3 weeks along the east coast of OZ
 

I'm in the beginning stages of planning a trip to Australia next year in late-May, early-June. Was thinking of something like this:

Fly into Sydney for 4 nights
Brisbane for 4 nights
Surfers Paradise for 4 nights
Cairns for 4 nights
Darwin for 4 nights

I'd love to also see Perth and Melbourne but the weather at this time of year doesn't seem to be the best and since my current itinerary is moving up along the coast, I'd like to head to Indonesia from Darwin (Bali and Sulawesi) before flying back home. I've got 5 weeks total.

Does this seem reasonable? Any tweaks you would suggest?

Thanks!

I'd pass on Surfers at that time of the year. Not much fun, too chilly, and not pretty.

If you're a beach bum, add a couple of days to Cairns, maybe go up to Port Douglas. The Jellyfish season should be over.

Have you considered flying to Uluru?

Otherwise this looks good.

While in Brisbane, get wheels and maybe swing by Mt. Tamborine, another day drive up to Caloundra and Buddina. Just south of Caloundra is Golden Beach, if it's a great day and you're game, take a dip.

Go say Hi to the Koalas (and NEVER call them bears!) at http://www.visitbrisbane.com.au/bris...?sc_lang=en-au

In Sydney make sure you walk through the historic Rocks area (across from the Opera House, just up from Circular Quay) and go up on the Harbour Bridge Pylon for a great 360 view - see www.pylonlookout.com.au (not to be confused with the expensive and very involved Harbour Bridge Climb).

In Sydney, hop on ferries, just for the heck of it, those rides might become the fondest memories of all (pick the traditional ones, not the all-enclosed catamarans).

So much more - too much for here - look it all up and go enjoy!

The weather in Perth in May is lovely IMO. Even the winter isn't 'cold', not by Northern Hemisphere standards anyway.

Grey nomads flock to the NW coast in the winter months, as it's the only tolerable time of year to visit.

The water on the west coast is cold year round. Think California. Think great whites.

The bigger issue in visiting WA is the distance from the rest of Australia...and well, just about everywhere, except Singapore and Indonesia. It's a trek. Bali is practically a suburb of Perth, a 3.5 hour flight.

What is your motivation in choosing Brisbane and Surfers? I don't like either particularly. Not that they are bad, just not the best Australia offers. Between Surfers and the Sunshine Coast, I'd choose the Sunshine Coast (and like the hinterland a lot). How do you plan to get around? If you have a car, the journey from Sydney to Brisbane is lovely (via Hunter Valley, Forster, Port Stephens, Port Macquarie, Bellingen, Yamba, etc). I wouldn't stay in Cairns but head to the northern beaches or Port Douglas.

Perhaps consider Sydney - drive to Brisbane and Sunshine Coast over a week - north of Cairns - Darwin. Another alternative would be to fly from Coffs Harbour to Cairns, giving you more time up north.

I will not be driving so will have to rely on tours and public transportation.

Public transport between regional towns in Australia is not as good as in other countries but still possible. Like you, I prefer to use it whenever possible.

Check these as examples: https://www.greyhound.com.au/special...-sydney-coach; https://www.greyhound.com.au/travel-...brisbane-noosa. Trains in NSW: http://www.nswtrainlink.info/ There is a local bus service from Cairns as far north as Palm Cove. And shuttle services to Port Douglas. There are trains between the Gold Coast and Brisbane.

Have a great trip. If you have specific questions about any of the places you plan to visit, don't hesitate to ask.

We used Swain Australia (now Swain Destinations) years ago.
They were amazingly flexible - booked as much for us as we wanted, and no more.
Examples-
*Sydney - Opera House tour/meal/show, day trip to the Blue Mountains
*Urulu - sunrise tour, tour through the Olgas
*Alice Springs - hot-air ballooning
*Darwin - overnight tour to Kakadu
*Port Douglas - day trip on the GBR,
*Heron Island overnight
They booked all internal flights for us, most hotels (several choices)
We did 3 weeks in Oz - including 2 nights in Brisbane - and 2 more in NZ.
I don't know if Swain is as great now as it was then, but worth a look, I think.
Enjoy!

Trip has now been extended to 4 weeks.

4 nights in Sydney
3 nights in Melbourne
4 nights in Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays
2 nights in Brisbane
3 nights on the Gold Coast
6 nights in Cairns
3 nights in Alice Springs or Ayers Rock
4 nights in Darwin

Then off to Indonesia for the rest of my trip.

Good on ya, mate! Enjoy!

Your new itinerary makes sense in terms of time allocations, although I worry that you will move around too much to enjoy yourself, even if you are flying from one location to another. You are moving around to 8 different locations within a month.

If it were me I may look at eliminating Brisbane and the Gold Coast from your itinerary as you will already be visiting two other major cities on your trip.

You could easily spend more time in both Sydney and in Melbourne and do day trips out of the city. From Sydney, you could go to the Blue Mountains and / or the Hunter Valley. From Melbourne, excursions along the Great Ocean Road and to Phillip Island and the Yarra Valley are popular. I also would start in Melbourne to avoid backtracking.

Between Alice Springs and Uluru, I would stay at Uluru. Make sure you include a visit to Kata Tjuta; it is especially good if you enjoy hiking.

By Darwin, I hope you mean Kakadu National Park or another outdoor destination. Darwin itself is worth one day at most, considering how much the surrounding region has to offer.

Hope some of this helps.

I see you’d like to take public transportation and tours.

On one of my visits to Melbourne, I was alone, didn’t want to drive, but wanted to see attractions outside of the city. So I took two tours, “Great Ocean Road Sunset” and “Phillip Island Penguin Parade Afternoon Wildlife Tour,” with Bunyip Tours. Because I took two tours with them I got free passes for the Eureka Skydeck and Sealife Melbourne Aquarium; it was a great deal. The tours left later in the day, so I had my mornings free to visit museums or Queen Victoria market. These are mini-bus tours, with a maximum of 24 people, though there were far fewer people than that on the tours I took.

On the Great Ocean Road tour we made several stops, including stopping to photograph koalas in the trees near the Cape Otway Lightstation, and at Loch Ard Gorge beach, which is what I most wanted to see (as two survivors of a famed 1878 shipwreck washed ashore here). The driver/guide was great and I enjoyed the tour immensely. The Phillip Island Penguin Parade Afternoon Wildlife Tour included visits to Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Park, the Nobbies, and the Phillip Island Chocolate Factory, which I wasn’t looking forward to but ended up enjoying. I’m sure their tour itineraries change all the time, so if you’re interested, please check beforehand. The guide for the Phillip Island tour was just okay. If I were to go back to Melbourne alone, I'd take their Wilson's Promontory tour.
http://www.bunyiptours.com

On my last day of that particular Melbourne trip, I took a trip with the Wine Bus to the Yarra Valley. A year later, I returned to Melbourne with my husband, and we rented a car to visit Yarra Valley wineries. It was our second joint visit to the city. Melbourne has great restaurants, interesting shops, imaginative street art, historic architecture, pretty parks, and terrific public transportation (including a free tram zone, see https://static.ptv.vic.gov.au/siteas...amZone_Map.pdf), but its city centre is also very walkable. From the airport to the city, you can catch the 24-hour Skybus or an airport shuttle.

I enjoyed Darwin. It’s unique city, with a multi-ethnic population. The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territories is worth visiting, for its exhibitions on Cyclone Tracy, indigenous art, and natural history, and has a scenic location overlooking the Arafura Sea. Darwin has good restaurants and aboriginal art galleries. We never made it to its Mindil Beach Sunset Market, but it’s supposed to be fun. On our first visit, we took an overnight, two-day bus tour of Kakadu, which also included a scenic flight over Jim Jim Falls and more, and a boat ride on the Yellow River. The Kakadu is amazing. On our second visit, years later, we flew to the Tiwi Islands (Melville and Bathurst) and took an all-day small group tour to Litchfield National Park. Like you, we visited in May, after the rainy season, so everything was green. The wildlife sightings in Kakadu and Litchfield were fantastic. Our second visit was in October, when it was warmer. If I ever return to Darwin, I'll visit Katherine Gorge.

My husband and I have visited Sydney a half-dozen times and found it easy to get around on public transportation or just by walking. We rented a car on one of our trips to explore the coast north of Sydney (as far as Newcastle), also Hunter Valley and Hawkesbury River. On another one of our trips, we took an all-day coach tour to Canberra. We would have liked more time in the National Gallery of Australia, but, otherwise, the tour was fine.

We rented a car for Brisbane (and Sunshine Coast) and Uluru (Ayers Rock). Can’t remember if we rented a car for Alice Springs. We didn’t need at car for Cairns. We spent about three nights up in Cape Tribulation (had our accommodation arrange for pick-up from the airport), two nights in Cairns, and one or two nights on a liveaboard dive boat on the GBR. While in Cairns, we took the Skyrail and Kuranda Scenic Railway.

You are packing a lot into your trip. Have you factored in travel time? You can easily lose a day each time you move on to a new place. Check out, travel to airport, wait for plane, etc etc. Would be worth checking flights, costs and time spent travelling between each place but you may have already done that.

Kay