canuckstooz

Hi everyone. My wife and I are travelling to Australia from Canada with one other couple in late January/early February for 3 weeks. Escaping Canadian winter, hence the time our visit to Australia. Its our 1st visit to Australia. I've come up with a tentative itinerary but I have some questions which may alter it. Any suggestions greatly appreciated!!!

Jan 23 arrive Sydney AM, fly to Melbourne

Jan 24-26 we have evening tickets for Australian Open Tennis so will do this each evening and sightsee during the days. Jan 26 is Australia Day. What special activities are there to do that day that we should take advantage of? Also, will this be enough time in Melbourne or ahould we plan to stay another day?

Jan 27 Fly to Adelaide AM, then drive to Barossa

Jan 27-28-29 Wine touring in Barossa. This might seem like a lot of time but we really enjoy wine. Drive back to Adelaide evening of Jan 29

Jan 30 Day trip to Kangaroo Island
Jan 31 See Adelaide
Feb 1 Fly to Uluru.
Feb 1-3 Stay at Ayers Rock Resort.

I know it is supposed to be real hot. We are all young (mid 30s) so health wise we can tolerate the heat, but will it be so hot that we won't be able to enjoy our time here? I'm torn about whether we should just stay in the South of Australia the entire time of our trip and save Uluru and GBR for another visit given the month that we are visiting Australia. Any thoughts?

Feb 3 Fly to Cairns.
Feb 4-5 Snorkling at GBR +/- Daintree. Again the weather is a concern for me. I understand it is hot and rainy that time of year. Would we be able to enjoy snorkling and or the Daintree this time of year?

Feb 6 Fly to Sydney. Here sightseeing, ?day at the beach, a day trip to Blue Mtns. until we leave AM of Feb 11.

My biggest concern is do people think we are trying to see to much in one trip with this itinerary, and especially given the time of year, should we just stay to the south? Sorry for the length of the post but you can see I need your help

Thank you very much
Cory

tropo

Cory - your itinerary really depends on what you & your friends want to see or do. Summer in South Australia (including Adelaide & Barossa Valley) can be very hot & dry, with daytime temps around the low 40's. Even Melbourne can have daytime temperatures in the 40's during summer.
As for the centre of Australia, that can be hotter still. North Queensland will be warm & humid, but not unbearable. A lot of their rainfall falls at night. Pat who lives in the Cairns region, can explain her area to you more fully.
With 3 days in Melbourne for day touring, there is a lot to see, eg. Phillips Island, Yarra Valley wineries, Dandenong Ranges, drives around the Bay, or if time permits a "short" trip along the Great Ocean Road.

Paul_S

Hi Cory,

Yes it will be hot here in Alice Springs/Ayres Rock region at that time of year. I believe that if you really want to see the rock then fly in one day and fly out the next to Cairns. That will give you plenty of time to see everything and will cut down the accommodation expense at Yulara which is the town at Ayres Rock.

Cheers

Paul_S

Judy_in_Calgary

Hello Cory,

Here come my thoughts, in a series of posts.

MELBOURNE

Jan 24 - You might do a tour that includes the Puffing Billy steam train, lunch at a Yarra Valley winery and a visit to Healesville Nature Sanctuary, where you can see native Australian animals.

Jan 25 - Downtown Melbourne is worth a day. Start with free City Circle Tram, then move on to Queen Victoria Market. Vic Mkt is closed Mon & Wed, so this is your only day to see it. City Circle Tram again to Flinders Street Station; walk across Swanston Street Bridge to Southbank for lunch. Then walk around Royal Botanic Garden and maybe hop on #16 tram or catch cab down St. Kilda Road so you can walk along Esplanade at St. Kilda.

Jan 26 - As Tropo has indicated, a day can be spent on a quickie trip along the Great Ocean Road (GOR) to the southwest of Melbourne, say as far as Lorne. However, I have another idea for you, so save that thought.

If you don?t use your 3rd day (Jan 26) on the GOR, you could split the Dandenong Ranges and the Yarra Valley to the east of Melbourne into 2 separate day trips.

In that case you could use Jan 26 to visit the William Ricketts Sanctuary (my personal favourite in the Greater Melbourne area), have lunch in Olinda, Sassafras or somewhere in between, and then visit the National Rhododendron Gardens or the Alfred Nichols Gardens. You?ll be too late for rhododendrons, but either garden is beautiful at any time of year.

The weather in Melbourne is very changeable, depending on whether the wind is blowing from the desert interior or from the Antarctic. It can be 42 deg C one day, and 18 deg C the next day. We?ve experienced that ourselves, and were reminded of the phenomenon when we watched the March 7, 2004 Australian Grand Prix on television. Mercifully the temperature dropped in time for the race.

Which reminds me ... a bad weather alternative (if it?s raining or too hot) is to visit the National Art Gallery of Victoria on St. Kilda Road near Southbank. The tour that explains the progression of Australian art (at no charge over and above gallery admission) is fascinating.

Judy_in_Calgary

GREAT OCEAN ROAD : Jan 27-28

The best way to do the GOR is not by a round trip from Melbourne, which involves double backing on your route. The prettiest scenery on the GOR in any case is beyond what you would be able to reach by way of a quickie day trip.

It?s better to drive one way between Melbourne and Adelaide. There is heaps to see, and a comfortable timeframe is 3 days / 2 nights.

However, if you want to fit in a couple of days of wine touring near Adelaide and also fit in the GBR, I don?t think you?d be able to spend 3 days on the GOR. Do you think 2 days would be pushing it too hard? Melbourne to Adelaide is 935 km. It?s about 2 x 6 hours of driving, not counting stops for refreshment and viewing scenery. That would make for 2 pretty long driving days. Decision is yours, of course.

Judy_in_Calgary

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

If you agree to my suggestion, it will push back your wine tour to Jan 29-30-31. I?ve never been to Adelaide and its environs. Barossa Valley is a famous name (justifiably so, I?m sure) but, since I?ve come to Fodors I?ve heard of additional winelands near Adelaide, like McLaren Vale. Some people here state that the Coonawarra Region is the best of them all. I gather it is the furthest from Adelaide, cannot be done as a day trip, and necessitates an overnight trip.

Could you possibly cut your wine tour from 3 days to 2 days? You'll see why later.

If you agree to cut your wine tour to 2 days, your day trip to KI will be pushed back to Jan 31 and your day (actually half day) in Adelaide to Feb 1.

Judy_in_Calgary

ULURU

I've never been to Uluru, and I would like to see it, but after everything I've heard about it in summer (serious heat and flies), I want to see it in winter. If your trip was my trip, I would skip Uluru this time.

Judy_in_Calgary

FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND (FNQ)

I've only been to the GBR in July and September. Regular posters like Tropo say it's okay to visit FNQ in The Wet, BUT you absolutely need more than 2 days there. You need spare time in any season, because the weather may not cooperate, and you may not get out to the GBR on your desired day. If you've left yourself no wiggle room, you then have to board your departing flight without having seen the GBR, which would be a terrible shame. However, the wiggle room becomes all the MORE important during The Wet.

I would suggest trying to fly from Adelaide to Cairns on the afternoon / evening of Feb 1. That of course would leave you with only half a day to see downtown Adelaide, but I think that may be a necessary sacrifice. A quick search for flights brings up a Qantas flight that departs Adelaide at 15:35, changes planes in Brisbane, and gets one into Cairns at 21:45. I'm not saying you have to fly Qantas or take that flight, but that is the sort of timing I would aim for if I were you.

Suggest you stay in FNQ Feb 2-3-4-5, split up as follows:

Feb 2 - GBR

Feb 3 - Daintree

Feb 4-5 - Overnight trip to Undara Lava Tubes (most regretfully I haven't been there myself, but have learned the error of my ways since coming to Fodors -- will do it next time)

Judy_in_Calgary

SYDNEY

Feb 6 - Fly to Sydney

Feb 7-8-9 - in Sydney

Feb 10 - Blue Mountains

Feb 11 - Fly home


ALTERNATIVE TO FNQ

FNQ is fantastic, but if you think you could get back to Oz and visit the northern half at a later date, you might consider giving yourself an extra day on the GOR, having a more leisurely day in downtown Adelaide, and including a couple of days in Canberra. The idea of visiting Canberra is another one that has grown on me since I've come to Fodors.

Hope that helps.

Over and out.

canuckstooz

Thanks to everyone for their advice so far. I had no idea I'd get such good advice so quickly. The more I think about it, maybe saving Uluru for another visit would be best. It would allow for more time in Melbourne, which will be busy already, always having to be back in the early evening for tennis, and also for more time in FNQ as suggested.