Good Base for a stay in Australia
 

My husband and I are planning around a 6 week trip to Australia in January/February 2016 time frame. We do not like to pack up every few days and go to a new location. We like to pick one place and really get to know it and take day trips from that location (maybe one or two overnights). With that said I would like to hear suggestions what location to make our base. Right now I am thinking of flying into Sydney and staying for 5 nights. Then making Melbourne our base for a month and then maybe one location in New Zealand at the end of the trip for a week or so. We do like to stay in city locations but also love the beach. We are big foodies and love to try many restaurants. We are not big hikers but do love to walk around beautiful scenery. Would appreciate any input. Thank you in advance.

NZ is one of those places that's difficult to see from a base, as the scenery and attractions are spread across two long skinny islands.

Having said that, if I had to choose one base from which to see a bit of NZ's highlights, I'd choose Queenstown, preferably the outskirts. From QT you can get to Glenorchy, Wanaka, Arrowtown, Te Anau (Milford and Doubtful Sounds),the wine region of Cromwell and even take in a wee bit of the West Coast by driving as far as Makarora/Haast.

Thank you for your reply. I think I want my long term base to be in Australia. We will probably just go over to NZ at the end of the trip for just a few days and just pick one location.

ksm, what are your dates for jan/feb? January is a real problem for both Australia and NZ, as it's the summer holidays, and everyone goes away for most of January, just like people in Europe and US/Canada do in July.

Anywhere at the beach is booked out in the best places, but Sydney and Melbourne have accommodation deals and arts festivals etc to entice people who haven't gone to the beach. Accommodation prices in Sydney and Melbourne can be pretty competitive in January.

The silly season ends after Australia Day on January 26, and people go back to work when the children go back to school, then availability frees up and prices come down dramatically.

One suggestion for you along with Sydney during January is Newcastle. It's about 2hrs north by road or rail, has a good range of hotels, b&b, apartments, good restaurants, is a very laid back surfing place, and the Hunter vineyards are 45min drive away.

Weirdly, many Newcastle people who live near their beaches go away to other beaches for the January holidays.

Thank you mareeS55. Interesting to know most people "leave" in January. But really we actually like being at a place that is off season for the locals. We have found a very reasonable apartment in Melbourne that I think we will book. So now I need some suggestions for day (maybe one night stay) trips from Melbourne.

Any suggestions?

ksm,

With Melbourne as a base, there are plenty of day or one nights trips you can do from there.

The Great Ocean Road is an obvious one and I would certainly make this an overnight trip. Although the highlights can be done in a day, it makes for a very rushed trip with little time spent enjoying the actual sights. I suggest going to say, Apollo Bay the first day, stopping off at the golf course at Anglesea to see the kangaroos, Lorne for a look around and lunch, also stop off at Wye River to see if you can spot some koalas - just walk up the side road running from the general store. There is plenty of accommodation in Apollo Bay. The next day, you can go through to Port Fairy, 'doing' the 12 Apostles etc on the way through. There are some nice restaurants at Port Fairy to have lunch at before heading back to Melbourne inland. As you say you are both foodies, look at both Gladioli at Inverleigh gladiolirestaurant.com.au/ and Brae at Birregurra to see if you would like to incorporate them into the trip. I've not eaten at Brae since it was re-established but is on my list and we really enjoyed Gladioli.

Phillip Island is very popular to see the penguins but personally I'm not very excited about the island itself and, as it will be summer, it will be fairly late before the penguin parade is on and you will be driving home reasonably late at night which perhaps you don't want to to.

The Yarra Valley is a wonderful day/overnight trip, lovely scenery and an absolute plethora of excellent restaurants to choose from. If you want to see some Australian animals, Healesville Sanctuary can be included within the day.

Likewise, a day trip out to Daylesford is a lovely drive, with several excellent restaurants, the most famous being the Lake House.

Ballarat has Sovereign Hill if you are after a bit of history and some lovely old houses to wander round. At only an hour of Melbourne it is an easy trip. It is also easy to catch the train up to if you would like to not have to drive.

The Mornington Peninsula is another easy day trip, with stacks of wineries and good restaurants along with some lovely beaches. Avoid going on a weekend as the traffic can be heavy with daytrippers and weekenders.

I think Adelaide would make a great base - proximity to the Outback (Flinders Ranges, Coober Pedy, etc) and Australia's most famed wine regions, with attendant foodiness. Also within a reasonable distance of the Great Ocean Rd and Kangaroo Island. It's significantly smaller than Sydney and Melbourne, easier to get in and out of. Still no shortage of great restaurants and things to do.

Thanks, shandy

Great details for trips out of Melbourne!

Will take a look at Adelaide, RalphR. Thank you

RalphR, please withdraw your comment. I'm wanting to retire to Adelaide in a couple of years (decades, more likely) and having people unfamiliar with it visit will cause them to like it (Barossa, Clare, McLaren wine regions, KI, the Flinders Ranges, the Murray River valley, the Eyre and Yorke Peninsulas, the well-maintained city itself shot through with parklands and restaurants and koalas up in Adelaide Hills). This means they may potentially relocate and drive up the property values and therefore the costs of future retirees like me.

;-)

Oh sorry Russ. Perhaps if report my post as abuse, the Fodor site curator will remove it :-)