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-   -   advise on what way to see Brisbane and cairns (https://britishexpats.com/forum/australia-54/advise-what-way-see-brisbane-cairns-486302/)

wewantoz Oct 9th 2007 10:07 pm

advise on what way to see Brisbane and cairns
 
We are visiting oz for 3 weeks in march 08,
what is the best way to see Brisbane and Cairns, Is it best as we are a large family to get a flight from Brisbane to Cairns or drive up ??.We are flying back to heathrow from Brisbane however We are very undecided when we finally move there where to live the Gold Coast or Cairns, ??.is there major differences.?
The weather in cairns looks to be great but the rain is heavy,We fancy living somewhere more tropical with the beautiful skys and warm weather some where different to home, but is there a demand for trade Jobs in Cairns as much as the Gold coast?, it is so difficult to make a split decision without actually seeing both, Does Any one have any views on this,?And do we have time to see enough of both given that we have 3 weeks :Anyone out there been and experienced both ?.
Hopefully our minds will be more settled after March !!

confused:

biggy Oct 10th 2007 12:32 am

Re: advise on what way to see Brisbane and cairns
 

Originally Posted by wewantoz (Post 5406277)
We are visiting oz for 3 weeks in march 08,
what is the best way to see Brisbane and Cairns, Is it best as we are a large family to get a flight from Brisbane to Cairns or drive up ??.We are flying back to heathrow from Brisbane however We are very undecided when we finally move there where to live the Gold Coast or Cairns, ??.is there major differences.?
The weather in cairns looks to be great but the rain is heavy,We fancy living somewhere more tropical with the beautiful skys and warm weather some where different to home, but is there a demand for trade Jobs in Cairns as much as the Gold coast?, it is so difficult to make a split decision without actually seeing both, Does Any one have any views on this,?And do we have time to see enough of both given that we have 3 weeks :Anyone out there been and experienced both ?.
Hopefully our minds will be more settled after March !!

confused:

If you are only here for 3 weeks then I think it would be more practicle to fly between destinations.....how many of there are you?

qwertyuiop Oct 10th 2007 4:10 am

Re: advise on what way to see Brisbane and cairns
 
We flew bris to cairns at easter. Family, four adults, one child....$2400 return.
Stayed at Palm Cove about 20 minutes nth of Cairns. Beautiful but expensive.... four hour reef trip =$800....Cable car to rainforest = $400.
Cairns itself was a bit of a dissapointment....alot of drunk natives around the streets through the day. Place seems to be booming with construction but we all got the feeling that it was a bit of a kip.:o


Originally Posted by wewantoz (Post 5406277)
We are visiting oz for 3 weeks in march 08,
what is the best way to see Brisbane and Cairns, Is it best as we are a large family to get a flight from Brisbane to Cairns or drive up ??.We are flying back to heathrow from Brisbane however We are very undecided when we finally move there where to live the Gold Coast or Cairns, ??.is there major differences.?
The weather in cairns looks to be great but the rain is heavy,We fancy living somewhere more tropical with the beautiful skys and warm weather some where different to home, but is there a demand for trade Jobs in Cairns as much as the Gold coast?, it is so difficult to make a split decision without actually seeing both, Does Any one have any views on this,?And do we have time to see enough of both given that we have 3 weeks :Anyone out there been and experienced both ?.
Hopefully our minds will be more settled after March !!

confused:


trevamather Oct 10th 2007 8:40 am

Re: advise on what way to see Brisbane and cairns
 

Originally Posted by wewantoz (Post 5406277)
We are visiting oz for 3 weeks in march 08,
what is the best way to see Brisbane and Cairns, Is it best as we are a large family to get a flight from Brisbane to Cairns or drive up ??.We are flying back to heathrow from Brisbane however We are very undecided when we finally move there where to live the Gold Coast or Cairns, ??.is there major differences.?
The weather in cairns looks to be great but the rain is heavy,We fancy living somewhere more tropical with the beautiful skys and warm weather some where different to home, but is there a demand for trade Jobs in Cairns as much as the Gold coast?, it is so difficult to make a split decision without actually seeing both, Does Any one have any views on this,?And do we have time to see enough of both given that we have 3 weeks :Anyone out there been and experienced both ?.
Hopefully our minds will be more settled after March !!

confused:

Hi
We started in Sydney in April this year for 3 days(bridgeclimb, manly, bondi,opera house etc) then flew to cairns for 9 days (cape trib,kuranda train and cable car,reef diving,reef flight) beautiful but I found the humidity rough even tho the wet season had passed! Hired a car thro Apollo from cairns to be dropped at brisbane when we flew home..Took a leisurely 4 day drive down the coast going to all the places we wanted. Airlie beach and the whitsunday islands just shouldn't be missed, hervey bay was absolutely gorgeous,Australia zoo is amazing along with all the other lovely places we called into. We spent last 5 days at hope island on the gold coast with girlfriends cousin, went for surf lessons (helps you to sleep!!) and generally chilled out on surfers paradise. We are heading for the gold coast because of her relatives, good to have someone you know close by, but once we are settled we both agree that a little further north would be for us...not as far as cairns, save that for hols.
All in all if you possibly can, drive either one way or return..sooo much to see and do.
Hope that helps
Trev
:thumbsup:

moocow Oct 10th 2007 9:23 am

Re: advise on what way to see Brisbane and cairns
 
if you want to see miles and miles of cane padocks then drive up. but its a long way. however a nice slow drive that stopped for a couple of nights in a few major towns could be worth a bit of a look as you might like some of them. have you considered a one way campervan rental? if you like the open road and camping then this is a good option but not sure if you have enough time to fit this in.

wewantoz Oct 10th 2007 9:43 am

Re: advise on what way to see Brisbane and cairns
 

Originally Posted by qwertyuiop (Post 5406943)
We flew bris to cairns at easter. Family, four adults, one child....$2400 return.
Stayed at Palm Cove about 20 minutes nth of Cairns. Beautiful but expensive.... four hour reef trip =$800....Cable car to rainforest = $400.
Cairns itself was a bit of a dissapointment....alot of drunk natives around the streets through the day. Place seems to be booming with construction but we all got the feeling that it was a bit of a kip.:o

Gosh thats alot, is that with jet star or virgin blue, when i was out there it was about £30 to fly for one from adelaide to brisbane I think we will be forgetting cairns if its that much. Thanks for the info.

biggy Oct 10th 2007 9:45 am

Re: advise on what way to see Brisbane and cairns
 

Originally Posted by wewantoz (Post 5407643)
Gosh thats alot, is that with jet star or virgin blue, when i was out there it was about £30 to fly for one from adelaide to brisbane I think we will be forgetting cairns if its that much. Thanks for the info.

how many is it for?

biggy Oct 10th 2007 9:48 am

Re: advise on what way to see Brisbane and cairns
 

Originally Posted by biggy (Post 5407652)
how many is it for?

$280 return each including taxes...


choice of 4 times early morning, mid morning, early afternoon and evening

qwertyuiop Oct 10th 2007 10:14 am

Re: advise on what way to see Brisbane and cairns
 

Originally Posted by wewantoz (Post 5407643)
Gosh thats alot, is that with jet star or virgin blue, when i was out there it was about £30 to fly for one from adelaide to brisbane I think we will be forgetting cairns if its that much. Thanks for the info.

Just checked the credit card receipt....$2548.05...course if you can leave at 6am and return at 5am youll get it cheaper!:thumbsup:

wewantoz Oct 10th 2007 11:45 am

Re: advise on what way to see Brisbane and cairns
 

Originally Posted by biggy (Post 5407652)
how many is it for?

Hi its 6 of us 2 adults and 4 kids

biggy Oct 10th 2007 11:56 am

Re: advise on what way to see Brisbane and cairns
 

Originally Posted by wewantoz (Post 5408260)
Hi its 6 of us 2 adults and 4 kids

$1680 return including all taxes with Virgin Blue, they also have specials on from time to time so you may get them cheaper

wanderingwombat Oct 10th 2007 11:58 am

Re: advise on what way to see Brisbane and cairns
 
With that lot it's not the seeing but the hearing of: Arewethereyet? Arewethereyet? Arewethereyet? Arewethereyet?
The expense of flying may be cheap compared to the stress.

If you have to drive Apollo Campers often require campervans returned south from Cairns and allow 4 days for the drive, sometimes paying petrol money. This is on a standby system rather than book ahead so it may not be convenient.

WW

alipally Oct 10th 2007 1:04 pm

Re: advise on what way to see Brisbane and cairns
 
Speaking from personal experience....

I wished I'd done it like this as it takes advantage of your jet lag!... fly into Brissie and catch a Virgin Blue to Cairns straight away or the very next day if you can't face it.... catch the earliest flight possible in the morning though.... you'll be up at 3am anyway! (If you book between 12pm and 2pm aussie time online it's called happy hour and you can pick up some really cheap flights, ours were £42 each for the 2 hour flight)

We did a few trips out but because I was flying again the next day, I couldn't dive while I was there!
Take a dawn hot air balloon flight! Awesome, and 4 am is when you'll be awake anyhow, so the early morning won't be a problem... go out to Green Island snorkelling.. another early morning trip. If you dive then do that too with the early morning starts! Also a trip to Cape Tribulation is, I'm told fabulous!
Hire a car a toddle down the coast stopping where the fancy takes you... There are loads of caravan parks. If you're on a budget you might consider a camper van.... Lots of places have free camping sites, I've been told!

Essential places to stop include, but are not limited to, Bundaberg Rum factory, Hervey Bay and Fraser Island(Don't miss Lake Mackenzie) ... both really beautiful places... March isn't Whale Watching season, so you'll miss that, but there's some great fishing trips to take if that takes you interest...
Maroochydore and Mooloolaba... fab places with a quite european feel to them... Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands, The boys took a helicopter ride over and really enjoyed it, not for me though, I'd rather be under the water! Lots of other places to visit but those were the highlights of our time
out there in August!

wewantoz Oct 10th 2007 1:43 pm

Re: advise on what way to see Brisbane and cairns
 
Thanks for your positive advise, 'Are we there yet' sounds oh to familiar from 4 of my kids and thats just on a sunday outing, haha ! god help going to oz with the kids..lol. DREADING IT.

Those prices are not too bad £42 each thats similar to what I paid from adelaide to Brisbane.i flew at 9am but wouldnt care if it was earlier to save money.

Its killing us having to pay for just the flights to oz ,all to just validate the bloody visa.!!!!.£4,500 for 6 of us ! HAD TO SELL THE CAR !!

I think we will stay in Brisbane for a week go and see the Gold coast look at some areas, then up to Cairns perhaps hire a car do you recon that I should have a base and travel around or stop and stay in different places is it too far to visit each place and then come back to base (accom)?

Is there any places or trip you think should be avoided I heard the feeding of the wild dolphins at Moreton Island Tangalooma is a rip off ,And you are not allowed to take photos, they want you to by their photos. Also has anyone been to tin can bay? aparently can feed the dolphins for free there ?I just would like to take the kids to do some things with out costing a fortune.

Where is a good base to rent a holiday house in the Gold Coast And in Cairns.Any ideas.??

The hot air balloon sounds scary I am petrified of flying am dreading the flight to oz let alone hot air ballooning lol.I bet the kids would love it though , never forget flying in a little old plane over the grand canyon I thought I was going to die .:(

Anyway thanks agian you friendly bunch for all your sound advise :)

wewantoz Oct 10th 2007 1:44 pm

Re: advise on what way to see Brisbane and cairns
 

Originally Posted by biggy (Post 5408346)
$1680 return including all taxes with Virgin Blue, they also have specials on from time to time so you may get them cheaper

Thanks


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