Avalook at Australia News
Issue Number 21, 9 January 2001
ISSN 1443-0797
Editors: Eric Lindsay and Jean Weber
info@avalook.com.au
In this issue...
Getting around Australia - your choices of transportation
Buying a car over the Internet before arriving in Australia
Centenary of Federation
Australia Day
New Airlie Beach swimming lagoon
More on collecting your e-mail while travelling in Australia
Freedom Air flights between Australia and New Zealand
Claiming a GST (Goods and Services Tax) refund
Transport from Perth airport to destinations in the area
Visiting Melbourne and other parts of Victoria
Subscription information
Getting around Australia - your choices of transportation
The latest addition to the Avalook website is a series of pages summarising your transportation choices for getting around Australia. We've included links to relevant websites and will be adding more details as we find them.
http://www.avalook.com.au/transport.htm
Buying a car over the Internet before arriving in Australia
About 18 months ago, a friend of ours came to Australia for a six-month holiday. He wanted to buy a car and sell it again when he left. You may be interested in his experiences, and his reasons for the choices he made. Here's his story: http://www.avalook.com.au/buycar.htm
More recently, we met a retired couple from Switzerland who have moved to Airlie Beach. They arranged to buy a new car, to be collected in Brisbane on their arrival in Australia. They bought the car from a dealer in Mackay, a city only two hours drive south of Airlie Beach, and over a day's drive north of Brisbane. The car was indeed waiting for them at their motel in Brisbane, with all the registration and insurance taken care of. They were most impressed with this service!
Centenary of Federation
On 1 January 1901 the Proclamation of the Commonwealth of Australia was held in Centennial Park, Sydney. Before federation, Australia had been divided into six separate colonies: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania (what is now the Northern Territory was part of South Australia).
For lots of information about Australian history leading up to Federation, events planned for 2001, and other related topics, see the Centenary of Federation web site. (July 2001 note - the site is gone, so I have removed the address.)
Most Australian states also have their own list of events. (2003 note: these sites no longer exist, so I have removed the addresses.)
Australia Day
Australia Day (January 26) commemorates British Captain Arthur Phillip's arrival at Sydney Cove in 1788 with 11 convict ships to establish a British convict colony.
We wrote a bit about itlast year. Rather than repeat ourselves, here's the address: http://www.avalook.com.au/newsletr/oznews8.htm#ausday
New Airlie Beach swimming lagoon
The
long-awaited Airlie Beach swimming lagoon opened on 8th January 2001.
It's a large concrete pool, with an attached all-shallow children's pool,
landscaped with grassy areas, sandy beach, picnic shelters, and gas barbecues.
The only thing we don't like is the lack of a changing room in the toilet
block, and the only showers are outside. Still, it's completely safe from
stingers (jellyfish) and you don't have to walk over the mud flats at
low tide to get to the water.
The
lagoon has replaced one of the two main beaches in Airlie. A small beach
remains on the western side of the lagoon, by the car park. The other
main natural beach, stretching from the centre of town towards the Sailing
Club, by another car park, is used by people wanting a bit more shade
and those taking advantage of the boats for hire there. The old toilet
block at this end of the beach does have indoor change areas and showers.
One of the old carparks, in the centre of town, is still closed off as a construction site. We're not sure just what is going to be built there, though we've heard lots of rumours.
More on collecting your e-mail while travelling in Australia
This article has moved to http://www.avalook.com.au/email.htm.
Freedom Air flights between Australia and New Zealand
Freedom Air flies between Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, or the Gold Coast in Australia and Hamilton, Palmerston North or Dunedin in New Zealand. They don't have flights between all cities every day, but their website is good at showing you the flights for several days before and after your preferred date, which is good if you have some flexibility in travel times.
Their prices are usually very competitive compared with Qantas, United, or Air New Zealand -- especially if you want a one-way ticket. Right now they have specials for February and March, but you must purchase the tickets in January. You'll get $3 off if you book on their website. http://www.freedomair.com/
We have no association with Freedom Air.
Claiming a GST (Goods and Services Tax) refund
The Australian Customs service provides a limited refund of GST (Goods and Services Tax) through the Tourist Refund Scheme. This information is taken from their website at http://www.customs.gov.au/site/index.cfm?nav_id=670&area_id=5 - click on "Quick Guide for Travellers".
The refund will be paid on goods costing $300 (GST inclusive) or more, bought from the same store, no more than 30 days before you leave. You may purchase several lower-priced items from the one store, either at the one time or over several occasions within the 30-day period, provided the total purchase amounts to $300 (GST inclusive) or more and the goods are covered by the one tax invoice. [Note: previous publicity said $200, but the website says $300.] You may buy goods from several stores, provided each store's tax invoice totals at least $300 (GST inclusive).
If you are leaving Australia through an international airport (Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Cairns, Adelaide, Darwin or Coolangatta), you may collect your refund in cash on departure (if the refund is $A200 or less) or choose a non-cash option. Non-cash options, which will be paid within 30 days of departure, include cheque, credit to an Australian bank account, or payment to a credit card.
At the booth you will need to produce:
- your goods (to prove you are taking them out of the country), so make sure the goods are in your hand luggage (not your checked luggage, or that you are wearing them
- the tax invoice from the retailer (to provide information for Customs officers)
- your passport
- your international boarding pass or other proof of travel
If you are leaving Australia from a cruise liner terminal located at Circular Quay or Darling Harbour in Sydney, or terminals in Cairns, Darwin or Fremantle, you will need to present the same items to the Customs officer on duty, who will assist you to make your claim. Cash refunds are not available.
If you are leaving Australia from another port, contact Customs to find out how you can make a claim.
Be sure to leave plenty of time before your flight to visit the booth, because many other passengers might be queued up ahead of you.
Transport from Perth airport to destinations in the area
The Perth Airport web pages are detailed and clear. They will give you all the information you need about the different types of transport from the airport to destinations around Perth. http://www.perthairport.net.au/
Visiting Melbourne and other parts of Victoria
A good place to get a lot of information about Melbourne and other parts of Victoria is here: http://www.visitvictoria.com/
Give the page awhile to finish loading, then hover your mouse over the items on the menu bar, some of which drop down menus.
© Copyright 2001-2003 Eric Lindsay and Jean Weber. All rights reserved.
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Eric Lindsay and Jean Weber
P.O. Box 640, Airlie Beach, Qld 4802, Australia
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Page last updated 23 December 2003
