dreamingofoz

Hey guys! This is my first time posting and I am looking for Australia advice. Australia has always been a dream trip for me, and now my fiance and I are considering it as a possible honeymoon destination for our wedding next September. Money is always a concern, though. I want to try to see as much as possible without running ourselves too thin. Some places we are considering visiting are:
Sydney
Great Barrier Reef
Melbourne
Adelaide/Kangaroo Island
Brisbane
Uluru

So does anyone have any suggestions for an 11 or 12 day itinerary? I know we can't hit all these, but I don't know what to rule out. I consider the Great Barrier Reef a must, but I am not sure the best way to see it. I have heard about liveaboards, but I don't know if they will be in our price range. So if anyone has any suggestions on the reef they would be greatly appreciated, as well as any advice on how to get around Australia for the least money (any particular airlines, etc.?).

Bokhara2

Is your 10-11 days 'on the ground' or does it include your arrival & departure days?

Australia's distances mean that you'll be flying 2-3 hours to get around so, with check-in etc., you can easily lose 1/2 day or more.

My initial thought is,
Sydney 2-3 days
Cairns-GBR 4 dys
Uluru 2 days

This would give you the highlights, within your timeframe.

You don't say where you're flying from, but if you can open-jaw, perhaps you could fly into Sydney & out of Melbourne.

You may be able to include these 3 or 4 destinations on Aussie Pass.
Alternatively, there are often specials on QANTAS www.qantas.com.au
or Virgin Blue www.virginblue.com. Virgin has a "Happy Hour" noon-1pm Aust.EST.
However, it won't be super- cheap, due to the distances.

Some direct flight times:
Syd-Cns 3 1/4 hrs
Cns - Mel 3 1/4 hrs
Syd - AYR (Uluru) 3 hrs
Cns - AYR (Uluru) 2 1/2 hrs.

It's certainly doable,dreamingofoz; and I'd agree the liveaboard option would be great for the GBR.

September is a great time to be in Australia; beginning of our Spring.

Others will have suggestions for you, but that's given you a start

dreamingofoz

The 11-12 days is time on land, taking into account the time we will lose flying over and back.

westsider

You should do what I am doing.

Sydney - 5 nights
Uluru - 2 nights
GBR (PD)- 4 nights
Melbourne- 3 nights

DownUnder

If you are only going to Kangaroo Island to see Kangaroos and Koalas you can definitely save money on that. There are many other places to see them in the wild e.g. the Great Ocean Road, and quite frankly the coastline and national parks are more spectacular. KI has become a very expensive place to visit.

Bokhara2

Hi again dreamingofoz; The extra day or so in Cairns/PD will allow you to see the rainforest, and hinterland, lots of kangaroos etc. Or, as Downunder suggests - have a couple of days exploring the Great Ocean Road, and some of the lovely countryside around Melbourne.

You'll get much better value for money & time than by making a special trip to King Island, when you're pushed for time as you are this trip.

If you take the Melbourne option, you'll have an opportunity of seeing some of our best wineries, as well as some spectacular scenery which is quite different from what you'll find in FNQ (Far North Qld).
The added bonus with the Melbourne option is tht the spring blossoms will be out and Melbourne just about can't be beaten in Spring & Autumn, IMO.

Do see if you can fly into Sydney & out of Melbourne - it would free up an extra day for you.

Westsider: The OP only has 10 days; your itinerary is 14-15.

kristieb

Dreamingofoz - I recently spent 12 days driving from Sydney up to Cairns (tried to save money by not flying) and found that I didn't have a lot of time to see everything i wanted as a result! The first thing i'd say is not to underestimate how big Australia is! The places you have on your list are amazing, but also quite far apart. If you want to gauge distances and locations, you could plot your trip at www.whereis.com. Another site that could help you plan some activities to do in all those places is http://www.godo.com.au. Whatever you end up doing, Australia is an amazing place! Have fun!

Bokhara2

Hi Kristieb,
Did you end up saving anything? I'd have thought by the time you paid for fuel & accommodation, you'd have just about been at break-even or behind; more so if you had to add in vehicle rental costs.

I'd be interested in what you found because I've thought about driving too, but have always ended up flying (can never wait to get there (LOL)), and figured it would end up costing about the same anyway, even if I took my own car.

Am going to the Whitsundays for a wedding and will drive back from Proserpine over a week to catch up with some friends. Hoping to get a good one way deal on www.standbycars.com

kristieb

No - I didn't end up saving anything! Petrol was so expensive and flights aren't too bad, so I would have been far better off in terms of money AND time if I had just flown! Oh the naiveness of youth! ;-) I have learned my lesson now.

Bokhara2

Sometimes though, it's the journey, not the time or money, isn't it Kristieb? Some of those roadtrips of our youth in old bangers, or hotted up "go fasts" are the things we'll laugh about in our dotage.
And exaggerate in our "When I was your age" stories