We'll be traveling through Australia for approximately three months beginning early this December. Suggestions please on the following itinerary.

Begin with one week in Sydney then go far north to GBR and Cairns and work our way south through Queensland. From Brisbane, fly to western Australia for approx. two weeks. Train back to South Australia, then SA, Victoria and Tasmania for a month.

We'll probably have a car at some point, as well as take planes, trains and busses to get around. In part, we'd like to organize our itinerary to limit stress of summer heat and school
holiday crowds.

Any suggestions welcome. Also favorite lodging and restaurants would be appreciated. To add--we've been to Australia once before, two years ago, but for only ten days. We're anxious to explore as much of the country as possible.
Kathy

Kathy,at first glance I would say the order you have mentioned is pretty good but I will let others comment. However , coming at that time I would have to say you cannot avoid either the school holidays or the Summer heat and humidity. Sorry if this sounds negative and I am sure you will have a great holiday anyway. Cheers!

Thanks Peteralan,
We're kind of locked into that time period, but feel that the heat won't affect us too much. We live in the deep south, USA, so we're familiar with some heat and humidity. And, we know that traveling is much more pleasant if it can be minimized (along with crowds).

So the general plan, north, then west, then south, and back to Sydney makes a sensible loop?

We're really looking forward to this extended trip, and anticipate having a wonderful time traveling around the country. Thanks for your response.
Anyone one else have any thoughts or suggestions for us?
Kathy

kathleen, can't see anything wrong with the order there and its great that you have 3 months to cover a pretty vast area.

Actually, December is a great month for Great Barrier Reef in North Qld as its before the wet season starts and after the SE winds finish, and usually has lovely calm sunny days with top under-water visibility. North Qld isn't affected much by summer school holidays, but unavoidable in other areas mentioned, I'm afraid.

Yes your plan sounds sensible. For suggestions on places to stay, eat etc can you tell us how much you are looking at paying and what sort of food you are wanting?

Thanks Pat, sounds promising.

Peteralan,
Lodging can be a bit eclectic. Generally, we're looking for clean, moderate priced rooms or B&Bs; with bathroom is desirable, but not a necessity. We may be spending a week in one place occasionally but will be mostly be in one place for 3-4 nights. We usually try to stay under $100. We're thinking of hostels occasionally, which we've heard good things about. When we visited briefly before, we enjoyed the Russell in the Rocks in Sydney and the Quest on King William in Adelaide (which we found on Wotif).

Food could be eclectic as well. Enjoy any ethnicity and price is generally in the moderate range, with an occasional splurge. We enjoy interesting wines and beer.

Look forward to any suggestions.
Kathy

Kathy, that would be AU$100?

Neil,
No, It's USD. Still, I just looked up the Quest in Adelaide on Wotif, and it's $20. USD more per night than two years ago, same period of the year, April-May. I guess prices go up everywhere. The Russell, on the other hand seems to be about the same price. There we shared a bath down the hall, which was no problem at all.

We're not young backpacker travelers, but since we'll be traveling for such an extended period of time, we have to be somewhat frugal with lodging expenses.

I've taken down several lodging web sites from this forum, and that is a good start. However, we're also interested in finding and staying at unique, favorite, and even out of the way places around the country, providing they are reasonably priced.

Thanks for your help.
Kathy

Pat,
Just wanted to add (but hit the post button too quickly) that we really appreciated your paragraph on the usual good weather for north Queensland for most Decembers. That re-inforces our choice to go north first. Let's hope the trend of good weather continues for the upcoming December.
Kathy

Having Victoria and Tasmania in January and / or February is a good idea as that is the hottest time and they are the 2 coolest states you are visiting. You can get quite warm weather in Jan and Feb. This year in South Australia we had 4 days in a row over 40 degrees celsius. It wasn't pleasant. The Barossa Valley just north of Adelaide is a nice place to visit in SA especially if you're into wine.

Speckles,
Thanks for your good comments about typical weather for January and February in those southern states. Another re-inforcement for our route plan.

And the Barossa wine valley... we visited this wine area when we were in OZ two years ago and we'll definitely revisit it during our upcoming stay in Adelaide. The wines were fabulous and Adelaide is a delightful city.
Kathy