Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Upcoming Australian vacation - opinions on my itinerary?

Hi all,

With a buddy of mine, I'm heading to Australia for the first time. 23 days in total, 21 of them on the ground. I was lucky enough to nab first class seats on Qantas (via AA mileage), booking 330 days in advance.

Here's my rough itinerary; flying into MEL, visiting Tasmania, flying out of BNE. The idea is to have a good mix of city and country. The 5.5 days in Sydney will probably include a couple day trips to Blue Mountains and Hunter Valley.

I was thinking of taking the ferry to Devonport, but the flight to Launceston was only $44 ($7 ticket + taxes!), so the ferry didn't make much sense, even if we save a hotel night.

I also tried to group together day trips with driving days, so we can keep the rental car to a minimum while in the cities.

Sun Nov. 18: Depart Boston
Tues Nov. 20: Melbourne (Arrive 0930)
Wed Nov. 21: Melbourne
Thurs Nov. 22: Melbourne
Fri Nov. 23: Great Ocean Road (to Port Campbell) (CR)
Sat Nov. 24: Great Ocean Road (CR)
Sun Nov. 25: Melbourne (Wilson's Promontory) (CR)
Mon Nov. 26: Fly to Launceston (Arrive 0930)
Tues Nov. 27: Tassie (CR)
Wed Nov 28: Tassie (CR)
Thurs Nov 29: Tassie (CR)
Fri Nov. 30: Tassie (CR)
Sat Dec. 1: Fly to Sydney (Arrive 1220)
Sun Dec 2: Sydney
Mon Dec 3: Sydney
Tues Dec 4: Sydney
Wed Dec 5: Sydney (CR)
Thurs Dec 6: Sydney (CR)
Fri Dec 7: Drive to Brisbane (Gold Coast) (CR)
Sat Dec 8: Drive to Brisbane (Gold Coast) (CR)
Sun Dec. 9: Brisbane
Mon Dec 10: Brisbane
Tues Dec 11: Fly Home to Boston

[CR = Car Rental]

Anyone have any opinions on whether I should make any drastic changes? I tried to do my research (including reading a lot of what's posted here), so I hope I'm pretty accurate in dividing up the timeline wisely.

I gotta tell you - it's still three months away, but I'm already getting very psyched about it!!!


Thanks!
Alan

Fri Nov. 23: Great Ocean Road (to Port Campbell) (CR)
Sat Nov. 24: Great Ocean Road (CR)
Sun Nov. 25: Melbourne (Wilson's Promontory) (CR)
Mon Nov. 26: Fly to Launceston (Arrive 0930)


Wilson's Prom is a tall order in that itinerary - its a few hours drive on the other side of Melbourne. You'll only get a couple of hours at the Prom - it's really the sort of place that you want to stay at for a few days. If you were keen to do the other side of Melbourne you could go to Phillip Island instead, or aim for Inverloch.

I'd suggest dropping Wilson's Prom and just doing the GOR more lazily - you won't regret it!

Audrey

I'd add a day to the drive to Brisbane. I read it as only 2 nights. I'd spend that small amount of time in the Byron Bay area on the way and take the day off the Brisbane end.

But looks an interesting itinerary for a first visit. ^

Have fun :)

I'd add a day to the drive to Brisbane. I read it as only 2 nights. I'd spend that small amount of time in the Byron Bay area on the way and take the day off the Brisbane end.

But looks an interesting itinerary for a first visit. ^

Have fun :)

Yeah I agree. I would take a day somewhere else on the coast on the way up. The Gold Coast is nice but is very much a small version of South Beach. And Brisbane can be done in about half a day. Byron is a good option but there are many small towns along the way, you could even incorporate your drive up there with your stop in the Hunter.

You'll spend a lot of time in the car. Via the GOR, Port Campbell is a long drive and you run the risk of getting stuck behind someone who is scared of the road and won't top 40Kmh. It's a beautiful drive but you must pay attention to the road or it bites ( I have the scars to prove it ! )
I agree that the Prom isn't worth a day trip and Phillip Island is. The prom is stunning but it's a hell of a drive to get there, get out of the car, go 'yeah' and then turn around.
Last.. I also agree in adding a day for the trip to Brisbane, I think the scenery of northen NSW is better than Brisbane, a serious case of the it being about the journey rather than the destination.
Being roughly a year in advance you'll arrive in winter, whilst not as harsh as a lot of the US it can get uncomfortable, until you start getting north of Sydney when it *should* get really nice !
I reckon you'll love it here !

in winter, whilst not as harsh as a lot of the US it can get uncomfortable, until you start getting north of Sydney when it *should* get really nice !
I reckon you'll love it here !

The OP is arriving in December. I think he was saying he booked his tickets 330 days out so he could get F award seats

The OP is arriving in December. I think he was saying he booked his tickets 330 days out so he could get F award seats

oops - sorry about the incorrect previous post. I would recommend skipping the Gold Coast and heading to Noosa for a day or 2.

The one thing that immediately stood out as being very tough is Wilson's Prom. If you are really keen on going there I would suggest this change:

Fri Nov. 23: Great Ocean Road (to Port Campbell) (CR) [Early Start, see most/all GOR sights that day]
Sat Nov. 24: Great Ocean Road thru to Queenscliff, take ferry to Sorrento and head to Wilson's Promontory(CR) [Early start from Port Cambell, When you get to the "Prom", stay somewhere nearby, perhaps on the "Prom" itself]
Sun Nov. 25: Inspect/Tour Wilson's Promontory then head back to Melbourne (maybe Late) (CR)

Oh, and I agree with the other posters, I find the sunshine coast (North of Brisbane) is far nicer than the Gold Coast. You drive to Surfer's find a park near Cavill Mall, go Huh, then find somewhere else to go.
Wilson's Prom is a tall order in that itinerary - its a few hours drive on the other side of Melbourne. You'll only get a couple of hours at the Prom - it's really the sort of place that you want to stay at for a few days. If you were keen to do the other side of Melbourne you could go to Phillip Island instead, or aim for Inverloch.

I'd suggest dropping Wilson's Prom and just doing the GOR more lazily - you won't regret it!

Audrey

This is all great stuff so far, thanks for the opinions!

I was under the assumption that Wilson's was only about a 2-hour drive from MEL, so I thought we'd have 8-9 hours of daylight there. I'll have to take another look at it. And the idea of a ferry from GOR is really interesting, I'll have to check into that as well!

As far as the Gold Coast goes, I was just using that phrase to refer to the entire trip up from SYD to BNE. I didn't mean to infer that we'd spend two days at the beach (neither of us is a 'sitting on the beach' person). But we still might take the advice and stretch it into three days of driving and only one Brisbane, we'll see how that plays out (might even be decided on the fly).

Also, I figure we might to Hunter Valley the last day of Sydney, and the stay over there and start our drive northward from that point. Does that make sense?

All the driving doesn't bother me, I enjoy it. Provided that I get used to driving on the correct side of the road quickly enough!

Also, I figure we might to Hunter Valley the last day of Sydney, and the stay over there and start our drive northward from that point. Does that make sense?



Definitely makes sense! If you like wine you can have a very pleasant afternoon there before heading north. With an appropriate overnight gap to lower the blood alcohol level, of course.

Nothing against Brisbane - I spent a few days there after Oz Fest II and enjoyed the company of several local FTers - but for a first visit to Australia, I'd consider replacing the last four days with a flight to Cairns, the Great Barrier Reef, the rain forest ... You can cut a day off Sydney and fly to BNE a day early if you want to check out the city or do a day trip to one of the off-shore islands.

I'd consider replacing the last four days with a flight to Cairns, the Great Barrier Reef, the rain forest ... You can cut a day off Sydney and fly to BNE a day early if you want to check out the city or do a day trip to one of the off-shore islands.

I would have to agree with suggestion. There are some cheap flights to Cairns and the great barrier reef is something you will never forget, and its only a day trip from Cairns.

A with mapquest in USA you might find the following site useful to calculate driving times, distances, directions etc in Australia. http://www.whereis.com/whereis/home.do

Also, I figure we might to Hunter Valley the last day of Sydney, and the stay over there and start our drive northward from that point. Does that make sense?

All the driving doesn't bother me, I enjoy it. Provided that I get used to driving on the correct side of the road quickly enough!

Yep, leaving from the Hunter does make sense, you could even look at heading north via Gloucester and thunderbolts way and back down through dorrigo or clouds creek. It's a little bit out of the way but if you've got the time it's a much more interesting way to head north, especially at that time of year.

Definately plan for some time in Byron, it's a million times better than the Gold Coast (unless a crappy version of Waikiki is your idea of a top holiday spot) but it's still a very short trip up to brisbane

I would have to agree with suggestion. There are some cheap flights to Cairns and the great barrier reef is something you will never forget, and its only a day trip from Cairns.

A with mapquest in USA you might find the following site useful to calculate driving times, distances, directions etc in Australia. http://www.whereis.com/whereis/home.do

I just came back from 4 days in Cairns and it's a wonderful place to access great stuff. Boats leave for the reef from the harbor and Port Douglas another great place to access the reef is an hour away with narriated bus service so you can enjoy the winding roads and coastal views (no guard rails to obstruct your view). The rain forest via train and skyway is very close to town too. There are many other options too.

I'd concur with the Wilson's Promontory recommendations. You really don't see much unless you're prepared to (bush)walk in (same for wineglass bay in eastern Tasmania). If you like wines, spend the day (or night) up in the Yarra valley, or instead of Wilsons Prom, head north from Port Campbell to the Gold Country and drive back to MEL from there.

If you want to miss the coast just north of Sydney, you could drive from Sydney out to the Blue Mountains, spend the night there (for sunset/sunrise), then drive from there to Hunter Valley. Can rejoin the coastal highway from there to Brisbane.

If you can fit it in, I strongly agree with getting to Cairns and doing a day on the Great Barrier Reef and then some time up to Kuranda for the rainforest. Be warned though that Carins is hot and humid in December (think Miami mid summer) - really hot and humid!

I'm biased towards the Sunshine Coast - it's beautiful. 1 1/2 ours drive north of Brisbane and you will be in the middle of gorgeous beaches without the gold coast crowds. The hinterland is only about 30-40 minutes drive inland and a great place for wine tasting, sensational foods, markets and rainforests if you don't have the time to get to Nth Queensland. Oh and you can get to the Crocodile Hunter's Zoo too if you're an animal lover. Great place to see Australia's unique animals.

Forgot to mention - while in Sydney you really should do the Harbour "Bridgeclimb". It's not cheap but is truly the expereince of a lifetime (IMHO) ;) In December though I suggest an early morning or late afternoon climb.

If you can fit it in, I strongly agree with getting to Cairns and doing a day on the Great Barrier Reef and then some time up to Kuranda for the rainforest.

As much as I'd love to get uyp north to Cairns as some people suggested, I just don't want to try to squeeze too much into the itinerary. There's already a lot going on, and you always want to have a day or two in there to catch you breath as well.

Also, keep in mind that I have to fly out of Brisbane since the tickets are already booked,, so that would mean a lot of time in airports.

Have no fear though - another trip for Cairns & Great Barrier Reef will definitely be on the list for future vacations!

And I'm really digging serfty's idea of taking the ferry from Great Ocean Road over to Wilson's Prom, that's a great twist that I had no idea was possible. That's one of the reason's I love this board so much!

Also, I promise to keep good notes and write a nice trip report afterward. It's the least I can do to help repay the kindness, and also help others in the future.

It is going to be very hot! I agree with the others about trying to fit in Cairns and the GBR, but if you are definitely planning to return with a trip dedicated solely to that then okay. Tasmania is nice be sure to eat cheese and scallops! The Cadburry factory was booked out the times I have been there. You have lots of Sydney days. I live here. (but will be in the US when you are here!) What are you planning on doing here? It would be great if you could get some tickets to an event at the Opera House. If I had one trip to Oz I would do Uluru, GBR as definites.

The one thing that immediately stood out as being very tough is Wilson's Prom. If you are really keen on going there I would suggest this change:

Fri Nov. 23: Great Ocean Road (to Port Campbell) (CR) [Early Start, see most/all GOR sights that day]
Sat Nov. 24: Great Ocean Road thru to Queenscliff, take ferry to Sorrento and head to Wilson's Promontory(CR) [Early start from Port Cambell, When you get to the "Prom", stay somewhere nearby, perhaps on the "Prom" itself]
Sun Nov. 25: Inspect/Tour Wilson's Promontory then head back to Melbourne (maybe Late) (CR)


We've decided to take this advice - the plan now is to do GOR on Friday and Saturday, making sure we catch the Queenscliff ferry in the late afternoon. That should put us on Philip Island in time to see the penguins, stay over there, and then head to the Prom early on Sunday.

I booked a 2-bedroom villa at the All-Seasons Eco Resort for AUS$200, which seemed like a pretty good deal.

From the Prom we can head back to MEL late Sunday night and just grab cheap rooms near the airport for our early morning flight to Launceston.

Please post a trip report, esp about All-Seasons Eco Resort. We're planning on doing a stay there in Jan, and then doing GOR after Phillip Island. I'd be interested to see how the Ferry Trip, etc goes. Getting to/from Great Ocean Road to Phillip Island seems to be the same amount of time via Melbourne, as it is via Ferry (http://www.searoad.com.au/)...

via Melbourne (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=Great+Ocean+Rd+%26+Surf+Coast+Hwy,+Torquay,+ VIC+3228,+Australia&daddr=Ventnor+Rd+%26+The+Blvd,+Summerlands,+VIC+39 22,+Australia+(Phillip+Island+Penguin+Parade)&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=43.848534,82.265625&ie=UTF8&z=9&om=1)

via Ferry
(http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=Great+Ocean+Rd+%26+Surf+Coast+Hwy,+Torquay,+ VIC+3228,+Australia&daddr=-38.265209,144.67123+to:Sorrento+-+Queenscliff+Ferry+%40-38.337540,+144.743820+to:Ventnor+Rd+%26+The+Blvd,+ Summerlands,+VIC+3922,+Australia+(Phillip+Island+P enguin+Parade)&mrcr=0,1&mrsp=1&sz=15&mra=dpe&sll=-38.26942,144.672861&sspn=0.021328,0.040169&ie=UTF8&z=15&om=1)

I wondow how the OP went with the Journey ...?

I wondow how the OP went with the Journey ...?

Just got back home late last night, still trying to get through all the mail and return phone calls and such (and trying to get back on time, although I'm already pretty good with that).

The trip itself was the trip of a lifetime - beyond words, or at least words that I can come up with. Even the photos won't do it justice, although I have over 1000 of them, even after some culling.

Itinerary went just about as planned; taking the ferry to Phillip Island and then on to Wilson's was a brilliant idea! The Prom was actually my favorite part of the whole trip, followed closely by Tasmania.

I kept a little journal and took many photos, so I'll be writing up a nice little trip report in the next few days, and I'll be sure to post a link to it here!

And yes, I'm already planning to go back sometime, both to revisit the places I didn't see enough of, and to explore more areas that I missed!

Sorry for the delay in getting this done, but it took a little while longer than I expected it to, plus I had to learn how to create a web page. My first attempt, so it's pretty basic, but I like it well enough.

This is a moderatly lengthy trip report; there's a couple hundred photos available by clicking and getting a popup window, and there are links to all the places I stayed and many of the places I visited.

If anyone has ANY questions, please feel free to contact me at any time. I'd be glad to help out others the way I was helped here!

http://www.alanstarr.com/australia.htm

BTW, I'm also quite good about taking criticism, either on the webpage or the content. Feel equally free to editorialize (too much? too little? more info about a certain topic? etc.), it won't bother me in the least...

Thanks for this!

My wife and I took a three week trip to Australia a couple of years ago...a fantastic experience! We did some of the same things you did, and some different things, too.

You have given us some great ideas for "next time". We love AUS and can hardly wait to go back.

We just did finished a very similar itinerary earlier this month, though it was a bit condensed with only 11 days in Australia! That being said I offer the following advice to anyone who is considering a similar plan:

DO NOT - under any circumstances - drive from SYD to BNE. This is a very boring non-scenic drive, equivalent of I-5 through the central valley or perhaps I-40 through Oklahoma. There is nothing to see. Despite the name, it is not on the coast, but well inland. Conditions are sometimes poor, it is just not fun. You may not even save $$ given the price of gas. Be smart, spend the money to fly from SYD to BNE or CNS.

Otherwise the rest is great. MEL was actually my favorite city in Australia, my wife loved the Penguin March, the Great Ocean Road outside MEL towards Adelaide is the only road really worth driving for scenery, New Years Eve in SYD can't be beat, and the beaches everywhere are fabulous (particularly Bondi and St. Kilda), though we much preferred the Sunshine Coast to the Gold Coast (the storms at the latter may have affected our opinion ;) ) BNE is worth a day or two just to visit the fantastic Australia Zoo which is about an hour north.

Alas we did not make it to the reef thanks to the massive storms that hit the coast just after new years. So like OP, we will have to return, which we look forward to :)

DO NOT - under any circumstances - drive from SYD to BNE. This is a very boring non-scenic drive, equivalent of I-5 through the central valley or perhaps I-40 through Oklahoma. There is nothing to see. Despite the name, it is not on the coast, but well inland.



Were you on the Pacific or the New England Highway? The Pacific Hwy runs along the coast albeit not right next to it, the New England is as you say quite inland and takes you through Armidale, Glen Innes etc and as you point out its fairly boring scenery.