Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - First visit to Australia - itin review appreciated

all, I am planning to visit Australia in a year's time... will not be able to spend traveling more than 2 weeks therefore decided to limit myself with east coast only...

1st question: will September/October time frame be ok for a visit

2nd question: below is an itinerary I put together so far - appreciate any feedback

Day 1 Austrian OS001 11:00 16:55 (+1) VIE-SYD
Day 2 Qantas QF932 19:15 22:25 SYD-CNS
Day 3 wander around CNS but giving travel shock probably will sleep most of the day
Day 4 Barrier reef cruise 7:45 18:00
Day 5 Kuranda+ coach scenic rail 8:00 15:30
Day 6 Qantas QF923 11:45 14:45 CNS-SYD
Day 7 Sydney Harbour cruise 10:00 12:20
Day 8 Ocean world Sydney 14:00 19:00
Day 9 Blue Mountain day tour 8:30 17:30
Day 10 Qantas QF433 12:30 14:00 SYD-MEL
Day 11 The Great ocean road 8:00 20:30
Day 12 Melbourne and Yarra river cruise 10:00 then every 30 mins
Day 13 Austrian OS008 18:35 6:05 (+1) MEL-VIE

Thanks in advance

Itin is OK, not too rushed and see enough of the better parts. September is early spring, CNS is warm, SYD is also warm enough but can have drenching showers and impressive hailstorms (golf ball size bouncing from pavement to the roofs of houses), MEL is cool to cold. Late Oct. is considerably warmer and less stormy. But advantage is fewer tourists and no locals taking vacation yet, weather is OK (just don't go to Tasmania).

Hello All,

Mrs SAnger3494 and I are looking into going in 05 mid august for 10 or 11 nights. The weather is not an issue, as we live hot South Florida. I believe the temp is cooler as it is winter season. Are the nights cool in Sydney, Barossa Valley and Melbourne at time of the year? We are looking into 2 cities and the Wine country of Barossa Valley. We love to enjoy the local food and wine. If there something we need to see outside of Syndey, Melbourne, what would be the Barrier Reef, The Rock, Brisbane, or I am missing something?

+ Arv Aug 22 Lax-Mel 0645
+ 3 nights Mel
+ Aug 25 Mel-ADL
+ 4 nights in around Adaliade (wine country)
+ Aug 28 Adl-Syd
+ 3 nights Syd
+ LV sept 1 Syd-Lax and back to Florida

I wish we could add more nights as we are not sure when we back.

Thanks for the help

SCA

Could get snow. Not likely, but not unusual. Expect low 40s in MEL if you get good weather, colder otherwise. Sydney low 50s, but again could be much warmer or colder. Likely to get fair bit of rain, though who knows with the long-term drought. Storms shouldn't be too bad (worse a few months later). But it will be cold and maybe damp, so dress suitably. The upside is you'll be the only tourist in MEL that week so lots of empty hotels and restaurants to choose from.

Could get snow. Not likely, but not unusual. Expect low 40s in MEL if you get good weather, colder otherwise. Sydney low 50s, but again could be much warmer or colder.

Not sure if this was a joke post about SNOW? :confused:

SAnger3494 - This is Australia and it does not snow in the SYD MEL or ADL metro areas .. trust me ... I have lived in all 3 cities for 50 years.

It is similar to FL 'winter/spring' weather in all 3, with SYD being warmest of the 3. (Sept 1 is Spring here.)

Temps are quite a bit warmer than posted above in most cases. About 15º-20 F warmer is my guess. IMHO.

Today in SYD is just on 100º for instance and we are well short of the "hottest" time of year:

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11060764%255E26462,00.html

I am flying to ADL and the Barossa Valley tomorrow actually for a weekend with family. ^

That is only 2 hours drive from ADL, so do not allow a lot of time there IMO. Near half your visit spent there is silly.

SAnger3494

Dont just visit the Barossa, Clare Valley, about 1.5 hours north is worth seeing, dozens of top class wineries, and also McLaren Vale about 45 minutes south of Adelaide, about 20+ wineries.

Enjoy :p

I believe the temp is cooler as it is winter season. Are the nights cool in Sydney, Barossa Valley and Melbourne at time of the year? I was answering the question about night-time temperatures, and I believe my answer to be accurate. Of course daytime is 20 degrees higher than that, and the past few years have been unusually hot and dry -- but that cycle is bound to end soon, maybe by next winter. As for snow, it has been my unfortunate pleasure to have it fall upon my head not only in Melbourne but also in Sydney. Rare, yes, but not unheard of (though much more common in MEL than SYD -- it is more the hail that you have to watch out for in SYD, but that happens later in the spring).

well I for one think this is a bit nutty. There is way, way too much to see in both Melbourne and Sydney to see it on this schedule.

Then again, part of the problem is I'm not sure you've correctly figured the number of days you have. You might want to check, but assuming you were to leave Saturday and not have to be back to work until Monday, it would appear you actually have two more days than you've planned for.

There is lots and lots to see in Melbourne. It was a surprise and the Yarrow river cruise was the least of it. There are also some better ways of making use of your time than traveling in the middle of the day.

I did it flying into melbourne, then flying to CNS on a late flight (offered by Virgin Blue) which allowed me to pick up one of the tours first thin in the morning, then flying to syd at the end of a day. Left more of the day time open