Is 11 days too short
Mar 7th, 2007, 04:56 PM
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Is 11 days too short
My wife and I are planning to fly from NYC to Sydney and stay for a few days and then fly to Cairns again for a few days and then back to Sydney. I have 11 days to spend there. Is this too little time to spend there to have a good time. I don't want to be rushed. Some one told me you should have at least 2 weeks to spend there if you want to enjoy yourself. If this is true maybe Hawaii would be a better choice even though my wife has her heart set on Australia
Mar 7th, 2007, 05:56 PM
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If you don't try to do more than just Sydney and the Great Barrier Reef, then 11 days should be plenty of time. I agree with DownUnder that you should split the time equally between Sydney and Cairns. However, you may want to consider staying at one of the northern beaches or Port Douglas rather than Cairns itself.
Mar 8th, 2007, 12:28 PM
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chowguy, your first post conveyed the impression that you had 11 days to spend in Australia exclusive of travelling time.
The international date line ensures that you'll lose a day on the way to Australia. Thus a typical flight might leave the West Coast on (say) Monday night and arrive in Sydney on Wednesday morning. (One alarmed Qantas passenger was heard to ask the FA "What - you don't have Tuesdays in Australia?" Rest assured we do.)
The good news is that you'll get your day back on the return journey. There's no getting away from the fact that it's a long trip, though - 14 hours LAX/SFO-SYD, plus your NY-WC flight, so you won't be the life of the party on your first day in Sydney. To deal with jet lag the best advice I can give you is not to crash out on that day - go to bed that night as you would normally (OK, a little earlier maybe) and you should be fine next day. And remember that getting to and from Cairns will take up half a day door-to-door.
On this basis I think you should plot an itinerary based on the best schedules you can find, then sit back and decide whether it's manageable. Needless to say Australia offers a very different experience than Hawaii.
The international date line ensures that you'll lose a day on the way to Australia. Thus a typical flight might leave the West Coast on (say) Monday night and arrive in Sydney on Wednesday morning. (One alarmed Qantas passenger was heard to ask the FA "What - you don't have Tuesdays in Australia?" Rest assured we do.)
The good news is that you'll get your day back on the return journey. There's no getting away from the fact that it's a long trip, though - 14 hours LAX/SFO-SYD, plus your NY-WC flight, so you won't be the life of the party on your first day in Sydney. To deal with jet lag the best advice I can give you is not to crash out on that day - go to bed that night as you would normally (OK, a little earlier maybe) and you should be fine next day. And remember that getting to and from Cairns will take up half a day door-to-door.
On this basis I think you should plot an itinerary based on the best schedules you can find, then sit back and decide whether it's manageable. Needless to say Australia offers a very different experience than Hawaii.
