Travel Domestic Travel in AUS

[juss]

So with international travel pretty much off the cards until at least the end of 2020 (if not longer) many of us will need to itch the travel bug in Australia and possibly NZ down the track.

Outside of the major capital city metro regions that are all worth visiting if you haven't been with plenty to see and do, what are some other places around the country you've been to or plan to go?

Thinking regions, towns, smaller cities, landmarks, landscapes, etc.

 

[Herne Hill Hammer]

So with international travel pretty much off the cards until at least the end of 2020 (if not longer) many of us will need to itch the travel bug in Australia and possibly NZ down the track.

Outside of the major capital city metro regions that are all worth visiting if you haven't been with plenty to see and do, what are some other places around the country you've been to or plan to go?

Thinking regions, towns, smaller cities, landmarks, landscapes, etc.

South Coast / Sapphire Coast of NSW.

South West of WA from Busselton to Esperance via Albany.

Ballarat, Bendigo Goldfields and smaller towns therein.

Great Ocean Road to Port Fairy.

Cairns / Atherton Tablelands.

Inland from Townsville, Dinosaur Discovery Trail.

Toowoomba / Darling Downs to Bunya Mountains.

Places close or near the Grampians, Hamilton, Stawell, Horsham, Halls Gap, Dunkeld, Balmoral, Ararat.

Bathurst, have a look around, cut some laps of the track.

Mt Gambler, Robe, Victor Harbor, Adelaide.

Canberra is good for a few days especially with kids, plenty of free stuff to see and do.

 

[RobbieGray17]

So with international travel pretty much off the cards until at least the end of 2020 (if not longer) many of us will need to itch the travel bug in Australia and possibly NZ down the track.

Outside of the major capital city metro regions that are all worth visiting if you haven't been with plenty to see and do, what are some other places around the country you've been to or plan to go?

Thinking regions, towns, smaller cities, landmarks, landscapes, etc.

1. Drive to WA - Broome
2. Flinders ranges
3. Halls Gap
4. Echuca, Shepparton
5. KI


Those for a start

 

[Run n Spread]

Going to be hard to fly domestic as well. Especially with borders shut.
But:
Sunshine Coast Qld
GBR
Saphire Coast NSW
Lorne and Great ocean Road
Echuca/Towns on the Murray
Mornington Peninsula (thou bloody freezing now)

Am actually considering going away somewhere Queens B Day w/end as a refresher

 

[RobbieGray17]

Going to be hard to fly domestic as well. Especially with borders shut.
But:
Sunshine Coast Qld
GBR
Saphire Coast NSW
Lorne and Great ocean Road
Echuca/Towns on the Murray
Mornington Peninsula (thou bloody freezing now)

Am actually considering going away somewhere Queens B Day w/end as a refresher

Agree. I have $1200 flight credits due in February. Hoping I get more than one flight for that.

Really keen to see what Echuca is like compared to mildura riverland etc.

 

[Gigantic]

Far south coast of NSW for later this year for me

 

[Great8]

Won’t be anywhere in QLD until September by the looks

 

[raskolnikov]

If you haven't been to the Blue Mountains do yourself a favour.

 

[Dirty Bird]

Kimberly’s, south-west tassie and red centre on my to do list.

 

[Run n Spread]

Any ideas for a good winter getaway in Vic or NSW given borders closed elsewhere Something to do outside in day so preferably not too wet. Would just put up with cold. No different to Melbourne anyway

 

[Seeds]

Anywhere that is world class nature wise is infested with crocs and stingers.

red centre isnt all that interesting.

nanny state rules ruins the cities.

australia sucks as a tourist location.

 

[Sydney Kicker]

Might be worth trying a local destination that usually gets a lot of overseas patrons. With no international travel could be good deals to be had plus it helps out the local industry. Uluru is one place I haven't been, perhaps that ticks the boxes. Great Ocean Rd is another.

 

[raskolnikov]

Any ideas for a good winter getaway in Vic or NSW given borders closed elsewhere Something to do outside in day so preferably not too wet. Would just put up with cold. No different to Melbourne anyway

Byron Bay with a side trip to Nimbin.

 

[Seeds]

Byron Bay with a side trip to Nimbin.

Too cold to swim at byron in winter. need to go north of the sunshine coast in winter if you want beach time.

 

[00Stinger]

1. Drive to WA - Broome
2. Flinders ranges
3. Halls Gap
4. Echuca, Shepparton
5. KI


Those for a start

Shepparton is a must avoid place, absolute dump

If you insist on going up that way visit Wangaratta, Millawa, Beechworth & Bright. They are actually nice

 

[00Stinger]

I am looking at possibly spending 4-5 weeks driving from Melbourne to Cairns and back in the middle of next year

I have been pretty much all up the east coast and have done this drive twice as a kid with my parents but now want to do it myself (with the wife & kids) since I am older and will appreciate it more

Melbourne
Wangaratta/Millawa
Albury
Gundagi
Canberra
Wollongong
Sydney
central Coast
Nelson Bay
Coffs harbour
Byron Bay
Gold Coast
Brisbane
Sunshine Coast
Hervey Bay
Bundaberg
Rockhampton
Airlie Beach
Townsville
Cairns

Then come back going inland

 

[Seeds]

I am looking at possibly spending 4-5 weeks driving from Melbourne to Cairns and back in the middle of next year

I have been pretty much all up the east coast and have done this drive twice as a kid with my parents but now want to do it myself (with the wife & kids) since I am older and will appreciate it more

Melbourne
Wangaratta/Millawa
Albury
Gundagi
Canberra
Wollongong
Sydney
central Coast
Nelson Bay
Coffs harbour
Byron Bay
Gold Coast
Brisbane
Sunshine Coast
Hervey Bay
Bundaberg
Rockhampton
Airlie Beach
Townsville
Cairns

Then come back going inland

Your kids will despise you if make them sit in the car for 4-5 weeks while you indulge. Just pick a place and go have fun and let the kids enjoy themselves.

 

[00Stinger]

Your kids will despise you if make them sit in the car for 4-5 weeks while you indulge. Just pick a place and go have fun and let the kids enjoy themselves.

they're small enough to not worry

Cairns might be a bit far so might have to pull it back a bit. That way we can spend excess time in places, ie a few days in Sydney, a week in the Gold Coast ext

 

[BILC]

Might look at doing 3 weeks in Tassie in September, suggestions??

 

[dagriggstar]

Stuff I've done in the last 9 months that I'd recommend
+ Kangaroo Island. Went there (just) before the bushfires. Camping facilities at that time were fantastic. Loved the beach area at the end of the ravine des casoars hike. If they restore the heritage accommodations I'd recommend staying there too. Spent a week there, which allowed time to see most of the sights.
+ Grampians has a wide variety of great views, in the sense that you don't necessarily need to be a fit hiker to get them. A destination you could go back to multiple times rather than going once and you've 'done' it. Picked three hikes in three different areas and got three very different but rewarding experiences.

Other places (again last 9 months)
Camped along the Coorong, actually saw a lot of emus and kangaroos. Recommend for animal lovers, but otherwise you're there about 2-3 hours you have a good time but it's enough I guess.
Mt Gambier area, of the caves around the place only did tantanoola caves which was fantastic, wanted to do the others but ran out of time, so I'm unsure if the others (Naracoorte and princess margaret rose) are significantly different (If they are do all, if not probably pick one of the three to do). Blue lake, I'd say was a unique shade of blue, but apparently was there when it is at its bluest, have heard poor things from other people who went at different times of the year.
Great Ocean Road was enjoyable but honestly, with the amount of tourists at that time, skipable. Probably no better time to do it than soon ish, whenever restrictions are lifted enough that travel in vic is possible (and safe) again but before the international tourists come back. If covid never happened, I'd be talking about having to really commit to it in a 'get up at 6am before everything is overrun' kind of way. I got the impression (again, with all the tourists) spending more time in Great Otway national park and less on the great ocean road would be a much use of ones time.
Stayed a night in Geelong. Couldn't really figure out what to do there, but also didn't do any research so that's probably on me.
Staying in Melbourne CBD area with everything walking distance was nice. I'm not one for nightlife, so the 2-3 days I spent there felt like a good amount of time. Enjoyed all the street art everywhere, it's nice in a you feel like you are discovering something kind of way.
Did the fairy penguin parade on Phillip island. Highly recommend for animal lovers, otherwise skipable. I had a great time though.

Hard to view your home city (adelaide) as a tourist destination. I guess the wine and the hiking would be the main drawcards. Pleasant city but not sure what is here you can't get elsewhere. A good amount of variety that I think you'll stay busy and have a good time but won't be telling anyone it.

My to do list in Australia at this point is a lot of the stuff up north. Karijini, Kakadu and Daintree. Probably awhile before I get to those though.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

Hard to view your home city (adelaide) as a tourist destination. I guess the wine and the hiking would be the main drawcards. Pleasant city but not sure what is here you can't get elsewhere. A good amount of variety that I think you'll stay busy and have a good time but won't be telling anyone it.

Planned to go to the Ashes in Adelaide a few years ago. Lost interest when everything had "serious holiday" prices (except the match tickets ironically) presumably because of English tourists. Probably get around to it someday for the AFL or BBL.

 

[Caesar]

Too cold to swim at byron in winter. need to go north of the sunshine coast in winter if you want beach time.

Soft. Water temperature is 20 degrees at the moment, it's mostly sunny and air temp is consistently in the low to mid 20s. Supposed to get to 28 next week.

 

[Seeds]

Soft. Water temperature is 20 degrees at the moment, it's mostly sunny and air temp is consistently in the low to mid 20s. Supposed to get to 28 next week.

Where do you get your weather forecasts from? The Bom 7 day forecast suggests it wont even reach a max of 20 degrees next week.

 

[Caesar]

Last time I checked the long range forecast was for 28 on Sunday week. May have changed. Regardless, the weather is not that bad and the sea is very warm.

 

[RobbieGray17]

Car and motorhome rental is getting out of hand, and even accommodation. I just saw a listing for a very and I mean very basic hotel at over $300pn despite regular rates at $110.

Who here would pay $450 per day for a standard motor home. Just looked it up and for 7 days minimum, everything around $3000 - $3300

7 days car rental would be $700 add to accommodation and it comes to no more than $2100. I get supply and demand and the fact that the rental industry went stupid offloading assets during 2020 but surely nobody is dumb enough to spend that sort of money. So big question: Why are prices this high?

18 months ago the rate for rental cars was $40ish per day. Now they're about $110ish per day.

It's definitely getting to the point that I'd just hire the cheapest car and sleep in it