Does anyone have a recommendation on a place to stay on Kangaroo Island?

Have just begun investigating Tasmania -- any recommendations for day hikes, places to stay, and "must do"?

Tasmania:

Obviously, the Overland Track is not a day hike, but you could hike in on either end just for a day. We did that at both Cradle Mtn and Lake St Clair Natnl Parks.

There is a really fine boat trip out of Strahan, across Macquarie Harbor, and up the Gordon River (a National Heritage site).

You've no doubt heard of the popular Salamanca street marke in Hobart - it would be great if you could time your visit to Hobart to coincide with that. We also enjoyed a tour of the giant Cadbury chocolate factory - if you want to do this, you will need to book it at least a week in advance.

The Port Arthur Historic Site is the most-visited park in Oz, and it is certainly worth looking at. There is another good boat tour here too.

If you don't mind your wildlife in a zoo setting, there is the Tasmanian Devil Park (near Port Arthur) and the Bonorong Wildlife Centre (near Brighton).

One of our favorite areas was the Eagle Neck area, where there are some spectacular sculpted coastal features, like the Tasman Arch, Devil's Kitchen, and Tesselated Pavement.

We went on a nice dayhike along the base of the Walls of Jerusalem, between Ross and Launceston.

Late to join in here and not sure what the current itinerary is but will add a few comments nonetheless. I think it would be so much fun to see Australia this way...you really will get a feeling just how vast and empty the place is. I've seen much of the country in bits and pieces...10 days here, a week there, etc.

Are you planning to rent/buy a 4WD vehicle for the journey? If not, I would seriously consider it as it will give you many more options as to routes and thngs to see. Hire companies are generally very strict about not taking 2WD vehicles onto unsealed, i.e. dirt, roads. And there are a lot of those in Australia.

Out 1997 trip to the Kimberley (including the Bungle Bungles and the Gibb River Road) was perhaps the best of the bunch. Of any part of Australia, I would not miss this bit! But I assume the GRR is still largely unsealed and there are stream crossings in some spots. Better to have 4WD!.

ALF says there is not much to see between Cairns and Brisbane. But if you're still doing this drive, definitely consider a side trip to Lawn Hill Gorge, which, because of its relative inaccessibilty remains an unspoilt Outback gem (havent been myself, but this is what I heard and read).

Carnarvon Gorge is a great place. Definitely stay 3 nights to give you two full days..one to hike up the gorge (with short side tracks) and another to hike up Boolimba Bluff or the Devil's Signpost.

Don't scrimp on SE Queeensland and Northern NSW...this is an exceedingly beautiful part of the country. In some ways the inland route up the east coast from Sydney to Brisbane is more interesting...I especially like Bald Rock and Girraween Nat'l parks with their great short hikes and spectacular granite formations (plenty of wildlife too)

Rental cars also restrict where you can take the 4WD so if you want to go anywhere that has unsealed roads, check with the company (for example, they let you take a rental to Laura but not north of Cooktown to Hope Vale, and many of the tempting unsealed roads a bit away from Cairns--not allowed.) So if you want to do any exploring, buying is the best choice, I think.
Sally in Seattle

Have Gordon River cruise as a "do" from Strahan. Also thinking of visiting Henty Dunes -- but open to other suggestions.

Am going to investigate Eagle Neck. We would like to take the recommended boat trip from Port Arthur -- will see if it fits into time table. Don't think we will have time for Walls of Jerusaleum. Thanks Alf.

Travels in Tasmania looks like:

Arrive on ferry in Davenport at 7:00am
Drive to Asbesto Range and stretch legs
Drive to Freycinet Nat'l Park: 2Day/3Nights
Drive to Port Arthur: 1.5D/2N
Drive/ferry to Bruny Is. 3D/3N
Ferry/drive to Holbart: 3D/3N
Drive to Queenstown: 1D/2N and take West Coast Wilderness Railroad
Drive to Strahan: 2D/2N & take Gordon river cruise
Drive to Cradle Mountain/Lake Clair: 2.5D/3N
Drive to Davenport, take 7:00pm ferry to Melbourne & leave ferry for Croajingolong Nat'l Park.

Ralph R. we wanted to do the Kimberley but have decided to (at this time & subject to change) Western AU a separate trip.

Your suggestion to visit Lawn Hill Gorge is on the list. As we cross the top of AU one of our night stops is Camooweal - almost next door to the Gorge. I also see on the map: Camooweal Caves Nat'l Park. Does anyone recommend exploring these caves?

Per recommendations we have added a day and night to Carnarvon Nat'l Park.

Ralph R & SnRSeattle -- Yes, we are leaning heavily toward buying a vehicle for our travels. Four wheel is our preferance (I own a Jeep).

Anyone have suggestions on buying and selling a vehicle in Sydney -- how long will this take?

Thanks for everyones comments,

Nancy and Tom

Some dealers offer a buyback guarantee provision - if you return the vehicle in the same condition, they will buy it back for $X. It usually not a good deal, but it may be reassuring to know that if you run out of time at the end of your trip, you can sell your vehicle. We did this, and ended up selling back to the dealer, because after a week, we had received no decent offers on selling our campervan. Admittedly, it was no longer tourist season, and it was a bit more expensive than the typical used van.

Can't help you with dealers in Sydney - we bought and sold in Melbourne.

Arrive on ferry in Davenport at 7:00am
Drive to Asbesto Range and stretch legs
Drive to Freycinet Nat'l Park: 2Day/3Nights
Drive to Port Arthur: 1.5D/2N
Drive/ferry to Bruny Is. 3D/3N
Ferry/drive to Holbart: 3D/3N
Drive to Queenstown: 1D/2N and take West Coast Wilderness Railroad
Drive to Strahan: 2D/2N & take Gordon river cruise
Drive to Cradle Mountain/Lake Clair: 2.5D/3N
Drive to Davenport, take 7:00pm ferry to Melbourne & leave ferry for Croajingolong Nat'l Park.

By way of a start with some ideas I would suggest that you scale down your trip to Bruny Island ( very limited accommodation and probably more expensive than the mainland - i.e. nice little beach side caravan park at Snug to name but one, and concentrate on the Channel area and Huon Valley - add time to Freycinet and add Bay of Fires/ St Helens as well which is further north. You could cut time off Hobart as well but try and be there on a Saturday for the Salamanca Markets. If you are interested in the Shackleton expedition to Antarctica early 1900s there is a display of Frank Hurley's photographs of that expedition in the museum which I think is excellant.

For meals without paying mega bucks, just about every small to medium town in Australia you will find a "cafe" and/or fish and chip shop. These usually sell 2 cooked fish fillets and $2 worth of chips for about $14 Au and that makes a great meal. Then they have other things like an Australian hamburger which is about 5 inches high and has everything but the kitchen sink on it. Most places have bbq areas which are either gas/ electric or wood fired where you can make your own meals. It will either cost about 20cents for the bbq or there should be cut wood nearby for you to use. Any bowls club/ Rugby League/ etc in Australia have a dining area where anyone can go for a meal which is usually good value. Same applies to a lot of hotels or rather Pubs which also sell meals.
Check out pubs on your trip for accommodation too as there are many excellant hotels which have cheap accommodation. I notice you are going to the Dorrigo National Park, one of the Pubs in Dorrigo itself has some excellant accommodation both in dormitory style and rooms and at a very good price. My husband rode with his motorcycle club there and the cost in the dorm was $10 per night. Also as you are going to Carnarvon I would suggest staying at Grace's Pub in Injune ( it may not still be called Grace's Pub but it is the only one there) also very cheap but comfortable as well. Stayed there myself when I was showing Australia to English relatives and we enjoyed a darts game with the locals. Even though they removed the feathers from my darts, as sort of a handicap, we managed to beat them. We had invitations to their farms as well which we were unable, due to time constraints, to take up unfortunately. It was a highlight of our rellies trip to Australia as it was such a contrast from their jobs as Merchant Bankers and a really great night. I would perhaps suggest missing out on Heron Island but substituting the Whitsunday Group of Islands instead, because of the beauty of that area and the many ( 73 ) islands in that group to choose from. There is a very nice caravan Park at Airlie Beach - Hibiscus I think it is called which is reasonably priced or you could check out some of the specials which would be advertised on boards around the place. If July next year is anything like this year you would be better to be further north than Heron as it was very, very cold this year.
Anyway hope this helps a bit for you.

LizzyF

Thank you for all the info and recommendations.
I think we will take your suggestion on cutting day out of our stay at Bruny Island. May use this day to stop at Maria Island.

I have 3D/3N in Holbart but want to see Holbart, hopefully on a Sat. plus Mt Wellington for birding and maybe a bike ride down the mountain, the botanical gardens, the city of Richmond, a day at Mt. Field Nat'l Park and who knows: maybe a day to rest.

We do want to spend some time in the Whitsunday Islands. Thinking about a 3D/2N snorkeling boat trip within the islands.

Because of the temperature, we may push our trip out to the first of August. Need to be back home on or about the 15 Nov.

Thank you for letting us know about pub food and more importantly as a place to stay.

Nancy and Tom

When I said to cut down on Hobart, the places that you want to see are just as easily gettable to by staying outside Hobart i.e. Cambridge Caravan & Tourist Park to cut costs. That is only one that I know of but there would be many others.

Actually there is a Pub at Cambridge that charges $55 Au per night for a room. It is clean and homely though not 5 star by any means. Friends of ours stayed there and had the best seafood chowder ever and they thought it was excellant value both for meals and for accommodation. Cambridge is only 15 mins from the centre of Hobart and 8 mins from Richmond.

It is worthwhile buying a cooler and stocking up on drinks and picnic stuff. There are roadside picnic areas along the major roads. These have water and toilets as well as tables. Some also have BBQ facilities. Most towns have public parks as well.

Almost all accommodation will have a fridge and coffee/tea facilities. Just buy ice or ask to put you freezer blocks in the management's freezer each day. This will save heaps. You can also make a thermos of coffee each morning before you leave.