newesttraveler

We are planning a 3 week trip in November, and plan to visit Cairns, Uluru and Sydney. We would like to add a 4th location and are trying to decide if we should visit NZ south island, Melbourne, or someplace else. What would you do?

LizzyF

I would give some thought to going to Uluru as it probably will be as hot as hell with flies everywhere.

vbca

I think with just 3 weeks you should give NZ a miss. Plenty of great thing to do in Australia without short changing yourself on NZ.
I've always liked the area around Canberra and the southern NSW/Vic coast. Perhaps you could drive from Sydney to Canberra, then out to the coast around Bega, then to Melbourne. Heres a blog which might whet your appetite.
http://bindiedownunder.blogspot.com/

newesttraveler

Lizzy, thanks for the heads up on Uluru. I haven’t been able to find temperature information for Uluru specifically, but read the following about Alice Springs…”the summer in Alice Springs features high daytime temperature with the mercury crossing the 30 °C but never reaching the scorching 45°C”. I am assuming Uluru and Alice Springs will be similar, but 15 °C is a pretty wide range. 30 °C sounds pleasant to me, especially if the humidity is not too high (I live in Houston and am used to temperatures and humidity levels both being in the 90s F), but 40+°C would be very oppressive under any circumstances. I know it’s impossible to predict the weather, but is November typically closer to the 30 or 45 end of the scale? Is it a “dry heat”, or a sauna? Can we expect any brease?

Your mention of flies also raises concerns. Are these the biting kind of flies or just the annoying buzz around your head kind of flies? My daughter really wants to do the morning camel ride to Uluru, but camels and flies sound like a bad combination to me.

Thanks for your help!

Bokhara2

Hi newesttraveller,

For Uluru, think desert climate - it can be quite cold early mornings & nights and hot in the days. As you'd expect, being in the Centre of Australia & rather a long way from the sea - no humidity.
In November, the temperature is likely to be at the lower-mid range of that scale. Our Summer runs Dec-February.

The flies are the buzzing/sitting type - not stinging. They can be very irritating, but you can keep them at bay with a good insect repellent ( I use Rid or Bushmen's).
I've seen quite a few people with nets over their hats & that seems to work well, too.

Two other suggestions : (1) Make sure you visit the Cultural Centre at Uluru before you go exploring. It's a wonderful resource for info on the area and has some excellent exhibitions, interactive & static.
It gives you a really good insight into the area & its people. If you wish, you can also arrange to join a small tour led by local Aboriginal people.

(2) Take plenty of water - being a dry heat, it can be very dehydrating even if you don't feel very hot. You can buy bottled water at the Cultural Centre.