Executive summary:
We would love to hear suggestions for what to do with 10-14 days on the west coast.
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Details: (Those things that many of FT faithful say they love to have to provide the best help
)
As part of a longer trip mostly spent on the East side of Oz, we have 10 days on the west coast, mid-December. We can add a few more days, up to a max of 14. We're flying into Perth (flights already booked from US) and need to get back to either MEL or SYD. Perth and Broome are required (long story). The rest is optional.
We've been to Oz before, but have never been to the West coast. We want to see a great diversity of the West coast on this trip, since we won't likely have the opportunity to spend this much time on the West coast again.
Any
must see/
must do suggestions would be greatly appreciated. More specifically, we're curious about how others would divvy up this time and what my fellow FT'rs would make sure to do.
The first order of business is picking the destinations and mode. Should we go Perth-Broome*, Perth-Broome-Darwin*, or something else? Should we fly, rent a car**, rent a camper***? Flying is certainly quick and easy. But how much would we miss along the way? Flying between cities and renting cars is easily doable. Budget is not much of a concern, but we're not looking for big-city/fancy/full-service hotels, hiring drivers, or luxuries. A reasonably comfortable bed, A/C, and a shower will suffice. On the other hand, if there is a nice resort to stay in or something must be done by sea-plane or helicopter, then we're game for that too.
The next level is how much time to spend in each place. We have friends in Perth we must visit and want to see the city (so we've planned at least two days there). We're flexible for the rest of the time. We're got several things in mind, but the two we're thinking about right now are:
- 3 days in Perth, 3 days round trip to Monkey Mia, 4 days in Broome (with day excursions)
- 3 days in Perth followed by a 8-day drive from Perth to Darwin (through Broome)**,***
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Notes:
* - These cities pairs are not the only possibilities, but Broome and Darwin seem to be the only places that support our flight needs back East.
** - We understand the enormity of the country, jet lag, temperature in some places, the 'joys' of driving long distances, and how much things cost (e.g., flights, lodging, crushing one-way rental fees, etc.). We
think we understand the quality of the places we may end up staying, and that's fine with us. What we probably
don't truly appreciate is the availability of support places (e.g., fuel, rest stops, lodging) on some of the long stretches of road.
*** - We have NO CLUE about renting campers. Sounds fun, but also scary hot to be sleeping in a camper in December. We're also worried about drop-off locations being closed as we get close to x-mas.
Many, many thanks in advance...
Ms.
and Mr. ScatterX
.