Work Widow

Travelling to Oz in December/January. I would suggest you don't go any further north than the Gold or Sunshine Coast.

During December/January the weather heats up together with the humidity. The further north, the greater the humidity and the rain.

Northern Queensland has hot, wet summers. Gold Coast ideal for surf, sun, sand and a little glitz (nightclubs, restaurants, casino etc), the hinterland is green belt - Sunshine Coast surf, sun, sand and less glitz, more a village atmosphere also with hinterland.

Spugsy

Ask me at the Kasabian gig you daft twonk, we've just been there and we both lived there.

weasel decentral

Do like all the Brits in Australia do for Christmas, have a picnic on Bondi beach with a Santa hat on. Followed by "real" pints at the cock and bull in Bondi Junction or the Steyn in Manly

Failing that you could go to Palm beach northern beaches Sydney and watch them shoot home and away

Culture and sun (and Santa hats)

Personally I would hire a camper van and drive towards Brisbane,there are some great beaches along there like Nousa, rainbow beach, 70 mile beach ..you get the idea! and usually all have places to have a barbeque or cook.

Miss Anne Thrope

Unless you have already booked it good luck getting seats with airmiles to Oz around xmas....

kittycat1

well thanks a bundle miss anne thorpe, you've just ruined my holiday! how bloody early do you have to book it then? bollocks guess i wont be going to oz for xmas- brilliant end to a shit week

butthnaks for pointing that out


wheres the kill myself smilie

Miss Anne Thrope

Don't give up so easily KC - call now to check availability and book what you can but it is a very popular xmas destination and airlines are getting stingier with airmiles seats. Planning ahead is the key!

Scubaroo

http://tizona.files.wordpress.com/20...p-accurate.jpg

Hope this helps!

For internal flights Virginblue is best, jetstar or qantas as second options, get cheap flex tickets early. Not tiger, often cancel without notice and not good record. If you have less than a month, stay east coast & south east. Keep some flex in the plan as the weather is not predictable at that time. Nb: Cains and Brisvegas are not beach towns, my fav are Noosa and Byron Bay and great reports from Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation up north but yes it will generally be bloody hot brisbane up, watch for the stingers at this time. Darwin and Central well worth a visit if you have time. Sydney is stunning, Melbourne at its finest at that time, best for food coffee and gurly shopping -- great ocean road amazing Lorne, Apollo Bay etc, starts 1.5hr out of Melb. Enjoy!

Dorothy

Really? In nearly 6 years of living here I've only ever seen one big spider. And that was outside the house.

kittycat1

Ok have reworked things so I can pay for a flight and I'll use my airmiles for my travelling at the end of my stay in Dubai, so panic over. Oz is still on! Hoorah! Thanks for the heads up miss anne thrope! that would have been a nasty surprise further down the line.

Spugs will quiz you and your better half tonight

thanks for all the other tips people keep them coming

mentalist

Over 95% of the world's most venomous snakes live in...Australia, but hopefully you won't meet one.

kittycat1

mentalist would you like one as a pet if I can catch one?

Dorothy

Again, lived in Australia for nearly 6 years now and have never seen a snake. Oh wait! I lied. There was one about 4 years ago flattened on the side of West Coast Highway. It had obviously been trying to cross the road and got run over.

It's not like spiders or snakes or sharks sit around filing their nails waiting for tourists.

IndieG

Never a truer word spoken

al dente

I'm a sydney girl. New Years has to be watching the fireworks at Sydney harbour. You can get jaded, apparently, but i've only seen 4 and loved them, the atmosphere is electric. Go on the Australia forum and ask them where to go. I'm a 'park with a picnic' chick though one attended a black tie do at the zoo which looked down the entire harbour - magic.

You can't drink on the beach on Christmas day so i'd have lunch somewhere else

I've seen heaps of spiders all over the Eastern Suburbs, including 2 massive Huntsman and one funnel web. Ugh.