Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Where to go in Australia?

I'm considering a 3 week vacation next year - 2 of which I would like to spend in my favourite country. Looking for recommendations on things to do/see. Couple of exclusions:

I lived in Sydney for 6 months, so I've seen the city and surroundings. Melbourne, Great Ocean Road, Cairns/GBR/Port Douglas.

Some thoughts I had were Whitsundays and area, WA - Coral Coast/North West coast...Broome etc.

Any other must-sees that I might be missing?

Ok, it's silly but how about the blue penguins @ Victor Harbour ?

What time of the year are you looking at?

I'm considering a 3 week vacation next year - 2 of which I would like to spend in my favourite country. Looking for recommendations on things to do/see. Couple of exclusions:

I lived in Sydney for 6 months, so I've seen the city and surroundings. Melbourne, Great Ocean Road, Cairns/GBR/Port Douglas.

Some thoughts I had were Whitsundays and area, WA - Coral Coast/North West coast...Broome etc.

Any other must-sees that I might be missing?

You could check out Ayers Rock & Alice Springs, if that is of any interest to you. What type of holiday are you looking at and what time of year?

If during the winter, you could go up to Thredbo, get a chalet, and go skiing for a change of pace; granted, Canada has much better skiing :D You could go up the Queensland coast up to Rockhampton, Great Kepple Island, Townsville, etc.

Alternatively, you could check out WA - Perth or go upto Broome. Many things to do & places to visit.

For a short stay such as what you're looking at, you may want to consider the Qantas Airpass which starts at $999 USD for transport from LAX to SYD return and provides you with three internal flights; I believe it's about $1500 USD to get the 3 segment airpass (plus trans-Pac) which will allow you to fly to all zones. I would suggest you check that out, as it could potentially save you some money depending on where you want to go internally within Australia.

SDF_Traveler (in MEL)

I lived in Sydney for 6 months, so I've seen the city and surroundings. Melbourne, Great Ocean Road, Cairns/GBR/Port Douglas.

Some thoughts I had were Whitsundays and area, WA - Coral Coast/North West coast...Broome etcAs you have seen the main cities & Cairns tropical area I would go for the red centre, espically if traveling mid year. Alice Springs - Ayres Rock - Kings Canyon are very differrent to coastal Oz. Can take the train (gsr.com.au) from Adelaide to Alice (or Darwin) and fly back.

How about a train trip?

Great Southern Railways (http://www.gsr.com.au/) operate the Indian-Pacific from Sydney to Perth through Adelaide, as well as The Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin. Both are worth a look, and incorporate side-tours. Prices are a bit on the high side, but I always counter that with the fact that you are getting three nights accommodation (on the I-P, two on The Ghan) and meals thrown in as well, so it not that much more if you were to fly and get a hotel for those nights.

Just a hint though, make sure you go for Gold Kangaroo class, Red Kangaroo will be slumming it.

Dave

Some thoughts I had were Whitsundays and area ...Do have a look at a sailing trip in the Whitsundays. I did this a few years back, and it felt like I'd been away for more than the three days it actually was. I went with Prosail (http://www.prosail.com.au/), but they're not the only operator there. But read the yacht descriptions carefully; some are definitely aimed at backpacker types.

Thanks for the replies so far - keep em coming!

I'm thinking that the trip will be in October 2006. This will probably more of a backpacking trip (the horror!) so any obscure/unique suggestions tailored to that type of traveller would be great.

I just spent the end of Oct/first week Nov sailing in the Whitsundays with a friend. Great weather and pretty relaxing... the right captain can find you great places to "discover" - we found some great coves to go snorkelling and some pristine beaches which looked like we were the first to ever step foot on them.

If you're considering Byron Bay at all, we were there a couple of years ago at this time too - it was great. We stayed at the Wategos beach end, but I dropped my buddy off at this backpackers place at the other end of town ( http://www.artsfactory.com.au/ ) where he spent the day making his own didgeridoo. Pain in the butt to carry around afterwards, but you can always leave it with friends and pick it up on your way back home. Or just post it. BTW - the place isn't THAT close to town... its walkable, but its not central. As a bonus, if you're going early October, you might catch some whales returning from Antarctica...

Thanks for the replies so far - keep em coming!

I'm thinking that the trip will be in October 2006. This will probably more of a backpacking trip (the horror!) so any obscure/unique suggestions tailored to that type of traveller would be great.

Chris, as a Canadian expat down here (been here for about a yr and a half), the Whitsundays is by far the best trip I've done since I've been here. Although you've been to Cairns, doing an overnight sailing cruise in the Whitsundays is much more spectacular, esp. the stopover at Whitehaven beach. Mind you, if the weather is crap the trip prob. isn't as fun. And it's not cheap (prob. about $500 for 3d 2n). I went mid-Oct. last year and weather was perfect and this is just the beginning of stinger season. But it was definitely worth the $$$ and would highly recommend to everyone.

Another very enjoyable trip I did was in Tassie. We spent about 4 days driving around (went to Wineglass Bay/Freycinet, Port Arthur, Cradle Mountain) and had a great time. Very good if you're into the outdoorsy stuff.

Hope that helps. PM me if you want more details.

How about somewhere in WA off the beaten path such as Rottnest Island? I was just reading about it, thinking about a visit myself after talking to a friend out in WA. Below are a couple of links about the island:

Rottnest Island Information (http://www.extremetourist.com/profile/index.php?id=1273&sub=Rottnest%20Island%20Authority&cat=hot)

Rottnest Island Review (http://www.extremetourist.com/features/feature.php?id=101003&subj=Rottnest%20Island)

Next time I make it to Western Australia, I'm thinking about that as well as going up north from Perth.

SDF_Traveler

SDF_Traveler, I have been to Rottnest Island twice and although it is nice to visit on a day trip from Perth its not the sort of place I would travel across Australia to see.

In saying that ChrisA330 (with you having lived in AUS for 6 months) you will have heard of Margaret River and some of other really nice places which are a few hours drive south of Perth. Again, a long way to go when you are only in AUS for three weeks and you don't want to spend all you time flying. When you think of flying Sydney to Perth, consider it to flying LAX to JFK as the distances are probably just as long (but you probably know that). I would go with some of the other views that the area around the Great Barrier Reef in North Queensland are great, and the water is so clear and warm.