Procrastinator

TL;DR - User name relevant

Good evening,

My wife, two sons (13 and 10), and I are visiting Australia in less than two weeks and I don't have a single thing planned. Well, only one thing planned - flights there and back. I booked the flights using miles some time ago but we never really thought we were going to be able to make the trip, expecting that I would simply have the miles refunded and we'd try again next year. As it turns out, the stars have aligned and my wife and I are both able to take time off from work so we're making this happen.

We arrive at SYD at 8 AM on 11/21 and depart SYD at 9 AM on 11/28. The three things we know for sure that we want to do are climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge, spend some time at the Great Barrier Reef, and see kangaroos in their natural habitat. The budget for the trip is $10K USD, though it wouldn't break my heart if we didn't spend every last dime.

I'm digging in now for a marathon research session and will read everything I can find here, Trip Advisor, and other sites, but if anyone wants to throw me a bone with suggestions I'd appreciate it. Preliminary thoughts are that we'll spend 2 or 3 nights on the GBR (decent resort?) and play on the beach, take a hot air balloon ride, glass bottom boat, and possibly other touristy things like that. My wife wants to save the bridge climb for the Friday before we return.

I know this is a very broad question, but I do appreciate any feedback you all would like to offer.

Thanks!

glazfolk

From your wording I fear you might be under a misapprehension. You can't actually stay on the GBR - it's miles out at sea. You take a boat from Cairns to go out and see it. This day trip can indeed include glass bottom boat and snorkelling. When I was there the glass bottom boat was off the agenda because of the weather.

I'd also suggest that the beaches in Cairns itself are unlikely to excite you. For that you'd likely want to go elsewhere, e.g. one of the resorts at Port Douglas, an hour or so drive north of Cairns.

Oh, and I hope you have a great visit to Oz!

Gagravarr

Australia is a big place, so with only 7 days and jetlag, you're going to be limited to a maximum of two bases, and that'll be pushing it a bit!

First up, I'd suggest you sort out your GBR part of the trip. If you're at all into diving, then do a 3 day liveaboard trip, and fit the Sydney part around it. If not, look up reviews for day trips, and find one from Cairns or Port Douglas that sounds like your cup of tea. Plan to be up there with 2 days to do it, so if you have bad weather you have a backup day to go out. The other day you can visit the rainforrest, send the kids off doing something adrenalin-y etc!

Then book flights, then sort your Sydney stuff out

Question for the board - anyone know anywhere near Sydney where you can be sure to see 'roos in their natural habitat?

I've seen a handful in the Blue Mountains, but that's been a bit hit-and-miss. Coffs Harbour has a fair number you can normally get close to, but that's probably not a helpful stopping-off point on a quick Sydney <-> Cairns trip, even if it is a nice place to visit on a longer trip (and good diving too!)

Exec_Plat

Ive been agonizing over detals for my trip in March....

since April! At times I wonder if just waiting until Feb would matter at all!

So reef/GBR: I assume you are NOT certified divers? A diveaboard boat would not be a good plan, IMO. Pick a location above Cairns, perhaps port douglas, and use that as the 'base". Some time up to Daintree exploring (Skyrail/Kuranda). Take a trip out to the reef on a day boat. Or two trips.

Logistically, arriving in SYD early and soldiering on through a day of sightseeing, then hitting the bed hard/early is a good way to arrive. If you connect onwards you kind of lose that first day. (Arrive 7AM, depart 9AM+; arrive CNS, car rental, drive, 1-2PM to hotel. Look around and collapse.) I know the 'trip specs' have syd and the bridge at the tail end, but something to consider.

There are quite a few 'trip to Oz threads' (ive started on) that you can review to glean some times, help focus your searchs and/or focus yout questions.

GL

CPMaverick

SYD is easy. The details are in what you want to do around the GBR.

- If you want to dive/snorkel, fly to Cairns and look for resorts/accommodation around there. Cairns itself is pretty pointless so look north of Cairns up to and including Port Douglas.
- If you don't want to go underwater, Cairns area can still be good, but consider the Whitsundays for boating, sailing, and beautiful scenery around the GBR. You can also go out to the reef from there, but it's a longer trip. This area is more beautiful above water although more expensive. HTI airport would be ideal to fly into from SYD.

I would be careful putting the bridge last, it is weather dependent. if you really want to do it, I would try to get it done as soon as possible.

JonB110

I recently did a similar timeline trip to Australia over NYE. While our trip was quite chaotic in terms of moving around, we wanted to see everything on this trip and then make a return to trip to explore in more depth areas we liked (which we are doing NYE 2016).

Day 1: arrived Sydney, flew up to Cairns
Day 2: GBR
Day 3: rain forest
Day 4: flew out early to Brisbane (fiance wanted to see the koala sanctuary, while not exactly in their "natural" habitat, we really enjoyed this place. Plenty of koalas, also area with kangaroos that you could feed"
Day 5: flew early to Sydney - explore city
Day 6: day trip to Manly beach
Day 7: day trip to Bondi Beach
Day 8: Sydney - explore city then NYE fireworks
Day 10: morning in the city then fly home in afternoon

As others have stated, the country is large. It was a 4 hour flight to Cairns after arriving on a long flight from Beijing. We felt a little rushed at the beginning, but we definitely wanted to do the GBR, koalas and new years in sydney. This itinerary is probably not for everyone, but we thoroughly enjoyed our trip and looking forward to returning next year.

glazfolk

Good advice IMO.

konagirl2

I am sure there are other possibilities, but there are tame* kangaroos that were relocated to Euroka Campground just south of Glenbrook in the Blue Mountains. You'll need a hire car to get there and best to go around dawn/dusk and aim for a weekday when the campground will be quieter, noting there are strict opening times for the campground, but you can easily spend an hour there on the way back from a day trip from Sydney to the Blue Mountains for example.

(* By tame I mean they won't run away if you are quiet and calm and don't approach them too closely. You can see kangaroos and wallabies from most smaller roads in rural areas but they tend to run away from vehicles/people).

Further afield, I know there is a tame group and lots of birdlife at Durras North, but I think that's too much for 7 nights - I would agree with the recommendation to stick with 2 centres. They also tend to hang out on golf courses - not exactly their natural environment but better than a petting zoo!

Exec_Plat

Huh..Procrastinator must be busy not planning their trip.

Dieuwer

Is November not the wrong time to visit the GBR? Muggy weather, murky waters? I thought May-September was the best time.

FindAWay

My wife and I spent about a week in Australia. In case it is helpful, my detailed TR is linked in my signature. I hope you're there and enjoying your trip!