Hi all, we are planning a trip to Australia in April 08. we think the Qantas pass will be good for us since it allows 3 stops within Aus. Here is what we have in mind:

sydney - 3 days
Tasmania - 3 days
Melbourne - 3 days
Cairns - 4 days
Brisbane - 1 night (stop over before flying back home)

Does it seem too rush? Should we eliminate one or more stops (Tas, Melbourne or both)? From reading this Forum, it seems like there's a lot to do in Tas. Don't know if it's even worth it just for 3 days.

Please help!!! i appreciate any advice.

We just spent 6 days in Tasmania and didn't even make it out of the southeast corner!

What type of things are you interested in doing?

We are into seeing some wild life (penguins, koala bears) and scenary. We will do all the water activities in Cairns and city life in Sydney and Melbourne. Sounds like we should save Tasmania for another trip??

ginnyp,

3Questions: when you say "3 days" you do mean 4 nights? you do know Australia is big and traveling can take time? 3 stops in Aus. on Qantas-are you planning on driving between 2 of those cities or will they let you stay over in Brisbane (4 in country flights)?

In any case it is ambitious. Why not skip Melbourne (even though it is a wonderful city), add a day to Sydney (with so much to do there) and 2 more days to Tas. (never been there). That way you will see three distinct areas of Australia.

I agree that you should probably skip Melbourne and use those three days for Tasmania. We were in Tasmania a few years ago in April and it was wonderful! You could actually see quite a bit in 6 days. While Melbourne is a nice city, it won't be something completely different like Tasmania will be.

Distances in Australia are huge. Given you have only 14 days to travel, I would consider the following:

Arrive in Australia in Sydney
Hobart / Tasmania
Cairns
Depart Australia Cairns -> Brisbane -> LAX (assuming you are coming from the US). I haven't checked schedules from Cairns lately but I would bet you can get from Cairns to Brisbane in time for your international departure - which would eliminate your need for the overnight in Brisbane.

This would expose you to three distinct areas of Australia and minimize the amount of time spent in the air. Good luck!

Arranging your itinerary to fit the requirements of the Qantas Aussie pass may not be the be the best plan. Before you book, become familiar with Virgin Blue's Happy Hour fares. You're planning far enough ahead to possibly get incredible fares from place to place.

Last October, we flew from Melbourne to Hobart, then from Launceston to Sydney to Townsville (GBR), and back to Sydney (we had a month in Australia) for less than the add-on Aussie Pass would have cost. We did it entirely with VB Happy Hour fares. By the way VB honored Qantas' international luggage allowance.

Ginny,

I totally agree with Betsey - don't change your itinerary & plans to fit the Airpass. It's not worth it. I know it SEEMS like a really good deal, but it's called MARKETING. If you had 6 weeks, travelling to various parts of Australia,it would work out to be an excellent deal, but please don't tweak your itinerary "just" to fit in the airpass - as Betsey said, you can make this work just fine, and economically without doing that.

Yes, your intinerary seems too rushed; remember the travel time involved - everytime you change your location you're on another plane, in another terminal in advance, waiting for a plane and then the travel time from Point A to B. It's just eating up your valuable time in Australia.

I can't really get if you have 14 days IN Australia, or 14 days total travel time (because then we're really just talking 12 days in Australia), which makes a big difference.

In any event, you could do Sydney / Cairns /Tasmania, but flying from Cairns, you would be changing planes in Melbourne (adding to travel time); and of course, the same is true in reverse as well.

You would get to see a little part of Tasmania, but miss out on the "big picture" as it were. (see JohninMiami's comment).

Hope this is helpful!

Regards,

Melodie
Certified Aussie Specialist

Hi Ginnyp,

I know it is hard to get the most out of a trip with a tight time schedule.
I also would skip Melbourne, though there is the beautyful Healesville Sanctuary nearby to see some wildlife. But if you want some scenery you should go to Tassie. And perhaps spend a day in the Blue Mountains when you are in Sydney.
Australia's cities are wonderful, however, don't miss a little bit of the bush and the city's backyards, cause this is what makes Australia outstanding.
Happy planning!
Rita