Travel types

There are many different types of travel on offer in Australia. Depending on what you want or need, you may want to do some research before you decide on one or the other. Here's a basic rundown on each of the types of travel available.

Self-cater:
This is where you use your own vehicle (whether it be a car, motorhome, motorbike, etc.) and pay for your accommodation and attractions as you go - the best way to do things if you have a family and/or are budgeting. Some hotels and resorts offer a kid's club which allow the adults to go do their own things.

Fly-drive:
This is where you fly to your chosen destination and rent a car for however long you want or need to (anywhere from a week up). Once you have finished, you simply return the car to the company you rented it from and fly home. This method is a more expensive option but can save you money on fuel and accommodation en-route - for example, you want to drive from Sydney to Brisbane... this will end up costing more in fuel and accommodation as you may want to stop in at attractions on the way up.

Coach:
This is, by far, the best way of travelling - you don't have to pay for fuel as the coach operator has that duty, nor do you have to stop and stretch every couple of hours. However, coach travel is more restrictive in what you can do - you can only spend an given amount of time in any attraction you may stop at, you can't always use the loo on the coach, etc.

As was said earlier, it pays to do your research on any place you plan to go to - a lot of research can be done using a website called TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor has information and reviews for lots of places, not just in Australia but across the world! If you want to review places, you simply need to join or can log in via Facebook - I prefer the FB login method as TripAdvisor shares any activity you share there onto Facebook for your friends to see. Just go to the TripAdvisor website: http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/

Main user interface on TripAdvisor:

Each attraction/hotel, etc. then has it's own page where reviews are:

On TripAdvisor, attractions are given a overall ranking based on however many attractions have been reviewed - the higher ranked an attraction, the higher the overall ranking.

Review Window - this review is my review of Pet Porpoise Pool - Dolphin Marine Magic:

Most attractions have their own Facebook page - Dolphin Marine Magic does here:
https://www.facebook.com/DolphinMarineMagic - these can also be a minefield of info for the attraction. On DMM's FB page, they run competitions where you could win something - whether it be a family pass or a in-water experience with a dolphin, the competition is to caption a photo. This starts at midday Monday and runs til 4pm Tuesdays where a lucky winner is drawn. That winner receives the prize.