Visting Australia this Xmas
Mar 21st, 2002, 10:20 AM
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Visting Australia this Xmas
Hi,<BR><BR>I am visting Australia for the very first time with my brother later in the year for about 21/2 weeks and then we are venturing onto New Zealand for 10 days after that.<BR><BR>We are planning on spending 6 days in Sydney (with a well planned itinerary), 4-5 days in Darwin to visit relatives and visit Kam. National Park with about 6-7 days left over to visit the Great Barrier Reef. What we would like to do there is spend maybe three days on one of the Islands and catch some diving and just kick back as well and meet other travellers. I realize we are going at the beginning of the monsoon season. Can anyone who has ever travelled along the GBR during this season (or not) share some highlights of their holiday with us and suggestions on what Islands would be great for staying on. Specifically i want to dive, but we would like to take a boat tour of the reef and maybe a few other water activities as well and kick back, enjoy the surroundings and hang out with fellow travellers at night. <BR><BR>Also what would you suggest for the other 4 days - A trip to Cairns or Brisbane.<BR><BR>Thanks in advance!<BR>Aidan<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>< BR><BR>
Mar 21st, 2002, 02:32 PM
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Hi, Aidan!<BR><BR>You have set yourself quite a demanding itinerary, so I presume you are flying between the main centres you mentioned, and not going by bus or tour coach. In that case you will probably find that your plane from Darwin will take you to Brisbane, so my feeling is that you should visit there for a couple of days before heading to the Barrier Reef. The coast road from Brisbane north to Cairns is, I hear, quite scenic, so you might even save yourself some money by doing that leg by bus, which will use up another day and night, at least. Cairns is not much of a town, I hear, but you will probably get to see it anyway, as it is the entry point for many Barrier Reef tours.<BR>A final thought: is it possible to do Darwin-Uluru-Brisbane by plane? You would probably enjoy a short stopover, as you crossed the continent, to see the world's largest rock. Normally I don't recommend it to people on this forum, becasue it seems like a lot of time and money just as a single destination, but in your case you may well be flying over it anyway, so all you are looking at is stopover costs. If the plane goes via Alice Springs, that might be a good place to disembark for a quick trip out to "the rock".
Mar 21st, 2002, 06:24 PM
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Cheers Alan,<BR><BR>Thanks for the Info!<BR><BR>We plan on flying between all the cities (Qantas Boomerang Pass from the US) considering the fact that Australia is comparable in size to the USA.<BR><BR>Like the idea of flying to Brisbane, possibly hiring a car (going by Bus?), heading up North along the coast towards Cairns with an eye to maybe staying in Hamilton Island for three days (assuming we can get a boat ride across!) along the way. Do you think 7 days is cutting it fine to cover all of this. We need to fly from Cairns on to Auckland then?<BR><BR>The Boomerang Pass covers the journey you mentioned but i think you gotta pay extra for that leg.<BR><BR>Cheers<BR>Aidan<BR><BR>
Mar 21st, 2002, 06:59 PM
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I wouldn't advise taking a bus from Brisbane to Cairns, particularly as you don't have much time. It's over 1700 km so you would be sitting still for some time. Much better to fly direct to Hamilton Island (it has a airport) and stay there for a few days. Another suggestion would be to hire a car in Cairns and drive south to Townsville - easy drive and you can stop along the way to visit some of the beach resorts.
Mar 21st, 2002, 08:25 PM
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We have just returned from a trip to Queensland. We live at the Southern most tip of Victoria. We flew to Brisbane then on to Cairn. We spent about one hour looking at the mud flats there & went on to Port Douglas.(a pretty drive.)<BR>We hired a car & drove back to Brisbane.<BR>Most of the way back all you see is sugar cane with the mountains in the back ground. <BR>The place which blew me away was Airley Beach. We stayed at The Water Edge Apartments, magnificent views, 3 lovely pools, cafe, spa....(it is not on the waters edge however.) <BR>This town is full of backpackers, & entertainment is built around this at the local pubs.<BR>However this is a town where you can take a day trip to Hamilton Island $55.00. Aust. or combine with a couple of other Islands. They also have trips out to the reef. I think the reef goes for 2000.klm.s .<BR>You can fly directly to Hamilton Island & stay there, or you can get a plane to Prosipine.<BR>Good luck.
Mar 21st, 2002, 08:28 PM
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Marg Townsville is about the worst place in Australia, with the exception of say Rockhampton, Port Kembla and Newcastle. There is nothing to see there and its a dry horrid place. <BR>I agree that Aiden should not drive or take a bus from Brisbane to Cairns or Hamilton as its really too far.<BR>Anyway would you not be flying from Darwin to Cairns? That would be the way to go and the fly down from Cairns to Brisbane. I think that there is a flight from Townsville to Auckland but can't be sure since the upheaval in the flight industry.<BR>Check that out for us first Aiden and let us know.
Mar 22nd, 2002, 06:36 AM
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Thanks Marg, Aussie, Queenslander,<BR><BR>How about flying from Darwin to Cairns (driving up North to Port Douglas (which seems about 2 hours away from Cairns by car) and staying in the area for 2 days), coming back down to Cairns and catching a flight to Hamilton Island, staying there for 3 days and then catching a flight from Hamilton Island to Brisbane and staying there for 2 days?<BR><BR>Qantas told me that they fly from Cairns to Hamilton Island and from Hamilton Island to Brisbane (about 1 hr of a flight for each) plus we can catch a direct flight to Auckland there after from Brisbane via the Boomerang Pass.<BR><BR>Worse Case 7 days<BR>Best Case 8 days<BR><BR>Is this feasible? <BR><BR>Plus for the two days in Brisbane, Would you suggest heading North or South to catch some of the coast?<BR><BR>Thanks a lot.<BR><BR>Aidan<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>
Mar 22nd, 2002, 11:51 AM
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Now that sounds better Aidan. However the last 2 days could be improved. <BR>Whether you go north or south from Brisbane depends on what you like and what you want to see, and seeing that you will have been to Hayman Island and the Whitsundays you probably won't feel the need for beaches that much unless you want to surf.<BR>To the north you can go to Australia Zoo, play with kangaroos, koalas etc at the deer park, the aquarium at Mooloolaba is great and so are the beaches. <BR>To the south you have some theme parks, better fauna parks, great beaches and some other interesting things that you can find if you do a search of ' Gold Coast Australia ' but if you did stay in Brisbane you could do a day one way and the next day take a boat to Morton Island for instance or perhaps North Stradbroke Island where you can play with the dolphins, though check the latter idea as you may have to stay overnight to do that. <BR>Brisbane does not really have anything very interesting for tourists.
Mar 22nd, 2002, 06:12 PM
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Dear 'Queenslander',<BR>Dont wanna start a fight, but I take exception to your comment 'Newcastle is one of the 3 worst places in Australia.'<BR>(Forgive my paraphrasing.)<BR><BR>1)Newcastle has some of the best beaches in Australia.<BR><BR>2)I'm sure if you started a thread about 'the worst place in Australia', Newcastle would be waaaaay down on the list, if mentioned at all.<BR><BR>But then again, 'each to his own'.<BR>Regards,<BR>Colin
Mar 24th, 2002, 04:50 PM
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Not unless you have unlimited time, it shouldn't. There's nothing particularly wrong with Newcastle, but I can't imagine what appeal it would have to tourists. As a previous poster said, it has a nice beach, but the east coast is full of equally-nice beaches, and most of them are attached to small, pleasant towns, not large, polluted industrial areas, which is, basically, what Newcastle is.<BR><BR>On the subject of north of Brisbane or south of Brisbane, you will find that as you head south you will come upon the most glitzy tourist area in all of Australia: the Gold Coast and Surfers' Paradise. Think Las Vegas and Waikiki mixed together. I haven't been north of Brisbane in many years, but surely it couldn't be less-palatable than that!<BR><BR>Your revised itnerary sounds okay to me... I think you have been well advised by the knowledgeable posters on this forum. Have a great holiday!
