# 3 weeks in Oz-where to go?



## aishling (14 Apr 2009)

Im planning on heading to Austrailia in August for 3 weeks. I definately want to go to Sydney & Cairns, but wondering if anyone has advise on anywhere else that I should go to, and how roughly how long you'd recommend I stay in places? 

Any advise welcome!

Aishling


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## knealecat (14 Apr 2009)

we are going next week 6 days in sydney, 2 days in ayres rock 6 days in cairns and 3 days on fraser island. then stopping of in hong kong for 5 nights on way home.


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## baldyman27 (14 Apr 2009)

Went there for 3 weeks a few years ago.Flew into Cairns and from there went to

Cape Tribulation - 2 nights, highly recommended

Great Barrier Reef, day trip (stayed in Cairns 3 nights) highly recommended

Fraser Island, 2 nights -An absolute must

Mission Beach, 2 nights, a bit of a letdown except for white water rafting

Airlie Beach 4 nights incl. 2 nights aboard a yacht to the Whitsundays, highly recommend it, Whitehaven beach is stunning.

Magnetic Island, 2 nights, not great.

Brisbane for the rest, nice city.


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## ATgirl (14 Apr 2009)

I spent 3 weeks in Oz over Christmas and New Years.
Flew into Cairns, spent 4 nights here.  Spent 2 days relaxing after the long flight, 1 day on the reef, then 1 day in the rainforest, we went to a little place called Kuranda, went up on skyrail, got to hold koala bears there, came back down on 100year old train.
Then flew to Brisbane, spent 1 night there, then hired a car and drove south down the Gold Coast, spent 1 night in Coolangatta, then drove back up north to Noosa, a lovely town north of Brisbane.
Flew to Sydney, spent the two weeks over Christmas and New Years here.  Did most of the sights, spent a day in the Blue Mountains, another climbing the bridge, a couple of days at the beach.  
If I was going again, I'd spend less time in Stdney and more in Brisbane and Noosa, I loved Brisbane.  Sydney was great, and it was just the way Christmas and New Years fell that we were there for 2 weeks.


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## helllohello (14 Apr 2009)

i'm going to hijack your post with a question. why is everyone flying into Cairns? and who are your flying with? It is 25 years since i've been in oz and am planning a return trip proberly next year - i have strated pricing but was only looking at flights to Perth and Melbourne.


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## knealecat (14 Apr 2009)

flying qantas and flying into Sydney.


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## GoldDigga (14 Apr 2009)

Aishling - August is winter time around Sydney, so dont expect good weather. It will be pretty cool and there will be a fair bit of rain. If you are going for the weather you will have to head further north.

Air etihad fly to sydney with only one stop in Abu dhabi which maked the trip easier. Maybe head to sydney for a few days. Check out the city. Maybe head to the blue mountains for a night  and then head up north past Brisbane towards cairns. There are certain places you just cant miss

Fraser island, the Whitsundays are beautiful. Cape tribulation past Cairns is cool too!!


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## theresa1 (14 Apr 2009)

Ramsay Street (Pin Oak Court) in Melbourne.


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## Cayne (15 Apr 2009)

baldyman27 said:


> Went there for 3 weeks a few years ago.Flew into Cairns and from there went to
> 
> Cape Tribulation - 2 nights, highly recommended
> 
> ...


 
Good post.

Taking Baldymans post as a basis, remove Magnetic Island and replace with Byron Bay for a few days. Nice chilled out spot. A day trip to Nimbin is also worth a look even if your not into the cookies!

And dont come home without doing a sky dive!! Can do it in Cairns or Mission beach.


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## finbar (15 Apr 2009)

This was my honeymoon of 3 weeks :
Flew to Mealbourne via Hong Kong
Spent 2 days in Hong Kong
3 nights in Melbourne, then flew to Sydney with virgin blue
3 days in Sydney 
then flew to hervey bay again with virgin blue
The next day we where picked up for our 2 day Fraser trip
did an overnight greyhound bus to airlie beach ,
Did Whitsundays 1 day from here
then greyhound bus from airlie beach to Cairns the next day
6 days in cairns , did a trip to cape tribulation and daintree
rainforest + great barrier reef , the rest of the time just relaxed!
flew from cairns via singapore , only a flight stopover .
why is everyone flying into cairns, well if you fly into melbourne
and home from cairns or visa versa you are not going back 
on your tracks / travel, we are taking huge distances here 
wouldnt bother with ayres rock on a 3 week trip its just to far and too much to get there , for what is just a rock if you just pick an east coast 
itinery and go with that you will be fine
and yes the weather will not be sunny we went in April it was lovely


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## Lipstick69 (15 Apr 2009)

I've been lots of times, mainly to Perth, but have done a bit of travelling. 

Last time, flew to Alice Springs and spent a few days there and then took a bus (4 hours) to Ayers Rock which was amazing. Also travelled north from Perth to Jurien and the Pinnacles Desert and south to Margaret River and the wineries, together with a day or so in Fremantle. Loved it! 

It's worthwhile as well having a stop in Singapore, amazing place.


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## Luckycharm (15 Apr 2009)

Must do's as others say Whitsundays, Fraser Island, Byron bay, Daletree. Sydney go to manly on the boat much nicer then Bondi. I am not a big fan of cairns myself. Sky dive in Mission beach you land on the beach!! Remember though big distances so you could be spending alot of time driving if you are not flying. Brisbane is nice, surfers paradise is tacky think of high rise on the beach.


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## baldyman27 (15 Apr 2009)

Luckycharm said:


> Daletree.


 
I could be completely wrong here but did you mean to say Daintree by any chance? Forgot that, went on the Daintree river croc-spotting, also recommended.

Also, someone above mentioned Noosa, very nice town too.

Its all coming back to me slowly but surely...


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## aishling (15 Apr 2009)

Thanks a million guys! Sounds like you all had amazing trips! I will definately look into everywhere you've mentioned! 

Golddigga, thanks for the advise re weather, I know its winter but its the only time I can really go, so will put up with it!

Keep the advise coming!!

Thanks,

Aishling


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## baldyman27 (15 Apr 2009)

Aisling, when I went, we booked the trip with a sort of tour agency over there. Told them what we wanted and they put together an itinerary for us which included all travel and accomodation for the duration, i think it cost somewhere in the region of E750.All I had to do was book my flight to and from Oz. I'd highly recommend it especially when your time there is short and you want to maximise your experiences. We had a fantastic tour guide/bus driver for the north Queensland part. Pm me if you want more details as I'd have to go rooting and don't want to do it unnecessarily!!


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## aishling (15 Apr 2009)

That would be great Baldyman, your trip sounds class!


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## Shawady (16 Apr 2009)

Aishling,
I would aggree with Baldyman regards, Fraser Island, Airlie beach, Cape tribulation, although we found 2 days on Fraser not enough (Amazing island - I have a photo of Lake Mackenzie as my screensaver). We tried to squeeze  a lot into our 3 1/2 week holiday.
One place you might check out is a small hotel called Bloomfields in the Daintree Rain forest. We only stayed there for 2 days but most stay for 4/5 and do their trips to the great barrier reef and cape tribulation for here.

I wish I was going back!


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## Cayne (16 Apr 2009)

Shawady said:


> Aishling,
> I would aggree with Baldyman regards, Fraser Island, Airlie beach, Cape tribulation, although we found 2 days on Fraser not enough (Amazing island - I have a photo of Lake Mackenzie as my screensaver). We tried to squeeze a lot into our 3 1/2 week holiday.


 
Looking out at the grey skies of Galway I d love to be swimming in Lake MacKenzie this minute - a surreal experience!!


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## Shawady (16 Apr 2009)

Cayne said:


> Looking out at the grey skies of Galway I d love to be swimming in Lake MacKenzie this minute - a surreal experience!!


 
Ditto. I bought Peter Lik's Fraser Island's photo album when I was down there and occasionally have a look to remind of that trip.


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## baldyman27 (16 Apr 2009)

Cayne said:


> Looking out at the grey skies of Galway I d love to be swimming in Lake MacKenzie this minute - a surreal experience!!


 
The clearest water I have ever seen. Was amazed that there were flocks of bog standard crows around though!


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## aishling (16 Apr 2009)

Thanks for all your replies, its been a great help! So here's what I'm thinking of....

Fly to Cairns
Cape Tribulation
Mission Beach
Airlie Beach
Whitsundays
Frasor Island
Bundaburg -to break up the journey
Bryon Bay
Brisbane
Sydney
Blue Mountain
Fly home from Sydney

Let me know what you think! And if you could give me advise on whats the best way of dividing my time, that would be great!

Thanks a mill,

Aishling


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## Shawady (17 Apr 2009)

Aishling,
My advice would be not to take on too much as if you are travelling by bus the journeys between places can be long. We flew into Brisbane and bused it to Cairns taking in Fraser and Airlie beach, but also did one night stop-overs in Rockhampton and Townsville, but in hindsight I would have prefered that time in nicer places.

Just in relation to places I visited I would suggest;
Cairns/ Cape Tribulation - 4/5 days
Airlie beach/Whitsundays - 4 days
Fraser Island - 3/4 days
Sydney - 4/5 days.

I have not been to the other places you mentioned but heard Byron Bay is worth a visit.

Are you stopping off anywhere on the way down or coming back?


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## aishling (18 Apr 2009)

No, I will be spending the full trip in Austrailia... Been in contact with a travell agent in Oz who were really helpful! Still looking at flights though, anyone know whos the cheapest to fly with to Cairns & back from Sydney?


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## juke (19 Apr 2009)

Aishling, I envy you. I did 2 weeks in Oz last September. From my holiday in particular I can recommend: 

We booked our Whitsunday holiday  through: [broken link removed]
I cannot emphasise how helpful this couple were. They  booked the following:

Whitsunday Islands
In Airlie we stayed at: 
It was less than a 10 min walk downhill to the village of Airlie - and well away from the rowdy backpacker hostels.
The poolside suite had the feel of a converted garage - but the king suites were lovely.

We did a three night cruise on http://www.pacificsunrisewhitsunday.com/ps/Default.asp
This was our highlight. The boat was fabulous, the food amazing. 

If you want to head to a wine region outside Sydney I can be more specific about the Hunter Valley.

In Melbourne, 9 years ago I did an aboriginal tour in the Botanical Gardens which I would recommend

[broken link removed]


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## 603304529 (19 May 2009)

Cathay Pacific flies into Cairns from Hong Kong - so, if you were planning on going from Heathrow to Australia, and wanted to start in Cairns, you can fly Cathay direct to Cairns - without having to go to Syd or Bris first....less time in the air the better.

Just a thought.


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