Clippy

Hellloooo

We're looking at booking a couple of weeks end of May beginning of June..

Flights seem to be way cheaper from Gatwick unfortunately, but we're looking at a couple of hundred pound each cheaper so we'll probably go from there.

Anyway, we want to visit Sydney and also maybe Brisbane..

I've found quite a cheap flight flying Gatwick to Brisbane then Sydney to Gatwick - both via Dubai but with no stopover.

Would you do it this way around? It seems more expensive to go into Sydney and out of Brisbane for some reason.

We were thinking of driving between Sydney and Brisbane over a few days or getting an internal flight maybe.

Would be grateful for ANY advice

DrWho

Do the drive if you can... There's some great scenery between Brisbane and Sydney... More to here than the big smokes...!

Clippy

Thanks
How long do you think the drive will take? We've got a couple of oldies and a little un with us

Jacque

Hi there

Allow a good two days to travel between the two cities. It can be done in one trip of about 11 hrs but I wouldn't recommend it, unless you're used to driving long distances and can concentrate for long periods of time.

We have relatives in Brissy and we always take two days to travel- it's a long way of about 1000km. Take a halfway break at Coffs Harbour and book yourself into a nice resort for two nights and do yourself a favour and enjoy the trip

http://www.ozhorizons.com.au/nsw/ch/ocr/ocr.htm

Good luck and have fun! When you do visit Brissy, make sure to see the lovely Sunshine coast if you have time- much nicer than the touristy Gold Coast.

DrWho

As Jacque said take at least a couple of days... Personally I'd take a few more because you can then just drive for 2/3 hours a day and look around the rest of the time...

There's also Byron Bay, the Hunter Valley where you can visit some of Australia's best vineyards, and lots more...!

Clippy

Excellent thanks both

ex_exile

If you've got olds tagging along and you have the time why not try getting a one way hire on a campervan? As people generally travel up from NSW to QLD hire companys sometimes have trouble getting the vans back to Sydney, if you ask you can get good deals.

Clippy

That sounds quite a good idea too..will look into it thanks

Has anyone done these flights without a stopover? Are we being ridiculous not having a stopover?

tiredwithtwins

hi kath,
we are flying heathrow to adelaide (via kl for a 4 hour stop), end of may then out of bris 4 weeks later - me and other half, 3 kids (9,6,6) for £3200. we have flights for $117 each from adelaide to sydney, and same for sydney to bris.
we are flying with malaysia

not sure if we are doing the right thing in not stopping over, but time will tell

Clippy

Just booked ours Flying Birmingham to Brisbane via Dubai, 1.30 hour stop then Sydney to Birmingham via Dubai and that's just a couple of hours in between I think

Flying with emirates - the flights from Gatwick last night were £499, this afternoon they were £510, tonight they'd gone up to £700 so for an extra £5 we're flying from Birmingham. Could kick myself for not booking straight away

In total we've paid £3353 for 4 adults and a 5 year old
Ah well I'm going on holiday

gedge

if you decide to fly i wouldn't bother booking it with your international flight
you'll get a much better deal booking direct with virgin blue or qantas i reckon, if you can get the times to match up

tiredwithtwins

lol ... not that we are excited or owt, but we go in 7 weeks and 2 hours

007

I would definately do the drive from from Syd to Bne, as the best parts of oz, where the "real" people live isn't in the capital cities imo.

you have 2 ways of going.

The Pacific Highway, which is the coastal route. I would stay at Port Macquarie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Macquarie if I were going this way. It's a nice coastal town, with plenty of accom and half way.

Or there's the New England Highway - which is the inland route. This way is rural, alot of nice country scenery - although very dry at the moment. I would stay in the city of Armidale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armidale. it's techinically a city, but more of a town with 25,000 ppl. It's also about half way.

I would go Sydney to Armidale, this way get a taste of rural oz half way up. From Armidale I would head to the Pacific Highway, via Dorrigo and Coffs Harbour. The mountains from Armidale to Coffs (through Belligen) are worth a look and one of my favourite parts of oz. From Coffs to Ballina it's coastal and an easy drive. And then Ballina straight through to Brisbane, via the Gold Coast.

A side note - If I were holidaying, I wouldn't even go to BNE until the day before it's time to fly out. I would stay at the Gold Coast (1 hour south of BNE)- it's alot more relaxed with beautiful beaches, and heaps more to do and see. Brisbane is more a place you live and leave on the w/end to escape. There's really not alot to do here in Brisbane for the tourist.

Clippy

Thanks for all the info everyone, really appreciate it

We've booked flights into Brisbane and then out of Sydney 2 weeks later.

We're going to find a hotel to stay at just for the first night we arrive in Brisbane then we're going to get a car and just spend at least a week on the drive up to Sydney. Hopefully we'll be able to book accommodation on the way where we fancy stopping

The oldies don't fancy the camper van option but I'm sure there are plenty of places to stay

If anyone can recommend a hotel near Brisbane airport I'd be grateful

Now we just need our visa Hope it comes before then else we've got nothing to validate

DrWho

You could try the Big4 campsites, we thought they were generally very good...

The one at Nambucca Heads has got some very new cabins built on stilts (you park the car underneath) complete with unheard of luxuries like a dishwasher, flat screen LCD TV with DVD player and surround sound, air conditioning, wireless internet access, 2 bedrooms one with double bed the other with 4 bunks... They call it a Surf Shack...