Travelling within/from Australia

movinghelp

Hello All,

I moved to Australia 2 months ago and am now planning for trips/holidays so wanted to ask for some advice/recommendations.

We have already visited Brisbane (work related) and I'll likely have work trip to Sydney next year. We are off to Tasmania next week and are considering a trip tp Adelaide over New Year.

Apart from those places are there any other trips people would say are a must-do? I've been told Uluru, Perth and Darwin are worth considering but I'm not 'desperate' to plan a trip right now. I'm also considering Wellington but NZ is quite pricey even from Aus.

Outside of Aus a lot of people seem to go to Bali (cheap flights) and my sister has suggested meeting in Vietnam in which case I would like to see some more of SE Asia.

Any other tips?

richardw

The Great Ocean Road trip.
My favourite bit in NZ was Queenstown.
Noosa looks good.
Look at doing something around Easter next year when Melbourne has cooled off.
For a longer trip look at Cambodia and Vietnam.
Bora Bora looks good.
Perth is worth 3/4 nights, you could do a MElbourne-Bali-Perth-Melbourne trip.

Good list of holidays http://www.officeholidays.com/countries/australia/2017.php

School holidays http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/department/pages/datesterm.aspx?Redirect=1

I'd want a trip to somewhere sunny in mid winter July/August.

lady1964

Port Douglas is an hour drive north of Cairns, really lovely place and much prettier than Cairns. We spent 2 days in PD in Feb this year, went out to the Great Barrier Reef to snorkel, we had to wear stinger suits as it was stinger season but it was stunning. You could also visit Kuranda, which is close to Cairns, we loved it and would highly recommend. I wish we'd been able to stay overnight there instead if Cairns.

parcival

I would suggest the Kimberly in North Western Australia. One of the last great outback adventures. End up in Broome for a few days on Cable Beach.

Can only be done in the dry season - April to September.

movinghelp

Thanks guys, v useful tips. We definitely want to go to NZ, hadn't heard of Queenstown. My OH is keen on Kimberly as wellI.

Struggling to find reasonable direct flights to vietnam, they don't exist at all to hanoi. I don't want to spend 16hrs travelling there when bangkok, kuala lumpur and tokyo can all be done direct and either cheaper or the same price.

richardw

Expedia often has good deals on Vietnam Airlines flights, particularly in Premium Economy. Internal flights in Vietnam are very cheap.

dawyldthing

Queenstown and kaikoura are great. The latter you can swim with wild dolphins - definately one of the best things I've ever done.

In Oz - Australia zoo is near Brisbane, can be done in a day. I really liked cairns. Sydney for New Years too. I loved Oz and definately want to go back one day. New Zealand is mainly about the scenery.

sandsy

We lived in Melbourne for 3 years, though quite a long time ago now but I suspect the places haven't changed much. this was when holiday planning became my hobby - trying to fit in everywhere we wanted to see into the limited annual leave we had.

We did the Great Ocean Road a couple of time with visitors from the UK. As you start the journey from Melbourne, stop off at Anglesea golf course to see the kangaroos which have made it their home. At the right time of year (June to Sept), carry on along the GOR to Warnambool for whale watching (southern right whales). And just past there, you also have Tower Hill reserve, an extinct volcano that has become home to many species of wild life - we saw our one and only properly wild koala here.

East of Melbourne, try to visit Wilsons Prom - don't forget to walk on squeaky beach! And for the best seafood ever, go to Lake's Entrance.

We spent one Christmas/New Year in South Australia when living in Oz. Put the car on the train to Adelaide, then covered from Kangaroo Island (very good!) to Flinders Rangers and lots of vineyards in between before driving back to Melbourne. Adelaide itself is very small.

Another Christmas, was spent in Tasmania - the rainforests of the south west are amazing. And Freycinet NP and Wineglass Bay is so scenic. The whole place is very pretty and has a great deal of history with it being an entry port for convicts. There used to be a food and wine festival in Hobart near Christmas.

I second Noosa - it's a great getaway - and from there, try to get over to Fraser Island. September is a good month - humpback whales in the region.

I also agree with Port Douglas over Cairns - much prettier. But if you're up in that part of the world then try to get out to the Barrier Reef. We learned to dive while living in Melbourne and going on a liveaboard trip out beyond the Barrier Reef was amazing. And the rainforests again - we stayed at Bloomfield, simply amazing. Some lovely but expensive islands to stay on up there too.

If you're into wine, the Margaret River region, south of Perth is worth a visit. Out Perth trip took us into Perth and over to Rottnest Island, then down the coast from Fremantle through Bunbury (check out dolphins) to Yallingup then to the tall karri forests near Pemberton and onto Margaret River. We also tagged some diving onto this trip with a visit to Ningaloo Reef. If you're into snorkelling, go here when the whale sharks pass through - it's a wonderful experience to be swimming alongside these majestic but totally harmless creatures.

We enjoyed our trip to Uluru, the Olgas etc. Flew into Alice. The centre of the country is very different. We did a backpacker style trip of around 4 nights over a long weekend.

Kakadu NP, south of Darwin, is amazing. We flew up to Darwin late October, before it got too hot - try the mud crab when in Darwin. Then we took a trip which took in the Aboriginal rock art, the forests, the fresh water swimming holes with waterfalls before heading across the Kimberly to Broome.

We did explore out of Australia as well. One trip, focused on diving took us to Fiji and Western Samoa, and another diving trip went to the Solomons. We only briefly saw North Island NZ but spent 10 days in South Island, exploring the fjords, then heading down for an overnight cruise on Milford Sound, doing activities in Queenstown - never seen such blue water before or since.

It's a great part of the world - make the most of it!

colinw

My favourite trips have been....

Driving all the way up from Adelaide to Darwin. It is a great way to see the Country change and I do love the quieter middle of Australia.

Uluru is well worth a visit for a couple of days which can be combined with Kings Canyon and Alice Springs.

The top end if interesting and you could to Kakadu and do the jumping crocodiles river trip from Darwn. Katherine is well worth a visit up there as well to see the amazing Katherine Gorge.

The Monkey Mia area North of Perth is very scenic and you have the wild dolphins that come in to be fed.

The South West has some amazing scenery, especially around Esperance with the nearby Cape Le Grande National Park. You can then follow the coast on to Albany and up to the Margaret River region.

Loads to do in Sydney of course.......

North of Cairns up to Port Douglas and the Daintree is worth a drive and you could go all the way up to Cookstown.

South Island New Zealand is a great drive as well. Pick a car up in Christchurch, over Arthur pass down the west coast seeing the Glaciers, through the Hass pass to Queenstown, down to Milford Sound, looping onto Dunedin and back to Christchurch.

slinga

We've just been in Australia for four weeks traveling from Singapore.

Melbourne was disappointing, especially the food, was expecting so much more.
The drive along the Great Ocean road to Warnabool was great with a stop along the way.
12 Apostles was impressive.

Adelaide, well not much to see in the city although we got to see Tosca again.
Adelaide Hills and Hahndorf were worth driving as were the Borrossa Valley and the drive to Victor harbour.

Sydney was surprising as we thought it the best of the lot.
Having seen the icons of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House on the TV and photos many times seeing both 'in the flesh' surprised me of how good they are. The Opera House must be a modern day 7 Wonder.
Manley and the ferry there was also good.
The food in Adelaide and Sydney was so much better than Melbourne: a must is Crown Street in the Sydney Surry Hills.

We've also been to Perth and Margaret River and we found both excellent and will plan re visits there. Kangaroos jumping through our front garden every day at 4 pm.

I wasn't keen to go to Australia although the missus was and I must bow down to her for 'forcing' me to go. It was great.

eamon

When I first went to Oz in 1992 I went here for a day trip (long day) http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/snowy-mountains-scheme
Not far away is the highest mountain in Oz
http://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/snowy-mountains/kosciuszko-national-park/kosciuszko