mcdanielism

All, ok, I know little of Australia (starting to read up now), but a friend is getting married there in Oct, and I figure I should go, and if I do go that far, for at least 3 weeks.

Particulars
- Wedding is near Byron Bay, New South Wales
- I figure I will fly into Sydney, but maybe that makes little sense

QUESTIONS FOR FODOR'S FOLK
- Can I do Australia in 3 weeks?

- Can anyone give me ideas on itineraries + numbers of days in each place? The more detail the better. I know I can't see the whole country. I figure I will have to rent a vehicle for some of this.

- Am I crazy to even consider flying to say New Zealand for say 5 days?

Thanks for the help. These forums are amazing.

Peteralan

You say "at least" three weeks so it depends on what you finally do. If it is in fact three weeks you won't see all of Australia or maybe not even most of it. However you can do quite a bit in that time so you need to decide which parts you are most interested in. When you come up with that, we can give you more definite ideas and suggestions. October is generally a pleasant time to come but as the country is so large it will vary depending on where you go. You need to be aware that due to the vast distances between places it may take a considerable time to get from place to place. I would not try to add New Zealand into the mix as you won't really do justice to either country. Get back to us when you have narrowed down your itinerary.

AlanJG

Will you be by yourself for all or part of this time. Tell us a little of your interests and how you like to travel and we can start making meaningful suggestions.

But to start you thinking.

Fly into Sydney and do the city things. Don't forget that there is a lot of bushland in the metropolitan area too. Take a trip to the Blue Mountains and if you like hiking in the hills then make it a couple of nights.

Fly to Coolangatta and drive to Byron Bay for the wedding. See the NSW north coast hinterland.

Fly to Cairns for the reef and rainforest. Do not forget to include the Atherton Tablelands and Undara or Chillagoe for a variety of landscapes and wildlife.

Fly to Uluru or Alice Springs and travel overland to the other to see some of the desert country.

Susan7

It sounds like you really need to buy a guidebook to get you started, try Lonely Planet it's one of the best on Australia.

And yes, you would be crazy to try to add 5 days in New Zealand.

mcdanielism

Thanks for the info so far.

More information
- I most likely will be travelling alone for most of this.
- I figure I will mostly want to stay on the east & southeast side, and not venture west or central Australia
- 3 weeks definitely, perhaps a couple days over, but 21 days for sure.
- Seems Sydney or Melbourne to start, with a mix of flying and driving and making my way up to Byron Bay

INTERESTS
- A good mix between urban, adventure and outdoors (nature, wildlife). Would love to visit the Barrier Reef, the great coastal road, do some surfing (I have done a little)
- I'm an amateur photographer so will be interested in taking lots of pics.
- Great Coastal road - this seems like something I would love to do this one for sure.

Ok, scratch New Zealand.

Thanks.



Since I'm solo, I may explore shorter adventure explorations with companies.

Sue_xx_yy

You have lots of seasoned, 'local' people here to give you great advice. To this I add that I've just posted a trip report detailing our blitz tour of Australia AND New Zealand in 3 weeks. However, you should read the disclaimer at the start of the report about expectations for short trips, which I think would apply even to an entire 3 weeks for one country alone.

I think because you have objectives quite far apart on the map (Great Ocean Road AND Great Barrier Reef) that you definitely should stick to just Australia this time.

mcdanielism

Well that's part of what I need help with. Perhaps going to great coastal road and then north/east to Byron Bay and Barrier Reef is too much? Not sure.

I will take a look at your trip report.

Thanks.

RalphR

The area around Byron Bay is a beautiful part of Australia. You could easily spend a week or more there.

mcdanielism

So anyone else have specific tips for me?

Thanks.

AlanJG

As you like wildlife and want to visit the reef too I suggest that Cairns gives you a base for each.

The Atherton Tablelands is very rich in wildlife and that is the best time of year for birds, a little past peak mammal viewing season, just right for reptiles and frogs will be a bit weather dependent (with early storms it would be fantastic but don't count on that). Not the best time of year for invertebrates which while it has the disadvantage of few butterflies etc. there are almost no things to bite you either.

An extension out to Undara would increase the mammals and other wildlife you could see.