April or May Visit
 

With the announcement that Australia may open to international visitors soon, we're considering a return to our favorite country for a visit in late April or May. This would be our seventh visit to Australia, although our past trips have mostly been in November, December, and January. We've had the pleasure of seeing at least part of every state, not just the big cities but Kangaroo Island, Uluru, Cradle Mountain, etc. What are some of your favorite places in Australia for April or May? Any off-the-beaten-path places that you would recommend for someone who've already enjoyed the well-known destinations, perhaps multiple times? Thank you.

Hello Tripplannerr01!

Isn’t it exciting? Our borders are said to open on 21st February & we would love to welcome you & your friends again.

My first thought was the Victorian region around Bright, Beechworth, Yackandandah, Wangaratta …but then I thought of something really special, if your times sync - Orange Food Week and rhe marvellous Central West Region.

https://orangefoodweek.com.au.

Have a look at Visit NSW - Central West & you’ll see charming, historic little towns like Canowindra, Millthorpe, Carcoar.

Orange is a substantial & beautiful inland city, which would make a good base for your roaming. if I recall correctly, you don’t drive & there’s a very good limo/private driver/tour operator there who has great reviews. I’ll put zee little grey cells to work & find their name for you.

Autumn is a wonderful time to visit, the weather is usually a little more settled than in Spring & of course a little cooler.

This region is rich in history - gold mining, farming & grazing- and it’s not just “ bygone history”. It’s a region well known & justifiably proud of its wine & produce - “ Foodie heaven”, with some excellent restaurants.


I did a trip report of a jaunt out there some years ago,, which I’ll see if I can find.

Found it, but don’t know how to link it. If you click on my name, it will come up in Trip Reports under “ A quick trip to NSW Central West, an old brown dog & a grapefruit ..”

Ill be back later, but that’s a start.

https://www.fodors.com/community/aus...-and-a-867571/

There you go!

Genius! Thanks Cathie 🤗

@Bokhara2 and @cathies, thank you. So glad to see you and reconnect after what seems forever. I will take a look at Orange and Central West NSW (yes, @Bokhara2, you have great memory about us not being drivers). Assuming we begin the see light at the end of the tunnel and borders stay open (fingers crossed), we have every intention to return to Australia this year, hopefully sooner rather than later. I must say, the state-by-state rules are confusing, but it was no different here in the U.S. for a long time.

I agrre - autumn is my favourite season.and a great time to visit.
You've been to more places than many of us.
what about Darwin and Litchfield , Kakadu -the rainy season should be over .

I would definirtely always suggest the Kimberley area eg Broome , Cape Leveque - Ive been there many times and just love it.It sm y favourite place in Australia.. But unfortunately WA may still b eclosed . At the moment other Australians can't travel there..

..


. .

@northie, thank you. Appreciate your suggestion of the Top End. We've been to Litchfield but not Kakadu. The Kimberley is definitely on our list but probably for a future trip given the continued border closures.

Hello again TP,
Saturday morning here & I just saw this advertisement in the paper. Thought it might be something for one of your future trips.

I don’t know anything about Inspiring Vacations.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...16cd24426.jpeg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...33e32af73.jpeg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9e8aeb697.jpeg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2554825ef.jpeg
You might hop onto Trip Advisor - some good posts there just now & we will see more action now our border opening date has been announced.

@Bokhara2, thank you again. The Kimberley is definitely up my alley with the diverse rock formations. Purnalulu has been on our list for quite some time; only avoided it - and much of the Kimberley for that matter - because most of our trips have fallen between late November and January.

Yes, you need to get in between the wet season’ & road closures, so if you can gain a little more flexibility in your schedules in the future, it might just work for you.

I'm sure you will get a great welcome in Kangaroo Island after the bushfires and then COVID the travel industry has been doing it very tough.

G'day tripplanner

I'd reinforce Bokhara's advice about the central west of NSW. And April-May is a great time to tour around there. I'm not too sure, though, just how much of it is feasible without a car. You can certainly get the train to Orange, Bathurst and even through to Broken Hill (although the Hill is past central west a bit!). And there are some local buses.

My elderly aunt, when she was alive, was an absolute guru of getting about without a car. She lived in Bathurst and regularly visited all those small towns by various means. Her knowledge is now sadly lost.

@davidcronk, Kangaroo Island is a favorite but I'm afraid to go back so soon after the bushfires of 2019. How is the recovery?

@margo_oz, I am looking closely at central NSW, although it's starting to look at a visit later in the calendar.

I haven't been following this closely as we're currently travelling through the eastern states. Yes, travelling. I'd forgotten what it was like. These may have already been suggested but here are a few ideas -

Halls Gap/Grampians, Ballarat, Bendigo, Beechworth (Victoria)
Sunshine Coast - Noosa, Coolum, Mooloolaba (Qld)
Coast between Yamba and Burleigh (NSW and Qld)
Airlie Beach and Hamilton Island or other islands (Qld)
Port Douglas, Cairns, Palm Cove (Qld)

It would have been nice for some forethought from our federal politicians so we had an Australia-wide QR app. No, instead we have to download the Queensland QR check in app, then the NSW one, the Victorian one, etc etc. Even Canberra apparently has their own. It's annoying but it seems checking in everywhere is slowly disappearing. The state governments don't seem to do contact tracing any more so there seems little point.

Also about Orange, we were there the other day and were really underwhelmed. I think the dump we stayed in influenced us but we couldn't see the attraction. Accommodation was expensive for a country town. On the other hand, we loved Mudgee. Lovely old architecture, lots of wineries, cafes. A pleasant, very walkable town.

@KayF, thank you. And glad that you are on the road enjoying your beautiful country. Have fun and be safe.

Kangaroo Island is recovering . Great article in Travel and Leisure com. 'I visited Australias Kangaroo Island a Year after the Bushfires-Here's what it was like."
sorry I dont how to give you a better link

@northie, thank you. I will check it out. Have great memories of Kangaroo Island.

In any case, I won't be making my trip Down Under just yet. The testing on arrival and quarantine is putting me off. Hopefully things are more open as the year progresses.