The Oz East Coast Adventure

Hello Brad 😊

I moved this to the Oceania forum.

Mel Reply to this

Can't comment on the Oz experience as I didn't do it. I guess it depends what kind of experience you're looking for. I don't think you'd particularly be missing out on stuff if you didn't go with them, as you can do whatever you want along the way anyway. You can get a Greyhound pass or a Premier pass (Premier I think is a bit cheaper if you're only doing the East Coast, Greyhound is better if you want to go elsewhere as it serves more of the country) - you'll meet people going your way on these buses as well as meeting people in destinations - people tend to follow each other up the east coast. Plus Greyhound and Premier run every day so you can book for when you want - some of the trips are overnight depending which towns you're going between and how long the journeys are.

Re weather - I was in Oz August/ Sept and then December and the first part of Jan, so again I'm not an expert on this - but as far as I know, you'll only get the rain further up the coast as you get near the tropics, as it'll be monsoon season (ie up in Cairns and maybe a bit south of there). You should be able to look up where the rainy season hits and when (lonely planet would have that info). In any case, monsoon rain comes in spurts so it's never raining all the time - ie you'll get a heavy downpour for an hour or two, then it'll stop for some hours, then maybe another - they're often at specific times of day too. Jan and Feb are high season for travellers in Oz so it can't be that bad to travel then! I shouldn't think it'll spoil your trip, though some activities will be limited in the areas affected (ie some river activities etc). Reply to this

yes it's definitely enough time - I took 2 months but I was travelling very slowly, and I stayed a while in a couple of different places - most people seem to take about a month to go up the east coast and it's still not a rush really, so you'll be fine with 6 weeks.
Just a suggestion but if you went up the east coast a bit quicker than 6 weeks, then I would really recommend going to the red centre to see Uluru (Ayers Rock) - it's really well worth it and as you're going all the way to Oz it'd be a shame to miss it - but obviously you need to plan for your own needs/wants, just thought I'd suggest it 😊
From what I know, yeah, Feb and March is good weather in NZ, late summer, so the weather should be more settled than at other times - I was there in spring (Oct/Nov) which was more unpredictable and rainy and windy.
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I had longer than you in Oz so I went right up the red centre from Adelaide to Darwin, stopping at Alice Springs, (for Ayers Rock), and then Katherine. But someone I met travelling on the way up the east coast flew from Cairns to Alice Springs (which is 6 hours by bus from Uluru or you can take a half hour flight to Ayers Rock from Alice).
What I'd suggest then (if you dont' mind a suggestion!) is that you could do the same as my friend, fly Cairns to Alice, head to Uluru (most people stay a couple of days, you can either hire a car or take a tour), and then from Alice Springs, fly straight to Melbourne, (my favourite city in Oz) - really vibrant and arty, good for a few days, and you can also do a day tour along the Great Ocean Road from there - I can't remember the company I went with, but it was really good, just a small group and included a helicopter ride over the 12 Apostles which was unmissable. Then from Melbourne you can head to NZ easily (it's about 3 hours flight to Auckland from Melbourne as far as I remember).
If you go on to this site: Webjet - this can sometimes give you the cheapest fares on domestic flights in Oz - though not always, so check - generally Jetstar and Virgin Blue will do cheap flights and have special offers at certain times, so go on to their websites too. It won't be hugely cheap as you'll be in high season but it shouldn't be too bad if you hunt around. Also Qantas will do multiple route tickets, so with them you could book Cairns-Alice-Melbourne all on the one ticket and that might be a better price.
I think in 6 weeks you could easily do all this - ie a month up the east coast (maybe a few days longer) and then 10-12 days for Ayers Rock, Alice, Melbourne, Great Ocean Road. Ok I'm done with the advice!

My favourite places up the east coast were: Sydney, Byron Bay (good chilled out town, will be busy when you're there, but still nice I think - surfers' and boogie-boarders' town, also an alternative scene there), Fraser Island, Whitsunday Islands (fantastic for snorkelling round GBR).
Cairns was ok, it's worth taking a trip (you can do it there and back in a day or stay overnight) to Cape Tribulation and go on a nature boat ride down the Daintree river - you'll see lots of crocs!)

Hope that helps 😊 Reply to this