Visit to Australia in June/July

[Soapy]

My wife and I and our 16 year old grandson are flying to Brisbane in late June for 2 weeks and could use some advice. We are planning on renting a caravan or a car with camping gear in the trunk and hit the road.
Do we need to make reservations for all our stops along the way or can we just take pot luck? What would you suggest as "don't miss" places to visit? Are their any places along the coast where we could go west and see a glimpse of the interior?

Thanks in advance, Soapy

[DGentry]

Going N, or S?
It'll be winter, of course, and not particularly warm. There will still be snakes . . . .

A two or three day cruise through the Whitsunday Islands can be had pretty cheaply.
And a drive around Fraser Island (4wd vehicles) is nice.
Cairns has diving on the Barrier reef - not necessarily SCUBA, snorkeling is great, too. In any case, I'd make sure to rent some wetsuits if they aren't supplied!

You might see a Cassowary in Townsville or Arlie Beach or one of those places.

The Crocodile Hunter's zoo is in Queensland: http://www.australiazoo.com.au/

S. of Brisbane is the Gold Coast which has touristy shops, yay.

The best beaches are at Byron Bay, though. No high rises. Nice lighthouse, great town, good surfing. Dolphins. Wahinis.

If you're into alternative entertainment, you can drive up to Nimbin....

There's lots more. Also, there will be many British and Euro college students ("backpackers") on year long hiatus, and a whole industry of hostels and cheap tours and entertainments that cater to them. You can join in and reap the many benefits. At the least, it will give your Grandson a whole different perspective.

Others will have more and better suggestions - I'm just going on old memories!

Dave

[snow]

[QUOTE=Soapy;2109863]
What would you suggest as "don't miss" places to visit?

New Zealand - too close to miss & so few australians there........:p:D:p

[RFNK]

It's a bit hard to get a glimpse of the more spectacular interior if you're driving without committing quite a bit of time to it. You might be better off to arrange a cheap flight to Darwin and then take a tour from there. Try Jetstar or Virgin Blue for cheap flights.

The problem with driving in Oz is that it's so big. If you drive from Brisbane to the Barrier Reef, it's a really long boring drive and you don't get to see much coast unless you have lots of time to go in to each coastal spot along the way. If you want to see the Barrier Reef, you'd be better off flying up to Cairns or Townsville and staying on an island for a few days. Even the boat ride out to the reef is long. If you drive south from Brisbane you hit the Gold Coast which is basically a hopeless mess of highrise, so get out of there ASAP. Once you get to New South Wales, Byron Bay is nice but trendy and expensive. June is winter though so caravan parks will be quite empty and rates will be low, and you'll find this throughout NSW in June. South from Byron, the NSW coast is very accessible, quite beautiful in many ways but doesn't have any of the spectacular features of the real Barrier Reef, cliffs of Southern Victoria or the inland deserts. However, being from Iowa, you'll probably like the beaches, clear water etc. The water in NSW is cold for swimming by NSW standards in June but people from Victoria or NZ probably think it's like a warm bath compared to their water in summer, so it's a personal thing.

If you drive north from Brisbane, you get to the Sunshine Coast which is too built up etc. but the beaches are really nice and there are plenty of good places to stay. Unfortunately, once you get north from Noosa, it all gets pretty boring for driving, and long.

If you keep going south in NSW you get to Newcastle then Sydney. Unless you want to see Sydney (buy the video), this might be a good time to head inland to see a bit of rural Australia. You could head right out to Broken Hill then down to Adelaide. In this way you would see the Blue Mountains, just west of Sydney, and some real desert as you get out west, and, once you get into South Australia, you'd go through the beautiful Flinders Ranges and the Barossa Valley, a wine making region. Unfortunately you'll then wind up in Adelaide ... only kidding, Adelaide's a nice place to sleep. Head east along the coast and finish up in Melbourne. The coast along Southern Victoria is really spectacular and the coast of South Australia along the way has many interesting features too. If you stand on the cliffs you can count the Great White Sharks ... only kidding, you won't see any, the Victorians have eaten them all already. By the way, don't expect to see any snakes either in June in NSW, South Australia or Victoria. Melbourne - well, it's a place to fly home from. Don't even buy the video.

If you want to see boats ... see some Couta boats at Port Fairy, but otherwise, it's going to be a few trawlers in the odd coastal town. Most of the wooden yachts etc. are in the cities. Any of the coastal towns will have nice launches and rowboats etc. but you have to search for them.

So, Australia is beautiful (that's why half the Kiwis are already here) and a great place to travel. The snake bogie is mostly classic nonsense. The difficulty is that it's a really long way between scenic attractions. In 2 weeks, you can either do a long road trip where you see a few things along the way (Brisbane then Sydney then Broken Hill then Adelaide then Melbourne as above) or you can pick, say, two areas. One, go to Noosa or Northern NSW from Brisbane and soak it up for a week, then fly to Darwin, Townsville or Cairns (don't stay in Cairns unless you like mud - go to Port Douglas or further north to the Daintree or stay on a Barrier Reef island) and take a tour from there. You could take a drive from Brisbane to the centre of Oz but don't expect to see much except dirt and dead kangaroos along the way if you do that.

June is the beginning of whale watching season. On the coast of NSW, expect to see the whales that the Japanese haven't killed yet for scientific purposes. Byron Bay's good for this if you can stand people singing to them etc., but Seal Rocks or any of the other prominent headlands are also very good. Hervey Bay in Queensland's also supposed to be good for whale watching but I haven't been there. For dolphins, go to Port Stephens. For kangaroos, go almost anywhere. For snakes, go to a zoo. For koalas, go to Port Macquarie. Oh, if you do go to South Australia, go to Kangaroo Island (they have a surplus of koalas) - beautiful but take a jumper.

If you do actually see a cassowary outside a zoo anywhere, go straight to the nearest newsagent and buy a lottery ticket.

Rick

[RFNK]

Hmm, Portland is nice too! I didn't know there were Couta boats in Portland. Sounds like an offer too good to refuse to me! Again, take a jumper! Friday or Sunday? Don't tell me, Saturday is reserved for watching that kicking and catching game, right? Rick

[DGentry]

I encountered snakes. And two Cassowarys . . . shoulda bought a lottery ticket, I guess!

[rufustr]

Soapy,

I' d start by working out an itinerary based on what you want to see.

Google earth can help with maps..

The local Automobile Club has a good website.

http://www.racq.com.au/travel/trip_planner/road_touring

Here are a couple of camper hire firms.

http://www.britz.com.au/

http://www.wickedcampers.com.au/

A car hire firm.

http://www.budget.com.au/default.aspx

Here is a link to the Government Tourist Bureau.

http://www.tq.com.au/

Some local tourist Bureaus.

http://www.tropicalaustralia.com.au/homepage/Index.htm

http://www.sunshinecoast.org/

http://corporate.tourism.nsw.gov.au/

The New South Wales Govt. Tourist website.

http://www.visitnsw.com/

A link for accommodation.

http://www.wotif.com/

These might help get an idea of what is available.

Heaps to see and do in all directions.

The best value for internal flights to go further afield are here IMO.

http://www.virginblue.com.au/

Hope this helps.

Rufus.

[RFNK]

Dave
You should have bought two! They're there but hard to find unless you go with someone who knows where to find them. Then again, I went to Canada and couldn't find a moose so maybe I'm just unlucky! There are plenty of snakes to be seen in the far north all year but not in winter in the south - exceptions of course! Most of the snakes you'd see in the north are pythons which are basically harmless. Otherwise, the chances of a tourist actually having trouble with a dangerous snake are pretty slim. Bushwalkers should wear gaiters or jeans but only about 3 people each year die from snakebite in Australia. Rick

[hansp77]

So many places and things to recommend, I won't even start.
If you work out a basic itinerary and area you will be going, then I and I am sure many others can pitch in a few particular special places to visit and things to do.
Two weeks is not a lot of time to cover much ground in a car in Australia.
If you start in Brisbane and end up in Melbourne (say), then with stops along the way and getting in and out of some of the interesting places (taking the long interesting way) you might well end up spending most of your time on the road.

Is it possible to extend the trip at all? Considering the driving you would be doing, a month would allow you to cover a lot more ground and see a lot more things and places and not end up too resentful of the time spent sitting in the drivers seat.

If it is only two weeks, you might take the recommendation to fly domestically between places, and hire a car at each spot. Or maybe just focus on one particular region (ie NE coast).

For some more specific advice from everyone, could I ask you to list (in some sort of order of priority) what you hope to see and experience- ie beaches, coral reefs, forests, national parks, deserts, wildlife, culture, cities, boating, etc...
possibly also if there are things you don't want to do experience- (ie, ten days driving ;))

one option worth considering, is that a lot of tourists/travelers buy/set-up a traveling vehicle for their time here, and then sell the whole thing as a package on to the next people, van or 4x4, all camping gear included. Gumtree.com.au can be a good place to find these things (plus some other places).
But again, two weeks is a pretty short time to want be stuffing around with this sort of thing.
If you have basic camping gear already, I would consider bringing over the essentials of what you know and am comfortable with (tents, etc)- and then just quickly dropping into one of our camping 'superstore' type things (Kathmandu (http://kathmandu.com.au/), Annaconda (http://www.anaconda.com.au/), etc) in Brisbane and quickly stocking up on the things you didn't want to bring over.
Perfectly good camping cutlery, pots, pans, glasses, and a whole range of other stuff can be bought for a few dollars at one of the many 'opportunity shops' (profit to charity, second hand by donation shops) that are in just about any town larger that 100 pax population.
Other than that, hiring a camper 4x4 or van from many places will actually provide you with camping gear (whether or not you would be happy with it? I don't know?)

Personally (because i love getting off the main tracks and into the dirt and bush), and because it is a bit of a cultural thing for us;), I would go a Landcruiser 'troopy'- even a camper type thing-
thousands of these in different configurations able to be hired or bought.
http://www.motorhomesaustralia.com.au/sold/images/SA675/sa675.jpg

http://www.motorhomesaustralia.com.au/sold/images/QLD679/Cricket%20-%20Alberton%202007003.jpg
here is a few pages of the many sort of set ups common in oz
http://www.motorhomesaustralia.com.au/sold/page1.html

The most convenient camping we have gotten into lately, is taking one of our two 4x4's (I have a landcruiser for the rough stuff, and my partner has a Suburu Forester for the more civilised drives) with a pop up camping trailer towed on the back.
I can't be stuffed with tents anymore (plus a lot of camping sites have local animals, wombats etc, that have learned to tear into tents to get food)- and towing a pop-up trailer compared to a caravan makes for much easier driving, and when you set up somewhere, you can leave the camp at 'home' and just take the 4x4 for day trips.
These of course can be easily bought or hired too.

anyway, good luck,

[Wild Dingo]

Exakatakally what Hans said!!... get the 4x4 job mate you WONT regret it some aweflaminsome country in Aussie that many of yous terrorists just dont get to see cause yous mob always seem to hire those stupid camper things which cant go bush!! So get the 4x4 stock up find a dirt track and go for broke!!

Of course since yer headin to banana bender land theres nothing I can really suggest you go see except... Cape Trip right up the very top of far north Queensland spectacular all through that country

Now if you was to say head to gods country West Aussie and come see the REAL Aussie not the woosy boy narna eatin side of the place yer ol mate Dingo could not only tell yer where to go but take yer there!!!... god Id do ANYTHING for a roadtrip!!! :cool: and absotiveley anything for a bush bashin trip! GOD YESS!!! ;)

Anyways I know I know its too far away it takes to long to get there its too big blah blah blah... but it really is Aussie best kept secret... you seen that movie yet mate you know called something weird like what was it oh right Australia? thats it... that was made not in Queensland mate not in New South Wales not in Victoria not even in South Aussie nor the Territory it was made in...

WEST AUSSIE!!!

You wanna see Aussie? West Aussies the place yer outta be! come on down set awhile sand groper style! :D

Anyway mate you'll have a flamin ball! photos of these trips are of course manditory:D

[Gezzunder]

A finer example of "Strine" (a version of English peculiar to the more colourful parts of Australia) than one would normally find in a forum. For our rebel friends, perhaps a translation?

Exakatakally what Hans said!!... get the 4x4 job mate you WONT regret it some aweflaminsome country in Aussie that many of yous terrorists just dont get to see cause yous mob always seem to hire those stupid camper things which cant go bush!! So get the 4x4 stock up find a dirt track and go for broke!!

"I agree with Hans. Purchase an off-road vehicle, you will not regret it. There is some pretty countryside which tourists normally do not get to see due to the limitations of standard hire cars. Please hire an off-road vehicle, purchase sufficient fare for your journey and attempt the trip with no reservations."

Of course since yer headin to banana bender land theres nothing I can really suggest you go see except... Cape Trip right up the very top of far north Queensland spectacular all through that country

"I am unable to suggest much in the form of destinations apart from Cape Tribulation, at the very northern tip of Queensland. The region is very spectacular"

Now if you was to say head to gods country West Aussie and come see the REAL Aussie not the woosy boy narna eatin side of the place yer ol mate Dingo could not only tell yer where to go but take yer there!!!... god Id do ANYTHING for a roadtrip!!! :cool: and absotiveley anything for a bush bashin trip! GOD YESS!!! ;)

"On the other hand, if you were to make your destination Western Australia, you would be blessed by the gods. Unnamed people would cry adulations at you and lay peonies at your feet. Whereas the eastern coast of Australia is populated chiefly by homosexuals who have a certain prediliction for bananas. Your friend Dingo would not only provide directions, but would take you to where-ever you wish to travel as he is eager for a roadtrip, in particular one where he would have the opportunity to destroy vast tracts of land with his enormous off-road vehicle (previously painted green and having a very large canon mounted ontop)"

Anyways I know I know its too far away it takes to long to get there its too big blah blah blah... but it really is Aussie best kept secret... you seen that movie yet mate you know called something weird like what was it oh right Australia? thats it... that was made not in Queensland mate not in New South Wales not in Victoria not even in South Aussie nor the Territory it was made in...

WEST AUSSIE!!!

You wanna see Aussie? West Aussies the place yer outta be! come on down set awhile sand groper style! :D

Anyway mate you'll have a flamin ball! photos of these trips are of course manditory:D

"Now he understands if you are unable to travel to Western Australia as it is so very far away, but it is Australia's best kept secret. The movie "Australia" was made there - proof of an open minded society with no prohibition against Holywood wasting several hours of everyone's lives by producing mindless drivel and attempting to make everyone's wives make goo goo noises at the adorable little native boy.

Finally, you will really enjoy your vacation. Photographs of which MUST be posted to this forum."

Onya Dingo! :)

[Gezzunder]

Oops, I forgot to translate sand groper style.

Perhaps it's best if you come over and find out for yourself :)

[Soapy]

Thanks to all of you for the great suggestions. We are going to meet with our grandson in March to decide what and where we want to see/go. One aside..my grandson Ben is bi-lingual in Spanish and also studying Arabic and said for his trip he wanted to go somewhere where they did not speak English. After reading Wild Dingo's post and the following translation, I think he will love Australia:)!

It seems that we will probably adjust our thinking to include a couple of in country flights to limit some of the driving. When we travel here in the US we usually knock off about 700 miles per day on the front end and return of a road trip...i.e., get there quick, spend most of our time at the destination and then drive like hell to get back.

This whole trip idea came from some Australians we met in Thailand in January when they told us about some great Qantas tickets coming up. They were on college break and offered us a real insight into your friendly and helpful nature.

Again thanks.

Regards, Soapy

[Gezzunder]

One thing you may wish to look into is joining something like the RACQ (http://www.racq.com.au/travel/trip_planner/road_touring),a one-stop organisation for insurance, roadside assistance and lots more. They also have affiliates in other states. Worth a look

[rufustr]

What Portland is getting at is this,

Most of our interstate roads are two lane highways.
Very few are four lane.

If you don't have experience driving on the left, It would be advisable to take it easy.
A considerable number of accidents are caused when visitors become tired, and in a stressful situation switch to the wrong side of the road.

When traveling interstate I never drive after dark for the reasons Portland set out.

On Australian roads in good conditions, and obeying the speed limits, 600 miles will take between 11 and 12 hours + rest stops.

As an example my friend Danny and I drove to Sydney from Brisbane for the WBF EBS, 600 miles each way, a trip both of us have done many times, and it took between 11 and 12 hours each way, sharing the driving equally.

I would recommend flying to near your desired destination, and then hiring a car to get around locally.

That way you will have a much more relaxed holiday and see more of what you came all the way to see.

[WX]

We lose a few yanks each year because they forget to look right first. Take note of what these blokes are saying about driving long distance. At nightime on anything other than a freeway you run the chance of hitting a roo and believe me they have a lot of stopping power..except trucks, they don't tend to have a lot of effect there.
Welcome soapy and enjoy.

[JimJ]

Soapy

The road trip planner on the RACQ web site that Rufus mentioned has pretty accurate times.
http://www.racq.com.au/travel/trip_planner

150 things to do in Queensland
http://www.150mustdos.com.au/

And being a local, I have to promote Redland City
http://www.more2redlands.com.au/Pages/default.aspx

Here is one of the local TV stations contrubition to South East Queensland. A lot of ideas.
http://www.greatsoutheast.com.au/gsec2cqw/week.asp?programID=1&viewMode=thisWeek

It is a long way between any large cities/towns in Oz. We are not blessed with the interstate highway system you have. Two hours drive north of Brisbane and the multi-land highways are back to two lane highways with "overtaking lanes" every now and then.

June sees an influx of "grey nomads" - motorhomes (RVs), caravans etc heading north to escape the cold south. Camping grounds and caravan parks can get quite full.

In Brisnane it is a cold day if it gets below 9 degrees C. The further north you go the higher the averages.

Brisbane June=July
Mean temperature: 15.60 C
Max average temperature: 21.20 C
Min average temperature: 10.10 C
Precipitation: averages 56.7mm a month
Wind speed average: 9.4 km/h

You could fill two weeks easly in SE Qld.

Jim

[peterAustralia]

hi

I live in Melbourne Victoria Australia. I have the traveled the coast up North past cairns. A couple little pointers. First there is more to a holiday than driving. Australia is so big you could easily spend endless days just driving here and there. So I suggest limiting the things u want to do. Forget about say driving to Darwin, it will take you so so long. So pick a couple of areas, and fan out from there.

Cities are boring. A day or so in Melbourne/Sydney is about it. If you are going to the cities, ask in advance what is worth seeing and what is not. Tourist spots like Darling harbour in Sydney or Docklands in Melbourne are commercial, bland and boring. Thought he powerhouse museum in Sydney is pretty good.

I liked the area in the upper Noosa river, if you could hire a boat to go upriver i would recommend. I bushwalked there and thought it was amazing. I liked the Sunshine Coast, but was there 12 years ago now, it may have changed now. I hated the Gold Coast (south of brisbane)

I really really liked Lamington National Park. Subtropical rainforest a couple hours from Brisbane. I was bushwalking there off track and doing 4km day, when on track it was 4km per hour, that was how thick it was.

Victoria has some nice places, especailly on the coast going SW, Queenscliffe and Portsea are both nice (the ferry goes across the entrance to Port Phillip Bay and you can put your car on). Canberra is dull in my opinion. Western Sydney is full of cars and stinks.

It all depends on what u want to do.... if you state your interests .. then destinations that appeal can be found.. Driving for hours and hours in dull. Even Brisbane to Melbourne would take 3 days of driving.

[skuthorp]

I agree with Peter, a city is a city is a city. Sydney Harbour is spectacular but the city is.........etc. The best bits of Aus are in the 'bush' or country. But the distances are long too, so it really depends on your travelling budget and your time. In 2 weeks, maybe it would be better to pick a state with milder weather at that time of year and concentrate on an area so you don't spend 2/3 of your time driving. Probably the best weather would be around the NSW/Queensland border areas.

[py]

I reckon Rick's idea of driving down the coast a bit, then across to broken hill and down to Adelaide, then great ocean road to melbourne, is a good one. I'd dump the camper in Melbourne and fly home from there. You can hire all sorts of campers, and one way rentals are fine. I'd err on the small side-who wants to drive a big truck all round the country? And unless you are seriously wanting to go off road, and have off road experience and a clear idea where (obviously not) don't bother with the 4wd-you don't need it. Go for a pop top Hiace or something if there's just 3 of you I reckon.

[py]

yep, that would work too.

[JimJ]

The top 150 places to visit in Queensland have been anounced.
http://www.150mustdos.com.au/

You may get some more ideas.

[Duncan Gibbs]

A finer example of "Strine" (a version of English peculiar to the more colourful parts of Australia) than one would normally find in a forum. For our rebel friends, perhaps a translation?

I just split my sides/wet myself/am bent double with hilarity!

Thanks mate!! :D:D

[Soapy]

We are back after a great time in AU. Hopped from Brisbane to Cairns on Virgin and got our car there. 2 days in and around Cairns, bungee jumping and exploring and then 3 days in Cape Tribulation. Kayaking, snorkeling the reef and night hikes in the rainforest. Then, south through the Atherton tablelands, Yungaburra, then west to Charter Towers and south again to Emerald, Ruby, Dalby and the bunya pine forrest. Lots of birds, wild beasts and 14 days of pure sunshine. I could not find any winter anywhere. Thanks again for the information and suggestions. Australians may talk different and drive different but they are really friendly. Regards, Soapy

[The Bigfella]

We're glad you enjoyed your stay ... but now we want to see the photos....

[py]

Glad you had a good trip-and thanks for letting us know. Next time you should come down south and see the real Australia.;)