Going to Australia for 3 to 4 weeks - Suggestions please

So how many nights in total have you got in OZ?
Have you done an itinerary yet?
 
We have 22 days in Australia & we haven't done an itinerary yet. suggestions very welcome - will probably stay the first week in Sydney with son - he'll probably be glad of the break from us after that! & the last few days in Sydney also.
 
Hi Harry,

Did a similar trip back in May - I agree with you regarding stop offs. I have been down there 4 times now plus did the year living there. I always stop off as it breaks up the trip plus you get to see places you probally would never see again. I stopped in Hong kong for 3 days on way there it was great - trains are brillant there and easy to follow. The whole Island is basically High rise - recommend doing the Peak tram to get a great view of the city, we did 2 days in Disneyland so probally did not get to see the island as much we would have liked. Taxis are cheap.

Regarding OZ if you are there 22 days then you need to choose where you want to go.
Coogee has a nice beach and lots of backpackers there is no train there so you will getting bus into town. Sydney recommendations the obvious ones Opera house, sydney harbour bridge, get the ferry over to Manly (beside Opera House) which IMHO is much nicer then Bondi/Coogee. Darling harbour is nice as well- Aquarium, monorail are there it is only 15/20 min walk up Georges st from Circular quay. I am sure you son will have lots of recommendations- just remember in Jan it will be very hot. Would also recommend Australia reptile park if you want to see local wildlife it is about an hour north of Sydney near Gosford. Zoo is good as well.
If you are there a short time I would rule Perth, darwin, tasmania as they simply too far away- OZ is huge and 90% dessert.

Places I would recommend to go to are Melbourne, great ocean road is just outside Melbourne takes a day or 2. Brisbane is OK - Would highly recommend Airlee beach and go out for a day/2 on the whit sundays it is one of the most beautiful parts of oz - there are loads of different cruises out there. Frasier island is good as well. Would not be a big fan of Cairns itself but some lovelly areas around it.

It takes a day to drive to Melbourne on the highway as in about 10 hours driving about the same up to brisbane. The drives are not that nice either as there is nothing really to see on the way so I would recommend flying if possible as it can be cheap enough have a look at Jetstar
http://www.jetstar.com/au/en/home
and Virgin Blue as they are normally the cheapest
http://www.virginaustralia.com/

Also just be aware it is very expensive there at the moment due to strong dollar and they have not really been hit by the recession. Hope you enjoy your trip you will have a great time.
 
Luckycharm - thanks so much for the information & advice I'll be checking all suggestions over the next few months before we go. It does seem expensive over there, but I just decided "we only live once"! I will certainly post how we got on next year & it can't come fast enough for me.
Thanks again
 

Yep will be a trip of a lifetime will be interested to see how you get on.
 
Blue Mountains while you are in Sydney - it's a trip out from Sydney but beautiful.

Adelaide often gets overlooked - i loved it down there, very laid back, great wine region etc.

Don't try to cram too much in though, you want to enjoy the holiday not rush around from place to place. Whitsundays a must - get on a yacht, cruise around, enjoy yourself!

Oh, buy suncream out there - far cheaper and can get much better products! (Sunsense is great stuff!)
 
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Thanks for all the tips - I'm taking note & am very grateful for all the help & advice. Haven't been thinking about it to much up until now - but will be starting to make plans very soon. Still thinking of hiring one of the motorhomes - we'd be hiring a car anyway & it would be a real novelty! We'd like to see a lot, but do want to make sure that we have time to enjoy the visit - so the advice about not rushing around too much will be taken to heart. Keep the tips coming & I do promise that after the trip I'll take the time to let the forum know how it went. Not going until the end of January 2012 so we've plenty time to get ourselves organised. By the way the suncream tip is very apt - I was only thinking about that yesterday. What about the anti- bug stuff? I seem to have started attracting every bug in the place the last few years when we are abroad!
 
Harry31 said:
... What about the anti- bug stuff? I seem to have started attracting every bug in the place the last few years when we are abroad!
Click to expand...


Jungle formula and remember to cover your "sensitive" areas. The little sods get everywhere.
 
horusd said:
Jungle formula and remember to cover your "sensitive" areas. The little sods get everywhere.
Click to expand...

Nice image! Tiger Balm is also good, rubbed onto pulse points, and it helps soothe bites if you do get any.

I used to do the camper van relocations, get paid, or have to pay very little to move one from A to B. Used to be great, they would give you maybe 4/5 days to get somewhere, with limited km (Flossie used to take the speedomete fuse out though )and you would just roll up at the many free BBQ plates, cook some food, find somewhere to sleep (camp sites are well set up, but i used to find little lay buys etc.) and it will be a blast. What about doing Sydney to Adelaide and taking in the coastal route? Or flying to Melbourne and then spending a few days there and then driving down the coast before flying back to Sydney?
 

Thats alot of driving and have to say was not that impressed with Coastal route to Melbourne came back Motorway. IMHO I think if you want to drive- Heading North there is more to see - Hunter Valley, Byron bay, Brisbane, Noosa, fraiser, Airlie beach and whit sundays, cairns port Douglas - I am sure I have missed places alot of driving in that as well.

Def go to Melbourne if you get a chance but unless you wanted to spend most of your time driving as only there a short time you need to plan accordingly.
 
Just another quick question about going to Australia - should we get vaccinations? We'll only be on the East Coast but will be visiting Hong Kong? It's quite difficult to get the correct information on the various websites.
 
Back from Australia & had a ball!! Before I put up comments & advice to others about the trip I wanted to warn Ulster bank customers to be wary. I lodged a couple of thousand Euro in my account before we left, went into my local branch & advised them when & where we would be going abroad & they said they noted it on "the system". No problems then - until I took out $300 in Sydney - got that ok, headed up to Cairns & tried again - refused! I thought it was just that particular bank I couldn't use. Anyway, to cut a long story short couldn't use any bank - luckilly I had money & husband could use his cards. Rang the "help line" passed from pillar to post, holding etc. was just explaining the situation, asked them to ring me back - they don't have that facility - & going thru "security" questions & credit ran out - all €45 of it. Had to borrow a phone - as I couldn't top mine up as not only was card stopped I couldn't access my online account (which is stupid as even if my card was stolen they wouldn't have the account number or my login), had to go through the whole process again - another €30 credit - before sorted. Only arrived back Fri night but I'll be into my local branch to complain Monday & I'll be looking for the cost of the calls. When I've calmed down I'll put up comments about trip for others - LOVED it by the way!!
 
Been to Perth loads (family) - loved it and drove up and down the coast a bit (Margaret River)

Got plane to Alice Springs and then bus to Uluru - amazing....bext experiece.

Then plane to Melbourne...such a contrast. Loved it. City most like New York I have ever seen

Oh and do stay in singapore, even for one night -
 
harry31, looking forward to hearing about details of you trip, heading to Sydney end of March for 3 weeks myself so would be interested to hear what you go upto!
 
LM26 G'day mate! (sorry still think I'm in Australia). We had a ball & the time just flew. They were complaining about the "bad summer" but apart from a bit of drizzly rain we thought it was great didn't need a jacket at night! Just to summarize, we stayed with son in Coogee bay, just near the beach, it was lovely, the waves were just brilliant & a lovely place. We flew to Cairns & had a motor home for 8 nights & drove down as far as Byron Bay/Ballina & flew back to Sydney. It was a great trip, snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, visit to Whit Sunday Islands, went to Whitehaven beach - just out of this world, real Robinson Crusoe stuff. We went to the Australia Zoo (the one set up by Steve Irwin) & got the shivers watching the croc show -I could go on & on. If you are staying around Sydney you might try a couple of tours - I'll check out the name of the tour company which I don't have to hand, but I'll get it & post it up. We visited the Blue Mountains & did the wine tour, both very good. Australia is expensive, but you don't have to spend a fortune. For instance on a Thursday evening the Cock & Bull Irish pub does - buy a pint get a free steak. It might not be the biggest steak in the world but it's good. I'll think of more if you're interested. They do a great firework display in Darling harbour between 9.00 - 9.15 pm Saturday nights, the Opera house & bridge, I didn't do the bridge walk - very expensive, we did do the tower though - great views. We stayed in Hong Kong 1 night on the way & 3 nights on the way back. It was good to see it but I wouldn't be hurrying back, the crowds just got to me. Who did you book through? I'm just wondering because we had a bit of trouble with Cathay Pacific regarding seat bookings, seemingly they don't have the facility/service for you to book seats together on economy flights. We got on to Trailfinders & they sorted it out for us, but only after us complaining. I'm sure you won't regret it & I'm so jealous!!
 

Sounds great until you mentioned going to the Cock and Bull hope you weren't wearing a GAA jersey I presume you stopped in Airlie beach did you go on an overnight cruise? Did you do your wine tour up in the Hunter Valley? Did you go over to Manly? YOu are right OZ is very expensive.
Surprised to hear you had probs with Ulster bank cards I have never had any probs myself over there.
Was that your first visit to South East Asia if you didn't like Hong kong you would hate Bangkok, KL etc. I liked HK myself.
 
Harry thanks a mil for the info! We are staying 4 nights in Hamilton Island during second week, staying in Sydney for rest of the trip as I am visiting my sister with my hubby and staying with her and her boyfriend. We booked our flights with Etihad and internal flights with Jetstar (have seats picked out over their websites so should be no issue there). Going to look into your highlights now, thanks a mil. Tour company name would be great.
 
Hi Luckycharm - no I wasn't wearing my gaa jersey - don't have one! But it was worth a look at the pub & to eat the steak of course, which surprisingly was good! We didn't go to Airlie beach, we just didn't have time to do everything (maybe the next time!). But as I said the Barrier Reef & Whitehaven beach were experiences I'll always treasure. It was our first trip to South East Asia & although I'm glad we saw Hong Kong I just didn't like the masses of people everywhere. So if we go again we'll maybe try somewhere a bit quieter.
LM26: Hamilton Island is beautiful - a bit pricey though - but so lovely & I'll get the name of the tour company in Sydney for you. We did the Blue Mountains & Hunter Valley & really enjoyed both days.
 
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