Help me plan my Australia trip

[jamsy]

Hey all,

So I figured some of you hail from the land down under on here (or at least have spent some time down there), and I could use some advice/recommendations.

Decided to go to Australia next week. Flying in and out of Sydney and I'm staying for about 19 days. So far I have absolutely nothing planned. I have a friend in Sydney and I have been there twice before, but mostly stayed in/around the city (which I loved). I've also been to Gold Coast (which was kinda meh) and Byron Bay (which was pretty amazing).

I was thinking of checking out Melbourne for a few days this time around. (Is the 12 apostles worth seeing?) Maybe spending a few days in Tasmania on a little road trip? What are some places/things I definitely need to check out?

 

[Deleted member 18944]

Definitely want to go for a maccas run.

 

[FaceHugger]

I hope you don't mind me piggybacking on your post, but I want to visit the land down under next year. I was wondering if a native could let me know when the coldest months are. I only intend on visiting the major cities.

 

[Cocolina]

Hungry Jacks is just Burger King

 

[ShadowAUS]

As an Australian I've always found this a hard question to answer as most Australian capital cities aren't particularly fascinating as tourist destinations for me personally. The Great Ocean Road/12 Apostles is really beautiful and well worth a drive, especially if you're the photographer type. Tasmania is probably my favourite place in Australia and it's well worth a trip - some of my favourite things I've done and seen there are the Cascade Brewery, Bruny Island, Mt Wellington, Port Arthur and basically any of the many cruises and national parks as Tasmania is truly one of the prettiest places on earth. Hobart also has many excellent museums and a tonne of great food, beer, cider and wine.

If you give me more guidance on specific things you like to do and see on vacation than I can give more pointed recommendations for Syndey/NSW and Melbourne/Vic. Be warned though that it is currently bushfire season and this season in particular has been pretty bad and is still ongoing so take that into account, especially if you're asthmatic make sure to bring your inhalers (See for more information https://www.news.com.au/technology/...e/news-story/b4e417bde0f6f593118ed1be2d4ade2b & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019–20_Australian_bushfire_season )

I hope you don't mind me piggybacking on your post, but I want to visit the land down under next year. I was wondering if a native could let me know when the coldest months are. I only intend on visiting the major cities.

Click to shrink...

June, July, August for the most part.

 

[Darkgable]

Well if you're thinking of Tasmania, then get yourself over to Wineglass Bay.

 

[jamsy]

As an Australian I've always found this a hard question to answer as most Australian capital cities aren't particularly fascinating as tourist destinations for me personally. The Great Ocean Road/12 Apostles is really beautiful and well worth a drive, especially if you're the photographer type. Tasmania is probably my favourite place in Australia and it's well worth a trip - some of my favourite things I've done and seen there are the Cascade Brewery, Bruny Island, Mt Wellington, Port Arthur and basically any of the many cruises and national parks as Tasmania is truly one of the prettiest places on earth. Hobart also has many excellent museums and a tonne of great food, beer, cider and wine.

If you give me more guidance on specific things you like to do and see on vacation than I can give more pointed recommendations for Syndey/NSW and Melbourne/Vic. Be warned though that it is currently bushfire season and this season in particular has been pretty bad and is still ongoing so take that into account, especially if you're asthmatic make sure to bring your inhalers (See for more information https://www.news.com.au/technology/...e/news-story/b4e417bde0f6f593118ed1be2d4ade2b & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019–20_Australian_bushfire_season )

Click to shrink...

I'm from California, so we've had our own fires that we've had to deal with...

So now I'm wondering if I shouldn't just check out South Island (New Zealand) instead of Tasmania for like a week. Looks like there are plenty of cheap flights to Queenstown. Have you been to NZ?

 

[Grug]

Melbourne is fantastic.

 

[ShadowAUS]

I'm from California, so we've had our own fires that we've had to deal with...

So now I'm wondering if I shouldn't just check out South Island (New Zealand) instead of Tasmania for like a week. Looks like there are plenty of cheap flights to Queenstown. Have you been to NZ?

Click to shrink...

NZ is a beautiful country and I can highly recommend it and Queenstown especially is a great time. I can still highly recommend Tasmania and Victoria/Melbourne as well if you wanted to stick to Australia. I find Sydney to be dreadfully dull for the most part but Melbourne is a much better time IMHO and you can catch the Spirit of Tasmania down to Tassie for a few days and come back for pretty cheap.

 

[Tigel]

I spent 6 months travelling around the country 5 years ago. For 19 days, I would suggest buying an hop on and off Greyhound bus pass (or renting a car) and doing the east coast from Sydney to Cairns.

There's a lot of stuff to visit: Spend like 2 days in Sydney then head up to Byron Bay, Gold Coast, Noosa, Fraser Island (a must!), Magnetic Island, the Witsunday Islands...

 

[Deleted member 33116]

I hope you don't mind me piggybacking on your post, but I want to visit the land down under next year. I was wondering if a native could let me know when the coldest months are. I only intend on visiting the major cities.

Click to shrink...

Winter so June, July and august. It's not actually cold in Sydney and the areas north though then.

 

[Croc Man]

Phillip island to see the penguins near Melbourne, or St Kilda
Blue mountains near Sydney, cheap train travel there on a Sunday.

They don't sound exciting but I really liked all the botanical gardens I went to in Australia.I

Supernormal was a pricey but cool restaurant in Melbourne, mostly because you can sit at the counter and watch the kitchen.

 

[Subpar Scrub]

It's also hard suggesting that you visit particular major cities or areas on account of them being super fucking far away from each other.

I agree that Tas would be a cool idea and taking the great ocean road up the east coast is always nice. I live on the GC and aren't surprised that you weren't enthralled tbh.

 

[Aussiebattler]

If you're spending a bit of time in Sydney then definitely go check out the blue mountains, go see the three sisters and scenic world. If you like a drink and a bit of history go check out the rocks in the city.

 

[Pellaidh]

Don't live there, but I have spent some time visiting both Australia and NZ.

The 12 apostles are definitely worth seeing. I remember thinking they looked pretty boring from the pictures, but seeing them in person is another thing entirely. Plus you could spend some time in Melbourne anyway. Tasmania was also great when I was there. Went there with no expectations but ended up very impressed by it. Mt Wellington, Bruny Island, and Port Arthur being the highlights for me.

Queenstown, NZ is also a great place, although keep in mind that it's not as super close to Australia as it might seem. At 3 hours flight time plus like 2 at the airport, you'll spend a good chunk of two days getting there and back. But with 19 days, you would definitely have the time for it. There's ton of great nature there, and I'd definitely recommend going to Milford Sound despite the pretty long drive. Queenstown Hill is also a good, really accessible hike with some amazing views of both the town and the surrounding mountains that seemed surprisingly overlooked by most tourists when I was there.

Just keep in mind that Queenstown was easily the most expensive place I've ever been to when traveling. Mostly because you'll probably want to do at least some adventure activities while you're there (that's kind of the point of Queenstown), and those will easily set you back something like $100 to $200 each.

Also keep in mind that the city itself is basically just a couple of streets filled with tourist information centers trying to sell you stuff plus a lot of restaurants and souvenir shops. Which is pretty convenient from a tourist perspective, but don't expect like, an actual city with locals living there, since pretty much everyone you run into will be another tourist. Even most shops and tours seemed to have been staffed with people on working holiday visas when I was there.

I actually also really liked the NZ North Island, particularly the volcanic surroundings of Rotorua. Although since you're from the US Yellowstone is probably much more impressive and much more accessible.

 

[Hokey]

I live in Sydney, if interested in beaches I recommend staying away from places like Manly, Bondi etc and check out Palm Beach, much better views and less crowds, superior in every way. If you like crowds etc then Bondi is not too bad but prolly closer to something you would see in Miami.

If interested in food let me know what type I can recommend some good places (I seek out new places almost daily).

I'm also originally from NZ but have only ever been to North Island.