Annie4130

My husband and I are traveling to Australia in April 2014. We already booked our international flights leaving Fort Lauderdale into Sydney and back to Fort Lauderdale from Melbourne. We have 21 nights in Australia. There's so much to see and do and so little time! We are young and active and enjoy outdoor activites. We will fly to each location.
My itinerary ideas are:
5 nights in Sydney with a day trip to the Blue Mountains
7 nights in and around Cairns - we want to do a liveaboard scuba trip for 1 or 2 of the nights, Daintree and Kuranda
3 nights at the Rock - Uluru, the Olgas and Kings Canyon
6 nights in and around Melbourne - planning on spending 2 nights driving the GOR

Are we spreading ourselves too thin or is this a doable itinerary? Any suggestions?

Susan7

That looks like a doable itinerary and April is a good time weather-wise for most of those locations.

One full day is enough for Uluru and Kata Tjuta. I also like Alice Springs, if you can extend your time in the centre. You could fly into Alice Springs, then drive between Alice Springs and Uluru, and take in Kings Canyon on the way.

tt7

Glad to see you're coming to Melbourne ...

We were down the GOR the week-end before last. We left town Friday afternoon and stayed in Lorne, which is about 20 kms after the GOR starts. From there to Apollo Bay (about 50 kms) is the main part of the GOR. After Apollo Bay, the road winds its way inland (nice drive but not overly interesting) before joining the coast again a bit before Port Campbell and the Twelve Apostles (which are well worth seeing). From there, we carried on to Warnambool and then back on the main road to Lorne for the night. Starting from Lorne obviously gave us a head start on the day.

If you want to go other places out of town, then Ballarat and Daylesford/Hepburn Springs are worth a visit. Ballarat is an old gold mining town (visit Sovereign Hill). Daylesford (and Hepburn Springs) is the "spa capital" of Victoria - a nice place, some excellent restaurants (try the Farmers Arms, Perfect Drop or Mercato) and have a spa and relax, if you feel so inclined. If you go to Daylesford, visit the Convent, an old convent (!) that eventually became derelict but has been restored as an art gallery, wedding venue etc. (marriages in the old chapel). Well worth a visit and there's a restaurant for breakfast/coffee/lunch etc.

If you stay in Lorne and Warnambool (or something similar), you can then head north and come back to Melbourne via Ballarat and Daylesford - stay in Daylesford for night 3 and then head back to Melbourne the next day (about a 2 hour drive). Take the B120/B140 from Warnambool and then head north to get to Ballarat. From Daylesford, maybe come back via Castlemaine and Kyneton.

http://visitballarat.com.au
http://visitdaylesford.com.au
http://www.visitmelbourne.com/Region...on-Ranges.aspx
http://www.conventgallery.com.au

On the way back, maybe have a Picnic at Hanging Rock....
http://www.visitmelbourne.com/Region...ging-Rock.aspx

If you want some wineries, the Yarra Valley (about an hour's drive northeast from Melbourne) always makes for a nice day out, with some good places for lunch. Suggestions available if you're interested.
http://www.visityarravalley.com.au
http://www.visitmelbourne.com/Region...ng-Ranges.aspx

I'm obviously biased but I'd look at shaving a day or so off Cairns to give you an extra day in Melbourne.

tt7

A couple more Daylesford videos, in case you're interested. The video campaign used to be captioned "Daylesford. Lead a Double Life". The videos were somewhat quirky, though interesting, but apparently stirred a certain amount of controversy so are no longer used - here's an example -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdmDGVoxjIE

This is a more general one -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-_1lW-QBHo

A lot of the "lake" shots in these videos of Daylesford are of/from The Lake House - a very nice place to stay (no personal experience except walking past it/round it/through it) though eye-wateringly expensive.
http://www.lakehouse.com.au

p.s. coffee is taken very seriously in Melbourne. It's pretty hard to get a bad cup of coffee. After footy (Australian Rules football) it's the No. 2 religion here. Although, for some bizarre reason, there are some Starbucks here, no self-respecting Melburnian would be caught dead in one.
http://www.visitmelbourne.com/Region...ine/Cafes.aspx
http://www.beanhunter.com/australia/victoria/melbourne

Annie4130

I've tortured myself a little bit about not going to Alice. I'll check flights and see what I can do.

I am SOLD on the idea of spending 2 nights driving the GOR and traveling via Ballarat and staying my 3rd night in Daylesford.

In Melbourne, any recommendations on what area to stay in?

tt7

"In Melbourne, any recommendations on what area to stay in?"

Depending on your budget, try the Novotel on Collins. We had visitors who stayed there and they had no complaints - right in the middle of town, in an excellent location.
http://www.novotelmelbourne.com.au

Wotif will give you a pretty good idea of what's available at what price point -
http://www.wotif.com/search/results?...1&viewType=all

I would stay somewhere in the CBD (= Central Business District = the middle of town and not, literally, the "business" district, which is in the western part of the CBD). Convenient for anywhere and everywhere you might want to go to and easy to get back to in the middle of the day when you're suffering from tourist fatigue....

The Melbourne CBD is built on a grid. West to East (left to right on the map) the streets are Spencer-King-William-Queen-Elizabeth-Swanston-Russell-Exhibition-Spring. South to North (bottom to top on the map) it's Flinders-Flinders Lane-Collins-Little Collins-Bourke-Little Bourke-Lonsdale-Little Lonsdale-La Trobe. Get that "grid" fixed in your mind and you'll always be able to find your way home!

The western part of the CBD is the main "business" part of town; the centre and eastern part tends to be the more visitor-oriented / shopping / eating / bars part of town. That said, most of the nightclubs are on King Street in the western part of the CBD - depending on what floats your boat, better avoided late at night unless partying with a bunch of drunken yahoos at 3 am is your thing (and that's just the women .... )

The CBD is criss-crossed by a myriad of alleys and lane ways so you can spend hours wandering around to see what you can find. Many, many restaurants, bars, shops etc. are down an alleyway, down in a basement or up an (often unappealing-looking) grungy flight of stairs. Don't be put off! (though obviously the usual rules about being in a big city apply). Many places, particularly some of the (better) bars can be hard to find - often behind a more-or-less unmarked doorway or down in a basement somewhere or up on a rooftop. Half the fun is trying to find them (or remembering where they are). However, any of the guide books can point you in the right direction (or ask, if you have particular interests).

tt7

If you go to Ballarat, the Botanic Gardens has a "Prime Ministers Walk", which has busts of every Australian prime minister -- except Julia, though perhaps hers will be in place by the time you visit!

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/pol...627-2p0i3.html

Bgale

Agree with visiting Ballarat and Daylesford - visited both on my last trip and really enjoyed both.

While in the Melbourne area I would highly recommend a drive down the Mornington Peninsula. We took a full day and drove down enjoying a number of wonderful beach areas because I was fascinated by the 'colorful beach boxes' and wanted to find as many as possible. Great places for lunch, visiting wineries and just exploring.

Regarding lodging in Melbourne, we took an unusual approach on that trip and stayed in a 2-bedroom cabin in a caravan park (what Americans call RV park). We stayed at Ashley Garden's Big 4 Caravan Park in the Braybrook area of western Melbourne. The park has a bus stop right out front that will take you downtown. The cabin had all the comforts of home plus the park had a small shopping center next door with a grocery store and several restaurants. So, for something differnt Google caravan parks and check out that option.

Susan7

I've stayed at a range of hotels in Melbourne. I think one of the most reasonably priced is Crossley Hotel.

http://www.wotif.com/hotels/crossley-hotel.html

If you want a reasonably priced serviced apartment, I would also recommend Milano in Franklin st. It's close to Victoria Market which is great for coffee and breakfast.

RalphR

annie - your itinerary looks doable, however I would question the amount of time you've dedicated to the big cities. Why not more time in the Red Center to add Kings Canyon and the gorges of the MacDonnell Ranges? Why not an extra few nights on the Great Ocean Rd or in the Grampian Ranges, which are an easy detour from the GOR - great views and wildlife!

We visited the GOR and the Grampians last November - here's a link to my trip report:

http://www.fodors.com/community/aust...queensland.cfm