travelling from Cairns- Sydney

louiepip

Hi- my boyfriend and i are going planning on travelling next year in feb. first stop is SE Asia and then onwards to Australia. We are still debating the whole book with STA or book our own flights as we go with AIR Asia and Tiger Airways (which does work out cheaper) ...any advice or comments on this welcome!

If anybody can help me though on the following it would be much appreciated. my job is planning Australia, hes planning SE Asia. Do you know which works out cheaper, hiring a camper van from cairns to sydney or busing/training it. Also which is more fun? we obviously on a budget like all backpackers however we want something thats a bit of fun too

any help would be much appreciated!!! also we're planning on giving 6 weeks for travelling from Cairns-Sydney, taking in the usual stops, is this enough?

Bookkeeper09

Not sure about the flights. I booked a round the world ticket through Trailfinders which worked out well for us.
Went on the Greyhound buses from Cairns to Brisbane(3 weeks) and flew then to Sydney. The 3 weeks was plenty of time for Cairns to Brisbane which is over half what you're planning so 6 weeks should be fine! Thought the Greyhound service in Oz was really good....punctual, frequent and you got to meet plenty of people along the way.
Would also recommend the YHA hostels for staying in(particularly in sydney).Reasonably priced and good quality

louiepip

thanks a million for your help. I've see greyhound buses recommended on a lot of posts so i might price them. Also did you go to Asia, just wondering i have also been reading that shopping around with local GP's is the best way to get a good price on injections for travelling in SE Asia rather than going to the Tropical Medical Bureau etc etc

DamoDLK

If your planning on staying over 4/5 weeks u'd be far better off buying as opposed to renting a vehicle! you can pick up a half decent wagon for about $1500.. Drive! its a great place to do it in!!

Bookkeeper09

Went to Thailand and Singapore. Got all injections from my own GP tho. I heard of people who had gone to oz/New Zealand before going to Asia and getting the injections in Oz but havent spoken to anyone who got the injectiosn in Thailand

The Max

I travelled from Cairns to Sydney over five weeks. It was a little rushed but still got to see a lot. We went to a company called Perterpans Adventure travel www.peterpans.com. We told them our dates and what we wanted to see and do, they organised everything from hostels to skydiving, white water rafting, day trips ect. We bussed it all the way down, this worked out better than renting something as its a huge journey and some of the longer bus trips were at night (not as bad as it seems) which saved some time.

empirix

DamoDLK wrote: »

If your planning on staying over 4/5 weeks u'd be far better off buying as opposed to renting a vehicle! you can pick up a half decent wagon for about $1500.. Drive! its a great place to do it in!!

i disagree with this - try $2500 for half decent,

Stuxnet

my gf and i went from cairns to sydney in 06
bought a toyota lite ace threw mattress in the back for 4000$
we drove as far brisbane, took our time, 3 or 4 weeks, stopped everywhere,
worked in brissie for a while, then on to sydney you could make it last 4 weeks
depending on your time limits, i really recommend taking your time, there are infinite things to see on the way
sold the van then to another irish couple for just under 2k, so it was really worth it,

if you didnt want the hassle of driving, but wanted to see EVERYTHING i couldn't recommend the magic bus company enough, we used them for NZ but they operate in oz also, oz experience they're called you get to see everything, and the drivers organise your hostels and activities and they know all the history of all the places you go to, and its very reasonably priced, and you meet loads of great people doing the same thing,
http://www.ozexperience.com/
http://www.magicbus.co.nz/

i'm jealous, wish i could do it all again
best of luck

macca1983

louiepip wrote: »

Hi- my boyfriend and i are going planning on travelling next year in feb. first stop is SE Asia and then onwards to Australia. We are still debating the whole book with STA or book our own flights as we go with AIR Asia and Tiger Airways (which does work out cheaper) ...any advice or comments on this welcome!

If anybody can help me though on the following it would be much appreciated. my job is planning Australia, hes planning SE Asia. Do you know which works out cheaper, hiring a camper van from cairns to sydney or busing/training it. Also which is more fun? we obviously on a budget like all backpackers however we want something thats a bit of fun too

any help would be much appreciated!!! also we're planning on giving 6 weeks for travelling from Cairns-Sydney, taking in the usual stops, is this enough?

Craft lad! Planning SE Asia is super easy - no real planning needed - just rock up to the place.

DamoDLK

empirix wrote: »

i disagree with this - try $2500 for half decent,

Ah the glorious art of haggling is alive and well with me mate!

louiepip

hi all thanks so much for all your replys, much appreciated:D