Australia - how long do you stay for?

[Blackadder]

Am going for four weeks starting middle of this February, with wife and two other family members.

Limiting visit to east coast, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane.

Would like to have gone longer but unfortunately can't.

We stayed in Singapore, Perth, Uluru (Aryres Rock) Port Douglas (near Cairns the only relaxing bit )Sydney, Blue Mountains, Hunters Valley and Hong Kong.

If I had longer, I would have liked to have visited Melbourne. Ayres was interesting but only needs to be seen once.

Be prepared for a lot of airports. Have a good trip.

 

[Trufflehound]

Ayres was interesting but only needs to be seen once.

She never recovered after they axed That's Life.

 

[Rugrat]

I wish my ex wife would have stayed there forever

 

[Westdene Seagull]

I'd say what a combination of the other posters have said so far

- spend some time in Singapore on the way out (3 days is probably enough) and Thailand on the way back (a week minimum)
- don't try and see it all (it takes 6 or 7 hours just to fly over it!). for a first visit the East coast is your best bet (Sydney, Byron Bay, Brisbane, maybe a bit of the Great Barrier Reef). Save Ayres Rock and Perth for another trip

Six to eight weeks would be about the minimum I'd suggest

Fantastic place!

Definitely this on going via Singapore. It's a slightly surreal place and you don't need particularly long there. If your budget can stretch go for a decent hotel - they are generally good value for money with extremely high standards. I stayed in one that had an outdoor swimming pool on something like the 20th floor ( The Riverside Hotel I think ). Sentosa Island is worth a day trip as well.

If you want work in Australia try to link up with one of the fairs. They are always looking for casual labour ( I ran a soft drink van, sold ribs and corn and flogged glow in the dark roses at various venues ). The best bit is that as they travel you can plan your route to meet up occasionally and get some cash in hand work. I was lucky enough to have worked in many hotels in the UK so also managed to pick up a lot of hotel work across Oz.

As for places to go - don't discount Canberra as it's very interesting once you scratch the surface. I loved Cairns and didn't think much of Melbourne. Sydney is THE place to party ( and has some mighty fine women - just avoid Kings Cross ). Ayres Rock is OK but one hell of a journey - I stopped off in Coober Pedy the mining town. An experience to say the least - worth going just for the under ground hotel. Surfers is OK but do definitely visit Green Island.

Brisbane is a bit plain but I enjoyed it as the F1 was in town when I was there. The Blue Mountains are stunning and worth seeing albeit rather cold !

If budgets are an issue then using the Big4 camp sites is worthwhile. They are of a high standard and I lived on various ones through out the year I was there. In fact it's where I bumped into the fair ground people and got my job. All have gas BBQs and you can camp or have a mobile home. The one in Cairns is at the foot of the rainforest and it is rather disturbing the noises you can hear at night while lying in your tent.

When my kids are a bit older I will be encouraging them to travel and I can't recommend proper travel in Australia more highly - best year of my life ..... so far ( and I'm nearly 45 ! ).

 

[essbee]

Go there for as long as you can. Amazing country and amazing amount of things to
do and see. I would easily live in Sydney - it is simply my favourite city on earth.

Went there for three weeks a few years back and almost in tears when we had
to leave.

 

[LamieRobertson]

I'm off to Australia in a couple of years time for a mates wedding as I'm the best man. Now the question I have is how long do I stay out there for? Do I just take a couple of weeks holiday or do I go for longer? I have the option of being able to take up to a year off work unpaid and still having my job to go back to.

So any advice/ ideas welcome.

Forward planning!

 

[The Birdman]

Stay as long as you want if England knock Australiasheep out of the cricket World Cup.

 

[leigull]

Went for 3 months about 7 years ago, which I found to be about the right amount of time for what we wanted to do. Spent the first month landing in Sydney and then working way up the coast to Cairns on the Greyhound bus stopping at probably 6 or 7 towns for 3 or 4 days or so each (Fraser Island is a must!). Then flew down to Alice Springs for just under a week and did a camping tour of Uluru etc. Flew across to Perth for a couple of weeks then across to Adelaide. Hired a car and drove along the Great Ocean Road, stayed in Melbourne and then headed back to Sydney for New Years.

All worked out really well, the only thing I'd change now is possibly missing out Perth and spending a couple of weeks up the far north around Kakadu and Darwin. I'm not sure we made the most of Perth though and should perhaps have ventured a bit further south or north away from the city than we did.

 

[goldstone]

Why is your mate getting married in a couple of years time? Either he has asked a girl to marry him, she has said yes, and they're therefore going to get married, in which case why the feck wait two years? Or, maybe he hasn't yet found the girl, but has set himself a target of finding a girl and marrying in two years time, in which case don't book a non-refundable ticket.

 

[daveyboy1973]

Is there an age limit then? Ref the visa?

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Why is your mate getting married in a couple of years time? Either he has asked a girl to marry him, she has said yes, and they're therefore going to get married, in which case why the feck wait two years? Or, maybe he hasn't yet found the girl, but has set himself a target of finding a girl and marrying in two years time, in which case don't book a non-refundable ticket.

Without wishing to derail the thread - that's harsh. Getting married costs a lot of money even if you do a basic marriage. Maybe they want the big wedding thing ? Regardless, what the f**k has it got to do with you how long they wait ?

 

[happypig]

We went in 2004 for 4 weeks. I was quite happy to come home and there's a lot of places I want to visit before I go back.
I can see I'm in the minority though

 

[MattBackHome]

We just stayed for the one night when we went but my wife did say that an extra night would have been nice so we could have done the Northern bit.

We did a 2 night guided tour which was more than enough. The itinerary was something like:

day 1: Fly to Sydney / free time.
day 2: Coach to sunny bottom bit with sharks / lunch / bus to dusty interior bit with kangaroos /
day 3: Bushwalk to Northern bit with crocodiles / fly back to London

To be honest they dragged it out.

 

[wardy wonder land]

take the offer from your job re sabatical

have enough money to last 9 months

Buy Round the world ticket (travel one direction)

Spend 2 weeks getting to OZ (HK, Singapore etc)

spend 8-10 weeks in Oz (buy a car and just drive around the ****a)

spend 12-15 weeks in NZ

spend 6-8 weeks South america

spend 3 weeks US east coast

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

I agree with everyone saying go for as long as possible. Take the year off work. If you're 30 or under(i think) get the working holiday visa. Get one for New Zealand while you're at it too. I'd also reserve some of your 12 months off to explore Asia. Most of it is cheap to live in. I'd suggest as a very rough itinerary 7 or 8 months in Australia, doing various jobs to keep your money in good order, then two or three months in New Zealand. Buy a camper van and tour both Islands, again working odd jobs to stop your money from running out. Then a couple of months exploring Asia.

The fact that you'll have your job waiting for you to walk straight back into means you have an incredible opportunity that you'll only hate yourself for wasting. Go for it.

 

[rcf0712]

I'm off to Australia in a couple of years time for a mates wedding as I'm the best man. Now the question I have is how long do I stay out there for? Do I just take a couple of weeks holiday or do I go for longer? I have the option of being able to take up to a year off work unpaid and still having my job to go back to.

So any advice/ ideas welcome.

for life works for me

 

[colonies man]

I have lived in Oz for 25 years and the best time of my year is the annual trip home.Oz is fine but it ain't as good as some think.

 

[colonies man]

Living in Oz we have a lot of problems that tourists miss for obvious reasons,holidays are not the way to judge places.

 

[jimbob5]

Living in Oz we have a lot of problems that tourists miss for obvious reasons,holidays are not the way to judge places.

tell us more

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Living in Oz we have a lot of problems that tourists miss for obvious reasons,holidays are not the way to judge places.

Not sure what problems you're alluding to but of course there's still the modern day challenges of jobs and bills. That doesn't exclude it is a fantastic place to visit and, if you're lucky enough, live.