[Closed] Australia @ Chrismas/newyears- clueless

Hire some bikes. Ride for 10 mins. Realise it's 35c + in the shade and too hot to ride. Return bikes. Go home. Fire up the barby and go to a drive thru bottlo and pick up a cold crate of beer.

(Feral Brewery's Hop Hog or Little Creatures Pale Ale or Dog Days)

The two weeks of Christmas and first week of Jan are the busiest in Aus, all the schools break up then. So you need to get booking if you mean this year. And prices won't be cheap, sorry.

I would either hire a camper and drive inland to Lamington NP (rainforest, caves, glowworms, avoids gold coast) maybe see Byron's Bay and get inland to Hunter Valley for some wine tasting. Or hire a place on the sunshine coast and spend a week there before flying to Sydney. However, expect a few thunderstorms in Queensland and don't undeeretimate driving distances. The nice thing about driving is you can stop at all the beaches and use the free bbqs watching the surfers.

Will the friends in Sydney be organising things for you there? The Blue Mountains are worth a day trip or more for hiking, though maybe not too much with the youngest. If you haven't seen roos by the end of your hols, head to Glenbrook campsite for 6ish, before the gates close, to see if the regulars are there.

Fly direct from brisbane to hobart, enjoy some cooler weather, finish of the Sydney hobart and a food festival then go to Sydney...

If the OP were planning it again, I agree VIC or TAS are excellent. But flights to and from Brisbane-Hobart/Launceston-Sydney for a family of 4 would be extortionate booking now and there is no reward availability left. But next time, definitely come south, it's ace.

We did a similar trip a few years back but the other way, and went a bit past Brisbane before doing a u-turn. Was really good. We hired a small camper van which was actually a similar price to a car and just headed off. It was pretty easy to find camp spots. Lots of free ones in land that were awesome and often empty. Real wild places. A bit busier on the coast but not that bad only struggled in Byron bay. Highlight was probably a few nights on lady Elliot island on the reef. Stunning, snorkeling with turtles and sharks by day, watching turtles lay eggs by night. The inland driving through the rainforests was fantastic too. We bypassed the gold coast, not our cup of tea. It was a bit weird being there around Christmas. We kept forgetting only to be reminded by a few decorations.

For your trip I'd head inland to start and drive through the rain forest. Pop out to the coast part way and do a bit of that then back inland close to Sydney to go through the blue mountains.

Konagirl's got it.

I grew up in Brisbane and despite what the tourist brochures tell you the best view of it is from your rear view mirror. It's clean and friendly and has some lovely parks and gardens, but it is pretty dull, especially for kids. If you do have a day there and want some lunch, get to the Breakfast Creek hotel for a steak in the garden.

Head up to the Sunshine Coast and rent a beach house or apartment. The beaches are amazing and while it gets busy at that time, it's not exactly crowded. Noosa is now quite developed but still has a relaxed family feel to it. heaps of shops, restaurants and markets and safe surf, so your kids will not be bored.

For a more authentic working class experience, have a look at [b]Bribie Island. [/b] I spent my formative years there and went back about 5 years ago and thankfully nothing had changed - just a few more houses. The surf beach is rough at times but they have life guards these days. You can rent a house 5 mins from the beach (nothing is more than 5 mins from a beach) for £100 a night.

Sydney is truly superb and a trip to the Blue Mountains well worth it for the Three Sisters and Genolan Caves, but there are perfectly good rock formations and limestone caves right here in Europe. When you're going that far Id be staying in Sydney and go tourist mad - Opera House, Harbour Bridge, The Rocks markets etc etc.

Check out all the beaches but stay away from Bondi on Xmas day. Take the ferry to Manly or a water taxi from Circular Quay to Doyles restaurant at Watsons Bay. Centennial Park is nice to wander around, have a hot dog and watch the peletons smash around at 30mph (if they haven't banned 'em of course)

Sydney Harbour is also the best place on earth to be on New Years Eve for the most remarkable fireworks. They set a new global standard in 2000 and just seem to push it further every year.

Wherever you go make sure you have a picnic blanket and a decent sun shade you can stake down.

Just checked - that's a 1000km drive. I've been to Brisbane but not driven there. One tip is to skip the Gold Coast by heading inland to Lamington national park, which is on a plateau and about 1000m higher and therefore cooler than the coast. It's a large (and rare) chunk of sub-tropical rainforest. I stayed at O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat (no idea what the hotel is like now) and there was lots of wildlife about - pademelons, birds, possums etc . Perhaps a nice way to decompress after the flight.
Then, heading south, no shortage of pleasant beachy seaside towns to stop in: Byron Bay, Coffs Harbour, Nambucca Heads etc. They'll get a bit same-y but it will be fun. Plan the practicalities of your time in Sydney carefully - it's a horrible to place to drive around.