East Coast Australia Itinerary - NEED ADVICE
 

Hello, My husband and I are looking forward to our trip to Australia. Jan. Feb. 2023. We have the luxury of time, so we could be traveling for 1.5 - 2 months. I've split our trip into 3 sections: 1) East Coast 2) Central 3) Southern coast. The east coast is what I'm asking for help with. We are flying into Sydney to start our adventure. We are backpacking and using a month long bus pass to travel the East Coast. I am being told that we are making too many stops and we shouldn't travel on the bus, we should rent a car. Isn't it too long to be driving?
Sydney - 3 nights

Byron Bay - 4 nights

Gold Coast - Coolangatta - 3 nights

Noosa - 3 nights

Rainbow Beach - 3 nights

Airlie Beach - 3 nights

Magnetic Island - 2 nights (from Townsville)

Cairns - 4 nights
Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. I've already eliminated a few stops. This will be our only trip to Australia, so I want to make the best of it.

Thanks, Marlene

I think the main problem is the distance involved. I checked and it's about 2500 km from Sydney to Cairns. That's a long time to be sitting on a bus, even broken up by short stays. How about flying from Sydney to Sunshine Coast airport (or possibly Brisbane airport), skip Byron (highly over-rated I think but it's your trip) and Coolangatta. Visit Noosa, and the southern part of the Sunshine Coast if you can, and Rainbow Beach. Then fly to Townsville or Cairns, do that top section either by bus or hire a car. Unless you are going out to the Whitsunday Islands, I'd skip Airlie which is nice but there are other places further north that are just as good. Maybe look at Mission Beach or Palm Cove or Port Douglas. Hire cars are thin on the ground so book way ahead if you do decide to rent.

Also you may know that January is part of the main school holiday break in Australia and the most popular time for people to travel. So prices will be higher, you'll need to book ahead. And in the north, it's the wet season (roughly Nov to April) so will be hot and humid with rain.