budg

Never been to Australia and thinking of going in Nov / Dec for 10 days. What to do? What cities to visit? We will fly into and out of Sydney and fly within Australia. We don't dive, but would like to see the GBR. Any suggestions?

johhj_au

Sydney 4 days, Cairns 4 days, Rock 2 days.

budg

Thanks for the reply!

How do you get to Ayers Rock (I assume that is what Rock is) and where would you stay?

johhj_au

With time limited you have to fly
sydney-uluru-cairns-sydney.
Qantas your best bet
check their internet red-e deals and their boomerang deal for a number of flights.

You might try virgin blue for some sectors.

the uluru accommodation is locked up with one company and they charge a premium.They do provide an appropriate range from 5 * to dorm style.Take your pick.

To be cynical...sydney-rock-cairns is the standard Clark Griswald two week american vacation to oz...but there are good reasons why this route is popular.

budg

Thanks I will look into flights and you are right, it is a "typical american" vacation, but when you only have 10 days, you do what you can. It's like when tourists come to the US, they go to Miami, NYC or LA. Rarely do they see the beauty of the Rockies, the blue ridge mountains, Washington DC, Bryce Canyon, etc. Too much to see in too little time I guess.

schnauzer

From Sydney try and do a day trip either to the Blue Mountains - Katoomba - Leura or the Hunter Valley wineries. Make sure you get a ferry across the harbour to the zoo, a great zoo with the best view of the harbour. Try and book a bridge climb they go 24/7. Make sure you fit in a walk either Bondi to Bronte, you walk right around the beaches can stop off for swims etc or from Manly (take ferry from city) to Clontarf (need a bit of help getting back to city need to research) this is a headland walk with fabulous views, beach at Manly and Clontarf, headland walk for the most in between. Also take ferry to Watson's Bay look at the Gap (steep descent into ocean - suicide spot - sorry) and then have lunch at Doyles or another fish and chip shop there. A great morning or afternoon. Visit the rocks area of Sydney for the local history, lots of good eating places. Maybe consider Port Douglas or Palm Cove (quieter) instead of Cairns, which has become a bit of a city now. Do the Wavelength trip to the reef and do snorkelling an absolute MUST DO. Don't worry about not diving the snorkelling is fab - heaps of coral and fish. Hire and car and drive up into the Daintree Forest, do a river boat cruise to see the crocodiles (yes I have seen them!) good fun and then drive further into the forest, stop and do a visit at a rainforest visitors place, can't remember the name, but bigish spot, they have a huge board walk and you really get the feel of being right in the forest. Go and see Mossman Gorge on the way up, don't wait until you come back from the days outing cos it will be too dark probably and you will miss it (like we did!) mind you we did the trip in winter so you could be OK. We did the Kuranda rail/skyrail thing. To be honest it was very expensive and I didn't think it was worth it, we did the drive to the daintree afterwards and I thought that was much better. It is a real tourist must do - but if you have four days do the drive instead. At Kuranda it is only full of ghastly junky souvenir shops, hideous. Can't help you with the Rock, been in Oz 28 years and haven't been yet - have flown over it though, great from the air. enjoy your trip we are very friendly - only the wildlife bites!!

pat_woolford

Hi budg - what can you do indeed in only 10 days - its a hell of a lot better than nothing. You are so right, have only managed to visit US for 3 weeks so far, but was bowled over by your Big Sur, SF, Yosemite, New Orleans, not to mention NYC and Boston. In that short time. Its getting awfully hot in central Australia (the Rock, or Uluru) in Nov/Dec. - unless you're used to heat and flies it might be a good idea to give it a miss then. Despite what you may hear, it is a good time to visit Far North Queensland for GBR, the reef is free from wind and you get fabulous snorkelling and diving conditions, and its well before any cyclone activity. It will be humid and it may rain a bit, but who cares when you're in water of about 28C.

budg

Thanks everyone, we will work out our itin and see how much we can do!