21-day honeymoon in Australia... dress me!

In My Humble Opinion
1

Morning everyone–

The wife and I are headed to Oz for three weeks (maybe more) in September. Normally I’d just pack the biggest bag I got and check it, but, we’re going to be hopping around quite a bit: Sydney, Cairns, Uluru, Adelaide, Melbourne. So I’m trying to conceptualize what clothes I should bring vs. leave, and how to pack as efficiently as possible. The goal is not to bring a sngle item of clothing I don’t use.

Other parameters: weather looks to be highs in the 60s-80s and lows in the 40s-60s (depending on the region). Rain is of course a possibility. We’d like to have at least one, and probably more than one, formal-type evening (not that I need a tux; just something nice-ish).

So, for the experienced travellers/backpackers out there: what clothing do you recommend I pack? (Feel free to give advice for girls too, my wife will need this info a lot more than me!)

2

Honeymoon? Don’t wear any clothes.

Sailboat

3

Australia is a big country. The places that you’re intending to visit are thousands of kilometres from each other and at **very ** different latitudes. Cairns is in the tropics. It won’t be cold there. Uluru is in the desert. It can get quite cold there at night even if it’s warm during the day. The weather in both Melbourne and Sydney in September (spring) can be very changeable. It could easily be stinking hot in the high 30s or quite cold. If I were you I’d pack to cover all eventualities. Or buy stuff when you get here.

4

Thanks for the tip - you reminded me that the temps I quoted above were Fahrenheit, of course, not Celsius. :slight_smile: Anyway, ideally I’d LOVE to pack for all eventualities, but I’d also like to not break my back! Do you think a lot of travellers buy clothes when they get there? It’s not a TERRIBLE idea, but there’s economics to consider as well…

Any seasoned travellers out there with more suggestions?

5

Protection against sunburn as travellers tend to be outside a lot. So, hat, long sleeves, sunblock and sunglasses.

Generally Australians dress informally, yet in the major cities they wear more serious and darker clothes than the US norm.

6

The upside is that one decent quality, dark outfit will serve for formal and daily uses both.

7

Very true. Heck, you could spend the entire 21 days in the same spot, and this would still be true.

Dress in layers. September’s about the most changeable time of year weather-wise. Bring good quality sunglasses. You might not be used to the intense light we have.
Here’s something to contemplate about Australian weather - Christmas Day is in summer here, of course, yet on Christmas Day '06, parts of Victoria had a white Christmas. Not only that, but the papers were full of images of fire trucks covered in snow. The fire crews were battling bushfires from the intense heatwave of the previous week.

8

Kooky! That’s just the weird-ass type of thing that makes me excited about visiting. :slight_smile:

And, I’m from Texas, so I know about good sunglasses. :cool:

9

Aah shit. You’re virtually one of us then. No worries. :smiley:

10

Which reminds me…

If you’re in Queensland, you might want to visit the little town of Texas near the NSW border, just for the laffs and the postcards home. It’s not an impossibly long drive from Brisbane.

11

I can’t say anything about the “where to go” bit, but packing I know.

Firstly, the idea that you can pack for three weeks is a myth. Unless you want to have a miserable time anytime you’re in transport, you do not want to try and bring three weeks worth of clothing.

The most clothes it is ever reasonable to pack is clothes for a week. So pack for a week. Yes, this means you will have to get your clothes laundered. But believe me, asking the hotel to launder your clothes (or even stopping by a coin laundry with your luggage) is way and many times more joyfull than trying to pull around multiple bags.

If you don’t have suitcases and whatnot, then good. Those big honking suitcase that roll around on four wheels and come up past your knee when set down lengthwise have no purpose in the world and exist solely because people who aren’t regular travellers think they need that much room.

What you want are the suitcases that come up to your lower thigh when set on end, are about as wide as your shoulders, and have an upsidedown-U shaped handle that raises up so you can pull it on two wheels. One for each of you. Then you want one all-purpose duffel-bag type thing for taking on the plane with you. You stick books, maybe a sweater for each of you, iPods, a pen, your tickets, and overflow into this bag. Your wife then gets her own carry-on size thing (you don’t get one.) When you are in airports or whatever, you put your carry-on size things on top of your suitcases and roll them around with the rest of the stuff, so you want to try and get it so they can be connected to the handle, or they’ll fall off.

You will want:

7 pairs of socks
7 pairs of underwear
6 t-shirts
1 nice shirt
1 tie
1 suitcoat

Depending on weather, and whether there’s a pool:
3 pairs of pants (including your suit pants)
1 pair of swimtrunks (if there’s a pool)
1 sweater

or
2 pairs of pants (including your suit pants)
3 pairs of shorts (including swimtrunks)

Shampoo, toothpaste, etc. (Assuming you are allowed to take liquids and gels on the plane)
Toothbrush, razor, etc.

If you have shampoo and toothpaste and whatnot, you want to put those in some sort of plastic bag. Oversized sandwhich bags are perfect, but a grocery store plastic bag and a rubberband will work just fine.

12

Melbourne: black. If you have a charcoal suit, black shirt, black tie, black polo shirt, black mid-length shorts, black shoes, black boots and sneakers, you will fit right in on any occasion.

Cairns: loud. Hawaiian shirt, beige shorts.

Uluru: tshirt, shorts. Something warm for when the sun goes down.

Adelaide: Light shirt, earth-tone trousers.

Sydney: Varies - Sydney’s a town of niches. I’d recommend looking like a Melbournian. :slight_smile: Add something that looks really expensive and you’d be set. Leave the price tag on it. :smiley:

Generally, light cotton clothes with the the option of a light weatherproof jacket will do you fine. Melbourne and the Centre (at night) could be colder but you’ll not freeze in September with a few layers of cotton. And you’ll be visiting markets, so be confident that if you want polar fleece you’ll be able to get it.

The only thing I’d add to Sage Rat’s fine advice is that you can wash your smalls and most cotton stuff in a hotel bathroom.

13

There is a restaurant in Sydney that is generally regarded as one of the world’s best - Tetsuya’s. Top 10, anyway. Expensive, but fantastic. Maybe you could book in for a celebratory dinner.

But even there, I have never seen anyone in a suit or tie. Suits and ties are for work. I can’t imagine where you would need a suit and tie on holidays in Australia.

Dress for Hawthorne. And bring a hat.

14

Don’t forget comfortable shoes!

For you - one pair of nice shoes to go with your semi-formal outfit, a pair of comfortable walking shoes or sneakers and a pair of flip-flops (called thongs in Australia).

For your wife - similarly, one (or maybe two) pair of nice open- or closed-toe heels, a pair of comfy walking shoes and a pair of flip-flops.

It’s worth noting that some fancy restaurants will require jacket and tie as their dress code for men.