Australia as a holiday

granty1892

Hi,

Just looking for advice me and my girlfriend have decided not to travel to Oz for the year as we don't wanna leave our permanent jobs in ireland but are gonna try do the whole Oz experience in October/November for 6 weeks.

I've been told it can be done and have been recommended fly to Melbourne then Sydney then Brisbane then Cairns then Perth were we will meet up with friends.

Can any of you wise people recommend anything ie
How much money we'd need?
Is travelling by bus better than flying, what are the buses like?
Could we see everything per-say in them 6 weeks?

thanks

Stinicker

Four of us done something similar in 2010 except in 4 weeks three of which were spent in Australia. We booked round the world tickets from Usit costing €2k each.

Flew Cork-Heathrow-Singapore-Perth-Melbourne-Sydney-drove up the east coast back down to Brisbane and flew from Brisbane to Sydney-Los-Angeles-Las Vegas-LAX-Heathrow-Cork. 11 flights in all.

Spent three days in Singapore, then down to Perth where we spent 5 days and then I hired a car and we drove out to Kalgoorlie to see the mega sized super-pit, a great road trip and one of the lasting memories of the trip! drove the trip back again the following day.

Then over to Melbourne where we spent 5 days in the city and out in St. Kilda,

Upto Sydney where we spent 4 days before hiring another car and driving up the east coast as far as a small town called 1770 taking around 4 days for the trip! Drove non-stop down to brisbane the following day and flew down to Sydney and spent two nights there there before saying goodbye to Aus and flying 17hrs over to LA on the A380, one night there disgusted us so we made an unplanned trip to Vegas for the remaining two nights.

It was a massive amount of travelling but worth every second, each of us spent around €6k (flights included) and while we would have liked to spents weeks in each destination it was a case of do it this way or probably never get to see it in our lifetimes. Having four people made it more affordable splitting car hires and the likes.

seachto7

I did it in 8 weeks in 2007, and even threw in some hungover days where I did sweet fa.
I spent the first month in WA, staying at the cousins. I did the loop of the South West over a few weeks, and went to Rotto, Lancelin, Freo etc. It would have been nice to get up the coast, but maybe next time.
The I was in Melbourne for a few days, Ballarat, Grabnd Prix etc and got out as far as Lorne, did the whole mornington peninsula drive, and back to Melbs.
Then did Sydney for a bit, Blue Mountains etc, Brisbane for a few days, flew from Sydney to Hervey Bay, did Fraser, drove back to Brisbane, back to Sydney, then home, as well as 24 hours in Singapore on the way back.
When I go back again, I would like to see Darwinm Uluru, etc. But then NZ is close, and there is so much more I'd like to see there too.
I did spend a ball of money and it was worth every cent....

karl bracken

I havent done much around Oz but i would start at Perth or Cairns and work my way around and i would defo try get NZ in we done a camperevan around the south island in 9 days and it was amazing and i had never done a campervan before but it was something i would definitely recommend.
We done Fiji after for 6 days which was nice and all but woulda traded it for NZ anyday...

Luckycharm

I was down there in May - not been to perth it is a very long way from anywhere else in OZ so would only go there as part of a flight package as too far to drive and internal flights there are expensive. Then either arrive in Melbourne and cairns and work you way along the east coast.
Melbourne great ocean road nearby and city itself is great, not much between Melbourne and Sydney close to 1000k apart. If you are there for a short time then if you could afford it fly or you will spend days on buses/cars it is a huge country.
There are a couple of diff buses if you are young OZ experience is full of very young backpackers so great for meeting people. Normal stops, sydney, bryron bay, gold coast, brisbane, fraser island, airlie beach/whit sundays, cairns - port douglas - probally missed a few. Just remember long distances between them. Check out jetstar and virgin blue for cheap flights.
Been there 4 times now and what struck me last visit was how expensive it is - about 20 percent more then here for most things bar petrol.
I did the south island in a week driving including 3 days in queenstown, going to franz josef, christchurch and few other spots. Anyway you will have a great time.

pgjk

we were thinking about doing something similar, 3 weeks in NZ & 3 weeks in Aus, just starting to research now, going late June.

is trailfinders or similar worth the bit extra or spend the time researching and booking on your own?
We were also thinking about hiring a camper
also appreciate some advice?

Luckycharm

pgjk wrote: »

we were thinking about doing something similar, 3 weeks in NZ & 3 weeks in Aus, just starting to research now, going late June.

is trailfinders or similar worth the bit extra or spend the time researching and booking on your own?
We were also thinking about hiring a camper
also appreciate some advice?

Always gone with Trailfinders - have never really found anywhere much cheaper on the net and they take all the hassle out of it.
Just remember June is in the middle of their winter so it will be cold! Camper could be good for NZ but OZ is huge so if you hire a camper you will spend an awful lot of time Driving esp if only there for 3 weeks.