[swan]

hello dear friends...travelling plans are slowly forming here...would half september be a good time to visit Australia? We're thinking a little over 2 weeks, possibly Sydney - a week in a campervan (uluru?)- back to SYD or another city, and back home (HK).
Or Sydney - up the coast-Reef-home. Or Sydney - coast to melbourne /adelaide - Or ......Something like that.
So my first question is about the weather/season, after that I'll be back with more plans and a thousand questions!!

[Debbie]

September is a nice time of year as warm, but not too hot.

I think your plans are a little ambitious for a trip of only 2 weeks though. You need to stop and think of the distances and the fact that the roads are not like you are used to from Europe. The speed limits are much less and the road conditions are not as good in Australia (much as I hate to admit it).

You will spend all your time driving and not enjoy it as much if you have grand plans to drive up or down the coast and back. Do not even think of going to Uluru and back in that time.

Perhaps if you flew in to Sydney and then did a few days in the Hunter Valley and a few days in teh Blue Mountains. You could fly to Melbourne for a few days, or Adelaide or Brisbane. Cannot remember if the Floriade is on in Canberra in Sept? Canberra is beautiful and has heaps of things to see and do. Also good access to both Sydney and Melbourne by train or plane.

If you want to see the north, you would be better off flying in there and taking a tour if you only have 2 weeks. Or go to Western Australia and make a tour of Perth and surrounds. I can highly recommend Broome and from there you can take trips into the Kimberley. Spectacular scenery and september is the perfect time of year to go. I swam every day and yet it cooled off enough each night to be comfortable to sleep and the wet hadn't started so I could drive to the Kimberley.

There are some fabulous things to see and do and places you could visit in 2 weeks, but don't try to fit it all in this trip. You really need at least a month to 6 weeks if you want to do some of the things you mentioned and to be able to visit and see the country along the way.

PM me if you want more info.
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[Barbara]

I agree with Debbie two weeks is not long enough to do road trip to Reef or Uluru.

September is a good time to visit though before it gets too hot.

If you are keen on a camper van road trip ( I love that type of holiday) 'd think about flying into Melbourne and spending a few days there, then drive Coast Road to Adelaide (and visit one of the wine regions on route or Barossa after arriving), fly Adelaide to Sydney and few days there before flying home ex Sydney.

Of course I'd love if you visited the Gold Coast but a beautiful beach is probably not enough incentive when there is so much more in Melbourne or Sydney.
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Barbara

[swan]

dears, you are absolutely right - no over-planning and no mistaking in the distances! Barbara, your plan sounds great - another thing might be that J. will transfer his US private Pilot Licence to a temporary Australian one (he found that out on the internet yesterday) and we will possibly fly, OURSELVES!!! to Uluru from Darwin, or Alice Springs or so.

Hey, what can I say, the man loves to fly!

Planning a trip to Holland/Portugal first, Australia will be next!

Good to know september is a good choice

[Judy]

Swan, you're coming to Australia?! That's very exciting news. Please, please include Adelaide in your plans and we'll catch up. September, October and November are all good months for visiting. And so is Autumn, my favourite time of the year.

It will be great to see you both again.
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