dutyfree

I am trying to get organized for a trip to Australia with my 28 year old daughter in May 2013. We are trying to find out from people who have been there or live there if the weather will be horrible as it will be early winter or still enjoyable to travel around.(We are from Chicago).
The trip would be mainly on the eastern coast. Any thoughts or tips would be greatly appreciated!

Melnq8

May is my favorite month here in Perth - warm, sunny days, cool nights and very little rain.

Something tells me you're not coming to Western Australia though.

albertsebastian

Hi dutyfree,

Our winter proper starts in June, and May will be end of Autumn (Fall). You'll get some nice sunny days, cool but not cold except perhaps at nights and early mornings.

Shouldn't be a problem traveling around at that time. If you're up towards New South Wales north coast and Queensland, you'll be warm still. Down south towards Victoria it will be cooler.

If you state your exact destination we can be more helpful, the eastern coast of Australia is BIG.

dutyfree

Thanks so much! I need to book our FF mile tickets pretty soon so we were thinking of going into Sydney,doing Melbourne and up to Brisbane? I would like to go to Canberra and also go down to Kangaroo island but haven't gotten the itinerary figured out yet.

RalphR

Book that trip! May is a great time to go, especially Queensland, and northern New South Wales. And even in the south, winters are much milder than those in Chicago.

longhorn55

Are you intentionally skipping the Great Barrier Reef? Most people, myself included, think it's a "must see" if you go to Australia.

BTW, I'm glad to see that you are thinking of including Canberra as a destination. We lived there for several years and loved it. You will find a lot to see and do there.

catsbreath

As already stated, the weather won't be cold yet although Victoria can put up some surprises.
It's going to take you some time to see the east coast, but a few places you might like to visit would be; Dandenongs (Vic), Wilsons Promontory (Vic), Eden (NSW), Canberra (ACT), Jindabine (alpine country near ACT), Blue Mountains (west of Sydney), Myall lakes (mid north coast NSW),
Coffs Harbour and Bellingen + Dorrigo (far north coast NSW), Byron Bay (up the coast a bit further) Tamborine Mountain (south of Brisbane QLD) and the Gold Coast nearby, Sunshine Coast (north of Brisbane).
Hope this helps.

RalphR

Agree with longhorn ... Don't miss North Queensland and the Barrier Reef.

lanejohann

quite often ill remark to noone in particular how nice itd be if you were visiting aus in the winter....lol
now ill have to pay attention to may...
i do recall visiting byron bay in may and it was glorious
but syd weather is so strange nowadays so i wont really comment

come with laden with all the usual layers..check the seven day forecast before you depart and just be prepared
if youre used to the chill then youll be fine and will probably be wearing short sleeves

dutyfree

I was planning on the Barrier Reef as my daughter is an oceanographer so that is definitely on the list. I need to figure out an itinerary that would allow us to start in the north or south and do a semi circle tour?

albertsebastian

Semi-circle itinerary will get you to all the places mentioned in the posts above BUT it will be long distances to travel. It also depends on which city you're planning to arrive into, and flying out of so you don't back-track. If you post here your arrival and departure cities, I can suggest an itinerary for your consideration.

Due to the distances involved and your intended destinations, you may have to think about a combination of flying and driving to get the best use of time and locations.

Camporico

If you are planning to see the GBR from Brisbane, you've got a long haul. Cairns, where most people go to experience the Reef, is about 1000 miles from there.

Images2

I'll be following your planning Dutyfree. We booked FF tickets on United for May, flying in and out of Sydney. We are probably going north to Port Douglas for the Tablelands, Reef and rainforest.

Also considering Alice Springs to Uluru except the airfare from Cairns to the center is about $400 AUD one way.

How many days does Sydney deserve? I'm considering 2-3 on arrival and another 2 before departure.

Lots to plan!

mdm3f

I just got back from a trip to Australia in July/Aug of this year. Weather in SYD was about 60F and sunny, GBR and Red Centre was 70-75. Overall the weather was good, I actually preferred it being a bit cooler, esp. in the Red Centre. Only time I was cold was visit to the Blue Mountains and dinner at night at Uluru, but just bring some sweaters and a light jacket. I suspect in May it might be a little warmer than July.

Also, if you're booking internal AUS flights on Qantas, I'd suggest checking out their website directly. There were sale fares I was able get from their website that didn't show up in Expedia or Orbitz. Def. enjoyed their flights compared to flying domestic in the US. Security isn't as intrusive and still get to watch movies and eat a full free meal in coach plus free checked luggage.

I spent 3 days (incl. arrival) on the front end of my trip and then the last 2.5 days of the trip in Sydney and that was definitely enough time to hit the highlights - Manly, Taronga Zoo, city tour, Blue Mountains, Sydney Harbour, Darling Harbour, CBD, etc.

lavandula

Sydney is pretty good weather in May although some days will be starting to be cool. I'd think temperatures between 16 - 20C. Bring a jacket or short-line coat, a light sweater and a mix of t-shirts / long sleeve shirts so you can do layers. You'll probably want the jacket for night. This is the month that I usually start heating the house (our house gets cold even when it's not so cold outside). You might like a folding umbrella for the luggage but it's not a particularly rainy month.

Lavandula

cumulus

Hi Dutyfree,
We are from the greater San Francisco area, and my husband, 14-year old son, and I visited Australia in the midst of their "winter" - 3 weeks from mid-June to July, 2012 - which, amusingly, turned out to be as warm as to warmer than our summer. We skipped Sydney altogether (coming from a major metropolitan area, we hoped to avoid such areas on holiday), traveling in an arc that went from (airports + 1 overnight Melbourne/Adelaide) Kangaroo Island to Darwin/Kakadu, then to Cairns/Daintree/Tablelands & finally to Brisbane.
We flew between major destinations, as distances would be similar to landing in New Orleans then visiting Chicago area and finally heading to Adirondacks before flying away via NYC (not that this would be a recommendation for a U.S. trip). Australia is a continent, after all, about the size of the continental U.S.
Anyway, we had a great time but I'll confess that we scoped out a travel expert because, after we started looking to book individual travel experiences/packages/trail-guides, we realized we had no way of telling, just from website descriptions, whether any particular experience was going to be right for us. My husband and I are upper 50's but, as we mentioned, our son is 14. Our "theme," or reason for going was to see Australian creatures in the wild - i.e., not in a zoo or simulated environment. (We used http://naturetravelspecialists.com/, which we'd recommend but ask to avoid sub-contracted tours by a.t.s Pacific: Flights/hotels by a.t.s. are Ok, just avoid tours unless you like extreme touristy experience. )
Anyway, about the Great Barrier Reef. This is a must-see if you like snorkeling/diving. The day we went was blustery with scattered showers, and the sea was choppy. This isn't unusual, and I'm sure your daughter, the oceanographer, would not have a problem. Also, storms from 2011 and other issues have damaged sections of the Reef. Again, your daughter would find this of interest professionally. Other people - less fit or expecting scenes resembling the pristine pictures found on tour sites - might consider carefully whether this part of the trip is what they want/expect. As for ourselves, we are glad we went but, frankly, as we are not big snorkelers/divers, we would have been quite happy had the day trip been several hours shorter.
Anyway, go! You'll be glad you went.