East Coast/Sydney/Melbourne

jimmypitt

Booking a 7 week trip to Australia and want to catch all of the above. Im thinking of starting off in the East Coast (Cairns, Great Barrier Reef, etc.) and then working my way down to Sydney and Melbourne.

With that in mind would i be best off flying into Darwin and flying out of Melbourne onto my next destination? I just don't have much info regarding East Coast and want to know what is the major, closest airport to the usual touristy attractions on the East Coast?

Cheers.

The_B_Man

fly into cairns. thats what i did. then we rented camper vans and drove to sydney, stopping in all the main places on the way down. 7 weeks should be pretty much ok for the whole trip. you should have plenty of time to stop and stay for a few weeks even in any place ya find that ya might like.

hussey

Don't fly into darwin, that in not on the coast, fly into cairns as the B-man said

7 weeks is a good number,

the main attractions on East Coast (in my opinion)

Cape Tribualtion (chill out zone great to see the GBR, north of cairns) - 2/3 days
Cairns (party town, lots of reef stuff) 3 days if party is your thing
Mission beach
Magnetic island - 2 days?
Airlie Beach / Whitsunday island - Go on a sail boat for 3days / 2 nights - one of the highlights of East Coast / Oz
Rainbow beach/ Fraser island - 3 days/2nights - again a massive highlight of the tour - amazing place
Brisbane - city
Surfers paradise - party town, hightlights are meter maids (do a google search)
Byron Bay - Great place, very chilled out town,
Coffs harbour/ Port MacQuarie - nice stop over beach towns
Sydney - blue mountains, Manly, Bondi, City sights etc
Canberra - errmmm if into history go see if not skip and fly to melbourne

jimmypitt

hussey wrote: »

Don't fly into darwin, that in not on the coast, fly into cairns as the B-man said

7 weeks is a good number,

the main attractions on East Coast (in my opinion)

Cape Tribualtion (chill out zone great to see the GBR, north of cairns) - 2/3 days
Cairns (party town, lots of reef stuff) 3 days if party is your thing
Mission beach
Magnetic island - 2 days?
Airlie Beach / Whitsunday island - Go on a sail boat for 3days / 2 nights - one of the highlights of East Coast / Oz
Rainbow beach/ Fraser island - 3 days/2nights - again a massive highlight of the tour - amazing place
Brisbane - city
Surfers paradise - party town, hightlights are meter maids (do a google search)
Byron Bay - Great place, very chilled out town,
Coffs harbour/ Port MacQuarie - nice stop over beach towns
Sydney - blue mountains, Manly, Bondi, City sights etc
Canberra - errmmm if into history go see if not skip and fly to melbourne

Cheers. I literally will be following that plan of action! I am doing it on my own so tis tough to book and organise a trip when you are a complete idiot (as evidenced by my suggestion of flying into Darwin).

Considering i will be doing it on my own and therefore won't be able to get camper van with a group what would be my best way of travelling down the coast and taking in these places??? I've seen a few hop on/hop off type bus services - i presume this would be best for a lone traveller? Also im thinking a good way to meet people?

Thanks for the advice - the more i think of this i'll never manage this RTW trip on my own!! I really need an assistant to be honest!

hussey

jimmypitt wrote: »

Cheers. I literally will be following that plan of action! I am doing it on my own so tis tough to book and organise a trip when you are a complete idiot (as evidenced by my suggestion of flying into Darwin).

Considering i will be doing it on my own and therefore won't be able to get camper van with a group what would be my best way of travelling down the coast and taking in these places??? I've seen a few hop on/hop off type bus services - i presume this would be best for a lone traveller? Also im thinking a good way to meet people?

Thanks for the advice - the more i think of this i'll never manage this RTW trip on my own!! I really need an assistant to be honest!

Get a greyhound bus ticket they do the hop on hop off things, when I did i I meet a fair few people, you can also try Oz experience but honestly better off doing it on own, unless extremely lazy

jimmypitt

hussey wrote: »

Get a greyhound bus ticket they do the hop on hop off things, when I did i I meet a fair few people, you can also try Oz experience but honestly better off doing it on own, unless extremely lazy

What is the OZ experience exactly Hussey?

That greyhound bus ticket looks very good - relatively cheap too i think.

By the way i am budgeting 80 Euro per day for my time in Australia- would this be sufficient in your opinion? I like to live in relative comfort - i am not the type to get buy on a roll of bread/water and cheap beer for the day if you follow. I don't need 5 star hotels but just relatively decent living is how i would describe it.

missannik

hussey wrote: »

Don't fly into darwin, that in not on the coast, fly into cairns as the B-man said

7 weeks is a good number,

the main attractions on East Coast (in my opinion)

Cape Tribualtion (chill out zone great to see the GBR, north of cairns) - 2/3 days
Cairns (party town, lots of reef stuff) 3 days if party is your thing
Mission beach
Magnetic island - 2 days?
Airlie Beach / Whitsunday island - Go on a sail boat for 3days / 2 nights - one of the highlights of East Coast / Oz
Rainbow beach/ Fraser island - 3 days/2nights - again a massive highlight of the tour - amazing place
Brisbane - city
Surfers paradise - party town, hightlights are meter maids (do a google search)
Byron Bay - Great place, very chilled out town,
Coffs harbour/ Port MacQuarie - nice stop over beach towns
Sydney - blue mountains, Manly, Bondi, City sights etc
Canberra - errmmm if into history go see if not skip and fly to melbourne

Sydney- I have to recommend the Bridge Climb, its great fun.
I also have to add Merimbula and Eden in NSW, especially if whale watching is your thing (depends on what time of year) but is also good for nature walks and usual beach stuff.
Can't possibly forget The Great Ocean Road... stunning stuff.

Greyhound bus is good... but be prepared for the long stretches of driving. Train travel isn't that crash hot either- usually takes just as long as the bus and is more expensive. As for meeting people- hostels are your best bet, and chatting to randoms at pubs.

seachto7

if you're staying in hervey bay when you get back from fraser island, there's another minibus you can get from the bus station, up past the mango hostel. I was going to get a greyhound down to Brisbane, but got this little minibus, which was great, and cheap too.
Think it leaves first thing every morning, makes a few stops on the way down, right into the station on roma street in brisbane (if im not mistaken)

The_B_Man

If you do the Airlie Beach/Whitsundays 2/3 day trip, you should know that you'll be speding most of the time on the boat, so if u get sea sick, i'd choose the day trip!

Also, Australia Zoo is jsut north of Brisbane. Maybe try get that in. Its a bit better than Dublin zoo, and has crocodile shows!

hertz

I will be doing a very similar trip on my own from Cairns down to Sydney but starting at end of December! Does anyone know what the Greyhound or Premier bus services are like around New years? do they shut down etc?

Coileach dearg

hertz wrote: »

I will be doing a very similar trip on my own from Cairns down to Sydney but starting at end of December! Does anyone know what the Greyhound or Premier bus services are like around New years? do they shut down etc?

Going to to this myself, starting off in Cairns around the 22nd. Only have 2 weeks to get back down to Sydney though. Would be interested in knowing about bus services around public holidays also.

hussey

hertz wrote: »

I will be doing a very similar trip on my own from Cairns down to Sydney but starting at end of December! Does anyone know what the Greyhound or Premier bus services are like around New years? do they shut down etc?

As far as I know it is B.A.U. around the time, they may run a reduced time table on Xmas Eve/Day NY Eve/Day

best to ring them

jimmypitt

Cheers lads for all the information. That is my trip/route planned out for me by people i don't even know!

Thanks.

fulmer1984

i'm thinking of doing the same trip to cairns and then to sydney with my g/f...Does anyone know of the best and/or cheapest site to get flights to get to cairns from Dublin? i can't seem to find anything at the minute!

Coileach dearg

To anybody who has done this trip before around this time of year.

I was speaking to a few who have done the East Coast and some reckon from Cairns to Brisbane is usually deserted (of backpackers) at this time because of the wet season. Surely people can't be that afraid of the rain!

Anybody have any recommendations on where to spend Christmas day, won't be in Cairns so somewhere like Mission beach? Will be in Brisbane for New Years.

SkYbUrNeR

Ain't a lot to do in Mission Beach mate.
Scottys backpackers is an amazing hostel, but thats pretty much all thats there....