fitZzone

Hello-

I want to go to Australia next year and I am planning on going in February. I want to go in the summer and I figured it'd be best to avoid December & January since the kids will be out of school during those months. I want to go with the mindset that I will never go back so I want to cover some major mileage.

I plan on renting a campervan with a small group of people. First- I want to spend 2 nights in Sydney then make my way to Torquay to begin the Great Ocean Road, which I have read ends up in Allansford/Warmambool. From there, I want to go to Adelaide to go cage diving. Then I want to go to the Great Barrier Reef and make it back to Sydney.

Trust me, I am fully aware that this is A TON of mileage. I'm not planning on a relaxing vacation. I want to be on the go and see as much as possible. Please let me know if this is totally unrealistic to do within a 12-14 day vacation.

fitZzone

I mean Port Lincoln*** and before others jump at me, I am only looking for suggestions and above is the things I would like to do if I could do it all. But as others have made it extremely clear (as well as I am aware) I can't do it all so please let me know better places, places to eliminate, etc.

AlanJG

I suggest you start by drawing yourself a time line from one end of the trip and another from the other. This will give you some idea of how limited your time really is. If you have a small group you might be better off renting a people mover/ mini-bus and staying in cabins at caravan parks.

fitZzone

thank you for your reply. do you think renting a car and staying at cabins would be cheaper/better than renting a campervan?

BarbAnn

Does the 14 days include your flights to Australia or is it 14 days on the ground in Australia? Personally, I think you are trying to visit too many places. Perhaps 3 nights Sydney, fly to Melbourne, 2 nights Melbourne then rent a car or camper van. Spend 3 nights along the Great Ocean Road driving to Adelaide. Spend 2 nights in Adelaide then fly to Cairns for the remainder of your time. Fly back to Sydney and then home.

On my first visit I, too, thought I would never go back. I've been back four times since.

fitZzone

the time i will be in AUS will depend on flights. i want at least 10 full days in AUS, not including flights to and from the U.S. i didn't think about flying from place to place once in AUS. it at first seemed like it would make things complicated, having more flights on our itinerary, but it seems like it would be a wise choice if we don't want to stay in sydney the whole time. i like your idea of once in melbourne driving the GOR to cage dive then flying to cairns to do the GBR. although i may not be able to do it all, this is all excellent advice. thank you!!!

do you know how much the flights are on average? also - if we do the flights, is it still unrealistic to do all of it in one trip?

fitZzone

also (sorry) is it common for weather to delay/cancel/change flight plans? i am wondering if we base our trip off of flights the whole time if there is a chance that trouble with one flight could ruin the rest. was thinking about going in february...

Melnq8

February will be very hot, but you're wise to miss the school holidays.

fitZzone

Is there a better month to go?

Melnq8

Well, it's certainly not a month I'd choose to travel within Australia, but I don't like the heat. February here in Perth almost kills me, and I'd definitely not go to SA that time of year.

If you want summer and no kids, you're pretty much limited to early-mid December, February and March. Of those I'd personally choose March, the later the better.

I'm sure the folks over east will chime in to offer thoughts on traveling in Feb on their side of the continent.

BarbAnn

With only 10 days on the ground I think you will be trying to do too much. I did a day trip from Melbourne to Lorne to drive along the ocean. While it was very scenic and beautiful (loved the wild kangaroos all over a golf course!) it reminded me of the coast of California (which is where I live).

What experiences do you want in Australia? Adventure? Wildlife? Where are you coming from? What are your ages? I urge you not to miss the Great Barrier Reef. It has the best snorkeling. OK, Fiji was pretty awesome also. But to see the rainforest meet the beach was great. I even saw a cassowary in the wild. Do remember that singer "season" is November to May in Queensland.

I usually travel to Australia in Jan/Feb or Aug/Sept. February is warm/hot, no worse than summer in many parts of the US. Cairns is warm/humid/rainy.

Most of my travels in Australia have been based on flying to different cities. Remember, Australia is a big place, just like the US. Flights anywhere can be delayed because of any number of reasons. That being said, I have never had any flight problems Downunder.

I know Qantas offers an airpass for flights within Australia. There are some tour companies that will package air and hotels for a great rate. Do a little research on the internet.

fitZzone

i'm wondering about going in january instead. i found on multiple websites that besides december it has the least amount of rainfall and the most days of sunshine. i am not considering anything past april as i am probably going to oahu in september so i would like to space the trips out. i am okay with 80/90 degree weather. we wouldn't really mind "kids" but i just kept reading that december & january is really busy (therefore expensive) due to everyone being on school holiday but we might not be able to avoid that. i am aware that australia day is 1/26 or somewhere around there...

it's hard to say what experiences i want as i do not know everything that is available but i definitely want to go to the beach, definitely spend at least 2 nights in sydney, cage diving and i want to see kangaroos i think it would be fun to go on a mini road trip in a camper van but only for a couple of days as it probably isn't a good idea to be doing that the entire trip... i just mentioned the great barrier reef as i know it's a significant landmark in AUS and i thought maybe a glass bottom boat tour or something would be great, especially if it's bad jellyfish season.

thank you for the advice!!!

fitZzone

to sum it up, i guess i am a little all over the place with my ideas so far, just because i haven't really narrowed down exactly what to do and it seems like the weather will be somewhat different in several places that i want to visit. so i am still in the deciding phase... the biggest thing that i have learned from the forums is that flights are available to go from place to place and that campervaning for 10 days isn't the best idea!

BarbAnn

Just to clarify, the singers stay closer to the shore. Thus, they are not out at the Barrier Reef which is about 37 miles from shore.

Funny you should mention shark cage diving. I will be visiting Capt Town, South Africa next February and we are contemplating cage diving there!

Wherever you visit in Australia, you will love it. Australians are friendly and fun loving. Happy planning!

Susan7

I would say this is an unrealistic itinerary if you intend to drive. If you fly between cities it is doable but much of your holiday will be spent in airports. These maps compare the size of Australia to Europe and the USA. This might give you a sense of the scale.

http://www.ga.gov.au/education/geosc...-compared.html

october_fun

I agree with the others re flying and not driving all the time. With that time frame you would be spending all your time behind the wheel.

January is school holidays and accommodation is at its most expensive. If you have to do it then choose the latter part of the month of January as prices will drop as school usually starts back just after the Australia Day Public Holiday.

Just be aware we have had some strange weather over on the east coast for the last few years. Jan/Feb has seen major flooding from cyclones and heavy rain patterns. It is cyclone season for the northern coastal areas at that time of year. Cairns is very humid at that time of the summer. Also check the weather stats as Adelaide can be a very hot at times (bushfire season in the southern states ).


To get an idea of fares check out www.qantas.com.au and you can get an idea of fares and routes to help with the initial planning on when to drive and when to fly.

Start googling. I know when a trip is first thought of its hard to pinpoint just what you would like to do but spend a lot of time on the internet searching information and eventually you can start putting together an itinery with some knowledge of what to book.

Good luck.

fitZzone

barbann - do it! i have read that there are only a couple of places in the world to do real cage diving and i'm pretty sure SA is one of them... i would like to visit south africa at some point actually.
from what i have gathered from the forums- it seems that if we want to go in aus's summer, the south should be good (except that it will be hot) but we should skip the north due to the rain/wet season. either way, deciding when to go has become more complicated! haha. i guess there is no perfect time to go as you deal with different things at different times of the year

AlanJG

Down south fog can delay flights and a cyclone could stop flights but they are rare.

Toucan2

fitz, define north. I wouldn't go to Kakadu and Darwin in January/February, but I would probably go to Cairns. But I am also used to hot, humid weather so it wouldn't bother me, and for me snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef was one of my top favorite things I've ever done. So, it may depend a bit on where you are from. A friend who traveled to Australia from Seattle found Cairns terribly hot in December.

You asked above about costs. I will be flying from the US Midwest to Brisbane, Brisbane-Cairns, Cairns-Sydney, then Sydney home. Our tickets, including the Australian Domestic flights, are $2700 each. We also paid an extra $100 each to pre-reserve some specific seats from DFW to Australia and back that are two across on the window side. Totally worth it, we had them before and it makes for a much more comfortable trip in economy.

I think BarbAnn up above had good advice for your itinerary based on the things you've mentioned so far.

By all means, google, and look for some trip reports here. I got some of my best ideas from reading other people's trip reports. And do what I do, which is go to the library and check out every one of their travel guides on Australia. All of them have different viewpoints and it will start your brain wrapping around what you really want to do.

Travel planning is such a blast!

Kwaussie

January is crazy tourist time here because of the school holidays. Everything is much more expensive and very crowded! Feb might be hot but it's great beach weather in the south east and all the cars and hotels have air con.

Petrol is very expensive here so I imagine that if you choose your flights wisely (Webjet or Wotif) then you'll fly nearly as cheaply to most places as you would hire /drive if you come out of peak holiday period.

Pin down your priorities and then go for it. We just came home from a trip to the US and went flat out every day. Distances go quickly when you are looking at fresh scenery but if Adelaide is a priority then I would fly Syd - Melbourne (or even Avalon to get closer to the GOR). Overnight in Apollo Bay or Anglesea on the GOR and then maybe Robe or Kingston on the way to Adelaide.

If you want to maximise your Barrier Reef time then skip the GOR and drive Melb - Adelaide inland and get your beach fix in Adelaide.