Things to do in australia?

BrokenArrows

Right im making a list of stuff i want to do when in australia.
Im starting in sydney and going north to brisbane, probably go further north before going to Ayers Rock then to perth and back along the south coast back to sydney.

List so far:
Ayers Rock
Barrier Reef

and thats all i can think of. Im searching the web for more stuff now. Post up if you have plans to visit good places or have been there already.

gerire

Get out of Sydney as soon as possible if you are coming back around to it, its just another big city and there is much more out there to see. Ive only done the East coast so thats all I can comment on.

Places not to miss:
Byron Bay : Relaxed surfing backpacker town.
Noosa : Its reputation preceeds it for a reason.
Fraser Island : Huge Sand island accomodation on the island is nice and there is stunning scenery and at the right time of year you may get to see the whales migrating
Whitsundays : Whitehaven beach is usually a definate stop on the cruises, it rained the day we were on it and it still is the most stunning beach Ive ever stood on. As for if you do a cruise my experience would be to avoid OzSail
Cairns: The best spot to do your barrier reef trip from, there is just so much competition that you can get some cracking last minute deals. We went with Reef Encounter. 4* boat and accomodation dive masters were excellent and was cheap enough too. If you have spare time you can stay on these boats for a few days for free in return for work.

Thats all I can think of for the moment


Places to avoid:
Surfers "Paradise": The waves aren't that great anyway, concrete tourist trap
Townsville : If you are passing through and the Cowboys are playing a game go see it Dairy Farmers Stadium atmosphere is electric, then go to the pub in town with the team, apart from that nothing else there!!!

daiixi

Melbourne is great also get out and drive the Great Ocean Road and if you can spend a night on Philip Island and see the Little Penguins. Also when you're in the middle of the country, Kings Canyon is amazing as is Kakadu National Park & Litchfield Park (top of the Northern Territory) and Mataranka is a great place to unwind for a day or two. Darwin is laid back and a good place to pick up some work if you need it - they love backpackers.
The Kimberley's and Bungle Bungles (top of Western Australia) is fantastic and then chill out in Broome.
Never been to Perth but people rave about it plus you can head down to Margaret River (wineries).
gerire is right, Surfers Paradise is ****e and Sydney is fantastic but expensive. From Sydney you can go to the Hunter Valley (wine) and out to the Blue Mountains.

On Saturday mornings, around 9:30/10am there's a show called "Surfing the Menu". It's fantastic and will give you ideas of where you might want to go.

pixiearoo

hi,

Im also planning a trip to OZ! cant wait! We are flying into Sydney, and then heading up the coast asap prob to Cairns. It'l be July when we get there so still winter.

are the islands up north expensive to stay on? they sound sweeet!

GusherING

Check out the Sydney Harbour bridge climb. A bit expensive but well worth it.

itchy_feet

I loved the west coast so much more than Sydney and the east coast. Check out the Ningaloo reef (North West) Exmouth and coralBay, way more impressive than the graet Barrier reef which has been distroyed by comercialism. The people are way nicer in WA aswell.

I'll tell ye anything ye want to know but I tend to waffle on so I'm better when asked specific questions.

I don't know how to do links but copy and paste this into the search bar

http://www.touristaustralia.com.au/travelforum/default.asp

It seems to be only a new-ish board as posts and replies are long awaited but I'll be checking it out every time I'm on the net

Oh an get out of Sydney asap, plan to stay for a week..max two and do the touristy stuff..opera hose, harbour bridge climb (as menioned) try and get out to the blue Mountains while your in Sydney for a day or two, but once you've seen and done that then get out. God the number of people I met (nealy all irish, living in 'County Bondi') who had got to Cairns, travelled down the east coat and spent 8/9 months in Sydney going on about "God its a great country isn't it, I saw kualas and kangaroos when I was up in Steve Irwins zoo"...spa, ye can see them in dublin zoo, go see them in the wild and experienc REAL aussie culture not the plastic culture thats in the cities...phew>End Rant> sorry about that, I told ye I go on a bit, is just to me, thats a waste of a working holiday visa, a working holiday visa that someone deserving was declined because the quota was reached for that year...awful annoying, sorry.

BrokenArrows

thanks for the ideas guys. ill definatly be going to some of the places mentioned.

Now to get myself a map and draw up a rough route i might be taking and schedule.

I was thinking about moving up to byron bay after a while in sydney.

Ill probably go up there for a few days to test it out.


Oh ya and for those who have been in australia what are the busses for long distance travel like?

Raytown Rocks

I reccomend .
Catherine Gorge
Cape Tribulation
WhitSunday Islands.
Frazier Island.

Edit...remembered a few more..
Magnetic Island
Rottnest island ( near perth)
Visit Tasmania

I have been to them all and more ( trying to remember as I type) and each and every one was fantastic..

Chef

MarkPH

Like everyone says, keep moving around and dont hang aorund Sydney for long. I'm just back home 4 weeks after being out there for a year, and Sydney is so overrated. Its good if you like drinking in Irish pubs with Irish people and not meeting any Australians, so depends what you are into. When we were there we drove to Darwin (2 weeks and 7,000kms clocked up) and I found it to be far far cheaper than the east coast and just as good. Peter Pan travel do the best deals for travelling down the east coast. Long travel on busses isnt too bad, but can take a long time as they have to stop for drivers rests every so often. Flights there are relatively cheap, so if you have to fly, do it.

And my definate tips on places to go:
Perth, in my opinion the best Australian city.
Tasmania, feck all people go there and its an amazing place. Hire out a car and travel around in your own time. A week at least will get you thru the island, and definately go to Port Arthur.
West Coast, ningaloo reef. Around September or April, you can do this snorkel with massive manta rays, whale sharks and reef sharks, and then go humoback whale watching in the afternoon, costs about $110.
Cairns, cape tribulation and Great Barrier Reef. Get your scuba diving license, or if oyu have one, do a dive here.