posted 02-09-2005 12:31               

We hope to visit family in/near Syndey for a few days, then head north (driving??) to the Gold Coast / Surfer's Paradise area.

As we are only staying at one TS for one week, it should have:

- good location for sightseeing
- be on or very close to a beach
- possibly have some activities on site so we can meet people.

The beach and Great Barrier Reef are the main attractions for us.

I would like to start a search with DAE, so any suggestions are most welcome

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Bob G

posted 02-09-2005 21:49            

Availability will be your biggest problem - January is the school summer holidays (they start just before Christmas). I'd recommend you find someone with Worldmark and exchange with/rent from them and organise it in Dec '05. Worldmark has a string of resorts between Sydney and Brisbane, newest and the best IMO Flynns Beach in Port Macquarie, about half way between Syd/Bris. It's got a koala hospital next door, so you can get close to them, beach is less than 5 minutes walk, resort is new and luxurious compared to the level of most Australian timeshares.

For an action packed area, the Gold Coast is very touristy, WM Kirra is located down the southern end of the Gold Coast, but still within easy reach of the main attractions. Exchange/rent from a WM owner and you could have a few days at Flynns Beach and a few days at Kirra rather than a full week in one spot.

If you've got small kids or want a laid back week, Flynns Beach, teenagers would want a full week on the Gold Coast, or do both for less than a week each.

posted 02-10-2005 04:18               

We are H/W in early 50s and will be travelling alone.

Swimming and GBR are not the primary considerations, but both would be nice. Perhaps we can stay in NSW and still get a good "Oz" experience without the GBR

I mentioned Jan because we would like to be home for Christmas with the kids (that we are LEAVING BEHIND), but I can still get two weeks off work in early Jan (quiet time for me). If Jan is not good because of school hols, then what is a good time for a North American looking to escape our winter for a couple of weeks?

Perhaps this will not be as easy as I thought?

All suggestions most welcome!

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Bob G

There are two types of people in this world, good and bad.
The good sleep better, but the bad seem to enjoy the waking hours much more.
Woody Allen

posted 02-10-2005 08:05               

I grew up holidaying on the Gold Coast. January is High season, most properties jump to double the rent. We were just there for three weeks in December. It's considered low season at most resorts up until the week before Christmas and in some cases right up until the 24th December. The kids go back to school the last week of January so February is a good choice for that area or late November early December and you could be home for Christmas. We stay at a wonderful place called Grande Florida at Miami beach which is about 10 minutes from Surfers Paradise. It is half a block from the beach. For a two bedroom we only paid $570 AUD for 7 nights. We also stayed right in Surfers Paradise for a few nights over New Years and it was a lot of fun.
We have friends who live right next door to the Worldmark at Kirra, it looks very nice. We have never used a timeshare for the Gold Coast area, because unless it's prime school holidays, accommodation is very affordable.

Email me if you need more info.

posted 02-10-2005 09:33               

We stayed at hotels during the trip and cannot advise you of the timeshares.

Among the highlights of our trip down under 4 years ago was visitng the GB reef and Currumbin National Park, where you can visit a game park. We stayed in Surfer's Paradise for a week and Cairns for a couple of days. Port Douglas or a number of other smaller islands would be a better base than Cairns. It is very tropical and can get quite hot at that time of year. Bring lots of "mozzie" (mosquito)repellent!

Another highlight of our trip was taking a tour along Melbourne's Coast Highway and taking a penguin tour the following day. Melbourne is quite cosmopolitan, with a similar flavor of TO, with the many ethnic neighbourhoods.

I will be at the TO TUG meeting in April and bring my Australia information. In the meantime, let me know if you have any other questions.

posted 02-10-2005 17:33            

January if you stick to NSW and Gold Coast is hot, but not TOOO hot a bit over 30degC - there may be a few days where it gets VERY hot (close to 40degC) but if you are staying on the coast the ocean breezes cool it down and the humidity isn't too bad. North Queensland is the tropics, so 95% humidity plus the heat makes it feel even hotter. January I would say avoid the Great Barrier Reef, best seen with no stingers, no cyclones and lovely weather May-Aug, which is not the best time to see the southern bit of Australia. Australia has about the same temp extremes as Portland to Cabo. Lovely in Cabo is too cold in Portland, lovely in Portland is hot and sticky in Cabo - best to do them in different trips, ditto for Australian tropics and Australian temperate areas. I wouldn't recommend any of the inland TS in January - way too hot to consider, and that even applies to Victoria.

You'd also want to avoid the Gold Coast and some other beach areas the first week or two of December (so January avoids that) - early December is "schoolies" when the kids doing their final exams finish school and flock to the Gold Coast. Legal drinking age is 18yrs, so it gets pretty messy. By late December/January when all school ages are on holidays it becomes more family orientated along the coast. Most of the NSW coast and the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane would both be civilised crowded in Jan, not rowdy crowded.

posted 02-11-2005 07:47               

Thanks very much!
We may have to totally rethink our trip planning

And yes, I am a Canuck!
I was last in Oz back in mid 70s, so looking forward to a return visit!

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Bob G

posted 02-11-2005 20:09               

your soon to be "daughter",

posted 02-12-2005 21:12            

I'm going to Magnetic Island in April, staying at the Island Palms resort there, which is a better time of year to travel up North. There is a TUG review of that resort. Timeshares in Australia are not as luxurious often as the ones in the US seem to be - I don't know how the Canadian ones compare, but if they are similar to the US, then you need to bear that in mind if using a timeshare here (although I am sure the WM ones are of a generally higher standard). Having said that, I find the ones I've stayed at to be clean and comfortable, and am usually happy providing the location is a good one for a holiday.

Personally, if I had a friend visiting Australia, I'd thoroughly recommend trying to time the visit for a good time of year to visit the Far North (GBR etc). But if you really want to go in January all is not lost...I love January in Sydney!

If you are visiting Sydney in January, we have some great beaches here, plenty with good cafes and restaurants adjacent, lots of native bushland, Australian wildlife parks, the Opera House, a beautiful Harbour with lots of accessible activities, a famous bridge which you can climb to the very top of (book ahead) and the Festival of Sydney with lots of cultural events. Also, that time of year you can enjoy outdoor cinema in the botanical gardens in front of the Harbour, and often outdoor plays in parks or at Balmoral beach. There are also great wineries within 1 1/2 hours of Sydney.

So if you are restricted to January, you can have a great Oz experience in Sydney alone. You could easily fill up a week or more and be busy every day.

Do expect some heavy rain that time of year, in Sydney or further North, as our warmest time of year is often one of our wettest times. But its also often sunny and hot.

Have a great holiday!

Cheers,
Fiona

posted 02-13-2005 13:00               

While January is perfect from a work viewpoint, I'm not totally stuck on that time of year.

Perhaps a week in Sydney and a week in a NSW TS would give us enough to do for a week!!

quote:

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Originally posted by BarCol:
Will you and Suzan please adopt me???

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Only if brother Dave comes and does the cooking!

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Bob G

There are two types of people in this world, good and bad.
The good sleep better, but the bad seem to enjoy the waking hours much more.
Woody Allen

posted 02-13-2005 23:27            

Posted the following in another thread:
easiest and cheapest option of where to stay in Sydney http://www.yha.com.au/ Sydney Central - they have a few double rooms with private bath (looks like they are a bit under $100AU per night) Might be worth joining the YHA and then you get a discount.

It's located pretty much at Central Railway, which is well, central, to put it mildly you're within walking distance of a lot of the Sydney downtown attractions (or a very short bus/or train ride). There is also the very new Sydney Railway Square, on the other side of the station, but it doesn't seem to have private rooms on the web site, but there is a photo of one in the Photos for the hostel.

Central Railway has a train directly from the airport, almost every bus that runs through downtown goes within a block of Central. Only confusing thing would be which side of the train station you come out on (major roads are on 3 sides of station) but you can always ask someone.

"Backpakers" are a well settled travel circuit - but you certainly don't have to be hiking type backpacking. It does tend to be a younger crowd, but there are older people that can recognise the value. very central to everything, and pretty well any tour will pick you up at the door. Obviously the tours promoted in the lobby are targeting a younger crowd, and are more "cheap and cheerful". You'll find so much to do, it won't matter, either other tours, self tours, or doing the cheap options.