ieCork

We are a couple in our early fifties, fairly fit and independent travellers.
We arrive Brisbane 6.30 am on a Sunday end of June 2004. We leave from Sydney 8 days later.
We thought the last 31/2 to 4 days in Sydney, 2 days in Blue Mountains before that; but what to do from when we arrive Brisbane early Sun am until we get to Blue Mountains is what we'd like advice on.
Any help on relative merits of the following Hotels in Sydney?
Marriot, Holiday Inn and Sullivans.
Any comments much appreciated.

Judy_in_Calgary

My very opinionated opinion, for what it's worth, is that you should devote 2 or 3 days to Sydney and spend every second of the remaining time in Queensland. The Blue Mountains, pleasant though they are, are not a high enough priority, compared with what else Australia has to offer, to belong in an itinerary that is as short as 8 days.

I do not regard the Blue Mtns as mountains; I consider them to be hills. Also, if you absolutely insist on going there overnight in Australia's winter, take warm clothing as you could experience an overnight frost or even a light dusting of snow.

marg

You could spend a very enjoyable week driving along the coast from Brisbane to Sydney. Some good places to visit/stay overnight are the Gold Coast - partly glitz and tizz, partly lovely beaches and hinterland; Bryon Bay/Ballina; Coffs Harbour/Bellingen/Dorrigo/Urunga; Hunter Valley; and the Port Stephens area.
Brisbane area in June should be in low twenties celcius - Sydney considerably colder, so depending on your climate preferences, you may want to linger longer in south-east Queensland, northern NSW.

Alan

Hi, ieCork!

I was about to reply in depth when I read Judy's post... I agree with every word. I actually live in the Blue Mountains, and recommend it at every turn.... but not for someone who has only eight days in Australia! Spend three dyas in Brisbane, and maybe while you're there sample some of the coastal areas to the north or south. Then do four or five days in Sydney, and if you have a day or two to spare there, take a day trip to Canberra -- there are plenty of tour operators who will do this. If mountains are your passion, you should really come back another time and travel into the Snowy River country. Maybe there are some pleasant bush walks within a few hours' drive of Brisbane -- Janese is our resident expert on this area and will undoubtedly chime in at any second.

kstrueh

I'm still working on my promised trip report that will detail my two-week car trip with a party of 12 from the Whitsundays down to Sydney a few weeks ago.

Relevant to your questioned area, we spent a night at the Jacaranda Country Lodge just outside Macksville, which is convenient to the Dorrigo/Bellingen/ Urunga area (a good day's drive south of Brisbane). It is a thoroughbred horse ranch with a bed and breakfast that has excellent facilities (pool, whirlpool, game room, lounge) at a very reasonable price. In town, there was a quite decent pub (the Star Hotel) that shared a courtyard with the neighboring pizza/pasta place so that all of our party found something they could eat.

Dorrigo National Park was about 45 minutes away and a great place to spend a few hours hiking in the rain forest.
We didn't have much time to spend in Bellingen as we had hoped.

We spend the next night in the Lake Wallis area (Forster/Tuncurry). Our large party was split up between 2 B&B's, each of which was lovely and a good deal. Our hosts gave us great ideas for side trips, particularly the lighthouse at Seal Rocks. We would have liked to spend more time in that area, but had reservations in Sydney the next night.

We stayed at the Sydney Harbour B&B in the Rocks, right next to the Shangri-La Hotel (former ANA). It was pretty good, but a climb every day to get home!

We found B&B's very much preferable to staying in hotels the time we were there, most of the time for not a lot more money.

Karen