Australia - big place...any ideas?

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Hi,

We are in the middle of researching Australi/NewZealand/Tazmania for a holiday next October. We will go for 3 weeks and are hoping to get about 3 days in Singapore on the way home. It leaves time for oz very tight and as we are open to any ideas at the moment, we were hoping that some kind contributors could help us focus on specific regions worth checking out.

PS...we dont mind moving about alot and will be backpacking so not looking for anything very luxurious!
 
Why not do Oz or NZ? 3 weeks is not a long time to do such a massive holiday. A lot of people underestimate the size of Oz and how much travelling is involved.

However, if you're set on a whistle stop tour of Oz, Sydney is the only real option ...
 
We did a similiar trip last year to the one you plan.

A couple of things:

- Singapore is very disappointing, even for a city break, (with the exception of one of two sights) it is an expat community full of expat venues. Even has O'brien sandwhich bars, for such a such trip its a pity to spend 3 days in singapore. Id stopover somewhere else or just pass straight through.

- 3 weeks is such a short time for those 3 countries, would you consider only doing 2? I assume you are going to be doing a lot of flying rather than driving?

- In australia you cant go wrong if you visit Sydney, Melbourne, Barossa/Clare wine Valleys, any of the numerous well kept national parks on the princes highway or great ocean road.

- Regarding back packing we found the hostels excellent in australia, very clean and reasonably priced. B+Bs were more expensive than I was expecting.


Good luck you'll have a great time.
 
if you've only got a short time in Oz, I would give Uluru (Ayers rock) a miss. its well worth seeing, but on a tight schedule its quite a journey to be undertaking.
Sydney harbour is obviously a must-see and the city beaches are great.
As for the rest, on such a short timescale, you could try to pack in the backpacker 'greatest hits' - great barrier reef, whitsunday islands, frasier island and the Hunter wine valley. You'll need to checkout internal flights, as the distances are immense.

I agree with the other poster re Singapore - not all that interesting, esp when time is short. I'd spend the extra days in Aus or NZ.
 
Sorry should have clarified...the holiday will encompaness Oz /Tazmania or NZ/Tazmania.....We are open to all ideas so thats why all names are mentioned! I have heard from several friends that Sydney isnt really worth the effort???
 
3 weeks is too short for Aus and NZ so consider either extending your stay (min of 2 weeks for NZ i.e. 1 week for both islands) or just opting for 1 place. In Australia you must see Sydney Harbour & surrounds, the Great Barrier Reef (fly to Cairns) - ferry to some of the islands, bus trip to Cape Tribulation, get to Western Australia if you can - see Perth, Rottnest Island, Monkey Mia, the Pinnacles maybe Albany. Some flight deals include 2 internal flights free or at a reduced rate to what you would pay in Aus.

Australia is very easy to get around and a back-packers dream in every respect. As is NZ though it is a bit more expensive.

I agree with others about Singapore, and think you would enjoy a stopover in Hong Kong or Bali much more.

However, once you get there you won't want to leave after just 3 weeks so really try and get a longer break if at all possible.
 
i haven't been to nz or tazmania but if i had 3 weeks i would

- fly via bali for stopover 3 days, just for the taste of Asia
- fly into sydney and stay 4 days (book yourself a million things to do, and party)
- travel overnight bus to Melbourne and go straight to Philip island and then great ocean road, melbourne can be seen in a day (some people much prefer melbourne to sydney, i couldn't see why): 5 days total
- add tazmania here: 3? days
- hitch a lift to ULURU and the red centre or take the Greyhound if you must (the only way to enjoy this is to travel the 2 days throught the desert witnessing the "towns" on the way)
- fly from Alice to Cairns: diving, daintree rainforest etc, 3 days
- damn that's already 20 days and I wanted to add the east coast, sigh! ok you're on your own
 
Agree with previous posts about Singapore. Bangkok would be a better option and a more realistic taste of Asia. Wouldn't bother too much with Tasmania unless there is something specific you want to see. Would do Sydney and it IS worth the effort (I lived there for 9 years!) and would definitely do Queensland, in particular far North Queensland, Cairns, Port Douglas, Sunshine Coast and the reef area....Would leave it at that unless you want to be constantly and frantically on the move....Going to see Ayers Rock is a long trek for a rock....and the red centre its a very very very hot place!! Plan your next trip and include Melbourne, Perth and Tasmania and NZ!
 
My tuppence worth,
Agree re Singapore-awful place unless shopping is ur passion & god is it humid.Bangkok would be a much better stop.
As for 3 weeks in Oz/NZ,I would pick SYdney & then on to NZ(even though Whitsundays,greaT bARRIER rEEF,Byron Bay are fantastic it takes a long time to travel between the areas.Australia is a continent,while NZ which is slightly bigger than Britain has so much mor epacked into a smaller place.The South Island is undeniably more spectacular,don't underestimate the North Island eg Wellington,Taupo(Tongariro Crossing),Coromandel peninsula etc
 
Yep Australia is HUGE and distances are vast but my list would have to include Whitehaven beach in The Whitsundays, Hunter Valley, Kakadu National Park, The Olgas, Sydney (bridge climb at night), Cape Tribulation and Ayers Rock. IMO they're all worth a visit. It's a fantastic country, you'll love it.

By the way I visited Sinagpore, Thailand and Malaysia and I really enjoyed my 3 days in Singapore.
 
Hi we are going next year on our Honeymoon we booked our main flight with Trailfinders flights are with Qantas and BA and trailfinders do not charge commission.

We are going to Hong Kong, Melbourne,Sydney, Brisbane and then up the coast and to Cairns (Port Douglas) and then home from Cairns. You book your internal flights with Virginblue. We where told to get to Ayres Rock it takes about 7 and a half hours drive each way so that would be to tight plus it would be hard on the driver.
 


Hey liverlips...how long are you going for? Did you just book your flights with Trailfinders..ie. are you booking accomodation seperately??
 
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Best bet if you are short on time head up the east coast - byron bay, noosa [give surfers paradise a miss!!], the whitsundays - you can do a 3 day cruise from airlie beach - better reef diving/snorkelling than cairns as cairns water very murky!
 
hi
my piece.
you gotta go to Byron bay.. and especially wategos bay ,5 mins out the road from byron.
we drove from brisbane to Sydney.. lot of great places to see on the way.
also we booked with trailfinders and had no problem .. they were very good in our experience.
also try and get to see melbourne for a day or 2.. the weather can be very irish and i suggest reading the bill bryson book before u got to.. just for a few pointers and for god's sake don't say to any ozzies that if theya re ever in ireland to come visit you cos they will and stay for weeks and expect to be totlaly entertained by you...have a good trip
 
therave said:
hi
my piece.
you gotta go to Byron bay..
Click to expand...

Can't say Byron Bay would be top of my list. Loads of cloned young backpackers hanging out with local hippies, smoking dope and thinking that it's something really "different". Ok if you're 18 and it's something new to you.
 
well i am over 30 with a family and i thought Byron was excellent for a few days..
 
Just my opinion. I'm over 30 too but I can think of far better places to go in Australia.
 
Hi Newbie we are going for 3 weeks a mixture of
3 nights in Hong Kong, 3 Melbourne,3 Sydney and then the rest in Brisbane and going up the coast Airlie Beach and Whitsunday Island etc and home from Cairns.

We just booked our flights with Trailfinders and are going to book our Hotels with Hotels.com. Also OZ Travel on the corner of Dame street do not charge commission aswell but their flights where with Cathay Pacific which i heard mixed reviews about.
 
jake108.. apologies if i sounded a bit gruff.. i guess different strokes for different fols apply.
BTW.. i thought Bondi beach was awful and would not recommend it for any more than 15 minutes...kooji and manley are better bets imho
 
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