Brisbane & Coast - Itinery Help
 

Hi, I will arrive in brisbane on afternoon Day 1, then have another 5 full
days before flying on to HK on Day 7.
We are planning on getting a car spending very little time in Brismabe and
going up the coast to Noosa and Fraser Island. Would also like to visit
Steve Irwins zoo. Some advice on durations and specific locations would be
appreciated.

Thanks,

David.

OK David
You will take the main highway north )( there is only one anyway) and it becomes the Bruce Highway just over the Pine river. Continue on that untill you cross the exit to Cabulture (sp??) and Bribie Island and travel for about 12 klms where you should see a sign where you veer left to "The Glasshouse Tourist Drive" Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo is at Beewah and on this road - right hand side about 2 k past Beewah village. Beewah is about 20 klms past the turnoff anyway.
I would then take the Malany turnoff, after you have been to the Zoo and driving on the same road north, at Landsborough and explore some of the high hinterland and the pretty villages of Malany and Montville. You can come down the hills from just south at Montville through Palmwoods - well Palm something and stop in on the old highway at the Deer Sanctuary where you can, without paying an entry fee, play with wallabies, kangaroos and other stuff and also go in and see the nocturnal house and have you photo taken with a koala - I would suggest you buy a coffee at least as they don't like people coming in and getting all the benefits without paying for something. You can then take the road up to Buderim and over the hill down to Alexander Headlands and Mooloolaba.
Connect again with the road north to Noosa either on the quick non coast road or the coast road which will take you through all the nice beaches.
I would take a full day and a half to do this as there are some interesting things en route. My preference to get to Fraser would be from the north side of Noosa on a tour because it is an island that you cannot drive around in a conventional car. HTH Liz

Hi David,
Liz's directions to Steve Irwins Zoo are spot on, but I will offer some corrected spellings in case you want to do more detailed searching for these places - Caboolture; Beerwah; Maleny; yes it is Palmwoods; and I think it is Alexandra (not ..er) Headlands.
(I'm not trying to be "smart" Liz, just helpful...:-).
There are two main entry points to Fraser Island. From the south, the barges go over
- north of Rainbow Beach at Inskip Point, (About 2.5 hours north of Brisbane)
- and from Hervey Bay (takes you to the Western side of the Island at Kingfisher Bay resort) - HB is about 3.5 hours north of Brisbane.
You can pick up tours directly from Brisbane or Noosa to Fraser Is. - I think you can get ones that combine a drive up the coastline north of Noosa, taking in the Coloured Sands near Rainbow Beach.
If you want to visit Fraser Island independently, you will need to hire a 4WD vehicle and take one of the barges.
But to be honest, the commercial operators (some using very comfy 4WD buses) do a great job offering guided day trips of the main sights on the island. Considering your limited time, this is probably the preferred option.
This can be done from Brisbane, but if you are wanting to do the Croc Hunter and Fraser, it might be better basing yourself on the Sunshine Coast for 2 nights, hiring a car for a few days and doing some self drives around the coast and hinterland. The hinterland area that Liz described is very pretty and offers a different perspective from the coast. The coastal drive, particularly around the Coolum/Peregian area is quite spectacular.
There are plenty of accommodation options on the Sunshine Coast area - from 5 star resorts to camping/caravan parks depending on your budget.

Have a great time.
Lori

Thanks to both of you for the tips. I think that I will spend a ful day trvelling up the coast then 3 days on Fraser and then a full day travelling back down. Hopefully this would be enough time to visit the zoo and get a feel for the coast and see some of the beaches.

Hi David,
We have just returned from 1 week at the Sunshine Coast (although we had very young children, so a little different itinerary!) Anyway, I would recommend going to Steve Irwin's Zoo (Australia Zoo) it was well worth it and lots of fun. All the staff were friendly and it was great.

I recommend dropping into Noosa (albeit to walk around). If you love pizza, one place I recommend is a restaurant called Augello's in Mooloolaba (you'll go through it as its opposite a nice beach). Its on the main strip. Pizza's to die for. Oh one other place I recommend if your there on a Wednesday or Saturday morning (or till 2pm at least) is the Eumundi Markets. All homemade crafts and food - great stuff.

Oh, one thing we noticed were the roads were a little to navigate (not too bad) but there's one highway which we couldn't get onto to get to Australia Zoo, then found out we had to go one way, do a u-turn on this major highway (it allowed you to) then come back again! It's a long standing joke in Oz about Queensland drivers! (I'm only saying this in good humour guys!!!)

Didn't make it to Fraser Island (unfortunately) would love to hear all about it though.

Most of all, have lots of fun.

Thanks again guys.