germans

Hi, I'm going to Australia for 20 days next April with my family: wife, 2 daughters (1 and 4 years old) and me.
I'd like some input on my itinerary:

Arrive early at Sydney (tickets already bought), spend the day/night to cope with jetlag

Fly to Melbourne (or around), hire a car and spend 4 days in Victoria. I want to drive the Great Ocean Road and maybe have a day or two somewhere else: I'd like to visit Wilson's Promontory but it is a bit remote; I'm not very interested in Melbourne.

Fly to somewhere around Byron Bay, hire a car and do the following:
2 days Byron Bay
1 day trip to North Stradbroke Island (without the car)
2 days around Noosa
2 days Fraser island -> How is the best way to visit FI with the 2 kids?

Go to the Witsundays area .. How? by car, maybe spending a day in the middle? or return the car in Brisbane and fly?

3 days here: I don't think we can go in a 2/3 days cruise with the girls, so I think about 1 day trip to visit Whitehaven beach and 1 or 2 days for something else (not planned yet)
(maybe hire a car to travel north)
2 days in Cairns/Port Douglas

Fly back to Sydney and spend the last 3 days there (with a day trip to the Blue Mountains)


I understand that the QLD part (specially the northern one) implies a lot of driving so I would like some advices about how can I adjust the plan to avoid that.

Is the south QLD section suitable for swimming in April?

I thought about renting a campervan and do all the QLD part staying at camping grounds, but that will depend on whether I have to return the vehicle in the middle or not... What do you think?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Germán.

tasmangirl

Have a good look at a map - Australia is big and I mean really big. Put it on an overlay map and it is as big as the USA. Melbourne is positioned like Florida and North Queensland the equivalent of the middle of Ontario.
You don't have time for all those places so work out where you really want to go. The kids are very young and this is a lot of travelling around for them.

There's plenty to do in Sydney and the Great Ocean Road is a great trip so maybe focus on either Sydney/Melbourne/Victoria or Sydney/Brisbane/Queensland.
Whitehaven Beach and the Whitsundays are beautiful but it is a long way to go just for a beach.
Noosa has a lovely beach and the kids would like Australia Zoo and the Mooloolaba Underwater World.

A campervan means an awful lot of driving on long boring Australian roads. Check with a rental company if you can do a one way trip.
You can't adjust the driving times of Queensland - it's a huge place. Flying takes up time as well as regional airports tend to be out of town and a limited choice of flight times. Each flight within Oz would take up a day of your trip.

germans

Hi, thank you for your advice.
I've been rethinking the itinerary and came up with this:

1 day in Sydney

8 days around south Queensland (Byron Bay, North Stradbroke Island, Noosa, Fraser Island) - not interested in Brisbane

8 days between Arlie Beach and Cairns

3 days in Sydney


The main doubt I have now is which of these 2 options is more convenient:
a) Travel from FI to Arlie Beach (maybe stopping one day in the middle) by car
b) Return the car, fly, rent a new car (I plan to visit some of the islands so I will not need a car during the first 1 or 2 days)

And some other specific questions:
- How is the best way to visit Fraser Island with the 2 kids? I'm considering a two-day tour vs 4WD hire.
- Is the south QLD section suitable for swimming in April?


I'm still thinking about a campervan at least for a part of the trip

northie

No way I would drive on Fraser Island unless you are a confident experienced 4 WDriver - the tracks are sand with deep,deep ruts .
You can do a day tour to Fraser Island - leaves from Sunshine Coast.

tasmangirl

Great you are focussing on Queensland but options A and B both have problems..either you drive all the way or fly in between and hire another car for each leg.
8 days is a reasonable time but how are you getting from Sydney to Byron Bay? (FYI Byron Bay is in NSW not Queensland)Fly from Sydney to Brisbane to get there quickly.
I would consider leaving Byron Bay out of the trip - then you could do 8 days Brisbane/Sunshine Coast area and then another 8 days Airlie Beach to Cairns. Fly back to Sydney from Cairns.
Have'nt been to Fraser Island but I would do a tour as you are travelling with small children.
I swam at Airlie Beach in May but it was in the man made lagoon. Too many stingers to swim in the sea itself.