Australia Vacation Ideas

[BJXDS]

I am seriously thinking about Australia for a vacation.

Comments from those that have been there will be greatly appreciated.
Is there a specific time of year, one thing to do, or place to see that you would highly recommend, if I were to go?

[Sensei]

I did my honeymoon there in March 2008. Weather was awesome.

We flew into Melbourne and stayed for 3 days. Had an cool dinner on a trolley that toured the city, visited Phillip Island, and several vineyards. Then, we flew to Adelaide a spent a day before sailing across the channel to Kangaroo Island. We spent 2 days on Kangaroo Island seeing Remarkable Rocks, seals, etc. From there we flew to the center of the continent to Ayer’s Rock / Uluru for 2 days. Dinner under the stars in the outback was amazing.

Next, we flew to Cairns and spent 3 days playing in the rainforest and Great Barrier Reef.

Finally, we ended in Sydney for 4 days. Claimed the harbor bridge, visited the zoo, and hiked the Blue Mountains.

[scw2]

Sensei's post seems to hit the big destinations from the US. IMO the penguin parade at Phillip Island was pretty unique and worth doing. Didn't get to climb the bridge but I would happily pay to do so if I have the chance to visit Sydney again.

In terms of timing of when to visit, I see decent deals for flights to Sydney and Melbourne somewhat regularly if you're flexible, and depending on which airport you are departing from. There are blogs that you can use to help alert you to any deals, if that's the route you go. That said, when to go may also depend on what cities you plan to visit and how you prioritize them, since the ideal time to visit Cairns probably doesn't match up with the ideal time to hit up the vineyards in the south near Melbourne.

[Sensei]

Here are links to everything we did by city:

Melbourne

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti..._Victoria.html

https://www.rbg.vic.gov.au

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrine_of_Remembrance

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gree...nct,_Melbourne (My wife is Greek)

https://visityarravalley.com.au/things-to-do/wine

https://penguins.org.au/attractions/penguin-parade/

https://www.penguins.org.au/attracti...vation-centre/

Adelaide and Kangaroo Island

http://www.marinapier.com.au

http://www.kangarooisland-australia....able-rocks.php

https://www.sealbay.sa.gov.au/home


Ayers Rock / Uluru

https://www.ayersrockresort.com.au/e...nds-of-silence

https://www.ayersrockresort.com.au/e...se-experiences

Cairns / Great Barrier Reef

https://www.skyrail.com.au/cairnstou...l-kuranda-rail

https://divingcairns.com.au

Sydney

https://www.bridgeclimb.com

https://taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo

https://m.bluemts.com.au

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doub...ew_South_Wales (Great places for lunch)

https://us.sydney.com/things-to-do/b...le/bondi-beach (Another great place for lunch)

Our hotels were expensive but helped make the experience:

1) Sofitel Melbourne
2) InterContinental Adelaide
3) Pullman Cairns International (I think)
4) Park Hyatt Sydney
5) Ayers Rock Resort (the only game in “town” I think)
6) We stayed in a small, family owned hotel on Kangaroo Island but I can’t remember the name.

[pcanzac]

The heat can be a bit intense late November through to the end of February.
Recommended things to do / see;
NSW, Sydney, bridge climb, Opera House, Harbour Cruise Blue Mountains, Sky Walk, Mt. Kosciuszko (highest Mt. you can walk this, it ain't that big)
ACT, Canberra, Parliament , National War Memorial / museum.
NT, Ayers Rock / Uluru, the Olga's ( more big rocks )
QLD, Great Barrier Reef, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, beaches, surfing, island and rain forest tours, whale watching, wild life - Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin).
Swimming in Northern Qld can be seasonal due to stinger season (November to May, box jellyfish)
VIC, Melbourne City, Philip Is, Great Ocean Rd, Yarra Valley Wine Tours.
Check the IPSC Australia web site, you may even be able to fit in a competition.
PM me if you want more detail and I can send you some links.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[RoyGBiv]

New Zealand is a much better time....
Wife and I took a 6-week holiday (hard to call 6 weeks "vacation") just before we got married... (A pre-honeymoon, I guess).
We started out thinking 4 weeks in Australia, 2 weeks in NZ. Ended up 4.5 weeks in NZ and didn't get to do all the things we wanted to do.

I suppose it depends on the way you want to travel. We spent only a few days is big cities in NZ, but almost all our time in Melbourne, Sidney and Cairns in Australia. As awesome as Sidney is (and it is awesome), it doesn't beat the South Island of NZ for fun and adventure.

If I was going to Australia today, I'd spend a few days in Sidney, skip Melbourne, spend a week in SA drinking wine (Clare and McLaren Shiraz are awesome), visit Perth and try to get to Uluru and spend some time in the Outback. If I had the time, I'd book a 3-day live aboard to the Reef and dive, dive, dive.

Not sure if things have improved since 1996, but, the only parts of the Barrier Reef you can reach as a day trip were dead. Nearly zero color to any of the coral. Too many tourists. We were told a live-aboard was needed to see any live reef. Not sure if true then or still true. And avoid Japanese tourists on the boats. Totally calm day and every one of them was puking.

[BJXDS]

Thanks Lots of good info

[Wendell]

https://www.ipsc.org.au/match-calendar/

[ranger]

I went to Perth on a business trip. Beautiful place. My biggest memory is about 30 hours travel for about 36 hours on the ground and about 30 hours back. If I go back, I will stay a lot longer! You know it is a long flight when they issue you pajamas.

[Joe in PNG]

Cairns is my usual destination. I've not yet snorkeled or went diving (it's expensive), but there's a few other things I'm fond of:
-The Skyrail cable car to Kuranda (with the old narrow gauge rail as part of the trip).
-Wandering the nature trails round Kuranda
-The Australian Armor Museum. Lots of cool tanks, AFV's, artillery, guns, and more.
-Breakfast at Holloway beach