Australia - 3 week holiday where to go ?

[Son_of_Sam]

Just back there from Oz at the end of May. Was there for nearly 4 months. Done a hell of a lot. My top 10 destinations for what it is worth:

1. Byron Bay
2. Airlie Beach Hated this place, caught bedbugs, an Irish barman was beat up the same weekend, 3 Canadian girls in our hostel had some freek come in and expose himeself & another hostel had their safe with everyones passports, credit cards, atm cards, drivers lic etc. stolen all on the same weekend, the fact that there was alot of redkneck Ozzies about because it was a public holiday (bank holiday) might have been a major part of the place being like that. O ya and the roughest Outback muckers you ever seen where drunk as skunks everwhere (unlike your endearing backpacker drunk    ) in their filthy singlets.
3. Brisbane
4. Fraser Island
5. Mount Beauty (Northern Victoria)
6. Melbourne
7. Coffs Harbour
8. Whitsundays
9. Beechworth (Northern Victoria)
10. Sydney

[ludermor]

The Tea Gardens

LOL there is a Tea Party reunion on the 28th Sept in Dublin somewhere, don't think it will be as messy as that place though!

[overdabar]

headin on my honeymoon in october also. sydney for 3 days then fly up to ayers rock for 1 night(heard you have to see it) then up to cairns (port douglas) for 3 days. whitsundays hamilton island for 4 days after that then fly down to brisbane and stayin with a few friends in surfers paradise (catch the indy car racing and of watch the international rules on tele. perth was to far away and didnt want to spend most of my honeymoon on a plane) driving down to sydney after this then on to melbourne for 4 nights and catch the second leg in the mcg. cant wait

[King of Kilskerry]

is it any any hassle driving from city centre melbourne hotel out on great ocean road, spending 2 nights in 2 different towns and then back to airport.
great ocean road starts about 100k from sydney and last for another 300k or so, is that alot of driving with the bendy roads ?

[Yes I Would]

Planning to do the same myself King.for honeymoon in Dec.
3 nights in Melbourne, then do the ocean road for another 3 nites by car, back to Melbourne, flight to Sydney. Wasnt sure whether 3 days was too much time or perhaps too little time??

[PadraicHenryPearse]

Done the east coast about 2 mths ago and it was amazing - sky dive in Mission Beach, Cairns, whitsundays and Frazer were the highlights, the valley in Brisvegas was good, arts factory in Byron was good. Townsville was boring and Didn't like sydney, might as well been at home, dragged to every irish bar over two weeks and ended up in the tea gardens a couple of times (a brighter Coppers). don't think i saw anyone other than irish while there.

working for Rio Tinto at the moment in Perth. Not in the Mines, just Booking accom. for all the miners in dampier etc. Heading up the coast on Nov. 14th. to darwin. Anyone list a few places we shouldn't miss on the way.

cheers

PHP

[el_cuervo_fc]

The Tea Gardens

LOL there is a Tea Party reunion on the 28th Sept in Dublin somewhere, don't think it will be as messy as that place though!

Tea gardens and the on to Scruffys. good times 

Stay away from Ayers Rock, It's just a big rock in the middle of nowhere

Just back there from Oz at the end of May. Was there for nearly 4 months. Done a hell of a lot. My top 10 destinations for what it is worth:

1. Byron Bay
2. Airlie Beach Hated this place, caught bedbugs, an Irish barman was beat up the same weekend, 3 Canadian girls in our hostel had some freek come in and expose himeself & another hostel had their safe with everyones passports, credit cards, atm cards, drivers lic etc. stolen all on the same weekend, the fact that there was alot of redkneck Ozzies about because it was a public holiday (bank holiday) might have been a major part of the place being like that. O ya and the roughest Outback muckers you ever seen where drunk as skunks everwhere (unlike your endearing backpacker drunk    ) in their filthy singlets.
3. Brisbane
4. Fraser Island
5. Mount Beauty (Northern Victoria)
6. Melbourne
7. Coffs Harbour
8. Whitsundays
9. Beechworth (Northern Victoria)
10. Sydney

I thought airlie beach was great craic.  Everyone there was in good spirits as they were travelling through, so they just spent a few days getting loaded before heading out on the Whittsundays.

[Onion Bag]

The Tea Gardens

LOL there is a Tea Party reunion on the 28th Sept in Dublin somewhere, don't think it will be as messy as that place though!

Tea gardens and the on to Scruffys. good times 

Stay away from Ayers Rock, It's just a big rock in the middle of nowhere

Just back there from Oz at the end of May. Was there for nearly 4 months. Done a hell of a lot. My top 10 destinations for what it is worth:

1. Byron Bay
2. Airlie Beach Hated this place, caught bedbugs, an Irish barman was beat up the same weekend, 3 Canadian girls in our hostel had some freek come in and expose himeself & another hostel had their safe with everyones passports, credit cards, atm cards, drivers lic etc. stolen all on the same weekend, the fact that there was alot of redkneck Ozzies about because it was a public holiday (bank holiday) might have been a major part of the place being like that. O ya and the roughest Outback muckers you ever seen where drunk as skunks everwhere (unlike your endearing backpacker drunk    ) in their filthy singlets.
3. Brisbane
4. Fraser Island
5. Mount Beauty (Northern Victoria)
6. Melbourne
7. Coffs Harbour
8. Whitsundays
9. Beechworth (Northern Victoria)
10. Sydney

I thought airlie beach was great craic.  Everyone there was in good spirits as they were travelling through, so they just spent a few days getting loaded before heading out on the Whittsundays.

Have to agree with you, biggest pile of shite and a waste of time and money

[Onion Bag]

Ayrs rock that is

[el_cuervo_fc]

Scruffys was never a waste of money.  always a good result at the end 

[Onion Bag]

A good warm up in the tea gardens and then scruffys, air locked

[Aerlik]

working for Rio Tinto at the moment in Perth. Not in the Mines, just Booking accom. for all the miners in dampier etc. Heading up the coast on Nov. 14th. to darwin. Anyone list a few places we shouldn't miss on the way.

cheers

PHP

Right, if you have any brains you'll do the coastal route seeing as it is only 200-odd kms longer than the inland route as far as broome.  OK, so seeing as I am fairly familiar with this part of the world here's what I recommend.

First of all it is starting to get very fecking hot and humid here so MAKE DAMNED SURE YOU HAVE PLENTY OF DRINKING WATER- at least 20 lts per person.  A mate had to go out yesterday and conduct the aerial search which found the car of the 50-something y.o. man who died from heat exhaustion east of Derby in the last couple of days.  This is very unforgiving land, I promise you.

Do the Pinnacles near Cervantes if you absolutely must.  It is a bit of a hike off the main drag to get there but you decide.  Nothing to see in Jurien Bay so you should easily get way past Geraldton (stop for fuel only - bit of a redneck paradise quickly taking off as the Iron Ore Boom brings the grunts out of Perth and further north) and spend a night or two at Kalbarri.  Nice, off the main drag and great, I mean great fishing off the beach.

The road to Monkey Mia (named after a ship) takes you past one of the saltiest bits of ocean in the world apparently but it is worth taking a look at the stromatolytes, the oldest living organisms in the world.  Shell beach is breathtaking and the wee village of Denham is not bad for a quick stopover. It has been 6 years since I was there though so things have probably changed.  The dolphins are interesting and the catamaran tours to see the eagle rays, tiger sharks, dugongs, flying fish and turtles are good value.  

Carnarvon - use it to stock up and then make your way to Coral Bay.  The whale shark season is long over but whale watching tours are, I think in full swing.  Judging by the number of humpback whales I have seen this past two months they're bound to be down that way now.

You MUST go to Exmouth and you simply MUST snorkel in Ningaloo Reef.  Simply an outstanding experience.  If you can get good quality snorkelling gear in Perth do so as the stuff up there is nasty and definitely not cheap to hire.   If you can get a waterproof case fitting for you camera do so as you'll not regret it!!!

Now, here's next bit.  Are you in a hurry to Darwin or can you spare an extra three or four days in WA?  If you can, then I implore you to take the inland route to Karajini national park.  For me simply the most beautiful place I have been to in this massive land.  Get there before the rains start in December...BUT...make damned sure you know what the weather is like before you go wandering through the gorges.  Flash floods have killed some local volunteer rescuers recently all because stupid German and Japanese tourists didn't check, got caught out and had to be rescued.The gorges have to be seen to be believed.  The view from Oxer's lookout is class.

Drive on afterwards stopping only to refuel at Pt.Hedland and then brace yourself for the most boring stretch of road in Australia.  Feck me I will NEVER drive between Broome and Pt. Hedland again.  I actually enjoyed the Nullabor in comparison...and that is saying something.  If you are driving at night be very wary of cattle from Sandfire Roadhouse to the very end of the road when you turn left to Broome.  Also, keep an eye out for Bilbies and if you see any, PLEASE, contact the authorities and let them know where you saw it/them.  Likewise if you see any cats or foxes drive over the bastards.  I wish I had a gun licence in this country as I could have had dozens of cats and foxes removed from the foodchain.

Broome.  well I'm here now so it's not a bad joint.  Make up your own mind.  Cable beach...nah feckit...overrated.  Go for a trike flight with my auld mate Charles, the first man to ride a motorbike across the sahara desert in 1975.  Tell him this Irish lad sent you.

Avoid Derby...shithole.  I would not recommend going on the Gibb River Road  mid October to mid April as the wet season storms have already started and it is just too damned dangerous, even if you have a 4WD.  Fitzroy Crossing, well, refuel and move on.  Halls Creek.  Stay at the Kimberley Hotel/Motel and then onwards to Kununurra.  Thereafter I'll leave the Territory to someone else as it's not my forte.

I cannot emphasise enough the dangers of the heat at this time of year and it'll only get worse.  Be prepared.  Service your car professionally and make sure you have fuel, food and water.

Enjoy.  I have been doing so for years now.

[FermGael]

Aerlik has it spot on.  Could not give up any better tips.
Exmouth and Coral bay are the best diving and snorkling in Oz, bar none.
Take the inlland route to Karajini national park.  It is stunning.  spend 3 or 4 days there just exploring.
Some of the rock climbing and trails are stunning.  One in particular i recall that brings you to a plunge pool.  we had it all to ourselves for about 2 hours.  was sureal.
I do recall that the flies are good craic up that coast, especially around Monkey Mia.

[Aerlik]

I think that was Handrail Pool, FG.  Yes, same thing happened to me.  Dragged all the photography gear down and waited for the sun to come directly overhead.  Now, I'm no Lord Lichfield, but you cannot fail to take a decent photo in karajini Nat.Park.

Ah yes, the flies.  One serious piece of investment is a fly net for about $3.  It will prevent you from losing the plot as the flies are vicious bar stewards.

[give her dixie]

Sail the Whitsunday Islands for 3 days and snorkel the Great Barrier Reef at the same time.
That trip is a must.