3 weeks in Australia

[popkean1314foreva]

Planning a 3 week trip to Australia next year to celebrate me & the wifes` 50th birthdays and look for idea of the best way to plan an itinerary and how to book multiple flights etc and any ideas of do`s and dont`s and any hidden gems .

Rough plan is to fly to either Melbourne/Sydney first spend a couple of days taking it easy .If we start in Melbourne then take a leisurely drive along the Great Ocean Road as far as Warrnambool and then head back to Melbourne and fly to Uluru .

After a couple of days` there we want to fly to Cairns and travel down to Port Douglas area and spend a week or so around the GBR . I`d also like to go to Hamilton Island and do a Reefsleep but i`m not sure if this will be practical , unless someone recommends it ! .

From there we want to go to Sydney for a couple of days and may be looking at a lay over either on the way there or way back . 

 

Can anyone say if this sounds  like a feasible plan ?

Cheers

[HUNTINGMcGREGOR]

Great Ocean Road as far as Warrnambool  - that's whole day slow driving just 1 way just so you know, but can be split stopping off halfway, never met anyone yet blown away with this but each to their own. It's a novelty on the way out but tiresome on the way back.

Yarra Ranges/Dandenongs to the east of Mel is a great drive with lots of quaint little villages/townships in the Bush (very scenic, high altitude and an hour from CBD). Melbourne has it all really, Funky Fitzroy at night, St. Kilda and the Mornington Peninsula, Roof Top Bars, CBD buzz, Chinatown, Greek Quarter, Italian Area on Lygon Street, Shows, gigs, and check the Crown Casino for variety caberet acts (always good fun,seated with tables and bar), Botanical Gardens and museums - all very compact and accessible on the inner tram network.

The rest sounds like a busy plan but what any tourist would want to see in Oz. Sydney for Opera House, Bridge, The Rocks, maybe Coogee and Bondi (but thats all in Sydney for me I'm afraid).

Cheap flights via Skyscanners is the easy option for Jetstar, Tiger etc. Book early for best deals. 

Accomodation/Hotels will be the big pocket burner, but try Trivago.com or Bookng.com - I know Melbourne well so happy to help 

 

 

 

[ALBANACH]

Your plan sounds good, I've not been to Uluru or done a reefsleep but the rest of what you plan is recommended. if you are going to Sydney I wold recommend a night in Katoomba for the Blue Mountains. It just depends what time of the year you are thinking about going. Obviously cyclone season (Nov - Apr) could majorly affect your North Queensland trip but, really they are so few and far between that you would have to be unlucky to be affected by one.

This time of year (June - November) is winter/spring and will be pretty cold for NSW, Victoria and South Australia. I wouldn't recommend it but I would also avoid the top of summer (Jan/Feb) so March/April are good times to visit. 

Regarding stopover, if you wanted to keep it Australian then it would have to be Western Australia or Northern Territory, both of which will give you a great Aussie experience if you wanted to try it. I live in Perth so I am biased for WA, down south you have some great wine areas like Margaret River, closer to Perth you have Swan Valley wine area and Fremantle and north you have some great beaches and gorges in the Kimberley's and area around there. NT is great for real proper Aussie experience, Kakadoo is something special and quite a bit of an Asian influence.

PM me if you need more details.

[Squirrelhumper]

I went for 3 weeks in November 2010.

We flew into Melbourne and spent a few days in St Kilda. We then flew to Sydney and spent 5 days there. We flew with Jetstar. My mate lives there and so does my mates cousins. We hired a speedboat and kicked about Sydney Harbour one day which was cool (one of us had a license) and went to Bondi, Manley etc)

Once back in Melbourne we did a Wine Tour in the Yarra Valley visiting 5 different WineYards which was pretty cool.