cesta

Hooray, talked dh into an Australia trip for early 2006. What is the best month to travel down under, Feb,March or April? Any and all suggestions for a 10 day itinerary are welcome. Always wanted to travel to Australia, cannot wait. Thanks in advance.

SnRSeattle

hey, cesta, people on this forum really appreciate you stating what are your interests because Australia is such a huge and diverse country. "Best month" for doing what? If into skiing, can you see, then recommendations would be different than for snorkeling? What about budget? There are lovely places to go that require a well-oiled credit card and there are fun, interesting places that don't cost a lot. City vs. countryside? Active vs. not, organized tours vs. winging it? Drive yourself vs. public transportation? Also, do a search here for itinerary or trip report or specific places you are interested in and you will get hours and hours of wonderful advice from the extremely helpful people here. Happy researching!
Sally in Seattle

lizF

Well said Sally. However to start things off April would be the best month ( you could not ski in any of them anyway).

Neil_Oz

I agree with April as a general rule. Sydney can be uncomfortably sticky during the summer months. Sally makes a good point too - to draw a comparison, is there any one "best month" that would apply throughout the United States? The climate here ranges from hot & wet tropical to cool temperate, and that's just the eastern seaboard.

If you only have 10 days, it would be wise to confine yourself to two or at most three destinations. The usual suspects are the Cairns region (including the Great Barrier Reef) and Sydney, with a vast range of secondary options - but it does really depend on your interests.

Can I also suggest that you browse the tourism site www.australia.com and also pick up a guide book. Past threads on this forum (use the 'Search' box) can also be very helpful.

cynstalker

Cesta:
We've been to Australia twice,and both times it was in Oct/Nov. First trip, we went to Sydney, Cairns, Adelaide, Kangaroo Island, Blue Mountains.
Second trip was Lizard Island,Darwin, Kakadu National Park, Ayers Rock.

We were fine on the first trip, re:hot. On the second, the first part was fine, the second part (Darwin and on) was unbelievably hot. That is not to say we didn't enjoy ourselves - we did. It was just something to be experienced!

Chose Oct/Nov because hubby likes the black marlin fishing, and that's when they run. Chartered a boat on the second trip, and he had a marvelous time.

With only 10 days, I would try Sydney (as that's probably where you'll fly in)& Cairns. GBR is a must, and there's tons to do in Cairns.

Have a great trip!

Cyn

Peteralan

If you are asking in terms of the weather in those months I'd say they are all nice although February can be very humid. April is usually lovely.

jcasale

Hey cesta - in my case dh talked ME into the trip (although he didn't have to do much convincing). I have found the Frommers guide book to be a great place to start. We are going to spend about 10 days in Australia and 10 in New Zealand, so have to keep thing simple. Sydney and take a drive south along Princes Highway to Jervis Bay and Ulladulla and then on to Carins - Great Barrier Reef and up to Cape Tribulation, etc. We debated trying to fit Alice Springs and Ayers Rock/Uluru in there, but decided that we didn't want to try to cover quite that much ground in that short a time. Giess we'll have to go back !

cesta

Sorry to be so general-we enjoy almost all activities. I have to pick one of 3 months, Feb-April, due to our work schedule so I am guessing that everyone is saying April is best. If I am only going to be there for 10 days, I guess the best attack is to start where we fly into so we don't waste a bunch of time driving. We live in Colorado so the big snow-ski thing is not such an attraction for us. We love the beach, historical stuff, good restaurants, and unusual activities- we actually enjoyed a bullfight in PV! We also love animals and I will not miss seeing a koala and roo! Thanks again for suggestions.

luckykat

If you plan to go to Far north Queensland, I would suggest Port Douglas over Cairns. It's a much nicer community and area. You could stay at the Silky Oak Eco resort which is magical!

Check my site for the review and details about it.

http://www.mcdougalladventures.com/a...lky-oaks-lodge

pat_woolford

Comparing Port Douglas to Cairns is "apples with oranges". Cairns is a regional Queensland city with 39 suburbs, stretching for some 50kms from Gordonvale in south to Palm Cove in north along a fairly narrow coastal strip with the World Heritage Rainforest classified mountains, or hills if you like of the Great Dividing Range as its western backdrop. Port Douglas is a fairly small tourist driven town, some would say a village, and its survival desparately relies on tourism through Cairns international and domestic airports.

But to say that Port Douglas is a "much nicer community and area than Cairns" is I think insulting to the people of Cairns, many of who are employed in many areas that have nothing to do with tourism. If tourists are making this judgement after only looking at the Esplanade (which in itself attracts serious birdwatchers from all over the world) it shows they haven't bothered to look at such places as Lake Morris (Kuranda without the people), Crystal Cascades without the tour buses of Mossman Gorge, Second Beach or the Aboriginal community of Yarrabah a little south, Lake Placid, the almost untouched rainforests south of the city, the rainforested Mulgrave River, Frankland Islands and one of the best tropical botanical gardens in the world and lots more. Despite what one may read there are far more reef trips out of Cairns than Port Douglas at more sensible prices, amazing range of restaurants, at very realistic prices. Oh yes, Cairns city has nightlife, too, if you want it.

Tassietwister

I love Cairns to bits. I love all the young backpackers having a ball, I love the smiling friendly Japanese tourists, I love the friendly people of Cairns. I love the mix, most multicultural town in all Australia. Usually only big cities get such a mix.

If you want a beachside escape away from big country town Cairns then I would recommend Mission beach over Port Douglas. Just gorgeous.

We stayed at a lodge there recently and I went to the TV lounge in the morning for my coffee and a cassowary was pecking at the flyscreen two feet from where I was sitting demanding some attention!

Awesome!

If you want a posher area then Palm Cove is the ticket.

pat_woolford

Was that Licuala Lodge, Tassietwister? They have a visiting cassowary called "Charlie" I think. I love Mission Beach too, the view out to Dunk and Bedarra from the Horizon resort at the top of hill at Mission Beach is a knock-out and much more laid back than Port Douglas.

Also think Cairns has a great cosmopolitan atmosphere and its reflected in the variety of restaurants and food outlets. Many Chinese families who go back to the gold rush days on the Palmer River and Italians who came to cut the sugarcane after both World Wars left a wonderful legacy of cuisine, unlike what you normally find in a regional Australian town.

Tassietwister

Yes, Licuala Lodge is was Pat! You sure know your lodges! English couple running it.

Have you seen their website, good for a laugh!