Australia 2017 - Oz Winter or Spring Honeymoon?

Old Jun 2nd, 2016, 08:27 AM
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Australia 2017 - Oz Winter or Spring Honeymoon?

We are getting married early in June 2017, and have enough FF miles for two round trip flights to Australia. We're committed to Australia/Oceania (only continent I haven't been to besides Antarctica, new destination for both of us), and while I would prefer the scenery and outdoor opportunities of New Zealand (mildly obsessed), my fiancé is more beach/urban/relaxing oriented, so we thought Australia would be better for the blend of our interests. We are really going to Australia for that combination of beach/relaxing/scenery, do want to see Sydney but not interested in city time otherwise, and would love an opportunity to interact and observe Australia's unique wildlife (koalas, kangaroos, etc).

We can fly to Sydney or Brisbane. We'll probably have 14-16 days to play with on the ground. Our shortlist of places to visit is:

-Sydney
-Whitsunday Islands
-Port Douglas & Great Barrier Reef
-Uluru and environs
-Kangaroo Island

We know we can't do all of these destinations and will need to cut 1-2 places, but figured that could be dictated by when we go. It sounds like June and the winter months are great for Uluru, good for some aspects of Whitsundays/Reef like no stingers but temps a bit cool and can't get in the water without a wet suit, and not great for Sydney and Sydney's famous beaches at all and Kangaroo Island would be cold.

We don't have to take the trip directly after the wedding, and can delay into November (would want to be stateside by Nov 20 2017 for Thanksgiving). For the places we're interested in, would you recommend Australian winter (June/July/August) or spring (Sept/Oct/Nov) for either a Sydney-Rock-Reef trip or a Sydney+Whitsundays trip or a Sydney+Kangaroo Island + Uluru trip? If we cut Kangaroo Island, can we get a feel for Australian wildlife in some of our other shortlisted locations - seems like zoo in Sydney or outside of Brisbane, hit or miss in Uluru for animals in the wild.

Any thoughts or feedback are greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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Old Jun 2nd, 2016, 04:32 PM
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Our summer/Aussie winter is a VERY good time to visit Uluru area - WAY fewer flies. Even the difference in my two trips (mid-late April, mid-June) was noticeable. And it's still relatively warm (20-25C, 68-77F). If you go to the Rock in Aussie Spring, you'll be inundated with dipterans.

There are plenty of zoos and wildlife parks throughout the country. Brisvegas has a ton in the area. You can see koala butts in the trees in the Adelaide Hills, never mind trekking to KI (although that's worth a look). Research whether you can see the local fauna frequently (and likely, you can) in far North Queensland or near Brisvegas. The weather there is way more South Floridian and would be nicer than Adelaide and KI during the Aussie winter.

Ultimately, if you're going to the Rock, go in Aussie winter. Hire a car. Spend a week in the Outback. Go to the Alice, Kings Canyon, Devils Marbles, Tennant Creek, Uluru, and all that.

If you're not, go whenever (but not to Melbourne in late January or February - think Australia's Dallas or, even worse, Phoenix).
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Old Jun 2nd, 2016, 05:16 PM
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You won't be getting much beach time in South Australia in the winter, (Western Australia has much better beaches by the way!). And that water is cold - great white cold.

I lived in Western Australia for seven years and I looked forward to the winter months - I hated the Aussie summer heat - nasty stuff that. Absolutely dreaded Jan and Feb.

We intentionally visited South Australia in the winter/very early spring - once in July, once in Sept.

The July visit was surprisingly cold (Limestone Coast and Adelaide), even for a CO girl - it was that damp, get into your bones type of cold.

September was lovely, and there were flies, but nothing like summertime flies. Any later than that would have been too hot for us (we're hikers).

WA and SA are lovely in the early spring though, really lovely.
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Old Jun 3rd, 2016, 08:05 AM
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Thanks, BigRuss and Melnq8 - that's very helpful info! And Russ, I did definitely google Brisvegas thinking it was a city in Australia I had never heard of.

I would love to visit coastal Western Australia, just feel like we don't have enough time. If I were doing this as a solo trip, I would have gone for Kakadu and around + the Kimberley + Ningaloo to Perth for an epic adventure. But compromises must be made.

Sounds like we should stick with Northern Queensland + Outback + some time in Sydney without beach, especially if we can do wildlife and reef all in one place, we can skip Kangaroo Island which seems to be the outlier. We may end up delaying until July or late August/early September to take advantage of the US public holiday, one less day to take off as vacation.

Thanks again!
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Old Jun 3rd, 2016, 11:09 AM
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Next year, Independence Day will be on a Tuesday, so depending upon your overlords' generosity, you may have a four-day weekend.
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Old Jun 3rd, 2016, 02:03 PM
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Thanks, Russ. I was initially avoiding the weeks before/during/after 4th of July because it seems to coincide with most Australian state school holidays, so hoped to keep crowds/competition/prices down by going in June right after we get married, or Aug/ mid Sept OR mid Oct/ Nov when school is in session.

So much to think about for this honeymoon! I have some time, but know the booking window for FF miles will open up shortly so wanted to get all the ducks in a row.
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Old Jun 4th, 2016, 04:43 PM
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Don't forget we also have school holidays in September - schools 4 lots of holidays thru the year. So you'll still have that same school holiday problem unless you you come mid October/November . November is getting hot for Uluru.
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Old Jun 14th, 2016, 03:39 AM
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I'd recommend a spring time visit, perhaps mid/late October after the school holidays have finished. Beware of schoolies in late November (not sure if these destinations are frequented by schoolies or not but double check).

The Sydney/Port Douglas trip would be good.

While you're in Sydney perhaps consider:
- doing a tour to the Blue Mountains for day. I'm not much of a tour person but I did one about 10 years back and enjoyed it. It included a visit to wildlife park (where you can cuddle a koala), visit the rock formation three sisters and do a cable car ride through the forest area.
- Beach wise I loved seeing Bondi and also lunching in Manly.

Then head up to Port Douglas where you can see the GBR, visit Kuranda (scenic rainforest railway trip, koala centre and the markets) and even go further up into Cape Tribulation (I didn't make it to Cape Tribulation but it looks amazing). If you enjoy horseriding I went a ride near Port Douglas that takes you along the beach and back through the rainforest and it was gorgeous.

Depending on what you end up deciding to do you could probably also squeeze in a few nights at Uluru between Sydney and Port Douglas. I haven't been to Uluru though so I'm not sure if a few nights are enough. Are you planning on flying to each destination?
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Old Jun 14th, 2016, 01:36 PM
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Northie, thanks for the school holiday comments for September/October, would definitely plan around those. Rellie, thanks for your feedback!

It definitely sounds like the Port Douglas area has a lot to offer us in terms of light adventure, beach, and access to GBR. We are planning on flying between Sydney, Uluru, and Queensland. We haven't figured out if we should or should not include an island stay (either Whitsundays or off Queensland coast): the nicer resorts seem expensive, but they would provide a different, quieter beach/reef/water experience that my fiance is interested in. Our total budget for the trip is $10,000 USD (including internal flights but not including airfare) and the beach/reef escape is an area we’d splurge on a bit.

Here are my tentative skeleton itineraries so far, keeping the Whitsundays and Port Douglas, which we'd either do for June 16 - July 4 2017 (taking advantage of 4th of July holiday) or Aug 18 - Sept 5 (taking advantage of Labor Day holiday). I do think we should end in Sydney, as it’s an easier flight home based on FF schedules. Both date options are Fri to Tues schedules:

Option 1:
3 nights Whitsundays (for reef, sailing and relaxation)
5 nights Port Douglas (for reef, beach, rainforest, wildlife possible Aboriginal experiences)
4 nights Uluru (for Uluru and Kings Canyon, time to fly for Tennant Creek and Devils Marbles?)
4 nights Sydney (for harbor tour, fine dining, coastal walks, maybe Blue Mountains day trip)

Fri - NYC to BNE (via LAX)
Sat - in transit
Sun - land BNE in morning; to Hamilton Island or Proserpine and to island, night Whitsundays
Mon – Whitsundays, night Whitsundays
Tues – Whitsundays, night Whitsundays
Wed – Whitsundays, to Cairns & Port Douglas, night PD
Thurs - PD
Fri - PD
Sat - PD
Sun - PD
Mon – to Uluru, night Uluru
Tues –Uluru & around
Wed –Uluru & around
Thurs –Uluru & around
Fri – to Sydney, night Sydney
Sat – Sydney, night Sydney
Sun – Sydney, night Sydney
Mon – Sydney, night Sydney
Tues – depart SYD morning, arrive in NYC Tuesday evening

Option 2:
5 nights Port Douglas (for reef, beach, rainforest, wildlife, possible Aboriginal experiences)
4 nights northern GBR island (for reef and relaxation)
3 nights Uluru (for Uluru and Kings Canyon only)
4 nights Sydney (for harbor tour, fine dining, coastal walks, maybe Blue Mountains day trip)

Fri - NYC to BNE (via LAX)
Sat - in transit
Sun - land BNE in morning, flight to Cairns, to PD
Mon – PD
Tues – PD
Wed – PD
Thurs - PD
Fri – to GBR island (Lizard, Bedarra, Orpheus, Hinchinbrook, Fitzroy, any recs?)
Sat - GBR
Sun - GBR
Mon – GBR
Tues – to Uluru, night Uluru
Wed –Uluru & around
Thurs –Uluru & around
Fri – to Sydney, night Sydney
Sat – Sydney, night Sydney
Sun – Sydney, night Sydney
Mon – Sydney, night Sydney
Tues – depart SYD morning, arrive in NYC Tuesday evening


Thoughts?! Thanks so much for all the great help so far!
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Old Jun 14th, 2016, 03:33 PM
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I'd probably go option 1.

The Whitsunday's and PD will both be relaxing so if it was me I'd rather add an extra day to Uluru to see Tenant Creek etc. Uluru is probably a place you may not get back to again in a hurry and it will let you see a little more in the area (I assume as I've never been there).

Sounds like a great itinerary.
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Old Jun 16th, 2016, 10:24 AM
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Thanks, rellie! Do you think I am shorting Sydney in winter? We're both city people for sure (we live in NYC) but we're looking more for things unique to Australia I suppose.
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Old Jun 16th, 2016, 02:36 PM
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I'd go with option 1 & yes, perhaps add a day to the Uluru sector to allow you to explore a little more.

Sydney is gorgeous and there's plenty to so here, but you have an opportunity to see a unique part of the world at an ideal time - and it fits your desire to see more non-urban places.
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Old Jun 16th, 2016, 02:53 PM
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Thanks, Bokhara2! I feel pretty good about this itinerary, and think I've struck a good balance between both of our interests and allowed for some relaxation and seeing some of the great things Australia has to offer.

Thank you everyone!
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