Planning 2 weeks in Australia (Dec, 2015)
 

My daughter (12 yrs old) and I are planning a little father daughter trip down under over the last two weeks of Dec. We love to travel and enjoy active vacations. Sitting by the pool and reading a book is NOT our idea of vacations. Nor do we like to spend most of our time in big cities, especially when we go to developed countries. That said, I could use some sanity check and advice planning this.

Tentative plan so far:
1) Dec 17-19: Chicago to Sydney arriving 19th morning
2) Dec 19-21: Sydney (Mostly around the city . . . The spots within a couple of hours of Syd are not in plan yet unless you strongly advise otherwise. I figure we are going to do a bunch of that in the Port Douglas and KI section of our travels)
3) Dec 22: Fly to Cairns and immediately go to Port Douglas
4) Dec 23-25: GBR, Daintree and enjoy PD
5) Dec 26: Fly to Ayers Rock, use the second half of the day to visit also
6) Dec 27-28: Uluru, etc.
7) Dec 28: Use 1 st half of day to visit, Fly to Adelaide in the evening
8) Dec 29-31: One day for Kangaroo Island, one day for McLaren Vale, one for around ADL
9) Jan 1: Adelaide to Chicago

- Does this work? Any adjustments you would recommend?
- Are there specific parts of this itinerary where you would absolutely recommend renting a car instead of using the local transportation (taxis, buses, etc.)
- Given it will be summer (don't have flexibility there), does this still work, especially for GBR and Uluru?
- Really wanted to do the Great Ocean Drive, but can seem to fit it in without making it too cramped (no fun).

Well,I guess its doable but I am exhausted reading it! Absolutely cant do Great Ocean Drive as well. Uluru/Alice Springs will be very hot and dry. I was in Alice 2 days ago and its already 33 deg C. And in FNQ ( far north Queensland) it will be the rainy,hot humid season. So that may limit your activities. You could take a 1 day tour to Kangaroo Island. Also a tour from Adelaide to Mc Laren Vale. You will also need to book flight times in and out of Alice Springs.

With only 13 days on the ground, you need to limit your destinations to no more than 3. Otherwise, you are spending too much of the little time you have just getting from one place to another (i.e. getting to airport, waiting around airport, flying to destination, getting from airport).

Thus, you need to drop one of the destinations on your list and I highly recommend that it be Uluru. I've been there twice (in the months of July and April) and there is no way that I'd go there in December. It's going to be incredibly hot and the flies will be if full abundance. As Huddohols has stated, it's already 33 degrees C there (low 90's) and by December it's going to be close to 100 degrees every day. You'll be restricted to sitting around the pool (something you specifically state that you don't want to do) because it's too hot to go hiking except first thing in the morning.

Also, while Huddohols has touched on the weather conditions in Port Douglas (FNQ), you should also be aware that it is stinger (deadly jellyfish) season up there. You can snorkel at the GBR but you will have to wear stinger suits, which the boats will provide. However, you can't swim off the beach except within the stinger nets and even then, you should wear a stinger suit too.

An alternative to the 7 days you have planned for PD and Uluru would be to go to Tasmania. The weather will be just about perfect in December and there are lots of outdoor activities you can engage in there. The scenery is magnificient!

I second the recommendation of Tasmania. The weather will be much more pleasant there. This is where I'd definitely rent a car though.

Serious advice: do plan and book your flights and accommodation now. You are going to be travelling in the Christmas/New year peak season, when just about everyone in Australia is on the move..

Ignore advice about Tasmania, we sail there after the Sydney-Hobart race most years, and unless you have a boat the accommodation and restaurant prices are through the roof.

Up north around Cairns, Darwin or the Kimberly it is cyclone season, stinger season, which is why people head south to Victoria and Rassie.

I wish I could give you better news, but that's just the way it is in Oz at that time of year. We just stay at home and go to our local beach.

Hmmm, we have spare rooms.....Just kidding!

This is very helpful folks. Thanks so much for your advIce. Can't really bring myself around to not doing GBR, but may be able to live without the Red Center. How abt this adjustment:
- 19-22 SYD
- 22-26 Port Douglas
- 26-29 ADL
- 29th: Rent a car in ADL and start a leisurely unplanned drive along the southern coast stopping in small towns and thru the Great Ocean Drive arriving in MEL by the night of 31st. Fly out of MEL-Chicago on the 1st.

I could even shift a day from Port Douglas to the ADL/Southern Drive given the comparative weather.
Does this work better? Is it better to rent a car sooner in ADL for going around and to KI and McLaren Vale?

If you plan to take a rental car to KI, make sure you rent one from a company that will allow it. Not all of them do.

I wouldn't do anything "unplanned" during the last two weeks of December. You should be booking flights, accommodations and car today.

You couldn't pay me to visit Uluru in December. Or SA for that matter. Be prepared for intense heat and millions of flies.

Do be aware that travelling over Christmas presents many issues. In addition to all of Australia being on holiday, you could well run into a lot of closures in the cities - at least that's how it worked in Perth. Many businesses (including wineries and some restaurants) would close for several weeks. This may not be the case in tourist driven areas, but I was always surprised at the number of closures in WA that time of year.

Not sure if you realize that the Adelaide to Melbourne trip via GOR is 1000kms and not sure if leisurely fits into your time frame. It's summer holiday and the roads will reflect this as there are so many surf beaches along this route . It's great to do it but I think you need to add more time .
I am sure you would. Have to rebook accommodation along the route and I know from experience that much has a 3/4 day max at that time . Peak season / peak bookings and peak prices . Certainly look at stayz website to give you some idea.

Thank you all so much for your suggestions. With your inputs and more research, I further adjusted the trip to only three locations: Sydney (19-22), Port Douglas (22-26) and Melbourne (26-1). Have flexibility in allocating these days until I book local flights. Would love suggestions.

Booked tickets today to get from Chicago (Dec/17) to Syd and the return from Mel (Jan/1) to Chicago.

Now comes the next hard part - booking local flights, activity reservations, hotels and car (car just for around Mel).

That looks like a very workable itinerary. Are you planning on driving some of the GOR during the time you have allotted for Melbourne? If not, you probably have too much time set aside for Melbourne.

Yes, GOR drive definitely. And a visit to a winery, penguin walk.