Help for Oz first-timer, please

[Kimby]

We are about to book tickets to Australia for a first ever visit. (I have also posted this on TTR.)

We have about 3 weeks, and can fly into one city and out of another. On my wish list: Sydney, Cairns, rainforest, beach, reef, then to Darwin and Kuranda NP and Katherine Gorge and next to Alice Springs, Uluru and surrounds.

We prefer to drive rather than take mass transit, and we think we'd like to rent an RV like we did in New Zealand a few years back, but the distances are so much greater that this may be impractical. Perhaps fly into Brisbane and rent an RV from Brisbane to Cooktown for the attractions in those areas, then hop to Darwin and another RV (is it feasible to drive between Cooktown and Darwin on our short timetable?) for Darwin, Kuranda and Katherine Gorge, then the Ghan train to Alice Springs and surrounds, then fly to Sydney to finish up and fly home from there.

What does anyone think?

Also, Qantas' flight from LA to Sydney stops in Brisbane. If we were to book RT to Sydney (it's cheaper than open jaw) but get off in Brisbane, would Qantas delete our return reservation? (We would not check baggage, so could just not reboard the flight when it makes its stop in Brisbane en route to Sydney.)

Thanks in advance for any advice you have. We have to book tickets by tomorrow to take advantage of the fare sale on Qantas.

[Deleted]

The distances are really enormous in Australia compared to what you might think -- and on top of that Australia has 3 rental zones, as I recall: urban, rural and 'outback' and you cannot take a vehicle anywhere you want. My longest drive was from Sydney to Cairns, and it was probably longer than it was worth, even though I am kind of thinking that you love road trips as much as I do -- maybe even more since you are from 'Big Sky Country.'

But frankly, I think you need to look into some domestic flights with short car rentals. Red dust and scrub all starts looking the same after six or seven hours on the road, and it becomes obscene when a billboard proclaims "KFC 248km" and by the time you get to a billboard that says "KFC 108km" you are beginning to drool because you have seen nothing nothing nothing.

Be sure to rent a DVD of "Wolf Creek" before your trip.

I am planning on posting some photos of Cairns in a few days. Even though it disappointed me on my second visit (because it had become so built up), it still had a certain charm.

[Kimby]

We purchased our tickets, flying into Cairns and home from Sydney. We have 19 full days on the ground, and are not much into cities, more interested in the natural environment.

I envision renting a campervan for about a week in Cairns/Daintree/GBR area, flying to Darwin, perhaps renting a 2nd campervan for about another week to visit Kakadu NP and Katherine Gorge, then don't know yet how we'll get to Uluru/Alice Springs (train, drive, fly) for around 5 days, then fly to Sydney for the final 3 days or so.

That all adds up to more days than we actually have, so would really benefit from some input on where to shave days off and where to add them. I'm wondering if we should plan to head south from Cairns a ways to take in sights there as well as north and inland...

Thanks for your inut...

[Deleted]

I think the only feasible way to get to Uluru for the length of your trip is to fly there. I think that Uluru has its own airport now, but back when I went, you still had to fly to Alice Springs (unless you were VERY rich) and then go by road for about 4 hours to Uluru.

I would expect this (trip to Uluru) to be your biggest budget item, unless camper vans are more expensive than I imagine (I don't even remember seeing any when I was in Australia on any of my three trips, but I guess my eyes just filtered them out).

[Deleted]

What are your travel dates?

[Kimby]

Arrive on the ground October 23, fly home midday November 12.
Our usual "shoulder season" travel time...

[Deleted]

Spring is nice in Australia. Of course Cairns and such are permanently in the tropics. Nevertheless, it was 'only' about 23°C when I went there once in July and the mango groves were actually freezing on the inland plateau from there. In Sydney, it was about 7°C. Everybody was freezing -- and me too!

[Kimby]

I would expect this (trip to Uluru) to be your biggest budget item
Why do you say that? Hotels? Transportation? I've read that the hotels have all classes / prices of lodgings...

I take it your vote would be to skip Alice Springs, then? Kings Canyon sounds pretty much like Utah, which we love, but don't need to fly 1000's of miles to see...

[Deleted]

Well, most likely prices have come down since I was there, because the destination isn't as rare as it used to be. Nevertheless it is out of the question to drive there from anywhere -- just too far on outback roads, so I would imagine that air fare remainS rather high just because there is no other viable option for most people.

I'm sure that your research will quickly determine if this is true. But considering the fact that airlines like Qantas are laying off so many employees, that generally means that the number of flights will decrease -- which makes fares rise rather than drop.

[pookie]

You are right about airport K2. I t has been there for many years.I lived there.

Kimby I would sugest you fly to Ayres Rock given the time you have and hire vehicle there to get to all tourist attractions.There are tours that take you but like everything in the outback it is costly and to see everything you are relying on there schedual and may not fit everything in.
You can fly from Darwin to Ayres Rock(Yulara,Connellen airport) Out directly to Sydney.They are not cheap.

All types of accomadation available from backpackers to 5 star.I have a 2006 acc guide here and cheapest backpacker acc $A33 per person prices will have gone up in 3 yrs sorry don't have updated prices.

There is a supermarket and post office in the village. The rock can be seen from the village but it is 20 klms away same with Olgas but different direction.Kings Canyon will take best part of day to visit

As with anywhere in Australian outback make SURE you have water with you at all times and sunscreen

[Kimby]

Thanks, K2 and Pookie. I am thinking since we are regular visitors to Utah's canyon country, King's Canyon may be too similar to make it worth the long drive. What do you think?

Also, is Alice Springs itself worth a look, or on our tight schedule should we skip it?

[Deleted]

I'm sure that Alice is no longer at all the same town that I saw 20 years ago. While it might now be a very nice town in itself, I don't think that it really has any unmissible attractions. The whole point of being in the 'Red Centre' is to see Uluru, the Olgas and such.

Frankly, Uluru was the only absolutely breathtaking sight that I saw in the area, because like you, Kimby, I had been to places in the U.S. like Zion, Bryce Canyon, Death Valley, Monument Valley, etc., which were all somewhat similar to the other Australian rock and mountain formations, as beautiful as they are. But I was very pleased to see them all anyway because, hey, they were in Australia!