RMaz74

My wife and I will be on holiday most of December; our (preliminary) itinerary is as follows:

06N: Bali
10N: NZ (South Island)
05N: Sydney (for new years eve)

We have 3 extra days and we're trying to decide what to do; some options are:
a. MEL: Tour city and do the great ocean drive
b. GBR: Reef... reef and more reef
c. Add the time to NZ & Bali

Any opinions/suggestions would be much appreciated?

TreeRoo

Explore the Sydney area. You need more time when you come north. do that next trip.
Alan

NGail

If you're not doing another trip to Oz soon, my vote is for the GBR. Even one full day out on the Quicksilver will be worth the extra flights.

pat_woolford

Agree with TreeRoo, give the extra 3 days to Sydney. If you do a search here for Sydney outskirts there's plenty of recommendations other than Blue Mtns, Manly or Bondi.

If Cairns airport is where you're going for GBR, remember its a 3 hour flight from Sydney. Any worthwhile reef trip takes all day at least so you'd only have one full day for reef, there's a possibility of bad weather and you'd have no leeway. And it would be a shame to come all the way and miss the unique rainforests and Tablelands areas, as TreeRoo says, keep this area for a later trip.

benderbabe

Agreed. Definitely Sydney.

Where re you staying and what are you doing for New Years?

I'm assuming you're aware that Sydney has a huge fireworks display over the Harbour Bridge on New Years, and hundreds of thousands of people come out and line the foreshore to see the event.

Two fireworks displays, usually, weather permitting. One around 9pm for the kiddies, and then one at midnight to ring in the new year.

If you happen to be lucky enough to be staying in a hotel in the downtown area with a view of the harbour, you won't have to fight the crowds. If not, however, you will want to make sure you spend the latter half of new years eve day getting yourself a spot where you can see the fireworks from!

Alternatively, the Opera House has a venue on the night, as does the Museum of Modern Art, and several other restaurants and places, where you could get a great view and nice bite to eat. There are also boats that do cruises during the fireworks, which is a great vantage point.

It won't come cheap, but probably worth it. But I'd make some enquiries now, so you don't miss out!

Here are a couple of links:

http://www.sydneynewyearseve.com.au/...FR8NTAodUnDKFw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year's_Eve

RMaz74

benderbabe: thanks for the detailed response. I really appreciate it! We're staying at the Four Points in Darlington Harbor for NYE. Can you see the fireworks from there?

We've decided to add all 3 days to NZ (SI). I know I'll be back to OZ... but not sure how many times I'll make it back to NZ... so I'm trying to see everything I can in the SI.

Thanks again to all who've replied.

CHEERS!

WallyKringen

Don't know what you already have planned for Sydney, but no matter what it is, there is always more to do to fill three days easily. I posted these for others, why not repeat them here for you to consider:

The ferry rides from Palm Beach (northern tip of the northern beaches of Sydney) on the Hawkesbury and Pittwater to Patonga and such - see www.sydneysceniccruises.com, or

doing the harbour bridge climb - www.bridgeclimb.com - or

at least the much less involved but wonderful Harbour Bridge Pylon climb - www.pylonlookout.com.au/

a leisurely trip to Cessnock and the Hunter Valley with a stop at a winery here and there - see www.winecountry.com.au/ - and

an evening swim and dinner near Wyong on the way back to Sydney - http://www.wyong.com/

If you go to the Blue Mountains, check out this website www.jenolancaves.org.au/
and see if you can fit that in. If you rent a car for the day, it's a bit of a drive from Katoomba, but that would put the cherry on top - those caves and their contents are awesome!

You could take a train from Sydney in the morning to Katoomba, and take the bus that leaves at 10:30 from near the station, operated by Fantastic Aussie Tours (02) 4782-1866.

Or take the coach all the way from Sydney, A.A.T. Kings departs Circular Quay, Sydney at 8.45am daily for one and two day trips to the caves. A.A.T. Kings can be contacted on (02) 97000133 or visit their web site http://www.world.net/Travel/Australia/aatkings/.

And keep reading the travel pages of www.smh.com.au for more inspiration.

Also - it will be hot, there may be days when you just don't want to make any big moves, so three extra days sounds perfect.

Tim_and_Liz

I think the SI is best-glad it's what you chose. I think it's easy to see the basic highlights of Sydney in 5 days.
Liz