2 days in Sydney or Brisbane areas?

Hey --

I'm not going on a cruise, but I'll be in the Brisbane and Sydney areas in late May '10 (for work) and have only 2 days to "play" - it's a weekend in between. Should I spend it in the Brisbane area (maybe hop up to the Great Barrier Reef area) or trip down to Sydney and check things out there? I'm likely to get 1 extra day in Sydney anyway, so I'm kind of leaning to trying to get up to the reef. I think I prefer to check out coastal areas (rather than interiors as I'm from Colorado so don't get to the ocean very often).

 

I'm just now trying to sort out the trip, so I'm kind of behind in putting it together -- any help is appreciated!

have only 2 days to "play" - it's a weekend in between. Should I spend it in the Brisbane area (maybe hop up to the Great Barrier Reef area)

 

Even a kangaroo couldnt hop that far in 2 days - its 1000 miles from Brisbane to Cairns, 2 hours by plane without airport waiting time.

 

Best idea may be to hire a car and drive north or south along the coast. Either direction is vastly different from a cultural perspective, south to the Gold coast is very glitzy until you reach Tweed heads and then to Byron Bay which is more alternative. North will see you travelling along the Sunshine coast which is quite beautiful. If you leave early, hire a 4X4 and can make it to Frazer Island this trip will leave the GBR for dead, although I'm not sure 2 days will give it justice and its a 6 hour drive with ferry. A pleasant alternative may be to Noosa and there are lots of tours out from there.

 

Also have a look at the Gold Coast Hinterland. You could easily spend 2 days exploring the rain forests and all the beautiful waterfalls, secluded swimming spots etc.

Hi Madisonsmom,

 

The Great Barrier Reef is beautiful, and you could see a bit in 2 days (although you'd only just be skimming the surface!) As far as how much time you have there, it totally depends on how early you are willing to get up for a flight, or how late your willing to get to bed! If you don't already have your transportation arranged between cities, you could easily finish work in Brisbane (example) fly to Cairns, spend the 2 days there and fly direct back to Sydney (example) at the end of your "free time". Or you could fly round trip from Brisbane. Flights from Brisbane to Cairns are 2 - 2.5 hours. Flights between Cairns & Sydney take 3-3.5 direct or up to 7 hours via Brisbane. So, it is totally doable, especially if you are flying up from Brisbane. You can check out cheapest flights & timing options at either virgin blue com au or jetstar com au. If your looking to make the most of your days there, there are a large chocie of day trips from Cairns that will show you a fair amount of the area. check them out on standbycairns com au. Id personally recommend a Barrier Reef Day Tour, and a Daintree & Cape Tribulation tour, if you wanted to sample the area in only 2 days.

 

Alternatively, you could also spend 2 days in the Sunshine Coast or Gold Coast areas of QLD (both about an hours drive from brisbane.)

 

Sydney could easily take up your 2 days (as well as your extra one!). There are lots of things to see and do in Sydney, including the Blue Mountains (1.5 hours from Sydney), the city itself, harbour bridge climb if your game, Bondi beach etc. But, if it is beaches/coastal scenery you would prefer, Sydney is not the best place for this. I know that Bondi is a world famous beach, and sure, it's nice, and if your staying in Sydney, it is certainly a place to visit, but it's not our most beautiful beach by any means.

 

Hope this may be a tiny bit of help, shout out if you would like any help in putting together a sample itinerary to get you to Cairns/Barrier Reef for your couple of days. Id be happy to play around with researching it.

 

Anyways, whatever you get to do, Im sure you'll love your time here, and hopefully want to come back!

 

Cheers,

Ell

It is just a lot of flying to get to the GBR for a overnight. Great place, poor timing. Sunshine/Gold coast idea is best bet for beach. You could also trek out to O'Reilly's Rainforest and look at the birds. It is a fantastic spot albeit in the mountains.

Thanks for the information. I'll actually be in Sanctuary Cove for the beginning part of the week, then end up Fri. morning with a meeting in Brisbane. That's when I was thinking of catching a flight up to the GBR area or drive up to Sunshine Coast. Then fly to Sydney (actually Canberra) on Mon. pm for another meeting on Tues and return to Sydney after that for my return flight on Wed. I'll talk to my colleagues today and see what they have to say -- I'm sure I will enjoy whatever experience I'm able to put together. Thanks again for your input!

How are you planning to get from Canberra to Sydney? It's a 3 hour drive. Brisbane is nowhere near the GBR so you'll have to fly 2 hours to Cairns.

 

Remember that Australia is about the same size as the USA and distances between cities can be substantial. If you only have a couple of days available to explore then you'll get the most bang for your buck in Sydney.

Fraser Island could be a great option and include the North Coast on the way there.

 

For more info, maybe I can check some of the local tour operators for you.

How are you planning to get from Canberra to Sydney? It's a 3 hour drive.

Sydney-Canberra is fortunately very easy, because of the enormous number of flights between them and the ease of getting between both city centres and their airports. When I'm out in Sydney, I have often popped down to Canberra from Sydney for dinner and sometimes just for lunch. And if you book more than a couple of weeks in advance, you can usually pick a flight that's got reasonably cheap seats if that's important. One-way fares on Qantas start from AUD 69 during the very regular sales that there are on this route; I baulk at paying more than AUD 100 each way unless I really have to.

 

Personally, if I were in Madisonsmom's shoes, I would get the hell out of Queensland on Friday, and basically aim to spend the rest of the stay in Sydney, treating the Tuesday morning meeting in Canberra as a little time out of Sydney. It might be different if Madisonsmom knows Sydney very well already, but this is what I'd advise for a newcomer to Sydney.

I mentioned the drive time because so many visitors to Oz aren't aware of the distances involved and the time constraints that places on getting from A to B, especially by road. I always fly from city to city as it's quicker and often much cheaper overall. Qantas wouldn't be at the top of my list of "bargains" but you never know as fares alter from day to day. I'm a Virgin Blue fan but will take JetStar at a push. Avoid Tiger Airlines at all costs. They might be the cheapest but they are also the most unreliable with frequently cancelled flights and terrible customer service. The latter surprises me as Tiger is owned by Singapore Airlines which is the best airline in the whole of Australiasia IMO.

Qantas wouldn't be at the top of my list of "bargains" but you never know as fares alter from day to day. I'm a Virgin Blue fan but will take JetStar at a push. Avoid Tiger Airlines at all costs.

On Sydney-Canberra, the main advantage of Qantas over Virgin Blue is the 20 flights a day on weekdays; Virgin Blue only has 8. This means two things: You are more likely to be able to fly when you want to fly and fine-tune your plans accordingly; and if you're only looking for one cheap seat there is a better chance that there will be one of those lurking on one of those 20 flights a day.

 

If you book just before travel, then Virgin Blue can be significantly cheaper because they less often sell out their cheapest fares close to travel date.

 

But if you book a few weeks in advance, there is often very little in it. For example, in a month's time you can currently get Qantas for $69 each way on at least some flights pretty much every day. Virgin Blue's lowest fare is $49, but only on some of their already-fewer flights. Otherwise, you are looking at $69 or $79 at least. And one difference is that those fares on Virgin do not include checked baggage, which is $10 extra for one bag; but the Qantas fares already include 23 kg of checked baggage.

 

So, as always, it pays to look carefully. My usual Australian domestic routes are Sydney-Canberra and (to a lesser extent) Sydney-Melbourne. Because most of my trips are planned at least several weeks out, and often several months out, I seldom find any compelling reason to fly anyone else but Qantas, even before taking into account my frequent flyer perks.

Thanks for all the advise - but here's what I am going to do for my 2.5 days off...

 

Mon. Arrive in Australia & fly Sydney -> Brisbane (for work) do my work in Brisbane and Sanctuary Cove area, end back in Brisbane for meeting on Fri. morning.

 

Fri. pm Fly Bisbane -> Cairns, rent a car and travel onto Port Douglas to stay for the weekend. I'm checking into snorkeling companies and found "Wavelength" -- they specialize in snorkeling tourism and they sound like a good outfit. Anyone heard of them?? Or recommend anyone else?

 

Mon. pm Fly Cairns -> Brisbane then catch my flight from Brisbane -> Canberra (on company). Meeting in Canberra on Tues.

 

Wed am Fly Canberra -> Sydney to catch my return to US flight.

 

I know I'm missing out on Sydney altogether, but expect that if I go back at all, it will probably be for work and I'm more likely to have other opportunities to check out the city at that time. Otherwise, I'm just going to have to start planning that Australian cruise now!!

 

Thanks again for all input.

I know I'm missing out on Sydney altogether, but expect that if I go back at all, it will probably be for work and I'm more likely to have other opportunities to check out the city at that time.

That's no problem. Sydney needs two to four weeks on its own, anyway, to get to see it and its surrounds properly. If you avoid Sydney altogether on this trip, then it makes it much more feasible to see the places you've decided on.

 

If you have an evening plus another 24 hours in Canberra, you'll get to see all the main things there.

Thanks for the information. I'll actually be in Sanctuary Cove for the beginning part of the week, then end up Fri. morning with a meeting in Brisbane. That's when I was thinking of catching a flight up to the GBR area or drive up to Sunshine Coast. Then fly to Sydney (actually Canberra) on Mon. pm for another meeting on Tues and return to Sydney after that for my return flight on Wed. I'll talk to my colleagues today and see what they have to say -- I'm sure I will enjoy whatever experience I'm able to put together. Thanks again for your input!

you dont have to fly all the way up to cairns you can fly to airlie beach or hamilton island (airlie beach is on the coast opposite to hamilton island) you can go on great barrier reef cruises from either location and it is only about an hour and a half or so flight time out of brisbane or coolangatta (gold coast airport) the whitsundays there are glorious and definately worth a look plus the reef is closer to shore there than off cairns.things in australia are not as close as they seem my advise is dont try and see too much.

Shhhhhhhh! The Whitsundays are Australia's best kept secret IMO. Nearest mainland airport, Proserpine or you can fly direct into Hamilton Island. I'd take Airlie Beach over Cairns any day.

LMAO :D I'm sitting here thinking "who are these mugs sayin you have to fly to Cairns to see the GBR?" I've dived off Cairns, Tvlle, Maggy, Whitsundays, and Orpheous (sp?) seriously, after Orpheous Whitsundays wins hands down. Hamilton / Airlie is far nicer than Cairns too!

 

BUT OP, you will love Cairns, have a great time, and enjoy yourself!

Thanks for all the advise - but here's what I am going to do for my 2.5 days off...

 

Mon. Arrive in Australia & fly Sydney -> Brisbane (for work) do my work in Brisbane and Sanctuary Cove area, end back in Brisbane for meeting on Fri. morning.

 

Fri. pm Fly Bisbane -> Cairns, rent a car and travel onto Port Douglas to stay for the weekend. I'm checking into snorkeling companies and found "Wavelength" -- they specialize in snorkeling tourism and they sound like a good outfit. Anyone heard of them?? Or recommend anyone else?

 

Mon. pm Fly Cairns -> Brisbane then catch my flight from Brisbane -> Canberra (on company). Meeting in Canberra on Tues.

 

Wed am Fly Canberra -> Sydney to catch my return to US flight.

 

I know I'm missing out on Sydney altogether, but expect that if I go back at all, it will probably be for work and I'm more likely to have other opportunities to check out the city at that time. Otherwise, I'm just going to have to start planning that Australian cruise now!!

 

Thanks again for all input.

 

May will be perfect in Port Douglas for your weekend off to relax and enjoy the tropics - rainforest, beach and reef.

 

I met a happy rep from NY in Cape Tribulation (even further north), who had flown from Sydney for her precious one free long weekend off work.