@Dean

Going to Oz for a month on Friday, plans so far are the first week in Sydney then fly to Cairns and rent a car. We're gonna spend the rest of the holiday driving back down the coast to Sydney (Manly).
Anybody got any suggestions of places to see, things to do on the way ?
Just me and the girlfriend going so obviously not all car related....

Cheers

Suresh

Spend 3 months cruising around Oz in 1999. Went Sydney to Darwin via busses and then flew to Cairns and down to Brisbane by bus. Drove the last leg from Brizzy to Sydo.

Two main highlights -

o Airlie beach sailing & diving. Whitsunday islands / Hill inlet is unbelieveable.

o Myella farmstay and then rodeo in Rockhampton. Great experience.

Enjoy.

greg.g

Spent a month in oz two years ago. We drove from the gold coast up to airlie beach and back on the bruce highway.
We spent 3 nights on board the windjammer square rigger sailing
round the witsundays and snorkling. A bit expensive but well worth it and the memories are priceless. You have got to see whitehaven
beach. I cant remember which island it was on but it was a stunning bay of white sand.
Have a great time.
Greg.

Oh, and have a tinnie of VB for me!

R.B

Yes get a one way ticket and dont come back because this country is fecking going down hill big time.

CharlieWhiskey

Only one, It is a fecking long way from Cairns back to Brisbane & Sydney!

Fly Cairns-Brisbane, drive the rest & potter about.

Better still, go the extra mile & get over to NZ!

DaveD

iTrader: (2)

Spent 2 weeks in Oz last year and had a great time....

Basically spent a few days in Brissy, then flew up to Cairns where we got a hire car. We had several days in Cairns generally pottering around and then spent the next week driving back to Brizzy.

Dead easy driving along almost empty roads (although you may get bored of looking at the sugar cane by the side of the road after a few hundered ks !). We tended to each spend a whole day driving (shared out between 4 of us), starting mid-morning, and then would turn off to find a beach around lunch time!! Spend an hour or so sunning ourselves, and then continue driving until dusk!

We had halts at Townsville (not as good as Cairns, but fun), Makay (not at all touristy!!) and Malooloobar (sp?).
It's 1600kms from Cairns to Brissy, along straight single carriageway roads....we got a lot of enjoyment out of turning off the main road to find the odd beach and were amazed at how quiet places were, but also how friendly the people were that we met.
If you can cope with making things up as you go, then you won't get bored.....

@Dean

Cheers for all the info guy's, please keep it coming...

DaveD, how long did the drive take you ?

R.B, that could be on the cards...

Thanks again
Dean

DaveD

iTrader: (2)

Dean,

To get from Cairns to Brisbane, I guess we drove for about 4 - 6 hours for 4 days, taking breaks as described above. Mind you, we didn't exactly stay within the 100km/h (60mph) speed limit along all those straight roads . It took a while to wind-up our hire car, but we managed to hit terminal velocity on more than several occasions. (just make sure you don't hit any 'roos )

It's 1000 miles from Cairns to Brisbane, and roughly the same again to Sydney.

This was the front no. plate of our hire car, shortly before it was returned.....



Have fun

@Dean

Cheers, anymore ...... ?

ariel

Spent some time there. Do try going inland a bit. Try the wine valley just north of Sydney. I did and loved it, a loop round and the descent back to the coast was quite brill as you watch the flora alongside the road change. Wonderful colours in the trees and flowers...
Take another month and do NZ!
Watch out if speeding as there are on the spot fines, I think.
The locals are paranoid about the cops and told me you WILL be caught, tho that does not apply the same if you are away from the coast.

philc

I endorse the comment about driving inland for a few days, otherwise you don't get a sense of how vast the place is.

And of course you have to visit Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo (yes, I thought it might be tacky, but it's a neat place and a good way to see a whole lot of Aussie birds and animals) - it's just north of Brisbane to the west of Mooloolabah (?sp) - where there's also an aquarium which is up to the standard of the new one down in New Plymouth.

Oh, also give Noosa a visit - cool place.

And if you want a real awe-inspiring view, visit ?Katoomba in the Blue Mountains - the town is derelict 1930's style, but the panoramic view is amazing.



enjoy.

Nixs

I've done the East Coast of Oz a few times.Cairns is a great laugh, make sure you go and have a night out at the woolshed and get out on the Barrier reef scoober diving.

Magnetic Island is a must. You get the ferry from Townsville, stunning secluded beaches that you can only reach by climbing down the the cliffs, beautiful sunsets and a real party vibe.

White water rafting from Mission Beach on the Tully River is excellent. Airlie Beach is a real party place and definately worth a visit.

Dreamworld, Wet n wild and Movieworld are all on the Goldcoast for some rollarcoasters and cheesy tourists days if you like that kind of thing

Enjoy!

Stevep

Cool!!!!
All you people have got me even more excited about my trip.
I'm off to Oz on the 1st March. And I thought while I'm there I might as well do the F1 Grand Prix. I have a 4 day pass and can't wait.

While I'm there I will be doing 4 nights on Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays. Then 4 nights in Melbourne for the GP. Then I'm off to Sydney for my cousins 24th Birthday. Then I'm off to do a 3 day 4wd self drive tour from Aryes Rock to Alice Springs.
Then I'm back into Sydney to bum around for a week and a half. GREAT.

I want to be there now!!!

Anyway, where ever you go you will have fun and be amazed by how beautifull the place is and how nice everyone is.

Steve

kelvin

I went out to Oz last year to live for 9 months and I all I can say is - you lucky b4%&*^"!! :-)

Highlights for me on the bits you're likely to get to were:

-Cairns itself (soooo chilled out it's beyond belief! - not a great deal to do but really nice if you want to relax for a few days)
-Scuba Diving (can be done relatively cheaply from Cairns - once in a lifetime experience which you'd be mad to miss!)
-Whitsunday Islands (We spent a week sailing round them on a boat but I think you can do day trips. Whitehaven Beach is rated as one of the top 10 beaches in the world - another "must see"!)
-Fraser Island (a good laugh if you fancy a bit of fun in a 4x4 for a day or 2, along with some fantastic scenery. Ever heard of Lake McKenzie??!!)
-Surfers Paradise/Gold Coast (very commercial but worth a look - beautiful beaches if you head out of the towns a bit)
-Brisbane Itself (much more commercial than Cairns, but a really nice city to stay in for a few days - plenty to see/do. Nice restaurants etc etc.)

The list goes on but they'r the main hightlights from my point of view. Depends a huge amount on what it is that you want to achieve - is it a relaxing holiday? Or are you intending to see/do as much as you can?

If you want any more details then probably best to mail me offline - We drove right down the East Coast so have seen pretyy much all there is to see! Just let me know if you want to know anymore, or want some more suggestions.

Kelvin (kelvin@scoobynet.co.uk)

@Dean

thanks for all the idea's guys
we fly out tomorrow so I'll let you know how much we managed to squeeze in when we get back....

Cheers
Dean

Nick n Jewels

Noosa is a very nice place too and I spent hours on the beach at the mooloolabah surf club, visit the Hinterlands too, montville up in the mountains outside Brisbane, southbank market is ace in Brisbane.............just enjoy a fab place and bring back some sunshine please, and a palm tree or two...... I miss them

J

TheScooby

I would definetly have to agree with Charlie Whiskey on this one. Come to New Zealand!!! Maybe spend a few hours in aussi, New Zealand is just so much better!!! Of course i do have an incredibly biased opinion

Enjoy your holiday

TheScooby

PaulMc

I have just come back after a month aswell. You must make sure you go to the Whitsunday Islands and charter a yaught. If possible get onto Anaconda II (great 101ft mega yaught) and about £130 for 3 days and nights with just diving to pay for on board and that's only about £50 for 4 dives. Most fantastic thing I have ever done. The Great Barrier Reef is awe inspiring A must!

Airlie Beach is good fun, but will be hot at this time of year. it is approx 650kms from Cairns and a nice days drive.

@Dean

Oh bugger, I'm back....

Had a top time though, great country, great people, great roads (drivers seem to be much more relaxed and courteous than here and only got done for speeding once ! oops...), great weather (although the drought turned into floods at one point) and well... I could go on and on but I won't bore you, just GO THERE yourself !!
I've put a few pics up HERE here and will do the other hundred or so when I get a chance.
Cheers and thanks for all the advice.
Dean

Nick n Jewels

Nice pic's Dean......sounds like when I came back had awful withdrawl symptoms for weeks and I should think it was at least 3 months before I was anything like back to earth here in the good old UK.

Guess by the pic's you did the Blue Mountains......what a wonderful fragrance.......brings back memories

Jewels

philc

excellent piccies - ?Blue Mountains, the Rocks in Sydney, Australia Zoo ?

don't envy you the post holiday blues ... but, hey UK Spring is just around the corner

Mr evolution

Go and see the giant earthworms there is only one place in the world that they have them in captivity and its in the south west corner of Australia. You could also go and see the pre-historic sludge which is supposedly the oldest living species in the world.

@Dean

Cheers.

First day back at work today after nearly 6 weeks off.... got the blues big time

TheScooby

Is it dead or sleeping?

@Dean

nah mate,just takin it easy...