Itinerary Help
 

My husband and I are planning our first trip to Australia. A 14 day (including travel time) trip sometimes in mid-December to mid-January. our preliminary itinerary is:

1. Fly to Cairns and stay in the area for about 6 days.
2. To Sydney and stay for 5 days.
3. A third location? We can increase our total number of days to 17 if the third location is worthwhile. Is Tasmania worthwhile?
We like the outdoors: hiking ( from Colorado ), jogging, beach, sightseeing, etc.

Please advise: 1. Pros/cons of travelling during Dec/Jan time. 2. Number of days in Cairns and Sydney. 3. A third stop.

Appreciated

1. For me, there are few "pros" to traveling to Australia in Dec/Jan, but there are lots of "cons". It's hot almost everywhere (and in some places, it's REALLY HOT). In the north, e.g. Cairns, it's also humid with rain and the chance of cyclones. It's also pretty crowded in most places because the Australian school summer holidays run from mid-December to early February. As this is the "high season", airfares and accommodations are more expensive and sometimes flights and hotels can be fully booked. But I realize that some people don't always have a choice about the time of year they can travel. However, if you can go at another time of year, I'd probably recommend it.

2. If your 14 days include your travel time, you really only have 12 days on the ground. I would probably just split that time evenly between Sydney and Cairns/Port Douglas, if those are the two places you want to go.

3. Tasmania is a particularly worthwhile destination, but I would not make a trip there unless I had a least 5 days to spend there.

I've been to Tasmania a couple of times in January and you don't ever get a sense of crowds of tourists despite the fact that it's high season and school holidays (as Longhorn points out). It's usually beautifully cool in summer and that would be a great time to visit if you enjoy hiking. If seeing native animals is of interest then add it to your itinerary. I'd maybe cut back on your time in Sydney to make time for Tasmania.

Sydney hotels are quite expensive around New Year when lots of tourists come for the fireworks, best to be somewhere else if you don't want the price hike. That said, I love the fireworks.

as the weather in the rest of OZ is likely to be either v hot, or v hot and humid, why not just head for Tasmania?

or put off OZ til you can go at a better time of year and go to the SI of NZ instead. you can see a lot of the SI in 14 days, it's drop dead gorgeous, and you're unlikely to expience the sort of 40C temps that you'd get in OZ at that time of year.

I appreciate your very helpful replies. It appears that Jan/Dec is too hot, humid, crowded, and expensive to go. We will change the date and add Tasmania as the third stop. Thanks all.

If you enjoy bushwalking, I highly recommend a day trip to the Southern Highlands and Kangaroo Valley. It's a 2 hour drive south of Sydney, and there are waterfalls, spectacular views, and lovely English style countryside. Also the Blue Mountains are worth a visit. If driving from the Blue Mountains to the Highlands, stop at the quirky Common Ground cafe at Picton for yummy food, esp. wood-fired bread and pizza.

It is hot here in summer, but that makes it great for swimming! :)

I live on Sydney's northern beaches and can count on the fingers of one hand the occasions on which we have had 40c in the last 10 years in Dec/Jan.

We had one day last Dec/Jan. Can't remember what date it was but remember it as I was moved to rummage around in the lumber room to find a fan.

That said, it's not a time I'd choose to go to the Red Centre, far west of NSW or W.A. Melbourne & much of Vic had a run of 40c days - so I'd probably suggest Tasmania as a more moderate choice, too.

I live on Sydney's northern beaches and can count on the fingers of one hand the occasions on which we have had 40c in the last 10 years in Dec/Jan>>

Bokhara, i was guilty of over-generalisation, sorry. The temps of which I was speaking were the ones experienced by us in Northern Queensland, which was vv hot when we were there last November, which was relevant to the OP's plan to spend 6 days in Cairns. in Sydney it was less hot, though hot enough for us!