Some things that worked well:
- Starting the road trip in Launceston. This really helped get used to driving on the other side of the road. The easy pace of life and no traffic was great for both driving and navigating.
- The mix of accommodations. We did two nights in a cheap hotel, five nights in an apartment, 2 nights in a fancy lodge, 3 nights in an apartment hotel, and 3 nights in a well-located Marriott. Having access to a washer or a washer and dryer for half the trip really helped keep our suitcases small and light.
- We did one big excursion per location. This helped us see a lot, but also have relaxed days the other days. Most days we didn't leave our accommodations until 11 am or noon.
- Melbourne: Great Ocean Road
- Launceston: Bay of Fires tour
- Frecyinet: Oyster Farm experience
- Hobert: Tasman Island cruise and Port Arthur.
- Exchange money in advance - We estimated we'd need about US$100 per day in cash. We were right and it worked out really well.
- I recently applied for a new Chase credit card with no foreign transaction fees and the "tap" feature where you just tap it to the machine to pay. That worked really well.
- Pick the best flight not the best deal. We decided to fly to Australia because we got a deal alert. That started the wheels turning. It ended up that this meant two stops each way. Next time, we'll look at all the flight options and then decide what's the best value.
- Fly Economy - We upgraded our seats to Economy Plus. I'm not sure the extra leg room was worth the price. Planes with a Premium Economy cabin are a much better value.
- No apartment rental. We much preferred staying in an apartment hotel to renting an individual apartment.
On our next trip, we'd like to explore the Brisbane area and potentially add on a trip to Christmas Island, Fiji and cruise around New Zealand to see fjords. We could also easily go back to Launceston, Tasmania and spend more time exploring Cradle Mountain and the Tamar Valley wine region.
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