Hi there, <BR> <BR>We are planning a trip to Australia for 10 days. We are planning to do Sydney and the Gold Coast. Can we add any other places like cairns or Melbourne. Which hotels can anyone recommend which are not expensive but has loveliest views. Secondly which travel agents would anyone recommend for Australia. We are desperate for help from you well travelled Fodorites. Thanks a lot.

We used Austravel in Chicago to help plan our trip, I think they might also have offices in other cities. The girl I worked with was from Australia. We went for 3+ weeks (Australia and New Zealand), so it was much easier having someone else figure out the logistics of getting us from here to there but we had a fairly good idea of where we wanted to go before we called. <BR> <BR>Realistically, you will need to fly between cities in Australia, especially since you will have such a short period of time, so you need to factor in travel time. One of our favorite areas in Australia was up near Cairns; I can't imagine a trip to Australia without visiting the Great Barrier Reef. Most of the other posters on this board seem to prefer lodging in Port Douglas over Cairns. You can easily do day trips out to the reef or rainforest from either location. <BR> <BR>Depending on how much travelling you want to do, you could probably visit 3 locations in your 10 day stay, I think we visited 4 cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns and Kangaroo Island)in 11 days. <BR> <BR>Melbourne is a lovely city but I would visit the Cairns region if I had to choose between the two.

What time of year are you planning on coming? This will have a huge influence on where you go. Sydney and especially Melbourne are cold during our winter (Gold Coast too) but Cairns is at its best - nice and warm. In summer Sydney and Melbourne are warm and sunny (mostly), Gold Coast is humid and Cairns is very hot, wet and you can't swim off the beaches as it's stinger season - poisonous jellyfish. <BR>Let me know when and I'll give you more advice. <BR>Definitely choose Port Douglas over Cairns though.

You would be able to add another destination, both Melbourne and Cairns are great spots. You will have to fly to each destination as it is a great distance between cities. Personally I would do the GBR. As far as cheap accomodation, it depends on what your willing to spend. The Gold Coast has great accommodation at cheap rates. Look up www.queensland-holidays.com.au. If you have any questions, just email me, I've lived in all of these places.

Dear baza: <BR> <BR>We just returned from 10 days in Australia and 10 days in New Zealand. Travelworld LTD of Wellington, New Zealand put the entire itinerary together for us. Had a wonderful trip. We wanted someone in the region to advise us what to do, see, and where to go. <BR>I highly recommend them. Our travel agent there was a lady named Shelley. Her e-mail: [email protected] <BR> <BR>Hope you have a great trip! <BR>John and Kay