Ok my friends out there who have been to Australia. Considering a trip down under in Dec/January. We would be in Sydney with friends for New Years and then....trying to decide what to do. Would love to see Byron Bay and Cairns again. Thinking of flying in to Sydney and out of Cairns. ( cathay pacific has a flight for under $1500 Cad- should we be grabbing it?). Should we drive? Rent a van and camp? Go to the Whitsundays? We have about 4 weeks in total. Suggestions wanted.

definitely do not miss the whitsundays...go sailing

Rent a campervan and camp. I spent 3 months years ago doing that! I'd love to do it again!

Kristina , we too are looking at renting a campervan. What company did you use? Would you recommend them? Do you need to reserve your sites months ahead? Was it crazy expensive?

Joyce it was years ago. Like 13 years ago. I cant recall the name right now (but it wasn't a wicked van) . But we were budget travellers. We rented it for 3 months. Picked it up in Cairns and dropped it in Melbourne. We were girls - mid 20's. It worked well for us! We saw a lot of Australia. Even drive to Ayres Rock!

Joyce —everyone in Australia is on holidays from Xmas through to mid Jan as its summer holiday time and school is out. So yes, I’d recommend booking way ahead, and for ur camp sites too

That seems a little pricey considering the sales lately. The Daintree is definitely worth the trip, and of course snorkeling at the GBR.

Lorraine agree, the Daintree is awesome and was hands down our fave part of Australia. We stayed at Silky Oaks (honeymoon) but Port Douglas was good too. Also stayed on Heron Island - great experience.

Phillip Island - go see the wild penguins come in to shore after being out in the sea all day. Once in a life time adventure, worth it....Get on a tour and go. Stay in Melbourne and book from there.

Sorry, can’t agree with you. Hundreds of tourists and bus tours, very commercial, stressed out penguins with people using flash cameras despite all the warnings. What is nice on Philip Island is the koala bear sanctuary, go in the morning and there are very few people there. (The bus tours come later)

Heron Island is special..out of Sydney do the Blue Mountains.

Margaret loved Heron Island and a bit more laid back than some of the other resort islands.

Just keep in mind that Dec/Jan is peak summer so it’s stinking hot and WET up north. Cairns will be extremely humid so I would not recommend camping anywhere north of Byron unless you can deal with heat. $1500 is great for flights at that time of year. Going through Hong Kong does add on a few hours but also breaks the trip up a bit.

Brianna, we are also planning an extended trip down under. What months would you recommend for camping? Is there any place you wouldnt recommend?

Joyce it really depends where you are wanting to go as the weather changes dramatically in different regions (think the US). Camping up north (NT & QLD), I’d do April to October. For SA, VIC, NSW and WA - March to May and September to November are the best times usually to avoid the heat. There is so much to see and do though that it really depends what interests you!

That is a very long drive...

We did the drive from Cairns to Sydney in 2 weeks and loved it! Stopping every where and doing day drips snorkling hiking etc. to Whitsundays, Fraser Island and all of the great spots along the way.

Can recommend two great BNB's one in Byron Bay (They also supply bikes for a ten minute ride into town). Also a BNB in Port McQuaurrie. Great places to see and stay. Message me if you would like info

I would grab a camper van and head north, we drove from brisbane to melbourne in a week, and the northern half of that was definitely our fave! We used ‘cheapacampa’ and there are lots of cheap sites along the way

We drove from Adelaide to Brisbane. Philip Island was fun. The apostles were amazing. Our favourite spot was camping among the koalas near Wilson’s Promontory National Park. Loved the Australian Zoo north of Brisbane. And the Gold Coast was great, too!!

I second Wilsons Prom. Although other direction than what you mentioned above...but the state of Victoria is fantastic. And yes, grab those tickets! Great deal for that time of year.

4 weeks sounds like a good amount of time to see Sydney and then drive to Cairns. I'd spend a week in Sydney (so much to see + so many day trips), then drive up the coast to cairns (2,600kms in 21 days = 124km/ day, meaning you'll have time to check out towns and beaches along the way). Also, $1400 is a decent price and Cathay is a great airline (my fav). When you're in Sydney, make sure to explore outside downtown - Surry Hills, Glebe, Watson's Bay (watch the sydney to Hobart race start from there if you're there on boxing day), Lavender Bay, North Head, Manly (do the Spit to Manly Walk), do the Coogee to Bondi walk etc. Plenty of day trips too - blue mountains (hikes and cute villages in the mountains), royal national park (Hikes by the water), Hunter Valley (wineries), Southern highlands (cute villages), Newcastle (nice up and coming city)... There's so much to do! PM me if you want more info on Sydney

Queensland in their summer is pretty hot & sticky. I'd consider Victoria.
There's gorgeous beaches in NSW and VIC

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I agree we went to Queensland in Feb and It was so humid and hot. The beaches around Port Stephens are unreal. Check out Nelson Bay. The great ocean drive is stunning. Tasmania is outstanding as well.

The Three Sisters day trip that we booked at the tourist bureau in Sydney Harbour was fantastic.

Remember that the jelly fish are out at that time of year where north of sydney. I would fly to gold coast and then drive. Rent a camper. Caravan parks are fabulous in australia. They have pools to accommodate for heat and inability to use
beaches. Many have ensuite bathrooms so you have a private bathroom for your site. Definitely do fraser island.

Thanks everybody. Definitely concerned about the time of year due to heat and summer holidays. Maybe Re: thinking that part although my friends birthday is New Years and that would be awesome in Sydney. (Where she lives)

Gaye ohhh wow... don't stress about the time of year! Summer is amaizng and NYE at the harbor (or anywhere in Sydney would be amazing). I lived there for a few years and it's one if my favorite cities by far
I would Fly into SYD spend some time here.... so much to see (fish market, the rocks, the harbour, coogee beach, bondi beach, manly, Newtown, Surrey Hills) I would spend s good 5-6 days in Sydney.
Then rent camper Van and drive up to Byron Bay stopping along the way. I loved stopping in Port Mcquarrie (parked on the beach and woke up to dolphins and a cute coffee shop on the beach), coffs harbour (visit the koala sanctuary). This takes 1 day of travel.
Then drive to Byron Bay
spend at least 4 days in this magical place!!
Then I'd do a night or in Brisbane (not much more than that) then you could either fly or drive on.
If you drive on.... I'd stop in noosa (1-2 days), hervey bay (Fraser island 1-2 days)
Then drive to Airlie beach! Stay here for a while. Do a cruise. Check our Hamilton island. Then off to Cairns. I wouldn't stay much longer than 1-2 nights in Cairns

Fly over to Tasmania. Hobart is a beautiful city and the drive up the east coast to the Bay of Fires is lovely. Fantastic beaches. It’s also a little cooler there than in Melbourne, which is also a fantastic city.

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Leisha give suggestions

Holly hahah... prints off itinerary.
Sydney - NYE fireworks hands down.
Cairns - yes! Fitzroy island and a reef tour! And there’s a yummy waffle place there too
Whitsundays - hell yeah! Hit up whitehaven.
It could be fun to RV up the coast and spend your time at each location.
I paid like $1200 or something for my flights. Maybe it was $1500. I say book before the prices go up. It’s never super cheap to fly there.
I saw someone mention Jarvis bay! It’s gorgeous there.

We flew into Brisbane from YVR (March 2018) we got return flights for 800.00 CAD. They were originally 15-1600 consistently then in December 2017 they dropped and we grabbed them. We were watching them just on google flights. I am not sure if they will drop for December for you
We rented a motor home through Maui Motorhome rental and travelled up to Cairns staying in several beautiful camping spots along the way over 3 weeks, did a catamaran boat trip to the whitsundays BEAUTIFUL, we also did a snorkeling trip out to the reef and flew from cairns back down to Brisbane then spent a few days in Brisbane and surrounding area before flying home. Total 27 days. It was one of our favorite trips ever and we have done some great ones:)
Feel free to PM me if any questions!

Grab that flight!! I went for xmas last year. Didnt know I was going until October. Paid $3200 for my flights. 1500 would be a DREAM

Also jervis bay (like 2 hours south of syd) if you're driving to Melbourne was AMAZING. The whitest sandy beaches. Not over populated. So nice

https://sailing-whitsundays.com/whits.../solway-lass-2d2n...

Drive! Take the ticket! And definitely the Whitsunday Islands!

Probably a good price for travel over the new years. We recently did Vanc - Syd then Brisbane-Vanc for $1000 - but that was in March/April. But $1500 is a VERY good price yo Australia anytime between ~Dec 15-Jan 15. So don't hesitate!

we did the whitsundays charter sail boat in Dec. the weather was too hot, no wind (we sailed one day only) and the water was murky so no snorkeling, if i went back i’d just stay on Hamilton Island

Thanks for all the insight!

Don’t miss Tasmania. It’s a wonderful place. Have been many times and never came home disappointed!

Fly qantas internally, watch for deals, Jetstar charges heaps for luggage - In Sydney, take the train up to the Blue Mountains for the day, so worth it

Triple Check those flights as I’m sure Cathay just announced they were cancelling this flight between Hong Kong and Cairns. I flew it years ago and it’s a brutal flight but convenient.
I’d see if you can fly into Brisbane, try and avoid going further north than Noosa at that time of year.
Expect lots of Aussies on holidays and for it to be busy as it’s their peak season - summer break starts around Dec 1 (for private schools and universities) until end of Feb when school goes back (university goes back March).

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We took cathay pacific last month to Melbourne. It was 1500 return. But, the Lay over was about 5 hours in Hong Kong. It was the longest flight we have ever had. I wont do it again.
For sightseeing, Sydney tour - Gray line. That was excellent! It was a whole day tour!

My niece lives and works in Byron Bay. It won’t be whale season at that time of year but Out of the Blue adventures does boat trips all year! Follow them on facebook - amazing trips!

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Australia is super super expensive. Just take this into account when planning. The cheap flight might actually end up getting you in the red.

If you plan on staying anywhere in Sydney CBD for NYE it will cost an absolute fortune. You can stay out of the city and catch the train or buses in.
If you have time you could drive but it's a long way. Flying is much quicker but then you dont get to see everything along the way. Cairns at Xmas time is HOT and humid. Summer in Australia.

Alexandra Headland - between Mooloolaba & Marochydore - gorgeous & not crowded
Avoid Cathay - the flight’s a killer!

It’s so freaking hot in December. I would advise to not go too far north in Dec/Jan unless you love the heat.. plus it can be box jellyfish season up north and then you can’t even go swimming! Byron Bay, Fraser Island are awesome choices for destinations.

Port Douglas...absolutely glorious. Lovely little town with loads of tours to Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest. Enjoy!