Sussex by the sea

Hi all, I have managed to get the whole of December off from my job in England and am thinking of heading to Austrailia for between 2 and 4 weeks dependant on cost etc etc. I am a 27 year old fella and travelling alone. Have checked out the flight costs and they aren't too bad but its just the accomadation I am tad worried about. I can't ever see me getting the oppurtuinity of grabbing a month off anytime soon and keeping a full time job (even if it is pants!).
I was thinking Sydney but am happy to go anywhere really. If there any like minded people or anyone with any advice then it be very much appreciated!
I probably fly home before xmas as wouldn't wanna be on my own on xmas day haha. But am very much open to ideas, if anyone can help with accomadation ideas or where to visit etc etc then it would be much appreciated. Thanks a lot!!

carolinephillips

Sydney is a great place, but if you have 4 weeks you should really go to more than one place. You could do Sydney, Uluru, Perth. Or Great Barrier Reef (Cairns ), Sydney, Melbourne, for example.

campervanfan

maybe have a look at sites such as www.airbnb.com.au .....a good way to book a few nights here & there & meet people at the same time...have a great trip- I'll be doing a month over Christmas too to visit family so I share your excitement

snuggs

Hey there...
A month in Australia will be awesome... And definately action packed if you want it to be...

Personally I think you should start North ( Cairns ) & work you way down...

Cairns is the main place to be up North - The Barrier Reef - Thats a must do... if you can - try get hold of a water proof camera to get the best photos!!
Port Douglas is a small town hour north of cairns which is a nice place...
And then you've got the Daintree forest - which was awesome!!

Tully - I only went there to Whitewater Raft & it was one of my favourite days ever.... ( if you choose to do it - do extreme... its much better & worth the extra dollars )

Airlie beach / Whitsundays Airlie beach is rather small but fun but its main attraction is Whitsundays... Which you can Sail around the whitsunday islands... Its truly amazing... you can dive on Reef - there are different packages to choose depending on preference...

Fraser Island Its an island off the coast - you can spend your time camping out on the island... partying & driving 4x4's on sand...great fun.. I spent new years doing that... Properly the best new years ever!

Brisbane Beautiful city... its in a great location to do stuff... Steve Irwin Zoo isnt too far away & theres also a Koala sanctuary too...

Byron Bay one of the best places to go to in Australia... Great scenery... Amaazing music.... and just a real good place to party / chill!

Sydney Its reputation speaks for itself ... Bondi worth a look but in my opinion there are far far better beaches.... Coogee is one! Also Blue mountains is definately worth a look...

Melbourne beautiful place ( although I didnt get chance to see it myself ) Ive been warned it does get cold there though!

thats just a rough guide of main places to go to... As you only have a strict time scale...
but you can book all sorts of tours in advance if you research online etc...
and they can do the planning for you... I travelled for 8 months & loved it...

Good luck planning it and get saving.... Australia is expensive!


P.s use www.bug.co.uk << best site to use for hostels... I used that all the time!

derab

If you wanted to do the tropical far north I would advise that you do that first as the later you get in December, the closer you get to the rainy / cyclone season.
Melbourne is not cold in December, it is regularly hotter in Melbourne than Sydney over the summer months. It regularly gets into the 40's for New Years.
apart from that Snuggs list is a pretty good one.

Bermudashorts

I would cover: Sydney, Uluru, Great Barrier Reef. In fact that is what I did do on my first trip to Australia for three weeks in 1998. You will meet plenty of others if you stay at back packers, do a liveaboard boat trip at GBR for a few days too.

GarryP

A number of people fly in to Darwin, do Kakadu, then hop across to Cairns, etc. and work their way down by coach or train. At least that's what the nurses we met told us ...

However, they do it earlier in the year. December = Rains = North is not the place to be
eg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairns#Climate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin,...ritory#Climate

My inclination might be to somewhat do the reverse, fly in to somewhere in the south, Melbourne or Sydney, and work your way up towards the Barrier Reef. That would also give yourself a chance to acclimatise to the temps.

And as for flying out, you might find that arranging it so you fly out between Christmas and New Year is a good bet. Flights tend to be cheaper then, and you get to have a warm Christmas day with whom ever you might meet (...), and a UK booze up for New Years Eve, where you can make friends jealous.

jad n rich

Go for the 4 weeks. 2 wont be enough to cover the distances between places.

Look at backpackers hostels, that would cover the Xmas alone thing, plenty of others in same situation, and for eg in sydney huge gatherings of them on beach Xmas day.

moneypenny20

Not sure I'd do NT and FNQ in December having come from the UK personally but maybe that's just me.

commonwealth

can u do a sydney new years eve at the harbour? best NYE experience.

Jilliebee

As a tourist, Christmas Day on Bondi would be great x

sign

just wot i needed ta.

carolinephillips

No- avoid it on Christmas day- it is packed and full of drunks.

snuggs

I spent Xmas on whitsundays which was awesome ... I heard Bondi is great fun at xmas & yes there will be alot of drunk people there... same as any place....

I heard a rumour that they charge you to go onto the beach tho....?

Sussex by the sea

Thankyou all for all your help. Very much appreciated and all taken on board. Literally gotta look at the finance now. Slightly frustrating as I haven't had a chance to save up really as it's expensive out there. Rather do a couple of weeks and hopefully 4 then not at all. I keep looking at ways to get the cost down. Thanks guys