Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Australia: 2 week vacation

Hello--

I'm thinking of an approx 2-week (around 14-16 days on the ground) trip to Australia later this year (probably late Oct/early Nov) to celebrate a milestone birthday. I'd be going together with my partner.

I've been to Australia before, way back in 1991 I took a month vacation while I was in the US Army stationed in Korea and traveled around Sydney, the coast between Sydney and Melbourne, Melbourne, all over Tasmania, and Perth and the West Coast (flew into SYD and out of PER). Most of that was done on the cheap, I stayed at youth hostels/backpackers/very cheap hotels (and a military hotel in Perth). My partner has never been to Australia.

Here's a tentative schedule of places we'd like to visit (in no particular order other than begin/end in SYD)--

* Sydney--2 nights
* Ayers Rock/Uluru--2 nights
* Cairns--3/4 nights
* Brisbane/Gold Coast--3/4 nights
* Sydney--2 nights

I'm assuming we'd fly to Ayer's Rock, then on to Cairns, and probably to Brisbane, and then to Sydney. Since I've already been to Sydney, the primary reason we're going is to pass through, it seems to be the easiest entry to/from the US. I would like to do the harbor bridge climb and see the Olympic site, but otherwise just a place to unwind/adjust up front, and relax before we leave.

I participate in the Hilton HHonors program (diamond status), and plan to stay primarily at their properties, unless they aren't available (Ayres Rock), or are extremely expensive/poor locations/poor quality. I've glanced through some postings here on FT in the Hilton forum as well as TripAdvisor. Not that we have unlimited money, but we would be on a higher budget than I was last time.

Anyone have any thoughts as to the order to tackle that list of prospective places? I'm thinking probably 3-4 nights in Cairns and Brisbane/Gold Coast, but those are flexible, and could even stay in both Brisbane + Gold Coast for ~2-3 nights each.

Does the list seem too aggressive? Please don't hold back...I've seen some posts on US forums from foreigners who hope to drive from LA to NYC in a week, so if you think we'd be spending too much time in planes/airports, we could certainly cut (I'd say either Cairns or Brisbane, I really want to see Ayers Rock).

Appreciate any other thoughts/suggestions/ideas/criticisms. Thanks!

IMHO, I think your plan is actually quite good. The only suggestions I'd make is perhaps lump your Sydney stays in one, rather than spliting it. Given the length of each of your Sydney stays, it seems to me you'll spend a good portion of it just to travel in and out of airports and settling in at hotels.

The other thing would be cut down on Brisbane and stay longer in Cairns and/or the Gold Coast. Have you considered the Sunshine Coast instead of the Gold Coast?

If your partner hasn't been to Sydney before, will it be worth spending an extra day there?

We're going to Oz for the first time in June/July. Our itnerary is remarkably similar to yours. I can't speak from firsthand experience of course, but here are comments based on my over-research of our trip:

- If you are buying your transPac airfare, there are very low fares right now that are fairly available and not "come-ons". QF has more inventory with their A380; V Australia and DL are entering the market. QF is advertising $299 each way from LAX and SFO; taxes add another $150-200 but that is still a bargain.

- There is no reason to return to SYD simply to arrive and depart the same gateway. Plenty of flights from our West Coast to SYD, BNE, and MEL. It should cost little or nothing extra to do an "open jaw" and will save you the cost of 1 domestic flight leg.

- Domestic fares are dropping too. Virgin Blue is the Australian verion of Southwest; Qantas started a low-cost subsidiary Jetstar to compete. Virgin and J* routes are mostly on the eastern coast. Another airline worth a mention is Tiger; they are Singapore based and fly a few domestic routes.

- For domestic QF flights, log into www.qantas.com.au then select "Australia" in the pull-down menu at the upper left.

- Travelodge properties seem to be a good balance of amenities, location, and price if Hilton doesn't work for you.

- Generally speaking, booking through the Australia website of airlines and hotels is cheaper than the US site. (For example travelodge.com.au instead of travelodge.com) You must pay in AUD, but will save especially if your CC does not charge a foreign transaction fee. Caveat; if you feel the AUD will get stronger against the USD ask the vendor to charge your card immediately instead of waiting until you travel.

- A good site to shop airfares and hotels is www.lastminute.com.au

- Brace yourself for prices at AYQ. Almost everything is a monopoly with prices to match. Airfares are pretty high but I caught a QF "Red e-Deal" so be on the lookout. There is a full range of lodging from campsites and bunkhouses to ultra-luxury but they tend to fill fast. Tours options are basically drive yourself, large tourbuses, or small group "eco" tours. If you'd like to see more of the Outback I noticed several one way tours from ASP to AYQ via King's Canyon. There are also tours out of Uluru that spend all day in the Outback. We are waitlisted for one to Cave Hill; they need 2 more people to operate the tour. It's very poorly advertised and the tour company seemed surprised I knew about it.

- MEL seems mostly about neighborhoods, culture, and food rather than "must sees". We are attending an AFL game, taking a tour to Great Ocean Road, and driving ourselves to Philip Island.

- SYD and CNS are still in the planning stages.

Hope this helps, and again I am definitely NOT an expert...but I have the perspective of someone in the US trying to plan and book a trip.

I think your itinerary looks quite good, especially given your itinerary on the previous visit to Australia. I would suggest cutting down on Brisbane—Gold Coast, or even cutting it out altogether. I have nothing against Brisbane, it's not an unpleasant city at all, but I wonder if it's worth spending so much time there on a two-week visit. The Gold Coast is very touristy: if you want to go to that part of the world you might find the Sunshine Coast (which is north of Brisbane) more pleasant and interesting (Noosa, Maroochydore, etc). The hinterland of the Sunshine Coast is delightful. (Mind you, so is the hinterland of the Gold Coast.)

If you do go to Brisbane and you like this sort of thing, a day drive to Toowoomba might be of interest, since Toowoomba is (imho) the pick of the crop when it comes to inland, rural towns and cities in Australia, with great views over the coastal plains, some good eateries, and (for some reason) lots of good-quality antique shops.

You could, as noted above, coalesce the two Sydney parts of the trip together, although you might be planning to use it as a "collapse" place to recover from the journey to Australia and prepare for the journey home again. But if your partner hasn't seen Sydney, would it be sensible to spend more time there and less time in Brisbane?

Thanks for all the replies so far. Just some info I left out of my OP--
* we'll either fly UA (biz) or NZ (E+) in. I do the US program, so definitely want to fly *A to get the miles. When we went to Europe last year, we flew UA, bought an upgradeable fare, and I traded some HHonors points for UA SWU's so we were in biz. That's the plan for this also. I believe UA flies to/fr BNE, but where/when we go will depend on availablity of upgrades. When we travel together for distances like this, we try to avoid regular coach.
* It looks like only QF flies to Uluru. Is it doable to fly to Alice Springs and just do a daytrip to Ayers Rock? I did some research on hotels near Ayers Rock, and they all look pretty expensive and not too nice. At first I was thinking 2 nights here might not be enough, but based on what I've read on TripAdvisor, it sounds about right. Going to Alice Springs, I guess King's Canyon might also be an option?
* Thanks for the suggestions for condensing the SYD portions. We'll probably do 4 nights up front, and plan either just 1 night at the end, or none. If we can, we'll fly from BNE, but again, that depends on UA availability. If we end up on NZ, we'd finish with a BNE-AKL leg.
* The primary reason I picked Brisbane and/or Gold Coast was simply because there are Hilton properties there (Hilton + Conrad). Not necessarily tied to that, but my first instinct is to go where I'd get the most points.

Alice Springs is a long way from Uluru - just under 500km each way (~300 miles?). 2 nights at Uluru will be about right. I think there're day trips from Alice Springs to Uluru, but it'll be a very long day. Kings Canyon can also be done from Uluru, it may make your visit a little rushed, but do-able.

From what I understand, Uluru accommodation options are owned by the same 1 or 2 companies. It's a pure resort town so everything tend to be expensive. There are some nice places to stay in Uluru, just (very) expensive.

http://www.ayersrockresort.com.au/accommodation/
http://www.longitude131.com.au/

Personally, I'd go up from Cairns and go to Port Douglas. It's a smaller town, and less in-your-face touristy. Some people may not agree, but I find Port Douglas to be more relaxing than Cairns. The Cairns Hilton is a nice property though, and there won't be a Hilton at Port Douglas (but there's a Sheraton). However, if you only spend 3 nights in that region, I'd stick with just one location. (Port Douglas is an hour north of Cairns.)

As I mentioned before and as Christopher mentioned, there isn't much in Brisbane. I'd spend a day or two (a night perhaps) there to see the city and use Brisbane more as a transit stop on your way out. Spend the rest of time in the surrounding areas instead.

If you intend to hit the beach and/or if you're bothered by hot/steamy weather ... being from AZ ;) ... then the northern part of your itinerary (Cairns) will be heading into box jellyfish season in Oct/Nov and the weather will be getting pretty hot and steamy.

I think a month earlier might make a difference ... or so my research seems to indicate ... as I'm planning a trip during the same general timeframe also.

I just got back from Oz and did Syd/cairns on an 8 day trip. After 4 days in Sydney, i was pretty happy with what I saw, I'd recommend taking the train out to Katoomba and hiking a bit in the Blue Mountains, its breathtakingly gorgeous.

We went on a 3 day/2nt snorkel trip with Cairns dive Center in cairns and it was amazing. With the strong dollar, it was super cheap too. I'd recommend doing at least a 2 day/1nt trip out to the reef, it is one of the coolest things i've ever done.

As mentioned, it is a long day trip from Alice Springs to Ayers Rock. There are back packer bus trips that will take you down to kings canyon getting you to the rock for sunset with an early morning climb the next day up the rock and back to Alice or you could probably stay the extra night in Ayers Rock and not get the bus back to Alice. the bus trips are pretty fun,lots of young people having a good time.

Living in Alice, I see about 4-5 of these 21 seat buses on their way to ayers rock every day. A great time. I've from the states, but have been in Alice springs for 10 years now and get to ayers rock once or twice a year. On the other hand, there ins't much in alice springs to write home about so not seeing it won't break anybody's heart.

Hope you have a great trip down under and look forward to a trip report.

cheers,