OZdyssey

Sonnenblumen

Travelling for 5-6 weeks in Jan/Feb along East Coast.

After a few nights in Sydney fly to Brisbane for a night then taking a drive for 10 days to eventually arrive at Port Douglas where we'll stay 7 nights. Fly from Cairns to Melbourne and after a week fly to Tasmania for a week before taking the long road home.

Looking for any tips on 4x4 hire, Camper van hire, interesting campsites along route from Brisbane to Port Douglas or indeed anything else along our planned route.

Thanks in advance.

Mahatma coat

A Little bit of Perspective before this thread goes any further


People seem to forget tht this is a WHOLE CONTINENT

Pick one area and see that properly is my advice, and I recomend doing the cape.

hussey

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

Travelling for 5-6 weeks in Jan/Feb along East Coast.

After a few nights in Sydney fly to Brisbane for a night then taking a drive for 10 days to eventually arrive at Port Douglas where we'll stay 7 nights. Fly from Cairns to Melbourne and after a week fly to Tasmania for a week before taking the long road home.

Looking for any tips on 4x4 hire, Camper van hire, interesting campsites along route from Brisbane to Port Douglas or indeed anything else along our planned route.

Thanks in advance.

sounds like a pretty decent trip - do you have any plans for brisbane - Port douglas? Also any reason why 7 nights there (it is an amazing town, but other options are available)

after brisbane, I would say Fraser island then whitsundays could be the top of most people's list, also magnetic island is pretty cool.

Cairns is a party town plenty to see and do but it is a tourist town.
Also north of Port Douglas is Cape tribulation which I loved very nice spot and could be worth a 1-2day trip from Port D.

Do a search for campervan on this forum, this has been asked many times before.

Oh please note Jan (usually early) is storm season for the west coast, late Jan and Feb are pretty good time, but still bare that in mind

goonbob

Hi Op, in Jan/Feb you'll be heading into the rainy season in Queensland. I was there that time last year and got stuck in Cape Tribulation (North of Cairns) as the roads closed due to flooding. The Whitsundays were a complete disaster due to the weather.

I even met a few Canadian girls who were stuck in Airlie Beach and couldn't make flights out of Cairns as the roads north were closed. They had also paid for tours, parachute jumps, etc in advance and missed those as they couldn't get there and did not get a refund as it was not the tour operators fault.

My advice would be go for a 4x4 as you have a better chance of getting through floods and allow extra time for delays. Also try to book as little in advance as possible (it's off season so shouldn't be a serious problem) for activities North of Brisbane as the weather may effect them. Once you land in Sydney visit a Travel Agency that specialise in backpackers (I suggest Peter Pan) and get their advice.

I wish I got that advice as I easily spent $600 on activities that were a complete washout!!

The_B_Man

Oh crap, so what months should the Whitsundays be avoided? Jan to March?

OP, Brisbane to Port Douglas in 10 days is pushing it. we did the reverse in 6 weeks! tho we stayed in certain places for a few days at a time, as the mood hit us.

We were in camper vans though, so if ur gonna be stuck in some places ur best to hire a camper so u can save on hostels.
The campers we used were Wicked Campers. (Some photos of our ones and links to booking page there). They're kinda funky looking which i liked, but if u dont, theres other plain white ones u can get.

But ye, 10 days to see Queensland is pushing it, unless ur low on funds. if u have a few grand to spend each after travel costs then try extend it to as long as possible.

Sonnenblumen

Mahatma coat wrote: »

A Little bit of Perspective before this thread goes any further


People seem to forget tht this is a WHOLE CONTINENT

Pick one area and see that properly is my advice, and I recomend doing the cape.

Good point and yes I'd be inclined to agree, but unfortunately work demands prevent us taking 6 months off. Thats why we're limiting our trip to 'Eastern' side. Instead we're stretching at 6 weeks and so wer are planning a week to get to Port Douglas (c 1,000miles?? +/-), a week in and around PD, a week in Tasmania, and a week between Sydney and Melbourne.

But thanks again.

Sonnenblumen

hussey wrote: »

sounds like a pretty decent trip - do you have any plans for brisbane - Port douglas? Also any reason why 7 nights there (it is an amazing town, but other options are available)

after brisbane, I would say Fraser island then whitsundays could be the top of most people's list, also magnetic island is pretty cool.

Cairns is a party town plenty to see and do but it is a tourist town.
Also north of Port Douglas is Cape tribulation which I loved very nice spot and could be worth a 1-2day trip from Port D.

Do a search for campervan on this forum, this has been asked many times before.

Oh please note Jan (usually early) is storm season for the west coast, late Jan and Feb are pretty good time, but still bare that in mind

We'd reckon on 7 nights in/around PD as a base, to do some trekking, island hopping, scuba diving etc. From what I've heard 7 days would seem minimum?

Thanks for tip about weather, first time I've haerd of any potential problems? Would be a real bummer to go that far and hit more rain!!

Will do search for camper vans.

Cheers

Sonnenblumen

goonbob wrote: »

Hi Op, in Jan/Feb you'll be heading into the rainy season in Queensland. I was there that time last year and got stuck in Cape Tribulation (North of Cairns) as the roads closed due to flooding. The Whitsundays were a complete disaster due to the weather.

I even met a few Canadian girls who were stuck in Airlie Beach and couldn't make flights out of Cairns as the roads north were closed. They had also paid for tours, parachute jumps, etc in advance and missed those as they couldn't get there and did not get a refund as it was not the tour operators fault.

My advice would be go for a 4x4 as you have a better chance of getting through floods and allow extra time for delays. Also try to book as little in advance as possible (it's off season so shouldn't be a serious problem) for activities North of Brisbane as the weather may effect them. Once you land in Sydney visit a Travel Agency that specialise in backpackers (I suggest Peter Pan) and get their advice.

I wish I got that advice as I easily spent $600 on activities that were a complete washout!!

Hi GB

nice tip on not booking too much in advance, kind of suits our style of travel. I'd prefer the 4x4, but campervan probably has an obvious bigger advantage for remote areas? I'd prefer to avoid 'areas prone to flooding' as I've had enough of that this year. Might have a re-think on that?

Cheers

Sonnenblumen

The_B_Man wrote: »

Oh crap, so what months should the Whitsundays be avoided? Jan to March?

OP, Brisbane to Port Douglas in 10 days is pushing it. we did the reverse in 6 weeks! tho we stayed in certain places for a few days at a time, as the mood hit us.

We were in camper vans though, so if ur gonna be stuck in some places ur best to hire a camper so u can save on hostels.
The campers we used were Wicked Campers. (Some photos of our ones and links to booking page there). They're kinda funky looking which i liked, but if u dont, theres other plain white ones u can get.

But ye, 10 days to see Queensland is pushing it, unless ur low on funds. if u have a few grand to spend each after travel costs then try extend it to as long as possible.

Hi
thanks for the tips. Yeah campervans appear the better choice for out of the way spots, especailly a sI've had enough of hostels. So apart from flexible ON mobility, it's hotels and B&Bs in that order.

Love to spend more so may be we'll cut out staying points if necessary. Afraid we're time poor but we're trying to make the most without doing a whistle stop tour!

Thanks for the linky will take a look. Nice to have an alternative to the white boxes.

Cheers