[Closed] Australia for 1 month - help us plan our itinerary!

Go north to the forests and reef? Fly to the nipple of Australia.

Hire a car and drive from Sydney up the coast road to the gold coast/Brisbane or further (Cairns?) fly back to Melb from coolangatta/Bris/Cairns. take your time and stay at beach campsites on the way up, it's still warm at that time (sea and weather). If you do decide to do this, I can give you a list of the best beach campsites between Sydney and Brisbane. would be a nice alt from doing 2 weeks of city sightseeing.

At least a week in Tasmania, I've been to Australia 4 times now and its the best place ive been. We travelled around, so 2 days in Hobart, 2 on east coast, 2 in the centre then 2 south of Hobart. Genuinely lovely place with lots of different terrain types in a relatively small area.

Get the India Pacific over to Perth. But get a sleeper cabin, don't sit up all day and all night for 3 days (and again on the way back) 😯

+1 for tassie, give me a shout can organise a ride or point you in the right direction - into Launceston out of Hobart to Sydney
http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=3297
http://www.bayoffires.com.au/
http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/?base=3363
http://www.mona.net.au/
Add in Maria Island, Brun Island, The west coast, http://www.franklinriverrafting.com/
and a bit more could do the month here.

My folks are doing a month, after Perth, hitting Adelaide and some wine tours, Barossa/McLaren Vale, then Great Ocean Road, Melbourne, Tassie to see us and then off to Sydney.

Grampians north of Melb is good, plenty to see but cities are just cities wherever you go.

1 week is too long in Sydney. A few days then go inland to Broken Hill. Lovely train ride, good little town and the old mines(that you can go down) are great. You've got Silverton and the night safaris are good.

I never went to Tassie, but wished I had done. Everyone who I know that has been raves about it. I lived in Melbourne for a few months & would say a week might be a bit much (same for any city really IMO).

A few days driving up the Great Ocean Road is definitely a good call - get a campervan or a car & a tent and just go - plenty of nice coves to stop at and free campsites if you look for them. Possibly continue from GOR to Adelaide or even better if you get a 4WD Land Cruiser and take the Oodnadata Track and drive all the way to Alice Springs to visit Uluru and have a proper outback experience. Would need some careful planning, but I reckon you'll be able to find a 1 way hire company, then fly Alice Springs to Syndey. If you do make it up that way, visit King's Canyon.

Reckon you could fill a couple of weeks with that itinerary. Add in a week on Tasmania & a few days either side in Melbourne & Syndey - jobs a good un! For me travelling around Oz was more about being on the ground & discovering all the natural wonders. Driving allows you the freedom to come and go as you please.

Driving allows you the freedom to come and go as you please.

ah yes - tasmania! how could I leave that off the list. 100% working that into it.

Driving up the gold coast does sound the dream indeed.

Thanks for the links there Mike, going to sink my teeth into!

Great ideas, keep them coming!

If your going to Sydney The Blue Mountains are worth a trip for a couple of days. very easy to access via train from Sydney too.

Top tip for the Great Ocean Road; drive straight through to Warnambool & drive the GOR from west to east. Tour buses can only come the other way & most other people go that way.
If you do get to Hobart, give us a shout.

[quote=mikewsmith ]
It does but it take a long time!

true dat, the place is massive!

[quote=plyphon ]Driving up the gold coast does sound the dream indeed.

depends what you like, felt much like Benidorm to me, as did a lot of the East Coast.

My main bit of advice would be don't try to do too much! For 5 days or so I'd recommend a road trip from Sydney heading down the south coast of NSW to Merimbula way (stop of at Hyams Beach on Jervis Bay for some of the whitest sand and best cafe food (my family's) in the world, head inland up into the Snowies. Then you could go to Canberra if you want (but not a huge amount to recommend it for the tourist) or further inland through towards Cowra, Orange, Bathurst sort of way and back over the Blue Mountains to Sydney. You would see a huge variety of landscapes. If you go wanting to see the barrier reef, uluru, etc etc and tick off the list you won't really have time to enjoy any of it.

Keep in mind at that time of year Queensland much north of Brisbane you can't really swim and central australia (including Broken Hill etc) will be unbearably hot. Tassie, Snowies, South east are a good bet for this reason.

I did a month, east coast only.

Things I liked:

Sydney
Fraser Island
Cairns
Airlie Beach
Byron Bay

Things I didn't like:

Brisbane
Gold Coast
Whitsundays

Things I wish I'd done:

Perth

Totally depends what you like. A month is a reasonable amount of time.

Sydney is nice, but it's just a big city in a beautiful setting

Melbourne is just a big city with lots of trams and coffee

Tassie, GOR (I'm in Lorne as I type) and snowies are a must. Perth and sw wa also good. I'd really suggest somewhere a bit out if the way like Northern NSW hinterland, which is stunning, not too touristy, but has some really nice villages and towns too.

I'm on holiday and typing in my phone now, but email me (in profile I think) and I'll get back to you when I'm home

Prob not much to add, but we drove the GOR from Melbourne then on to Adelaide over a week or so. Had a couple of days in Melbourne first, then picked up a car and headed off.

We stopped off wherever we felt like, my memory is a bit hazy of the details sadly (it was a while ago!) but we certainly stopped at the You Yangs for a walk on the way out of Melbourne, stopped round Torquay/Jan Juc/Bells Beach, Otway NP somewhere, Port Campbell and the 12 Apostles, Port Fairy. Had a couple of days on Kangaroo Island, then Adelaide and a flight up to Airlie Beach for a week or so, did some sailing/diving on the Barrier reef for a few days and a bit of good old fashioned partying 🙂

I would very much like to go back, Tassie is on the list of places to go!

Great time of year, though the Blue Mountains could be bloody hot.
Personally, I'd skip Sydney entirely, or at least allow only a couple of days to see the Opera House and take the ferry across the harbour to Manly. If you had to go to Sydney, you could drive the coast route (Sapphire Coast - not as bling as the Gold Coast) stopping at some fantastic beaches. Then, if you discover that you're into beaches, fly up to Byron, Noosa or even all the way up to N Qld and Cairns, Mission Beach, the Gt Barrier Reef.

Personally, I'd happily spend the whole time in Victoria and Tasmania. NE Vic is great - Beechworth, Bright etc - as is Wilsons Prom, the Otways, Melbourne... In Tassie: Hobart for a few days, the east coast beaches, Cradle Mountain, Franklin-Gordon if you want to get adventurous, though water will be low then).

Not been to the Kimberley but the consensus is that it's incredible.

Screw the cities - they're just cities.

Fraser Island is damn nice, the Gold Coast is not.

Travel along any semi populated bit of coast and it'll mostly be loverly.

We did a similar thing a few years ago, albeit without Melbourne.

We flew into Sydney, couple of days there then flew up to Brisbane.

From there we hired a car and drove up to Cairns stopping off at places we liked the look of en route. We had a start and end point with no real itinerary in the middle - so long as we hit Cairns by a certain date for our internal flight back to Sydney we could remain flexible. Magnetic Island, Keppel Bay Islands and Fraser Island are all worth a visit.

If you do get as far north as Cairns, its well worth a night at the Sanctuary at Mission Beach just south of Cairns. Your pretty much sleeping on the jungle floor at night which is quite an experience.

Melbourne is just a big city with lots of trams and coffee

this is an obtuse but actually good guide to Melbourne [url] http://www.whitehat.com.au/ [/url] or the Frommers book Melbourne Free and dirt cheap is up to date and worth using

edit with the whitehat need to look at newsletter page

1 week is too long in Sydney.

Agreed. Well worth a couple of days meandering, though! 🙂

Well, if in Melbourne, you should try to get to Tasmania as the flights are pretty cheap and Tassie is beautiful. While in Melbourne try and have a meal on the colonial restaurant tram - good food and all inclusive booze.
A trip up to the dandenongs and a day out on the steam train 'puffing billy' is a nice day out.

Interesting what you're all saying about the cities... maybe we will cut down the time in Sydney.

Keen for a few days/week in Melbourne just to sort of relax and chill before starting adventures - then get stuck into adventures proper.

Ah it's all very exciting!

As above, can do Sydney in less than a week! 5 days comfortably

Not thinking Perth?

Driving up the gold coast does sound the dream indeed.

No it's horrible, don't bother with that at all if you've only got one month.

If you can, WA is the 'real' Australia. I drove round most of Aus and WA was by far the stand out area, the east coast was an anti climax after the west. Get to Perth and if you can, down to Margarets River and up to Ningaloo Reef, much more accessible than the barrier reef, just walk into the bath temperature water off the white sand beach and straight onto the reef, surrounded by amazing fish. Depending when you are there there are whales and manta rays and turtles and all sorts too. I loved Perth and having a beer at Cottesloe as the sun sets over the Indian ocean is a real treat.

Melbourne and Victoria in general are lovely. Great ocean road is a lovely drive.

Byron is amazing and inland from there is stunning. Fraser Island is pretty cool for a day or two.

Nullarbor is quite an experience to cross in a camper van, probably the most isolated I will ever be in my life.

Sydney, very scenic, its nice to get the ferries everywhere but it didn't appeal to me that much. Blue mountains are pretty but absolutely crawling with tourists.

To be honest, australian cities are just other cities where people speak english, drive on the left and drink beer and coffee, so I would make the emphasis on getting away from the cities. A month is long enough to see some amazing sights. I'm well jeal!

Gave me an excuse to look through some of the pics we took. I need to get saving and get back 🙂

[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]

They are some fantastic photos - so amped.

Going to basically write down a list of things we fancy from suggestions here and see how we can string them all together, thanks everyone for the suggestions.

Going to be a great month...!

Other places I have visited:
Sydney-meh tbh, but then I don't like cities
Southern Hunter Valley, if wine is your thing then it's close to the metropolis.
Blue Mountains - Nice scenery, but quite busy on the popular bits.
Budawangs - Similar scenery to Blue Mountains, but with no people as it's about 4hrs from Sydney
NSW South Coast, lots of lovely places like Jervis Bay, where you can go Dolphin Watching. My folks live here, so things like Fitzroy Falls, Minnamurra rainforest and Jamberoo water park are close.
Snowy Mountains - proper hills, with a bike park I believe.
Fraser Island - different feeling, incredible place.
Gold Coast - Bleaugh

Just go to Tassie for a month though, and don't forget to ask for a map!

Driving up the gold coast does sound the dream indeed.
No it's horrible, don't bother with that at all if you've only got one month.

Tasmania:
[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

Melbourne will be nice that time of year. Lots of options though.
Have a look round the city - there is always some sort of festival or expo on.
Cycle path east along the bay - St Kilda beach, through Brighton to Black Rock (lots of places to eat/ drink, swim, relax.

Mornington and Dandenongs are daytrips from the city. The former has nice beaches - inner bay beaches on one side, rough ocean on the other. The latter has nice Rhododendron gardens. Both have vineyards.

Head east to Wilsons Prom (wonderful remote peninsula), west up GOR past Anglesey (surf central) to Otways and beyond, eventually hitting Kangaroo island.

Tazzie is meant to be ace.

I would pick out what you fancy the most rather than try and do everything. Australia is huge.

Bigjims is a good shout for WA but you'd have to be prepared for some long days behind the wheel but these can be very rewarding. we travelled from perth to broom in an old van via places such as the pinnacles, shark bay, wooleen station, coral bay, ningaloo reef. if you do decide to travel the west coast google wooleen station. worked there a few years ago.... covers half a million acres and has some spectacular scenery especially during the wild flower season.

If going near Brisbane then Moreton Island is lovely for swimming with Dolphins. And our lass says Moreton Bay bugs are lovely to eat. (it's a crayfish type thing not insect).

Me and the better half lived in Oz for a couple of years. We managed to get 5 weeks holiday and thought about doing a big Oz tour. After researching transport and places where we wanted to go we ended up just doing NSW and the places bordering Queensland. The place is vast. The rural towns of NSW are great fun.

get the ferry to Tas' takes about 20hrs google Spirit of Tasmania -

I was over last year. Instead of hiring a car, I bought a motorbike, did 10,000 miles.

Oz bikeys are friendly so you have a handy resource in any strange place - much better than going by car.

Absolutely the best way to see Oz IMO, and if you stop anywhere buy a bike.

A wee taster.

[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7282/8714731291_3fdd21a056_o.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7282/8714731291_3fdd21a056_o.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7283/8714749465_d13d6b1436_o.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7283/8714749465_d13d6b1436_o.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7222/7319901530_0982f3aeea_b.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7222/7319901530_0982f3aeea_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7281/8731859553_2124cbf370_b.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7281/8731859553_2124cbf370_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

Unless you like cities, just keep clear of them.

Wouldn't spend to much time in the cities... They are cities after all.

If you like wine try South Australia, over 200 cellar doors! need I say more. (Note; the Oz wine you get in Tesco's is rubbish! they keep all the good stuff for themselves!)

http://www.southaustralia.com/food-and-wine/wine-regions.aspx

Do the GOR it really is beautiful. And a road trip is a must. You can't grasp the scale of the country till you do.

Have a Parmy in a local pub...

Feeling brave then I'd go for this...

http://www.sharkcagediving.com.au/

It's on my list!

Give us a shout if you need any further tips...

Far North Queensland, Cooktown for remoteness, off roading up there on the Bloomfield track, Mission Beach, snorkeling on the reef - see loads and all in a day, Noosa Heads for surf and relaxation. Port Douglas is great. Go and visit some tropical rainforest.

benjbish - Member
Far North Queensland, Cooktown for remoteness, off roading up there on the Bloomfield track, Mission Beach, snorkeling on the reef - see loads and all in a day, Noosa Heads for surf and relaxation. Port Douglas is great. Go and visit some tropical rainforest.

+1

Cairns Esplanade

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8326/8149375914_c3fac25bc4_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8326/8149375914_c3fac25bc4_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

Coastal scrub (Bunya, Brisbane)

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8384/8639100740_7979da77ce_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8384/8639100740_7979da77ce_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

Central Queensland bush

[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7292/8731857611_753dded139_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7292/8731857611_753dded139_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

Scrabbling through some rainforest (North Queensland)

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8328/8107834287_505b8d57ec_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8328/8107834287_505b8d57ec_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

Another useful tip, is you will need to come back again. Don't try and fit too much in or you will see loads and remember nothing.

We did 6 1/2 months and managed a fraction last time.

And if you are in Melbourne, drink and eat in the Napier hotel in fitzroy. It's what every inner city pub should be! (Loads of character and history, not too pretentious, and not a bloody wine bar!)

adding that to my list Zokes, normally end up round at Little Creatures for ease and burgers...

If you're on the GOR, Bell's Beach is worth a visit. I think Sydney's a bit boring. Port Douglas is much nicer than Cairns. Byron Bay is a scream, Aqaurius is a good place to stay and the Friendly Railway Bar is a terrific pub, with pie shop next door, great surfing at The Pass (check it on Coastalwatch). Australia is now expensive but car hire is reasonable, I always use EastCoast Car Hire.

1 week Melbs
1 Week Sydney (internal flight over)

1 day each will do you - go see the natural beauty of the country - not tourist traps & shopping malls.

About 10 years ago I did a working holiday visa, and travelled round about half the country, plus 2 months in NZ. So some thoughts.

Sydney and the East Coast are fine if you love lots and lots of beaches. Try to pick the best experiences, rather than doing everything. I was beached out after I left Airlie Beach, particularly given you can't swim in most of Queensland due to the jellyfish (stinger suits excepted) and the humidity is so high most places are a ghost town till it cools in the early evening.

So top East Coast experiences for me: Byron Bay (quintessential, made a bunch of mates, did an open water scuba course), Nimbin (short bus tour staged to trip you out while you're tripping), Fraser Island (4WD along beaches & camping in the dunes), Whitsundays/Barrier Reef (combined the sail & dive options with a bigger sailing boat which offered diving in the Whitsundays and went on to the Barrier Reef, woke up on the boat to Whitehaven beach which we had to ourselves before the day trippers arrived having dived the night before to see a giant turtle sleeping), Noosa (just a nice feel to it, meant to be more upmarket). I flew out of Cairns back to Melbourne, so didn't go further North which would have offered something different to everything between Airlie and Cairns, which was so boring.

We went for our Honeymoon back in 2004, basic itinerary was:

Fly into Sydney.
Couple of days in Sydney, that was enough (stayed on the rocks and did the bridge walk, plus a day on a beach).
Spent a few days driving through the sticks mostly along the Murray river to Adelaide.
Stayed a couple of nights in Adelaide with friends.
Fly to Alice Springs.
One night in Alice Springs.
Picked up a 4x4 and drove to Kings Canyon for an overnight stop and an early morning walk around the canyon.
Drove to Ularhu for an overnight stop and an early morning walk up the rock. Quick heli flight over then back to the airport.
Fly to Cairns.
Spent a great week or so driving down the coast to Brisbane, including stopping over at Arlie Beach, boat/snorking trips out to the reef and Whitsundays, and a few nights camping on Frazer Island with 4x4.
Fly home from Brisbane.

It was a great trip, we did pack a load into 3 weeks, 4 would have been more comfortable/relaxed.

I also did a 2 week road trip from Melbourne to Ayers Rock (Uluru) and back via the GOR and Flinders Ranges on the way and Broken Hill on the return. Awesome experience, but some serious mileage, like up to 900km a day! I wonder if you can appreciate Uluru in the same way flying in to avoid the effort. Getting out at a totally isolated truckstop is splendid, and returning through Coober Pedy, where some live underground, felt like returning to civilization because it had an ATM! Rather madly we tried to use the Oodnadata (sp?) track with a 2WD car, and could only manage 20-30kph scrapping the bottom along the rocks, so 200km between the tiny towns took forever. In the end we gave up once we reached Oodnadata and retraced our steps just as slowly, so definitely use a 4WD.

Melbourne was easily my favourite city, I lived there for about 5 months, but 3 days would be enough, preferably over a weekend to take in the CBD alley nightlife and an afternoon session down St Kilda and the Espy, with Southbank, the alley cafés and the inner suburb cafe strips in between. Shame it'll be too early to catch an AFL game at the MCG, and don't waste your time on Neighbours or "Irish" bars.

If you're going to 4WD, the Kimberley in WA is the go. This is where you get to swim in secluded pools after driving through rugged, amazing terrain. Broom afterwards staying at the Cable Beach Resort would be a most pleasant way to unwind. Not sure whether the weather is suitable for you though, it's low season in Broom at that time due to the heat and humidity.

So many ideas. Fantastic.

We are trying to strike a balance between travelling, cities, and rural.

I'd love to go to Cairns. I know people say it's just another city etc but I'm all good for that.

We might try and see if there are any festivals on at the time also.

Another Questions:

Whats best for accommodation? So far we have found some hostels that look alright and offer a private room with a double bed.... orrr go for rented apartment accommodation (both seem the same price aroundabouts)

Can I recommend some interesting reading before you go?
Down Under - Bill Bryson. Light, amusing, but still fascinating snippets
The Fatal Shore - Robert Hughes. Pretty much the definitive history of the founding of Australia. Heavy going, but well worth it.

Accomodation...
take a look at Wotif and Expedia - wotif goes down to hostel level and good for a comparison. Depends on who you are and what you want, romantic, bed for the night somewhere in the middle?

If your avoiding most major sporting events (there are a couple) then you can generally get accommodation within a weeks notice (don't hold me to that)

Serviced apartments are great as you are able to self cater, most motels have fridge and stove top too so depends what your after. We were averaging $100/night for cabins etc. I can get CBD hotels (nice ones) for $120 depending on where/luck when I travel.

If you need any specifics let people here know. Would suggest Bimby Park on the Great Ocean Road - thousands of Koalas! Waldhiem Cabins at Cradle Mountain (Tassie) basic but cheap and right on the edge of the wilderness.

mikewsmith - Member
adding that to my list Zokes, normally end up round at Little Creatures for ease and burgers...

That's freo, surely?

But yeah, the Napier is definitely worth the team ride. If you watched Jack Irish before Xmas last year, it was in that.

And plyphon, as mws says, just ask us locals for specifics, happy to help out with advice if I can

[quote=zokes ]mikewsmith - Member
adding that to my list Zokes, normally end up round at Little Creatures for ease and burgers...
That's freo, surely?
And plyphon, as mws says, just ask us locals for specifics, happy to help out with advice if I can

Round the corner on Brunswick is the Little Creatures Dining hall, good beer, good food and free wifi though not a patch on the Freo one

Top tip - if you're heading into the bush, do not, I repeat do not, watch Wolf Creek before you go! 🙂

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416315/

Round the corner on Brunswick is the Little Creatures Dining hall, good beer, good food and free wifi though not a patch on the Freo one

Actually, I'm quite glad I didn't know that, otherwise I wouldn't have spotted the Napier! I'm being an honorary Vic for the week so quietly supping Melbourne Bitter in my motel in Apollo Bay. They did have some decent local beer in the bottleo too, but it didn't feel right to buy that there!

+1 for not trying to do too much.

And +1 for taking into account the weather in deciding where to visit.

If you had 1 month to 'see' Europe you would similarly miss a lot out, so try and work out what you really want to see and do. I would highly recommend hiring a car + take camping gear or hire a campervan to get out of the cities to really appreciate the landscape and wildlife. (We paid ~AUS$1000 for 2 weeks campervan hire, one way between Melbourne and Brisbane - which was a bit too far really, but we had cheap flights! - plus about ~AUS$15-30 per night for campsites back in 2010). You wouldn't need to book campsites ahead at that time of year (we arrived at a Blue Mountains campsite that the guide books say fills up months in advance, at the end of Feb, and we were one of only three couples there).

Whereas if you are going to fly in and out of 4-6 different cities, then it is probably worth booking a vacation rental and doing day visits from each city. Depends on your personal preference.

I think you get more for your money with a vacation rental, if you are staying in the same place for long enough. But thats just my opinion!

For koalas on the GOR I would add Kennett River to mikewsmith's suggestion. Kangaroos and wallabies can be seen all over once you get off the highways; we saw most variety on the back roads but they disappear into the bush pretty quickly. Also, if you head towards Adelaide, Kangaroo Island is supposed to be great for wildlife and star gazing. And there is a very large penguin colony on Phillip Island near Melbourne if you have never seen them in the wild, very cute (though you can also find lots of penguin colonies in Tasmania and NZ).

Very jealous!

woody2000 - Member
Top tip - if you're heading into the bush, do not, I repeat do not, watch Wolf Creek before you go!

... or Razorback 🙂

The 'real" Australia starts 300 miles inland. Worth a look and best done by road so you appreciate the sheer size of the place, but that might swallow too much time.

If you can, WA is the 'real' Australia. I drove round most of Aus and WA was by far the stand out area,

Amen, brother! Was going to say exactly this, but my earlier recommendations were more based on the OP's original itinerary. Lived in Broome for 3 or 4 months. Good times.

Whats best for accommodation?

some really good hostels if you are into that (some shite ones too, full of kids getting smashed day in day out). when on the road - a tent! loads of space to camp. much of the time we would literally pull over into a layby or down a dirt track and pitch up. most of the laybys have fire pits for bbqs.

Perhaps you could look at National Parks and plan around those? My favourites were Kakadu & Karijini, though they're about as far from Melbourne & Sydney as you can get!

Whoa boy! How many years did you say you had? All the suggestions above are great, but I've just two pictures to add...

[img] [/img]

and...

[img] [/img]

Would you expect to 'do' Europe or the US in a month? So, take your time, explore a bit of the East coast and maybe Tassie, and leave the best bits (the West and the North - but then I'm biased aren't I) for next time 😉

Nimbin

Went there during Mardis Grass by mistake, was quite an eye opener to a real dark underside, loads of kids and older people with real drug damage. Lots of nice aspects to it too though, lovely part of the country.

Also bear in mind the seasons if you go north - we didn't get far north because roads had been washed away. Also 40C and 100% humidity isn't much fun! I think the highest temperature we had was about 47C in WA, the guy in the roadhouse said it had been hotter the day before. We had to drive with the heaters fully on in the van to stop the engine overheating, it was pretty tough going!

[quote=perthmtb ]Whoa boy! How many years did you say you had? All the suggestions above are great, but I've just two pictures to add...

and...

Would you expect to 'do' Europe or the US in a month? So, take your time, explore a bit of the East coast and maybe Tassie, and leave the best bits (the West and the North - but then I'm biased aren't I) for next time

I dunno, you could do a great tour within a month, such as what I suggested: in to Melb, bit of tassie, great ocean rd, adelaide or oodnadata, uluru, king's canyon, fly to sydney.

thing is, it is easier to say 'save some for next time' than it is to make next time happen. it is a long & expensive way away from UK (presume OP is UK) and you need minimum of a month there.

if you are advising along those lines surely better to sack off Oz and spend the whole 3 months the OP is away in NZ (or vice versa)?

ideally do what i did and spend 12 months driving around stopping to make money every now & then. and i've still got shed loads to do 'next time'!! 😉

Forgot to ask, what's the plan for NZ? 2 months sounds like bike tour potential. I had my mtb with me so I chose an adventure coach tour round both islands that let me get off where I wanted to bike for a few days and join the next tour coming through. It turned out to be a great mix. NZ is a lot more digestible, there's greater variety over shorter distances, and it's generally stunning. Loved Wellington and Rotorua as far as cities went, but couldn't get out of Auckland fast enough!

I dunno, you could do a great tour within a month, such as what I suggested: in to Melb, bit of tassie, great ocean rd, adelaide or oodnadata, uluru, king's canyon, fly to sydney.

I think you'll find that's what I said urm, right here..

So, take your time, explore a bit of the East coast and maybe Tassie

My point was that suggestions in this thread range from Kakadu in the NT, to Margaret River in the South West, Uluru in the Centre, crossing the Nullarbor, The Kimberley in the North East, Cape York in far North Queensland, Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney, Barrier Reef, Tassie, and everywhere in between! And while I agree its all great and worth seeing, the point I was trying to make was the same as yours (I think)- if you've only got a month you need to pare down your geographic expectations a tad!

When I did my first 'round' of Oz as a backpacker many moons ago, the people I thought missed out the most were those rushing from place to place to tick as many destinations off the list as possible, but who never stayed long enough in any of them to soak up the vibe and enjoy.

fair do's perth, we're both on the same wavelength!

i have traveled a lot. my best advice is: "you're never going to see everything". its not even advice!

Forgot to ask, what's the plan for NZ?

Well my sister lives out in NZ, as well as a few friends from the UK who have moved over. First half of NZ is pretty much tied up catching up with those guys and being taken around an out by my sister (she has become an expert in NZ tours since moving there!)

Mountain bikes WILL be rented at some point in NZ, that's for sure!