Tasmania or Great Ocean Road? Please advise
 

My husband and I are planning a trip to Australia in Oct this year. We were extremely excited when we discovered this forum. We have basically spend the whole weekend on the website!! All the books we bought were totally unnecessary. We are both in our mid 30's, and like beaches, scenery, exciting things to do, shopping, see how people live, etc - especially when we are overseas. Our itinerary that we thought we have finalised are as follows:
Arrive in Perth on 6 Oct
Fly to Hobart (via Melbourne) on the 7th.
Explore Tasmania by car(need some advise please) for 4 days. We are not keen on hiking - we understood this is the place to do it!
Fly to Sydney from Launceston on the 11th (Friday).
Visit the Blue Mountains with friends (overnight on the 12th) and return late Sunday, on the 13th
Stay in Sydney for five days.
Fly to Hamilton Island on Friday, 18 October.
Stay at Hayman Island Resort for three days. Would have loved to go to Lizard - but sooo expensive!
Then leave for Port Douglas for a two day stay.
Fly from Cairns to Perth on Wednesday, 23 Oct.
Fly back to SA on the 24th.

BUT, now we are in two minds whether or not we should rather do the Great Ocean Road instead of going to Tasmania. We have read so many wonderful things about GOR and thought that this could be a wonderful drive for three days? Then should we rather leave Tasmania and maybe explore Melbourne and environs more (ideas welcome!)? We also believe that Tasmania would be quite cold that time of the year. We would really appreciate as much input and advise as we could get. Looking forward to your responses!! Thanks a mill.

TSM
Sounds like fun. I'd probably cut down my travelling, by roaming the Great Ocean Road, and part of Victoria, rather than spending only 4 days in Tas. Others will suggest what's the best to see.

Tasmania is spectacular; there's much to see, but it does take some time. Leave it for your next trip.

You might also consider (at that time of year) 4 days driving around brisbane (sunshine coast/fraser island etc)
as an alternative to tassie or gor.

You will be doing an awful lot of travelling & visiting airports.
As you arrive & depart Perth please do this area some justice & have a look around. The beaches are beautiful (some are wild) Rottnest Island is a great day visit as well. South to Margaret River wine area explore further south down to Albany then come back inland to Perth.
I would give Melbourne & Tasmania a miss this time as it envolves far far to much moving around a very large country. I live near Melbourne & have been to Tasmania 8 times (work & holiday) but I have to say I would go back to Perth in a flash then fly over to Central Australia then Sydney.

Thanks Margo .. I agree with you, still need to convince hubby.

John and AussieJo, thank you so much for the input, but now I am even more confused ... as you have just added two more destination possibilities to our already full itinerary ie. Brisbane and Perth!

Our main aim is to rather concentrate on three destinations and do them properly and try and cut down on travelling time and try to avoid to rush through all the beautiful places Australia has to offer.

We need help, please!!! What are the three main attractions / destinations that you would say is a must do from the itinerary as given in my first mail.

Thanks guys, we really appreciate all the input. We also just got an e-mail from our friends in Australia and is getting really excited.

My wife & I are of similar age & interest. We have spent several holidays in Australia and here's my take:

First off -- you are going to have a blast!

That said, I would consider shelving your Tasmania plans and doing Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road in a leisurely loop.

I wouldn't worry about Brisbane & the Sunshine/Gold Coasts since you are already doing an island & Cairns.

Dear Scurry

Thanks so much ... it is great to know that you think we are on the right track. I agree with Sunshine Coast, although we love beaches this is not all we want to spend our time on the whole trip.

Please advise of route / overnight stays etc. on GOR ... we like to stay in hotels/B&B's (premier standard).

Maybe we should fly from Perth - Adelaide (if there is a flight) and then drive from Adelaide to Melbourne. Fly from Melbourne to Sydney for the second part of the trip. In Sydney we are going to stay at the Sebel Pier One. Two days in Blue Mountain area (recommendations for accommodation? and things to do?)

Still trying our luck at Hayman Island Resort, and then we will move on to Port Douglas.

Any further input from you?

Thanks a mill!!!!

Great idea about flying Perth to Adelaide -- that'll keep you from having to double back.

I think that we stayed in Port Fairie, Apollo Bay and Torquay into Melbourne. Would only recommend the B&B in Torquay -- I'll have to look up the name.

You might consider starting a new forum thread here called "Great Ocean Road B&Bs" to get down to specifics & get other ideas.

I'm not sure what you mean by "premier standard"

If you strike out with Hayman, we loved Hamilton Island -- it's big, but beautiful.