Australia Holiday

subway_ie

I know there's a similar thread at the moment... but this is more about a short holiday somewhere in Australia (2 weeks max) around December/January (probably 27th December to 13th January).

Basically, my parents are going crazy for a long-haul holiday - they've got about €6000 - €7000 to spend, including flights, accommodation and (hopefully) spending money. Right now they've got Australia stuck in their heads... nowhere specific, but it's always been a dream of theirs. I was trying to tell them that 2 weeks is way too short, especially when the flights are 20+ hours... but they're determined. So, any advice on destinations in Australia? They usually go for "sun holidays" - with a bit of site-seeing thrown in. I don't know of any major "resorts" in Aus, so I'd appreciate if anybody could maybe explain the main tourist sites/attractions.

I know two weeks is extremely short... but I was thinking maybe at multi-centre holiday, splitting the time between two or three places. Some diving off the great barrier reef would be cool, and maybe a week in someplace metropolitan? Any recommendations?

Another option they were considering was a kind of "round the world trip", only staying in each place for 2-3 days at a time. I'm not sure how practical one of these would be... if anybody has any experience in something like this on a short timeframe, your experiences/recommendations would be appreciated.

I've had a look at the Ebookers and TrailFinders websites, if there are any other good (preferably Irish) sites out there, it'd be good to hear about them.

Thanks in advance

silverside

Right here goes (in no particular order)

Sydney - big busy city, lovely harbour, nice beaches, blue mountains are nearby, tourist landmarks like bridge/opera house. Must see.

Melbourne - second biggest city, nice to live in but not a huge amount to see, nice comedy clubs/restaurants, most european of the whole place. Go to the casino, St.Kilda,

Brisbane - very friendly city. Gold coast (commercialised, resorts, nice beaches) and sunshine coast (less commercialised, more nice beaches) nearby, as are water parks.

Cairns - tourist town, good base for diving barrier reef and rainforest.

Alice Springs/Ayers Rock/Olgas - Ayers Rock speaks for itself. Kings Canyon is also very spectacular.

Great Ocean Road - between Melbourne/Adelaide - beautiful beaches and cliffs, lovely drive.

Whitsundays/Airlie beach - for a sailing trip if you want to stop between Brisbane and Cairns.

Perth - City centre nothing special. Fremantle is lovely town close by, very Italian feel. Remote from rest of country. If there, go to Rottnest Island. Nice beaches here also.

Canberra - government centre, very nicely laid out and pretty, lovely parks/embassies/sports centre, feels a bit dead, missable.

Various Outback towns between adelaide and Alice springs - strange and interesting, if just to see a way of life that is fading away.

Darwin - Very laid back town. Kakadu is huge national park with crocodiles etc, a few hours drive away.

Adelaide - boring boring city. Get drunk on a winery tour if you end up here.

Broome/NW australia - Havent been here, supposed to be lovely, few tourists go here.

various other islands around the coast - Tasmania good for hill walking, Kangaroo Island for penguins, Fraser Island for dingos.


That was longer than I thought. With two weeks you are probably going to do somewhere on the East Coast, and maybe take a trip to Ayers Rock if you always wanted to. Probably Sydney, then one of Cairns (for diving), Brisbane/Gold coast (for beaches/chill-out) or Melbourne (for arts & culture). You will be getting internal flights so talk to the travel agents about all-in deals, shouldnt be too expensive. Australia doesnt really shut down for Christmas like we do.

silverside

reading your post again, that wasnt exactly what you asked. The Gold Coast or the Sunshine Coast sounds like what you want. somewhere around Noosa/Maroochydore (just N of Brisbane) is lovely and a bit quieter than the Gold Coast. Not sure what the weather is like around Dec/Jan - Brisbane can be a bit muggy. Rottnest Island just off Perth is also beautiful if you are looking for a v. quiet beach.
You could just stay in Sydney and go out to Coogee or Bondi beach every day.

subway_ie

Thanks for that Silverside... very comprehensive. I was thinking maybe a short stay in Sydney on arrival (2-3 days max) and then onto the Gold Coast area, for some beaches/diving/tropical things.

HarryD

I'd spend the time travelling up the east coast,
after maybe a couple of days in Sydney & Melbourne.
Best part of the east coast is between Brisbane and Cairns.
Also dont' forget Byron bay..
West coast is nice but not as much to do..
Broome is probably the best part..
R

ixus

here's what my parents did over a month, the travelling takes its toll!

san francisco - 2 days ( a stop over, said it was beautiful)
sydney - 2weeks ( took in blue mountains and hamilton island)
NZ - 1week ( Christchurch - not much there, and Queenstown - excellent)
melbourne -2/3days
LA - 2 days(stop over)

sunshine won't be a problem in december in aus or nz.
if it's a once in a life time thing, it would be a waste to go to aus for just 2 weeks, and not checkin out nz would be a sin! also it takes something more like 30+ hours travellin when you take into account the waiting in airports....

could also go through asia and stop off in singapore/ fiji or somethin instead of US

Clinical Waste

If they want Resort life and a holiday in Australia without actually knowing they are or were ever in Australia, then there is:

http://www.palazzoversace.com.au/

vigos

sorry for hijacking this thread a bit, but I'm going on a round the world trip over about 2 and a half months but will be spending around 3-4 weeks in Australia.

Should this be enough time to see Ayers Rock, Cairns, Fraser Island and Sydney?

I'm planning on flying within Australia needless to say, but just open to suggestions on what to see.

silverside

Loads of time.

bare minimum < 2 weeks
Cairns - 2 days
down east coast
stop off
Fraser island 2-3 days
Sydney 2-3 days
fly to Ayers Rock 1 night

I recommed you also do:
stop off Cairns +5 days (dive trip)
Whitsundays +3 days sail trip
Brisbane +2/3 days city sightseeing, theme parks, beach
Kings Canyon/Olgas/McDonnell ranges as well as Ayers Rock +3days
Could alternatively go to Melbourne and/or Canberra, depends what you are in to.

TomTom

I's say same as above, i'm in whitsundays atm, it's class. Well on airlie beach which is a party town and is the access point to the whitsundays.

Kewin26

I'm looking to travel through Australia and New Zealand when I've finished uni. I want to be away for 6-12 months and have no idea of websites to look on or anything. I would appreciate a bit of help with this so I can get more of an idea. Thanks

vigos

http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/ is a pretty good site for a start. Check out the Australia/NZ section loads of links there and people have posted on about every topic that you could think of! So take a look before posting!

SwampThing

My 2c worth.

Myself and my wife are off on Nov. 6th for ...

2 nights Hong Kong, then fly to Cairns. 3 nights in Cairns, fly to Ayers Rock - picked up at the airport for a 3-day-2-night Safari under the stars @ Uluru, Kings Canyon etc. That tour ends in Alice, so one night there, then fly to Sydney, 2 nights there and then a 4-day drive up the coast to Brisbane. Staying there for 3 nights, then on to Bangkok for 2 nights and home.

3 weeks in total - can't wait!

d@rk l0rd

Kewin26 wrote:

I'm looking to travel through Australia and New Zealand when I've finished uni. I want to be away for 6-12 months and have no idea of websites to look on or anything. I would appreciate a bit of help with this so I can get more of an idea. Thanks

Here are some places worth visiting if you have the time:

Queensland: Atherton tablelands/rainforests, Great Barrier Reef, Whitsundays, Fraser Island, Bundaberg Rum Distillery, Paronella Park.

New South Wales: Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley, Tamworth (country music town - like a mini Nashville), Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo. Sydney is expensive and dirty - opera house and bridge are worth a look as is Darling Harbour which is very nice.

Victoria: Melbourne, Great Ocean Road, Grampians National Park, Little Desert National Park, Phillip Island (home to the world's smallest penguins).

South Australia: Adelaide (a lovely city, not boring and very cheap), Barossa Valley, go surfing near Victor Harbour, Coorong National Park. Make sure to visit the old opal mining town of Coober Pedy. The Flinders Ranges.

Western Australia: Perth (very sunny and clean city), Valley of the Giants (you can walk along the tops of the trees on these platforms), Margaret River wineries, Kalbarri National Park, The Nullarbor, The Karijini National Park (spectacular) and the Bungle Bungles. Make sure to go snorkelling or diving on the Ningaloo Reef - beautiful coral and fish just a few metres walk from the beach.

Northern Territory: Katherine Gorge (amazing place), Kakadu National Park, Litchfield National Park, Uluru, Olgas, Kings Canyon, Devils Marbles, Alice Springs.

A.C.T. Make sure to visit Canberra, especially Parliament House and the Australian War Museum. Lovely spacious city - full of trees.

The BUG Australia website has some good advice on accomodation. http://www.bugaustralia.com

Another good site with a forum of travellers is Stoned Crow