My wife and I (both in early 60's) are planning a trip to Oz in mid March 1999. We plan on renting a camper van for 4 weeks. We want to see as much of Australia as possible in this short time. Any suggestions would help us greatly.

Australia is a very large country to see in 4 weeks. I did a 3 wk trip - driving & only spending 2 days in each capital city & we only covered Sydney-Canberra-Melbourne-Adelaide & back to Sydney. too far to drive to Perth (need about 1 week to just drive there) best to fly to Perth & Darwin or Alice if you want to see them. Also, Queensland is very big - I'd suggest flying up to Cairns if you want to see it. (again, it would take about 3 weeks to just drive Brisbane to Cairns & back) Australia is almost as large as the USA. Most population is in the SE corner. <BR>

Vic <BR>I don't really agree with Caz about Australia being as large as the USA but I do agree that given your time frame you are not going to see as much as you would like to. Your best choice - if you have the finances - is to fly to the various locations, eg. Alice Springs to see ULURU (Ayers Rock); Darwin (Kakadu National park); Rockhampton rather than Cairns for the Barrier Reef (see the Reef from the Whitsundays which in itself is beautiful). Sydney itself where you would land has a number of attractions eg.the Harbour, Blue Mountains, etc etc. If you wish email me direct and we can discuss a possible itinerary for you - I not only live in Sydney but have travelled the entire country in a RV and can advise you.

<BR>Vic..we live in Brisbane. Lynnes advice is good. Australia is not quite as big as the US but its alot more empty!!! The important thing is to not to do too much. If you are set on a campervan you need to plan carefully, otherwise you will spend all your time driving!!! Its important to remember that although the roads in Australia have improved over the last ten years, they are not nearly as good as you would be used to in the States

Vic, March is still part of the wet season in Queensland, so it would be better at this time of year to head down south from Sydney. Travel down to our capital city, Canberra then through some of the high country, explore central Victoria, across to South Australia come back to Victoria via the Great Ocean Road then across by ferry to Tasmania, back to Melbourne. You will find at the camping grounds other travellers very helpful as well as the locals in the small country towns that you travel through. If you book your flight into Sydney and out of Melbourne ,this will save you backtracking and give you more time to see everything in those areas. To see more you will have to take flights to The Centre and Uluru, which can be very expensive if you are trying to economise. have a wonderful time. Peg.