Oceania (Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific) - December / January - 3 weeks in Australia Itinerary help

Depart December 28th from London/Dublin to Australia

Arrive Sydney Dec 30th - 4 nights?

visit - Sydney/new years eve/bondi/blue mountains?..
Already have the Old Sydney Holiday Inn reserved using points

THEN
Fly to Hamilton Island/Whitsundays - 4 nights?

Whitehaven Beach / Snorkel Outer Great Barrier Reef + view from air / cruise the whitsundays one day..........

THEN
Travel south ?? and spend around 1 week exploring the east coast /gold coast (sunshine coast, surfers paradise heron island , Bunderberg, hervey bay, fraser island, Byron bay. WHAT HAVE I MISSED ?!

THEN
Fly to Melbourne - 4 nights
This should coincide with the start of the Australian Open tennis (Mon Jan 14th) - a day there perhaps.
Then explore (3 nights?) the Great Ocean Road - Philip Island , Apollo Bay etc

THEN
Fly to Uluru
2 nights

THEN
Fly back to UK/Ireland arriving back on the morning of Sunday 19th January.

We are 28/29, we love the sun, we love the coast (have driven the length of Californian coast in a previous holiday) and are very interested in animals (have visited Tanzania on safari) so would like to see all the Australian animals we can. Would like to fit in some adventure too - skydiving/bungeee.

Any recommendations of outstanding accomodations on route ?

Sydney - if this is your first visit then there is plenty in and around the city to keep you busy for 4 days. Don't forget to visit the Botanic Gardens which is a great place to wander around or maybe have lunch. Also take the ferry out Manly for fish and chips - the ferries are an amazing way to see the city. Darling Harbour has some great restaurants. And of course Taronga Zoo is a must see.

East/Gold coast is amazing - Noosa is a good place to base yourself.

Great Ocean Road is awesome but it can be very busy especially at the weekend. We stayed in Port Fairy and Apollo Bay when we did that drive in a convertible.

I am very biased but you are missing out the best piece of Australia IMHO which is Tasmania. If you want to see Australian animals then this is the place to go - Cradle Moutain is a World Heritage site and the only place I have been knocked over by a speeding wombat :eek: The NW has almost not changed and you can dozens of species including Tasmanian Devil and in the N/NE of the isalnd you have what is known as "the Serengati of Tasmania"

We have been visiting Australia annually since 2000 so happy to help in any way

Fly to Melbourne - 4 nights
This should coincide with the start of the Australian Open tennis (Mon Jan 14th) - a day there perhaps.
Then explore (3 nights?) the Great Ocean Road - Philip Island , Apollo Bay etc

THEN
Fly to Uluru
2 nights


Phillip Island is a day trip from Melbourne in the opposite direction from the Great Ocean Road. It's quite different from the GOR and worth doing.

3 days is a generous allowance for the GOR and you'll be able to take it slowly. At that time of the year you will have to plan ahead to get accommodation - it's the main long school holidays. Be aware that the seawater will be cold, especially once you get past Cape Otway - outside Bass Strait is the Southern Ocean which extends to Antarctica!

Lots of accommodation in Lorne, Apollo Bay, there's a motel or something at Laver's Hill, Cape Otway has a lighthouse with keepers cottages available for accommodation (need to book well in advance), and Port Campbell offers a number of motels and other options. After that you have bigger towns with more accommodation choices: Warnambool, Port Fairy and Portland.

Audrey

We just got back from three weeks in Australia and found our itinerary to be perfect:

5 nights in Sydney over New Years - we arrived late at night the first day, so it was 4 days to explore the City.

We then flew to Cairns for 3 nights - we had wanted to go to the Whitsundays, but couldn't find flights that worked for us.

From Cairns, we went to Uluru for one night - basically, flew in, relaxed, watched the sunset, had dinner, got up early to watch the sunrise, and then left.

We then spent 4 nights in Melbourne, which was fanastic. We did the GOR on a one day drive from Melbourne.

After Melbourne, we flew to Tasmania and spent one night in Launceston, and then two nights in Hobart.

Then one night back in Sydney before flying home.

Make sure to check out the Virgin Air Pass for domestic travel.

thanks for all the help
now flying with friends who want to do whitsundays and then visit family in sydney and melbourne
we will do some of the holiday with them and so some stuff ourselves

at the moment we have about 19 nights and i am thinking

Depart December 28th from London/Dublin to Australia

Arrive Sydney Dec 30th - 4 nights

THEN

Fly to Uluru
2 nights

THEN

Fly to Hamilton Island/Whitsundays - 4 nights

Whitehaven Beach / Snorkel Outer Great Barrier Reef + view from air / cruise the whitsundays one day..........

THEN

Travel south and spend around 6 nights exploring the areas south and north of brisbane (sunshine coast, surfers paradise, Bunderberg, hervey bay, fraser island, Byron bay. etc !

THEN
Fly to Melbourne - 4 nights
This should coincide with the start of the Australian Open tennis (Mon Jan 14th) - perhaps 2 days in Melbourne and 2 days exploring the Great Ocean Road - Philip Island , Apollo Bay etc

THEN
Fly back to UK/Ireland arriving back on the morning of Sunday 19th January.

perhaps a city stop over on way back. beijing or kula lumpur are the options that coincide with the cheapest flights