I'm off to Australia in October for just over a month and will be using the Greyhound bus service to stop off at various places as I travel from Sydney to Cairns. I have lots of ideas floating around at the moment regarding places I want to visit and activities and was wondering if anyone on here had any recommendations??

Cheers,

DD

Yeah mate, get yourself to manly beach! And if you go into the city, there is a sealife place, which i thought was amazing! Both in Sydney! :thumbsup:

there is an amazing trip to Fraser Island (which i think is near Hervey
bay) east coast. And you basically get a 4x4 and camping/cooking equip. They send you to the Island (which is the largest sand island in the world) and you just explore for about 3 days, no guides or company reps, just you, your mates and a 4x4 - this was the best activity i did over my stay in Oz. the island is amazing, loads of wildlife (dingos on the loose so beware) shark infested sea (not good for swimming) and sum good fishing if your interested (shark of course). I dont think it was that expensive

http://www.koalanet.com.au/fraser-island-intro.html

we did our trip through a backpacking company called Koala (we didnt use this website) and it was part of a package, but you can always find a cheaper price.

Enjoy

and when you get to Cairns avoid a bar called the Woolshed, its like summat from benidorm, but funny if your blind drunk! also if you get the chance go further north to Cape Tribulation or Cape Kimberley for some tropical rainforest action, proper good ;)

If it was me (and I wish it was), I would.....

Get down to Coogee Beach for a few days to recover from the flight. It's the beach to the south of Bondi and is a lot more chilled and has a better mix of locals and travellers, as well as the 2nd biggest pub in the southern hemisphere. Hostels are OK but if you get a crappy room, just ask to move or move on.

Once recovered, move to Kings Cross or central. Explore Opera House, Bridge etc. Some nice places to stay, a lot of nasty ones; choose carefully.

Then head north, breaking up the journey at a beach resort or two. I lived in Brisbane for a while and I can't think of a single reason to visit it again, so I'd make straight for Fraser Island. The hostels will pick you up from the coach and organise a Landcruiser for a group of you.

Maybe go to Airlie beach and do the sailing round the Whitsundays - could be great, depends on how you all get on in fairly cramped and uncomfortable conditions.

Get to Cairns and do the PADI course and take a trip out to the Great barrier Reef and dive, dive, dive, dive, dive!

Tricky

there is an amazing trip to Fraser Island (which i think is near Hervey
bay) east coast. And you basically get a 4x4 and camping/cooking equip. They send you to the Island (which is the largest sand island in the world) and you just explore for about 3 days, no guides or company reps, just you, your mates and a 4x4 - this was the best activity i did over my stay in Oz. the island is amazing, loads of wildlife (dingos on the loose so beware) shark infested sea (not good for swimming) and sum good fishing if your interested (shark of course). I dont think it was that expensive

http://www.koalanet.com.au/fraser-island-intro.html

we did our trip through a backpacking company called Koala (we didnt use this website) and it was part of a package, but you can always find a cheaper price.

Enjoy

Thanks for the suggestions so far. We were looking into a trip like this and wasn't sure whether to book online or while we were over there.

Well I did it the opposite way from you (Cairns to Sydney). Did it by the Greyhound service as well though which I would recommend over the train service. In Sydney, if you are staying at Hostels stay at Railway Square if you can. its a great hostel with lots of Character. Go on the Steak night, its a great night to "meet" people on. The Aquarium and Taronga Zoo are well worth a visit. Bondai Beach is actually really disappointing, but still worth going to just to say you've been there.

When you start heading north first stop should really be Newcastle. I wouldn’t stop there too long but it’s a nice place to see. From here you can do a lot of stuff like Quad biking and a Wine tasting tour (great way to get very drunk). You have to go to Coffs Harbour and Byron Bay. In Byron Bay, do the walk to the lighthouse. Great views. Make sure you’ve got water with you though, it’s a long way and can get hot. There’s an ice-cream store at the lighthouse though, best $3 you’ll ever spend!

Go to Surfers Paradise and make sure that you go to Seaworld here. I went to loads of Aquariums all over the world and this was quite simply the best one. After that you’ll be heading towards Brisbane, which is the last big city that you will see. Really nice place with plenty to keep you occupied, including a Casino. I think this is where we went to Steve Irwins Australia Zoo as well. It’s a day trip where you are coached out there, one of my favourite experiences was here as I got to feed an elephant. Open to anyone who wants to do it, my mate chickened out though.

As other people have said Frazer Island is a must. We also visited Magnetic Island which is just south of Cairns. When you get into Cairns its like a less well developed Blackpool really. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great place to stay and do stuff but a lot of the bars cater to drunken Brits with topless competitions and such. You can’t go swimming in Cairns as the beach is closed due to crocodiles. There is a false beach though. Go to the Great Barrier Reef! I would recommend that you head further up north if you can and go to Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation. It’d be silly to get so close to the rain forest and then not go. Be careful though, we were nearly killed by a giant bird, can’t remember the name of it now but it kicks a hole into you.

Looking at what I’ve typed that seems like a lot of stuff to do, but don’t worry about it. We took a couple of months to do that but bummed about for most of the time on the beach. Have a great trip and hope I haven’t given you eye strain. Check out link in my Signature for all Australia related pictures.

Well I did it the opposite way from you (Cairns to Sydney). Did it by the Greyhound service as well though which I would recommend over the train service. In Sydney, if you are staying at Hostels stay at Railway Square if you can. its a great hostel with lots of Character. Go on the Steak night, its a great night to "meet" people on. The Aquarium and Taronga Zoo are well worth a visit. Bondai Beach is actually really disappointing, but still worth going to just to say you've been there.

When you start heading north first stop should really be Newcastle. I wouldn’t stop there too long but it’s a nice place to see. From here you can do a lot of stuff like Quad biking and a Wine tasting tour (great way to get very drunk). You have to go to Coffs Harbour and Byron Bay. In Byron Bay, do the walk to the lighthouse. Great views. Make sure you’ve got water with you though, it’s a long way and can get hot. There’s an ice-cream store at the lighthouse though, best $3 you’ll ever spend!

Go to Surfers Paradise and make sure that you go to Seaworld here. I went to loads of Aquariums all over the world and this was quite simply the best one. After that you’ll be heading towards Brisbane, which is the last big city that you will see. Really nice place with plenty to keep you occupied, including a Casino. I think this is where we went to Steve Irwins Australia Zoo as well. It’s a day trip where you are coached out there, one of my favourite experiences was here as I got to feed an elephant. Open to anyone who wants to do it, my mate chickened out though.

As other people have said Frazer Island is a must. We also visited Magnetic Island which is just south of Cairns. When you get into Cairns its like a less well developed Blackpool really. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great place to stay and do stuff but a lot of the bars cater to drunken Brits with topless competitions and such. You can’t go swimming in Cairns as the beach is closed due to crocodiles. There is a false beach though. Go to the Great Barrier Reef! I would recommend that you head further up north if you can and go to Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation. It’d be silly to get so close to the rain forest and then not go. Be careful though, we were nearly killed by a giant bird, can’t remember the name of it now but it kicks a hole into you.

Looking at what I’ve typed that seems like a lot of stuff to do, but don’t worry about it. We took a couple of months to do that but bummed about for most of the time on the beach. Have a great trip and hope I haven’t given you eye strain. Check out link in my Signature for all Australia related pictures.

Thanks for the recommendations. I have heard that you have to book your travel on the Greyhound 24 hours in advance if you hold the KM pass. Is that correct?

Great pics btw. Reminds me to stock up on batteries for the digital camera lol.

I think thats right, 24 hours in advanc,e or if you book it say 3 days in advance, then you still have to ring 24 hours before you depart to confirm. I wouldn't book any trips now if I were you (like the Frazer Island one). It won't be any cheaper to do so and it means you have to be somewhere on a given day. Its better to wing it in my opinion.

And ask someone who's come down the coast where they went to the barrier reef from. I went from Cairns and it was awesome but I read a lot of brochures saying that it was better to go from Port Douglas. Do some investigation on that.

I could have taken thousands more pictures, I'd got bored of taking them by the time I got to Australia :).

How could i forget the Whitsunday islands, this was part of our Fraser island package - whitsundays is an amazing trip and well worth the money - although it can get cramped living on the boat, but some packages offer you the chance to stay in a hotel/room on one of the many islands.

But for sure get up north past cairns, go to cape trib or cape kimberley for the rainforest experience! there are some mad creatures up there.

makes you want to go back.

How could i forget the Whitsunday islands, this was part of our Fraser island package - whitsundays is an amazing trip and well worth the money - although it can get cramped living on the boat, but some packages offer you the chance to stay in a hotel/room on one of the many islands.

But for sure get up north past cairns, go to cape trib or cape kimberley for the rainforest experience! there are some mad creatures up there.

makes you want to go back.

What is the public transport like up to cape tribulation and cape kimberley?

YHA do a free shuttle from Cairns to Port Douglas. From there I'd go to Cape Tribulation on an organised trip. Its a lot more fun doing stuff like that with other travellers.

you can hire kangaroos in cairns, i hear they are fast.

Byron Bay just below Surfers,what a chill out place,well worth 2 or 3 days.

byron bay was very laid back and chilled, id say avoid surfers paradise if you can, very touristy - not very australian.

Did anyone ever have the pleasure of visiting the town of Nimbin :) now that was an experience! haha

Thanks all!!