Advice needed on Australian trip

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gebbel

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3 of us will arrive in Sydney on 19 December this year and return home on 11 January. I have been given the task of making a plan to see as much as possible of Australia in that relatively short period of time.

The only thing we would like for sure is to be in Sydney for new years eve and possibly a couple of days either side of it.

What should/could we do in terms of the best places to see in that timeframe?

We will be hiring a vehicle of some sort.

Many thanks.
 
My advice would be not to try and see too much. I went to Oz at Christmas time a few years back. I had super time but on reflection we tried to do to much.
We flew to Brisbane , bussed it up to Cairns and then fly back to Sydney. We only spent a couple of days at some places that I would have like to spend more.
Of the places I visited, I would suggest Sydney, Fraser Island, the Whitsundays/Airlie beach and Cairns/Great barrier reef/Daintree rainforest.
You could easily allow 4 to 5 days in each of those places.
 
Thanks a mil for that. I will note those places you visited. In terms of accomodation as you travelled around, did you have it booked in advance or at short notice?
 
It is essential to book your Sydney accomodation well in advance, especially for New Years.
I recommend watching the fire works in North Sydney across from the Opera House.
 
We booked our accomodation in advance. The other half prefers to be organised!
The Kingfisher Bay resort on Fraser island was very nice and I can give you details of where we stayed in Daintree if you are interested.
Are you going to take any internal flights?
Are you flying in and out of Sydney?
 
Shawady said:
The Kingfisher Bay resort on Fraser island was very nice and I can give you details of where we stayed in Daintree if you are interested.
Click to expand...

Yes please.

Shawady said:
Are you going to take any internal flights?
Click to expand...

Yes but not sure where exactly to go from Sydney. I see that we could fly to Hervey bay which is near to Fraser island. Maybe hire a car there and return to Sydney from there. Is this a good option or what would be better?


Shawady said:
Are you flying in and out of Sydney?
Click to expand...

Yes.
 
Hi,

I am going too to Oz on Dec 27th for a holiday.

I booked the flights last April when I thought they were good value.

I booked a flight into Sydney and home from Melbourne with the vague notion that we might possibly drive from one city to the other.
After much research we quickly abandoned that idea and our new itinerary is as follows....

5 nights Sydney taking in NYE. We booked hotel accomodation in May. We found it extremely expensive and scarce enough even then. We are staying(Holiday Inn) in Darling Harbour. I looked at apartments etc.. too but most required at least 7-10 night stay and proved equally as expensive.

We are then flying Virgin Blue to Cairns and renting a car and an apartment in Port Douglas for a week or so. Great Barrier Reef, Kuranda and Daintree are available from there.

We then fly back down to Melbourne where I have booked The Langham and from there we are hoping to do day tours of Great Ocean Drive, Barossa Wine Valley and hopefully Philip Island.

We will be away about 3 weeks in total.

My advice is to book New Years Eve accomodation immediately. I have been keeping a watchful eye on availability and prices but nothing much is opening up for me on either score. We are paying on average €350 per night, room only for a standard double room in the Holiday Inn.

Hope this info helps you a bit!
 
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Thanks for that Armada. We don't have accomodation yet for Sydney at new years so that is a big concern at this point. I'm sure it can be got at a price though....but hopefully not at extortionate prices. Will intensify my search for somewhere now.

One thing seems certain: we cannot expect to see, for example, Fraser island and Airlie Beach/ Whitsundays on this trip. There just isn't enough time and they are too far from each other! Correct?
 
We flew into Brisbane, bussed it up to Cairns taking in Airle Beach and Fraser Island on the way. From memory it was a bit of a trek and you would be pushed to do it in your 3 week timescale if you are flying in and out of Sydney.
Hervey Bay is the departure point for Fraser Island so if you can fly there from Sydney it would be an option. You could also see if you can fly from Hervey Bay to Cairns and do the rainforest/barrier reef. You would then need to fly from Cairns to Syndey for you departure from Oz.
Can you change your flights so that you fly into Cairns and out of Syndey? Might make it easier to organise your itineary?

We stayed in Bloomfield Lodge in Daintree. Not the cheapest but a really nice place. The journey to it was great. A small plane journey along the coast, 4 wheel drive and then a boat trip to reach the lodge.
 
Yes will look into changing flights but have already forked out over 2 grand for flights which includes internals in Thailand but no internals in Australia...so not keen on adding to that to change flights.

Getting quotes of 3000AUD for 1 week in a Sydney apartment around New Years! Looking forward to this holiday but hadn't reckoned on what the final cost will be!

I am thinking about the following: the minute we arrive in Sydney we will fly to the nearest airport to the Whitsunday Islands, take in a few days there and then hire a car. Drive south to Fraser Island taking in there, then Noosa and on to Brisbane. Leave the car there and fly down to Sydney.

edit: thanks for that 1234
 
You do not have to drive a 4X4 yourself on Fraser. The hotel we stayed had one, two and three day tours of the island. We were drove around in what was basically a bus converted to a 4 wheel drive.

I would echo 1234's comments regards the size of Australia. It is easy to under estimate how big it is.

I just wish I was going back now!
 
We've just returned from our honeymoon in Australia where we spent 4 weeks travelling down the coast from Port Douglas to Sydney. If all you have is 3 weeks, I'd recommend spending the time in the Whitsundays rather than Fraser Island. We stayed in both (Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays and on Fraser Island).

On Fraser Island, we stayed in the Kingfisher Bay Resort on Fraser Island and I wouldn't recommend it. I didn't think the standard of accommodation was that high (our room was damp and we had to ask to be moved) and it was extremely expensive. It was also full of older guests (and everything finished up at around 10pm). If you are going, I'd recommend staying there a maximum of about 2 days, just so you can go whale-watching and visit Lake McKenzie, etc.

We also hired a car and spent time in Byron Bay, before hitting the Gold Coast and then flying to Sydney.

The best advice I'd give if you are there for 3 weeks is to fly to destinations as much as you can. Internal flights are relative cheap and you can save a lot of time travelling.

If you are near Cairns/Port Douglas, Daintree Forest and Cape Tribulation are definitely worth a visit. All of the hotels have information on guided day tours. I think we paid about 160AUD for that trip, but it was definitely worth it.

Enjoy!
 
would go along with alot of the recommendations here, too much to do so pick the main things and everything else is a bonus!!
fraser and the whitsunday islands are amazing, about a 10 hour drive between them though. kingfisher resort on fraser is amazing, the cheaper but still great option is to go with cool dingos tour (3 day guided tour). for the whitsundays i'd really recommend the ron of argylle boat.
its really out of the way so might not be an option but uluru was brilliant imo. you can fly there from sydney and we did a weekend trip from sydney (booked through flight centre) and was one of the highlights of the stay in oz.
sydney itself is class, really love the city. lots to do there, opera house, climb the bridge, visit the beaches (do the bondi - coogee walk), blue mountains, too much to write!
 
Have booked a flight to Hamilton Island from Sydney when I arrive on the 19th December and a return flight to Sydney from Brisbane on the 30th..just in time for NYE. We will get to see the Whitsundays and Fraser Island and whatever else we can squeeze in.

The main issue now is accomodation in Sydney. The prices are astronomical even for hostels. Most available hostels are only offering 9 or 11 night stays. Apartments are hard to get and can cost $450 per night for a studio. They really do hike their prices at this time of year.
 
In sydney you can always look a little further out then the city centre might be cheaper once you are on on the Train line it is easy enough to get in and out of the city. Don't Stay in Kings cross it is close but a pretty seedy area. North Shore is nice and along the train line, Bondi to be honest is not great (manly is nicer). Places that are a little bit further but not that far which could be cheaper are Glebe, Pyrmont, Newtown, Mosman, Neutral bay, Balmayne even Drumoyne - not sure what hotels are out there but I am sure a quick google search would help.
For me Whit sundays were much nicer then Frasier island. Anyway you will have a great time - I am going back at easter time for my 4th time :)
 
I agree with CMCR, I thought Kingfisher Bay was cold & damp & a bit like a giant barn! the pictures of the sea, beach etc made me decide to visit & I was so disappointed....Hervey Bay might be better if you are heading to Brisbane.....it also took over 3 hours on a coach to get from Brisbane to Hervey Bay to reach the ferry for Fraser Island, so you need to be prepared for a long day travelling to time the ferry arrival & departure
 
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