CALLING HOME

Dialing in Australia and New Zealand is similar to the US – there is a Country Code (61 or 64) if you are dialing from outside the country; an Area Code if you are dialing from outside the area; and finally the Number itself. Australian numbers are 8 digits, NZ ones 7 digits. Australia has 2 or 3 digit area codes, NZ 1 digit. You will often see an aussie number written 61 (0)3 1234 5678. To dial the number from outside Australia, you dial every digit you see except the 0 in brackets; this is only used within Australia. Don’t forget to dial 011 first if you are dialing from the US. To dial within Australia to another Area Code, dial the entire area code, starting with 0, and the 8 digit number. If you are within the Area Code, just dial the 8 digit number. The same goes for New Zealand, but they don’t have the leading 0 in their Area Codes. Cell phones have 10 digits, and you just need to dial the entire number, no area codes. From outside the country, dial the Country Code plus the cell number.

From Australia /NZ dial the overseas prefix, 0011 in Australia or 00 in NZ, the US country code 1, and the area code & number.

Cell Phones
Cell phones have become a way of life, and can be convenient during your travels as well, especially if you self drive, or feel you need to be in constant contact with home – eg if you have elderly parents. Don’t forget, though, that all hotels will take messages or have voicemail phones in your room, and most of your activities away from the hotel will be during the US night, rather than when you are out and about. A cell phone can become just another thing to carry and lose, and you may feel you’re not on vacation if you are still at its beck and call.

Most US cell phones will not work at all in Australia or New Zealand as they use GSM networks; in the US AT&T (Cingular) and T-Mobile alone use GSM phones. However, the GSM network itself in Australia or New Zealand will not work with the standard US networks even if you have AT&T or T-Mobile; you need to upgrade to an international GSM frequency phone. In addition to the upgrade cost, you will pay global roaming fees, which are extremely expensive. Alternatively, most independent phone providers overseas can unlock your US GSM phone and supply a SIM card that will work. This should not affect you when you return, simply replace the new SIM card with your US one. A third alternative is to get a cell phone in Australia or New Zealand (the phone will work in both countries), and a SIM card. If you change countries you will need to purchase another SIM card in the new country. Even a brand new phone can be bought for about $AU50-60; they are also sold used for less. A simple, month-long plan costs about $AU30, which will give you about 2.5 hours of talk time to anywhere in Australia, or twice that back to the US (it’s cheaper to call the US than domestically!). Virgin Mobile offers a plan for 10c per minute, but it must be purchased on line. All cell phone calls also have a connect fee, but incoming calls are free, and most plans include voicemail. So for a total of $AU80-90 you get the convenience of a mobile phone, and under normal circumstances all the calls you would need or want to make within the country and back to and from home. It’s not particularly cheap, but is convenient. Most plans allow calls to Aus/NZ tollfree numbers for a significantly discounted rate, and many include wireless internet access.

If you travel to Europe and Asia as well as the Pacific, then buying a GSM phone, unlocking it and buying prepaid SIM cards wherever you travel can be a simple solution. You will get a different number with each card, though. Unfortunately South & Central America have a mix of systems, and the new phone may or may not work there, depending on the country.

You can also rent cell phones, but the plans we’ve seen are invariably as or usually more expensive than buying your own.

When you leave AUS/NZ you can either bring your phone home to give to a friend traveling to a GSM country, keep it for your similar trip one day, or leave it at one of hundreds of drop off places in AUS/NZ, many of which give donations to charities, including environmental ones, for each phone, then recycle the phones in developing countries or for parts.

Calling Cards
Calling cards are available both in AUS/NZ and in the US. Rates are pretty much the same regardless of where you buy your card. Generally rates are slightly higher when you choose a card that charges in one second increments and has no connect fee compared to cards with a connect fee and larger charge increments, and perhaps a monthly or weekly fee. However, when traveling you are more likely to make more, shorter calls and leave voicemail messages (mastering the time zones is never easy) when calling home, making the short increment options better. Mostly the difference is less than 2c per minute in any case.

One often unforeseen expense when buying a calling card is not using it all up. A $10 card that only is used for half of its minutes doubles the rate; using it up at the end of the trip just not to leave time on it isn’t much better. We have found one company, Nobeltel, which offers a card (Enjoy Prepaid) that has a good rate from Aus/NZ but can also be used at a competitive rate for calls from the US to Aus/NZ, and within the US. As it is actually just a pin number, family on both sides of the Pacific can call using the same card, and anything left over used up once you return. There may be other companies offering a similar deal, but this is the only one we’ve found. The call rate (July, 2007) is about 5c per minute from AUS/NZ, 3 to 3.5c to AUS/NZ, and about 2.4c for calls within the US, as long as you use the local access number in each country. Calls to cell phones in AUS/NZ are about 15c per minute. Local access numbers are restricted in Australia to Melbourne & Sydney, and in NZ to Auckland; it is an additional 4c per minute to call via the tollfree number from anywhere. There is no connect fee (but see further down), no monthly fee, and calls are metered in one second increments. For those traveling around, the convenience of one toll free number may be better than a saving of a cent or two per minute and having to cart a list around of many city numbers. None of the big phone companies that we’ve checked have matched these rates, especially for calls to cell phones overseas, but you should check with your own phone company. This is the card we use, but there are probably similar or even better cards out there that we don’t know about.

Although calling cards may not have a connect fee, there is often a connect fee from a public telephone, and many hotels charge for local calls, and some for toll free calls as well. We’ve stayed in places that make the charge even if the call does not connect. Always ask about phone charges when you check in. A 4 cent per minute additional charge for a free 800 number may be better than a $1 hotel fee for a local call, especially for short calls.

Although not necessary for everyone, we find that a cell phone and calling card combination gives us easy access both locally and to the US, and for people in the US to reach us. Don’t forget that US 800 numbers do not work from overseas, so if you have one of these, you won’t be able to use it when calling home. For most people, just a calling card will be all they’ll need.

In the end, unless you plan to talk for a long time, or make numerous calls per day, pretty much any option will work without costing too much, but try to avoid global cell phone roaming, many of the big phone companies’ standard rates, or calling cards that have monthly or weekly fees or high connect charges. If you are searching the internet for phone options in AUS/NZ, remember that you’ll get more local results with the term mobile phone, rather than cell phone, as that is what they are called over there.

As plans constantly change, we can’t guarantee any of these rates or prices, so please check carefully before committing to a plan of action. We’re also keen to hear about anything you may have discovered, good or bad, about calling home.

MEDICAL MATTERS

No immunizations are required for Australia or New Zealand, unless you have been to a Yellow Fever country – South America or Africa – in the previous six days, when a Yellow Fever Certificate is required. We highly recommend that your tetanus shot is up to date – though no more prevalent down there than here, tetanus can stop a vacation in its tracks. There’s no rabies in either country.

Both Australia and New Zealand have excellent medical facilities, and doctors, hospitals and medicines are cheaper than in the US. Many US insurance plans do not cover or restrict services overseas – please check with yours. We highly recommend travel insurance; although excellent care is available locally, associated transport costs, especially from remote areas can be high, and aren’t usually covered by your own insurance. Australian Natural Adventures can assist you in obtaining travel insurance from a reputable third-party insurer. US prescriptions cannot be filled in Australia or New Zealand. If you wish to replenish your supply while overseas you will need to visit an in-country doctor for a local prescription. Such visits are inexpensive. We recommend taking a copy of your current prescription(s) with you to ensure an exact replacement. Please note that some specialized drugs may not be available overseas.

If you are scratched by coral on the Great Barrier Reef, no matter how minor, have the boat crew attend to it – coral contains particularly nasty bacteria which can cause rapid infection.

The greatest medical risk in Australia is sunburn; the sunny climate and clear skies help Australians have the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. Even in cloudy weather burning is possible; for fair-skinned people skin damage can occur in as little as 20 minutes in summer. Cover up with a hat and sunscreen.

RANDOM THOUGHTS AND TIPS

If you are using film, not digital, you may want to consider taking a 6x4 card with your name and address on it. Photograph this at the beginning of each roll – that frame is often a problem anyway – and then if your address is lost by the developer, they’ll still have it with the photos.

Don’t wait until you arrive to learn about your new camera – saving $50 at the duty-free store or on a last-minute web bargain isn’t a deal if you lose the memories of a $5000 once-in-a-lifetime trip.

If you’re taking a lot of film, tag the canisters with green dots from an office supply store. When you use the film, peel off the dot. In a hurry you’ll immediately know which rolls to grab (and you can bet there be at least a couple of “hurries.”)

Ziplock bags can be used to enclose tubes that might leak due to pressure changes - this can also apply to ballpoint pens.

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