Where, o where in Australia do I go?
 

I am planning a 15-16 day trip to Australia by myself. So far I will be staying in Sydney, Kangaroo Island and Cairnes. I am looking at 1 or 2 more places. These are Melbourne, Darwin, and Launceston-Tasmania. What I would like to hear are preferences and reasons for preferences. Also which place would complement the three places I am already staying at the best. I like an active but luxurious schedule. I tend to like small unusual museums and the like. Hope to hear from the Down-Under Crowd soon! (Thankyou!)

I hope you have stopped looking at that website of yours SkaiSW. Firstly it is Cairns and if you really want to see something other than somewhere like Hawaii then go for Darwin BUT that would depend on what time of year you are coming. If you want different then do Cairns ( which is similiar to Hawaii but without the crowds and with a more diverse area) then Darwin and Kakadu, Kathrine and Lichfield National Parks. Then I would try and go to the North West of Western Australia and explore the Bungle Bungles and surrounds from El Questro Station which is a luxurious and totally magic place with some fantastic tours that go from there. Swim with Whale Sharks at Ningaloo Reef etc. Now that area is the real Australia and the last frontier in terms of just about everything. It has a "rock" which is far bigger than Uluru which people will tell you to see together with a rich Aboriginal culture.

Wow! Thankyou Lizzy. But just to be clear -- the Bungle Bugie in North West Australia outranks Tasmania? Do I give up Tasmania, or Darwin or Cairnes (I am staying in a treehouse there)? Also, I won't have a car... Would I be able to get around there

Actually, Lizzie, now that I have read your email again and after some quick searches, most of your locales are in central or West or North West Australia, while all of my locales are in Eastern Australia. It looks like I will need two trips. Since I am missing Melborne this trip, perhaps I can tack it on another trip. So China 2009 and back to Australia 2110. Do you agree, Or do you think some of the places I am current going to are not worth it, and I should instead substitute a Northwest (NW) location. Or do you really think I should scratch the whole Eastern itinery and do the NW one. Thank-you for your help,I really apprecaiate it.
My itinery thus far is below.
2-days travel to Launceston
3 nights Launceston
4 nights Sydney
1 night Adelaide
3 nights Kangeroo Island
3 nights Cairnes
3 nights Darwin
2 days travel home

You have 16 days I see so you would want to maximise the trip and minimise the travelling - therefore forget about Kangaroo Island because getting there can be a bit of a pain and besides you will be in a much better position to see unique animals in the Northern Tropics around Cairns.
Still don't know what time of year you are coming.... and that can effect a whole lot of things.
Whilst there are lots and lots of people who go to Kangaroo Island and have a nice time it IS NOT a first visit port of call by any shot of the imagination. I have done a previous post about Eco Wilderness Tours which operate out of Cairns and I would suggest that a day spent with them would be a much better idea. They will pick up and deliver to your lodgings.
Secondly you really don't have time to see a lot of what you have thought about......
My itinery thus far is below.
2-days travel to Launceston
3 nights Launceston
4 nights Sydney
1 night Adelaide
3 nights Kangeroo Island
3 nights Cairnes
3 nights Darwin
2 days travel home
Launceston is not somewhere you would stay for 3 nights. You MUST have a car there then you are going back to Sydney to then go to Adelaide then to KI - getting to KI from Sydney could take a whole day actually - then to Cairns - again a whole day travelling.
How about this:
Sydney 4 nights - fly to Cairns - I would suggest about 5 nights at least here so that you can do some tours on the Atherton Tablelands etc. not to mention out on the reef, perhaps stay a day extra and take the Savannalander Train. There goes 9+ nights - then fly back to Northern NSW and S.E. Queensland - if then the latter looks too much like Hawaii then fly from Cairns to Darwin and see some of that area for the remainder of your stay.
Tasmania is lovely - I live here. But if you are looking for something different then the above would be better for you. Yes I would say come back and do the NW as that would take a couple of weeks alone.
But let us know when your trip is as that is the main determinate for your trip.

sorry "typo" I meant determinant

I too am a Kangaroo Island sceptic, but then we did it somewhat on the cheap - maybe you gets what you pays for, but my inclination would be to skip it. There are other places where you can see lot of wildlife.

I'd stick to the east coast for a first visit. Cairns, Sydney and Tasmania easily offer enough to occupy 15-16 days, but you could throw in Melbourne if you want a bit more "city". Again, though, timing is important - Tasmania in winter is certainly do-able, but not the nicest time of the year there.

PS: don't underestimate distances and the time involved in getting around the country. Geographically, your itinerary is roughly equivalent to visiting the US and splitting one's time between New England, the Carolinas, Florida, Louisiana and the Pacific NW (which I've done, but it took us 7 weeks...)

I am coming in late July, early August, which I guess is Winter. I am staying at a B&B in Launceston that says it is smack in the middle of town,next to museums, shops restaurants and a bus stop.THere is a cab company "central cab" out of Launceston that advertises that you can hire them for a half or a full day. I was planning to verify and rely on them. So I thought as long as I could get from the airport to the B&B, and verified CEntral Cab, I would be okay. Not sure where I want them to take me yet - I thought the gold mine one day and some wineries another day. Any suggestions?
As for KI, I was planning on going all out and stay at Seaacape on Emu Bay which I think is a 5-star establishment that overlooks a Kangeroo preserve and offers it's own tours --- but I will double check. I think it even has an additional nighttime penguin tour. If my room is overlooking wild animals, I don't know if I can do better as far as seeing animals. Does this new information change your recommendation? I forwarded your information to my travel agent --- I really do appreciate it. Heck - I am already planning another trip for 2010 because of you.

Tasmania and the Atherton Tablelands, behind Cairns, will give you all the wildlife, interesting little museums and luxury you would need.

Yes it is winter in Australia then so I stand by what I said before. Sydney - Cairns - Darwin OR Sydney - Cairns - Tasmania ( only if you don't mind a bit of cold days but generally sunny)
You coming in winter means that I would again stress staying away from Kangaroo Island as it will be wet, cold and windy. You will see more wildlife in and around Cairns.

Seems to be alot of anti KI sentiment. Okay, Lizzy, I have emailed my travel agent and probably will not be going to KI. However, I think I will try to include the other 4 places. (I am hyperactive on vacation and like to hotel-hop). Now I am spending 4 days in Tasmania, and will try to book the 4-day Gourmet Wanderer tour -- or maybe just spend 2 days in Launceston and 2 in Hobart; I really need to contact that cab company. (I dont have a calling plan that allows me to call Australia for a reasonable fee. Right now it would be $15./min. I have to change my calling plan before I can call them.) Do you know the time differential? 5 days in Sydney; 4 days in Cairnes and 3 in Darwin. I understand my time in Darwin coincides with the art festival there. Thanks so much for your help and your concern.

Get yourself a pair of headphones with mic ( about $9.99 ) and download Skype from the Internet and make all the calls you want for either nothing or for very, very little.
In Hobart you will want the Henry Jones Art Hotel then perhaps if you are near Launceston I would stay at Woolmer's Estate.
If you go to Darwin you won't be staying in it much - you will be going on tours so it would only be the evenings that you would need to find something to do - some really nice restaurants there with interesting food like croc, Emu, Buffalo and of course the speciality Barramundi Fish which is often paired with Buffalo and called Buff and Barra........ very, very nice!

PS there are heaps of places that you can see penguins in Tasmania as well.

Hi Skai,

Your itinerary is starting to shape up I reckon. But with respect there is not a lot of point in going to Darwin for the sake of the town. Well - maybe that's not fair, there is plenty to do there and the Art Gallery/Museum of the NT is good.

BUT .. It's a long way from anywhere else and costs a bomb to get to, and takes time (of which you don't have much!).

It's somewhere people go to when they are interested in the landscape and want to be outdoors. You go there really to visit Kakadu or Litchfield NP - to see the wildlife and swim in the water holes; to walk and learn about the flora; to see and learn about the Aboriginal art sites and culture.

Is that what you are interested in? It's not at all apparent from your original post that you are.

If it isn't then you may be spending three precious days going to the wrong place. And maybe you should think again.

If it is - then you can do Litchfield on a day trip if you must. But Kakadu is a two-overnighter otherwise not a lot of point going.

And please, it is CAIRNS not CAIRNES.

If you get the spelling right it will help you enormously in any searches you may do.

Cheers.

Really? I thought there was a winter art festival and alot of shows in Darwin, and on the map it looks close to Cairns. (Thank-you for the spelling). Okay, can you help me with the nitty gritty - What single day tours leave from Cairns and what single day tours leave from Darwin that I should not miss -- including the Barrier Reef and the Aboriginal one? (Thankyou!)

Skai, Darwin is about 3,000km north west of Cairns.

Can't help you with day trips out of Darwin but can tell you there's hundreds out of Cairns; to Barrier Reef, Daintree Rainforest, Atherton Tablelands, Frankland Islands and rainforests south of Cairns, outback areas and further. Tjakupai Aboriginal Cultural Park is near Cairns city - its not a tour, rather a centre which gives

SkaiSW

This may assist your research.

http://maps.google.com.au/maps

It will give you some idea of the distances between & location etc., of the places you are contemplating.

CAIRNS to Darwin is about 3,000km.
http://www.cairns.aust.com/

http://www.travelnt.com/en/

Australian seasons are:
Spring: September - December
Summer: December - March
Autumn: March -June
Winter: June - September

I find the Google function enormously helpful in researching the basics.

Cairns is one of the most popular destinations and there's a wealth of very current information on Fodors, although the "search" facility isn't alway as good as one may wish.

Both Darwin & Cairns have myriad half & one day tours and Darwin has a particularly good "hop on-hop off" bus that goes to all of the landmarks. Will collect you from your hotel or you can take it from downtown. Cairns probably has similar; I don't know as I've always driven there.

an insight into history of Aboriginal people's culture - www.tjakupai.com.au


another local indigenous tribe is the Kuku Yalanji people of Mossman Gorge (near Port Douglas) who conduct guided rainforest walks - www.yalanji.com.au

Sorry, Skai - for fragmented message - hit post button too early and Bokhara must have been posting at same time.

From Darwin, we took a 3-4 day tour which covered Kakadu, Katherine Gorge, Litchfield NP and then back to Darwin. This was a good way to see the area with a guide. There are several tours offered with different lengths of time and focus. Darwin is a good jumping off place for these locations.