My wife and I are going to Brisbane for a conference in July. We would like to spend about 10 days along the east coast. We'll have to be in Brisbane for two days and the rest days are flexible.

How should we plan and spend the days?

Sydney is a must. We'll probably flight from LA into Sydney. (Haven't bought tickets yet, so it can be changed.) Some people suggest we rent a car in Syndey and drive to Brisbane. Others say it takes too long.

We want to see the Gold Coast since it's not far from Brisbane, right? We would also like to see the beautiful Great Coral Reef if possible.

I know there are so many things to see, to do in Australia and we can just see a glimpse of it. But our time and budget are limited. So I'd appreciate any suggestions as to what is our best way to travel in Australia? What are must-sees? Should we rent a car or fly all the ways? How expensive are the hotels and car rental and flights?

Thanks.

Weiya

G'day, The places you want to see are a long way apart almost like from San Diego to Vancouver, if you have only 10 days I think you may miss out on some of the sights you want to see if you travel between the destinations by car. Check with your agent about the option of flying into Oz via Sydney, and back home out of Cairns. Pick up an internal fare between Sydney and Cairns with a stopover in Brisbane. This way you don't waste time backtracking and get to see some spectacular parts of Australia. Except of course the most livable city in the world Melbourne, where I live, but you can always come back. I am sure lots of people with give you some great ideas, but in the meantime, it is easy to do lots of research for yourself on www.travel.com.au, www.great-barrier-reef.com.au, and www.greatbarrierreef.aus.net Hope that this helps get you started with your planning. Peg.

Thanks, Peg. Maybe we'll just get the inland flights like you suggested to save some time. Do we need to buy return trip to get cheaper tickets as all airlines do here in the States?

I am just starting to do some research and will be checking those sites you've mentioned.

We would love to visit Melbourne and other cities in Australia, but .... There's always next time.

Research both options, it will pay you to plan that part before getting here, the list price of our internal flights is pretty pricy except when there are occasional specials, ask your agent about internal flights with Ansett and Qantas for inbound tourists, check out those sites I mentioned and I will keep a look out in the local papers and let you know what prices specials are coming up at.

I checked both sites and found they are very informative. I am just wondering if anyone can suggest some travel agencies that mainly deal with Australian travel -- phone numbers would be extremely helpful. Also, is July high season or low season in Australia? Thanks in advance to all those who respond.

July is mid winter in Australia which means if you were coming down our way (Melbourne, Victoria) it would be low season, but up north because all of us Victorians go north to Queensland for sunshine, it of course can be almost high season up there.Also N.S.W school holidays are from 3 July to 20th July and Qld 19th June to 6th July, so if you want to book internal flights during that time I would advise you to do that before long. Sorry I can't help with an inbound travel agent.

Thanks, Peg. we'd better start booking right away.

You may find an inbound travel agent if you try www.traveltrade.com.au, Cheers peg.

For the most fantastic reef experience, forget Cairns. To get to the reef it's hours by boat. Try Heron Island, sitting right on top of the reef and just stunning.
Sydney .. check out our beaches, catch a bus from the city north to palm Beach, a train south to Cronulla, then a ferry to the Royal National Park. These are the places we generally hide from the tourists

Think about going to Tasmania. I've been to Australia twice (92 and 97) and some of my fondest moments were in Tasmania. We rented a car and just drove around for 4 days and stayed in B&B's. Absolutely charming, wallabies everywhere, and of course lovely people. I agree about Horn Island for the Great Barrier Reef. I have been twice on a liveaboard for 4 days out of Cairns and, while it was wonderful, we saw a lot of bad weather both times and it's very time-consuming. Sydney is wonderful. This time we stayed at the Hotel Ibis which is wonderfully situated with lovely views and moderate (in other words, not too expensive) rates. In Sydney don't miss the wonderful Museum; it has a great Aboriginal exhibit. It's the main museum.

For a travel agent in the USA that has very good Aus deals, try australia-online.com/austravel.html

Thank you for all your replies.

I have bought the tickets now. They are US$1500 each - pretty expensive!

Now I am looking for car rentals. We want to drive from Sydney to Brisbane and see the coast along the way. We need to stay in Brisbane for two days and will drop off the car and fly out of Brisbane. I checked out a few car rental companies for pricing and found the average cost would be around $55AUD with unlimited kms. Is that the going rate? Avis and Hertz didn't say that they would charge extra for dropping the car in Brisbane, but Budget would charge $100AUD for that! Guess that automatically eliminate them as my choice.

Also, I am wondering if I can get some kind of tour to Great Barrier Reef from Brisbane and how long will it take for that tour if there are some.

We want to see as much as we can. Even some people say all beaches are the same and we could forgo the Great Barrier Reef if we don't have enough time. What's your opinions?

Thanks again.

That price for car hire is a pretty good one approx US$37 per day. Driving up is a great idea if you want to experience small towns and meet local people you will really enjoy it and find people very helpful. The Great Barrier Reef is much further north than Brisbane, almost as far again as you will have travelled from Sydney. Where are you flying home from, do you have to go back to Sydney or are you going home out of Cairns. If you let me know I can come back with some suggestions that may be of help.You are really going to enjoy this holiday, the weather is just perfect.
Regards peg.

Try the site www.travelaustralia.com.au it will give you a good idea of New South Wales and Queensland and some places worth going to as well as places to stay.

Let us know how your drive from Sydney to Brisbane goes. From my calculations it's about 1050 Km or 660 mi.

Have a GREAT time.

Dick

you cannot go to australia without seeing the great barrier reef!!! fly to cairns from bisbane and book a daytrip to the reef or stay in port douglas and do the same. we saved almost 50%25 rebooking our flight from sydney to cairns once we arrived (this was recommended by our travel agent), but it was not high season.

Hi! I'll be travelling to Aust. for two weeks in June. I found the following web sit www.aussie.net.au to be useful. It has a section that lists "Aussie Travel Specialists" anywhere. I found a travel agent located only three blocks from my house! She has been to Australia and NZ four times herself and has been extremely helpful in my planning. She highly recommended Cairns/ Port Douglass as it is not only the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, but also has numerous day trips into the tropical forest and Aboriginal tribes lands.

Thanks, everyone! I'll go check those sites you recommended. We probably won't be able to flight out of Cairns since the tickets are non-refundable and I don't know if I can change it, either. We'll fly out of Brisbane on the day we leave Australia, so it'll just be a change of planes in Sydney.

Peg: Thank you for all the helpful info you gave us. We really appreciate it.

Dick: Thank you for clearing out our misconception of the distance from Sydney to Brisbane. I tought it was around 700 kms. We'll spend a couple of days on the road, so I guess another 400 kms don't make much difference. We'll just have to stop at fewer places along the way.

As for the Great Barrier Reef ..., I hope we can arrange something. Well, maybe we'll come back next time to see it. I hate that, but I guess nobody can move it closer to Brisbane ... well.

G'Day, everyone.

Do you also say: "G'Night" down there?

Thanks, everyone! I'll go check those sites you recommended. We probably won't be able to flight out of Cairns since the tickets are non-refundable and I don't know if I can change it, either. We'll fly out of Brisbane on the day we leave Australia, so it'll just be a change of planes in Sydney.

Peg: Thank you for all the helpful info you gave us. We really appreciate it.

Dick: Thank you for clearing out our misconception of the distance from Sydney to Brisbane. I tought it was around 700 kms. We'll spend a couple of days on the road, so I guess another 400 kms don't make much difference. We'll just have to stop at fewer places along the way.

As for the Great Barrier Reef ..., I hope we can arrange something. Well, maybe we'll come back next time to see it. I hate that, but I guess nobody can move it closer to Brisbane ... well.

G'Day, everyone.

Do you also say: "G'Night" down there?

Oops, I posted twice, didn't I. I found the site just squeezed my reply into one big paragraph.

Donna: Thanks for the tip. We'll see if we can change our outbound flight from Brisbane to Cairns.

Ram: Thanks for the www site info.