10 days in Australia. Where?

[frlcb]

Love, love, love Melbourne. Loved it. Saying that I haven't been anywhere else in Australia so there you go

[dutchgirl678]

I have been to Perth, Sydney and Tasmania. If you have never been to Australia I would go to Sydney for a few days, visit the Blue Mountains and then go up towards Brisbane/Cairns to see the Great Barrier Reef and the rain forest.

Another option would be Melbourne and the south coast and Tasmania. Tasmania is beautiful, 2/3 of it is protected wilderness and there are tons of hiking opportunities.

[Waffles]

I'd go to Sydney and the Great Barrier Reef (either Port Douglas or the Whitsundays, depending if you want a tropical feel or an island feel).

[GilliC]

KL is so close to Perth (almost as close as Syndey is) that I would consider visiting Western Australia while you have such a great chance. If you're likely to visit Australia again at some point, chances are you'll be headed to the east coast, because the west is just so hard to get to.

WA is the only part of Australia I've been to, but I loved it. Strangely enough I have two friends here who've both been, and they had a great time as well.

I've heard fantastic things about the Ningaloo Reef, and I was a little disappointed that we didn't have time to head that direction. We spent about a week and drove around the southwest.

We started by driving down to Margaret River for a few days of wine tasting. This was some of the best wine touring I've done, because the Wine Center in Cowaramup was wonderfully helpful in choosing places to visit, and the winemakers themselves were so friendly and eager to talk. We learned so much about the local viniculture, and some of the wines were really fantastic! There are some pretty little caves in the south that can be explored, and the coastal landscape along the drive south was striking. (We stopped at Yalgorup National Park, the Busselton Jetty, and Cape Naturaliste.)

Our next few days were in Pemberton, where we climbed one of the famous climbing trees up to the observation deck (this would never go over in the US, since their safety policy is pretty much "Be careful, and don't be dumb.") and explored the Yeagarup sand dunes, which were very cool! We also rode on their historic train and checked out some of the really big trees.

The we drove along the coast to Walpole and Denmark and did the treetop walk that Bill Bryson raves about in his Australia book and saw more big trees. Oh, and we went to an alpaca farm because I wanted to see a koala, and they don't live in the west. I got to pet it. It was awesome. I did not get chlamydia.

We ended our trip in Albany, which has an interesting whaling museum and fantastic whale watching in the right season (which unfortunately was not December). Then we drove back up to Perth.

If you're interested, here are the photos from our trip: photos.megdesk.com/gallery/v/2008/wa/

[dutchgirl678]

When I was in Western Australia I was only 18 so I didn't go wine tasting then. But I did have a great time and there is plenty to see and do. Perth is a nice city and you can take day trips to Fremantle and from there the boat to Rottnest Island. I climbed one of those high trees in Pemberton too. Couldn't believe you were just climbing up these metal spokes but it was so cool and the view from the top was amazing. I also went to Wave Rock because I had relatives who had a ranch near there.

And I drove up the coast with family and stopped at Monkey Mia to see wild dolphins come to the beach to be fed and petted. We only went up to Port Hedland and I took the bus back but you have the Kimberly's near there and you could continue up to Darwin.

[Brit]

I second the suggestion to go to Perth. I have visited Australia several times and have yet to make it to Perth.

My first trip to Australia was a month long motorhome trip where I got to see a fair amount of the eastern half of the country. My favorite city in Australia is Darwin because it is kind of funky and cool, but I'm not sure how much sense it makes to go there since it is pretty isolated. Within (long) driving distance of Darwin would be things like Alice Springs, Coober Pedy, Devil's Marbles, Kakadu National Park, and Ayers Rock. We are pretty go, go, go type travelers, so I think we could fit all of those places into a trip, but that wouldn't be for everyone because it would be a lot of time on the road. Also of note, there are a lot of crocs in the ocean near Darwin, I don't think swimming was advised.

I feel like Sydney and Melbourne, especially Sydney, is just another big, modern city. I have gone to Melbourne twice in the past year or so. After one of the trips we drove the Great Ocean Road to Apollo Bay, Bell's Beach, etc. It was nice, but I can't really see spending more than a few days doing that; maybe paired with Tasmania like a PP mentioned.

I was underimpressed by the Great Barrier Reef, totally an UO. Someone else will have better suggestions for a trip involving that.

Where do you go when you leave KL?

[kangaroo11]

We had 13 days and did Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns. With less days, I'd cut Melbourne, but we loved our trip! Do a tour of the Blue Mountains from Sydney.

If you do go to Melbourne though, I'd recommend going to see the Little Penguins. So cute!

[wise_rita]

I will return to this question later, but now I must attend a flower festival.

F YEAH, AUSTRALIA!

[dutchgirl678]

You could definitely do 10 days in Perth and the area.

Pemberton tree climb: www.pembertonvisitor.com.au/pages/pembertons-climbing-trees/
I climbed the Gloucester tree

Fremantle: www.fremantlewesternaustralia.com

Rottnest: www.rottnestisland.com
No cars allowed and great history. You can see Quokka's here, small kangooroos that are native to Rottnest and can only be found in a few places in WA.

[Deleted]

I ditto the WA suggestions, I would suggest that in 10 days you could travel up the coast a fair bit, but I've yet to do the trip so I'm not sure. Monkey Mia is meant to be gorgeous, as is Ningaloo, but like I said not sure of the logistics.
This website is worth a look:
www.westernaustralia.com/en/Things_to_See_and_Do/Must_See_and_Do/Pages/Must_See_And_Do.aspx

I loved Darwin and in 10 days you could do kakadu, Katherine Gorge, Uluru and maybe even fit in the Larapinta Trail- but just be careful what time of year you select.

I would say leave the east coast (GBR, Sydney, Mel) for another time, but it depends what you're after.

[wise_rita]

Ok, I'm back. Flower festival = mind blowing, in case anybody cared.

I haven't yet been to Sydney or Melbourne but Australia has SUCH crazy wilderness that I think it's a shame to spend all your time in cities. Yeah, these particular cities are awesome but they are just cities. Can't-miss-it Australia lies in the wilderness.

Which is why, if I were you, my numero uno priority would be the GBR. It won't be here forever and what's still there is amazing. To miss it would be the shame of a lifetime. To miss Melbourne? Eh. You'll live.

In 10 days I'd say it's reasonable to do 3 places (as in, far apart places). I'd fly in to Sydney or Melbourne, whichever you prefer to see, as they have the best transit links to other places. Honestly I'd pick one, not both.

Then I'd do GBR. Cairns/Port Douglas or perhaps Whitsundays and a sailing trip.

And finally I'd pick one more place. As previously mentioned you could choose between Darwin - which DBF loved by the way - Uluru, Perth, Adelaide wine country. Really whatever your priority is. Perth would be an unpleasantly long flight to fit in to this 10-day whirlwind but in a country this big sacrifices have got to be made.

The second and third legs of the trip could be flip flopped. Whichever works best with the available flights and logical direction of travel (so you're not going east coast to west coast to east coast).

So there's my 2 cents!

[aMrsin09]

Sept 21, 2012 20:57:35 GMT -5 @publius said:

Which brings me to another question: is it going to be miserably hot in Jan/Feb? Ideally is love to go in the spring or fall but we're running out of time.

If you come up to Cairns, yes. Think FL Everglades in July/August. The humidity is the real killer. It's like you're breathing a cloud.

[wise_rita]

Sept 22, 2012 7:44:25 GMT -5 aMrsin09 said:

Sept 21, 2012 20:57:35 GMT -5 @publius said:

Which brings me to another question: is it going to be miserably hot in Jan/Feb? Ideally is love to go in the spring or fall but we're running out of time.

If you come up to Cairns, yes. Think FL Everglades in July/August. The humidity is the real killer. It's like you're breathing a cloud.

How about March/April?

[fakejew]

Sept 22, 2012 4:43:56 GMT -5 wise_rita said:

Ok, I'm back. Flower festival = mind blowing, in case anybody cared.

I haven't yet been to Sydney or Melbourne but Australia has SUCH crazy wilderness that I think it's a shame to spend all your time in cities. Yeah, these particular cities are awesome but they are just cities. Can't-miss-it Australia lies in the wilderness.
Which is why, if I were you, my numero uno priority would be the GBR. It won't be here forever and what's still there is amazing. To miss it would be the shame of a lifetime. To miss Melbourne? Eh. You'll live.

In 10 days I'd say it's reasonable to do 3 places (as in, far apart places). I'd fly in to Sydney or Melbourne, whichever you prefer to see, as they have the best transit links to other places. Honestly I'd pick one, not both.

Then I'd do GBR. Cairns/Port Douglas or perhaps Whitsundays and a sailing trip.

And finally I'd pick one more place. As previously mentioned you could choose between Darwin - which DBF loved by the way - Uluru, Perth, Adelaide wine country. Really whatever your priority is. Perth would be an unpleasantly long flight to fit in to this 10-day whirlwind but in a country this big sacrifices have got to be made.

The second and third legs of the trip could be flip flopped. Whichever works best with the available flights and logical direction of travel (so you're not going east coast to west coast to east coast).

So there's my 2 cents!

Spot on. Fly to Melbourne, GBR plus uluru, etc. is what I was going to say.

[aMrsin09]

Sept 22, 2012 19:41:10 GMT -5 wise_rita said:

Sept 22, 2012 7:44:25 GMT -5 aMrsin09 said:

If you come up to Cairns, yes. Think FL Everglades in July/August. The humidity is the real killer. It's like you're breathing a cloud.

How about March/April?

March can still be pretty hot. April is starting to get to the point where I'll go outside again. (I'm from MI and DC so that colours y version of hot and cold).

[GilliC]

Perth definitely gets hot, but the south coast was noticeably cooler. Here's a good climate summary for Margaret River: www.mronline.com.au/weather/weatherview.htm

[dorothyinAus]

I really enjoyed Adelaide and Kangaroo Island. Kangaroo Island is the one place where I wish I had more time. The Barossa Valley was a great tour out of Adelaide, but Adelaide itself is interesting enough for a couple of days. My travel agent recommended that I spend only a couple of days in Sydney so I could fit Kangaroo Island in my trip and she was not wrong. In fact, if I had it to do again, I'd skip Sydney completely, it's really just another big tourist city.

I also recommend Melbourne, but thats only because I live close and know it best.

[janelane]

I live in Victoria (Melbourne's state) and have travelled the east coast extensively. Not so much the central west.

It really depends what you are interested in doing?
If you like the tourist areas, landmarks, etc, Sydney is good.

Melbourne is great for shopping and food, but I definitely recommend getting out of the city and going on the great ocean road for a few days or Phillip Island (which is an easy day trip). Also we have some great bushland and walking trails.

Great Barrier Reef is amazing, however, I suggest staying in Brisbane or the Sunshine Coast over the Gold Coast if you decide on Queensland

Tasmania has some fantastic landscape and has a lot of fantastic historical sites.

[Deleted]

I would definitely go see Uluru and the Olgas and stay in Alice Springs. Absolutely breathtaking to camp under the stars and the hiking is incredible!