  While the Ibis was in a good location we were disappointed in the hotel.  The staff at the Ibis was helpful, pleasant and professional.

Best Regards,

Rex

Hi AA Staff,

Thanks for the care package with the mug and koala.The camper van in New Zealand worked out great. I was happy we upgraded to a large one. We turned it in at Auckland and the employees there made us a hotel reservation and then dropped us off.  Good service!!!! Everything you made plans for worked perfectly.  The hotels were all great, especially the one in Port Douglas.

Weather was bad in Port Douglas, so the trip to the reef was in rough seas and the water was cloudy, but we don’t hold you responsible for the weather. All the pickups were there when we arrived. Nice to have that service.  Planes were always on time.

All in all, I thank you for helping to make our trip a wonderful experience.  Only thing I would change—–I would stay another two weeks.

Sincerely,

Jane

Dear About Australia,

We had a wonderful trip and wish to thank  Frank Gallegos for making all the arrangements.  We would certainly recommend About Australia to any of our friends who may have an interest in a trip to Australia/NZ.   However, there were two items on our itinerary that were not first rate.  The Mercure’s in Wellington and Dunedin were disappointing. In Wellington, the itinerary described the location as being near the Waterfront. Instead, it was a long downhill walk of about a mile.  The room was small and  not well appointed.  In Dunedin, the Mercure, to be honest, is a dump.  The room was only large enough to house a queen bed.  There was no closet. Although the location is close to the hub of the city, it’s in a decrepit neighborhood.  There is a derelict office building across the street and many vacancies along that section of the street on which the hotel is located.  The facility was described as being a garden hotel near the university but it wasn’t even close. (I did notice another Mercure over there when we did a tour of the city.)   I would definitely advise any friends not to accept any stays at any Mercure,  except perhaps Rotorua.

The Millenium in Christchurch is fabulous.One serendipitous thing happened in Dunedin that more than made up for the disappointing lodging.   We noticed in the local paper that Kiri Te Kanawa was giving a one performance concert in the town hall, her first appearance in Dunedin since she won a singing contest that launched her career when she was a teenager, and we were able to get tickets.  She appeared only rarely is NZ ever since.  The other highlight to the trip was the one hour tour of the Sydney Opera House.  Our tour guide was a real pro who knew his stuff and he presented himself and his material better than any tour guide I’ve ever seen and the personal audio system was excellent.  I could hear every word he spoke and I’m hard of hearing.

Overall, we had a great time. Thanks again.

Joe & Joyce