am i crazy????

carang said:
now, i'm stumped....i've read some HORRIBLE reviews of quantas and virgin atlantic...
Click to expand...

I actually PREFER Virgin Atlantic - although Qantas tends to be pretty good too. You shouldn't have any major problems with either of them!! Virgin Atlantic is much better than Virgin Blue (australian domestic flights) - but if you're prepared, Virgin Blue isn't too bad. They don't give you any food or any "extras" but their prices are generally the cheapest... Virgin Atlantic feeds you though and they have the entertainment systems and everything... (Virgin blue has no entertainment, I don't think)
 
Hi Cara!

Congratulations! I'm sooo excited for you!

You'll have lots of fun! It was an annual trip for us every summer... Sydney-Brisbane & Sydney-Melbourne. I used to whinge about it every year... Oh No! Not another family car trip but now that I look back, it was a blast! My parents have been taking us on car trips from way back! Before we lived in Australia, we also did the Singapore-Thailand drive too!

I know you are planning to do the Sydney-Brisbane leg. I just remembered a few things I enjoyed on the journeys... the BIG everything... I remember a prawn/lobster, banana... and the fruit farms along the way... peaches, nectarines and strawberries! Perfect time to take the kids fruit picking... I remember eating just nectarines all day one time! All the beach stops we did along the way and stayed at caravan parks along the way to Brisbane... my fav was Coolangatta (can't remember how to spell it) they were cheap and LOTS of fun for us city folks. Beats a hotel experience any day! Dad drove one of those 6-8 seaters though. We never travelled in a campervan.

I have a suggestion though... instead of driving down south coz I remember it being the most boring drive on that long freeway! There was not much kid friendly stuff to do too... not that I can recall. Why don't you go further North? After the G.C. & Brisbane, why not head up to Sunshine Coast? The kids will love Noosa and the surrounding areas. Lots of easy family friendly walks/hikes. It'll be sun and surf all the way.

Have fun planning! There's heaps to do with the kids that time of year.

Cheers!
 
Hi Cara,

Would highly recommend this caravan park at South West Rocks

http://www.horseshoebaypark.com.au/

Other stop off places on the way up from Sydney to Brisbane.

Port Stephens (they filmed some of the beach scenes there for the most recent tourist ads.)

Sawtell (another great caravan park http://www.sawtellbeachcaravanpark.com.au)

Byron Bay.

I don't know the road south of Sydney that well but I do remember some stunning parts of the coast (take the coast road not the highway).
 
You COULD drive to Melbourne the longer way - along the coast, through Eden and all that. I LOVE the Batemans Bay area - I used to go camping there EVERY year when I was a kid... There's a gorgeous beach there called Pebbly Beach and there are all kinds of parrots and birds that are really tame, you can feed them from your hand - or just sprinkle seed on the ground so they don't scare the kids too much... And there are kangaroos too, all over the place!! It's one of my favourite places in the WORLD - but I spent a LOT of time there... a week and a half every year for probably 10 years or more!!

Going up to Brisbane, there are two main roads - one is inland, one is coastal. I think the coastal one is more scenic and all that - but you could take one road each direction to get a bit more variety... If you were going to JUST choose one though, the coast road has much more to see and do, in my opinion!!
 
thanks folks, we are planning on taking the scenic routes...

we have friends in each of sydney, brisbane and melbourne (another member from here that recently relocated... my son has been talking of nothing but his "best friend" since they left, so we gotta go south)


keep on with the places you remember... i'm going to make a list and mark them all off in our lonely planey guide!
 
HA! i dont' feel so bad... i just looked at the CX deal and it's only for 14 days! we're going for 27 days>>>>.

thank god! i was really kicking myself!
 
We flew from Europe- HKG with our son when he was 15 months and 14 kilos and as we flew standby we couldn't get him a seat (plane was really full) and it was a bit of a nightmare- however at the end of the day it was on flight, 12 hrs and once done it was done!

When I was a teenager we, as a family, rented a camper van and drove from Melbourne to brisbane.....was fantastic!!
 
i remember camping through the mountains in canada as a child and how much we loved it!

that's what made me think to do it with my kids...and hubby is looking forward to it too. he's never done anything like it!
 
I grew up camping in tents for my vacations. I want to do it with my kids as well. My Chinese husband had maybe only ONCE stayed in a tent before me - but I've dragged him a few times now and he LOVES it. We have a great tent back in Australia - there's no point bringing it over here... (it's BIG and HEAVY) - but I'd love to take our kids camping, probably back in Australia, when they're big enough... It's not very "Hong Kong" to holiday like that though. Fireplaces and pit toilets and cold water showers, if you're lucky!!
 
i LOVE the tent thing too... but with a very rambunctious 1.5 year old PLUS a very "helpful" 3.5 year old, i don't think we'd ever get the tent set up! we'd end up in hotels every night...
we actually considered the tent for a long time, but after considering our children decided against it...maybe when they are a little older.

my hubby has spent ONE night in a tent in canada and would love to do more, we just didn't have the time for it...
 
My parents started taking me camping when I was about 10 or so... but they continued the tent thing even when they had my sister - so I think SHE was in a tent maybe not at 6 months old - but I think that from the time she was a year and a half old, every year until now - she's 11 now. When she was a baby though, my brother and I were 16 and 14 so my parents had plenty of help with setting up the tent and watching the baby and everything...

This is the place where we camped: (Pebbly Beach, just north of Batemans Bay, about maybe 4 hrs south of Sydney)

10FlowersAtDawn.jpg


07NikBernieAndLorikeet.jpg


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BEAUTIFUL!


listen, i'm starting to get REALLY ambitious now...

do you think that in 27 days, we could reasonably make it syd-bris-syd-mel-TASMANIA?

i may be biting off more than the family can chew....???
 
HONESTLY - I'd leave out Tasmania. You'll already be REALLY busy without it.

A few years ago, we did 12 days JUST in Tasmania. We only stayed 1-2 nights in each place with a few hrs driving between each place. And there was stuff we still didn't get to do. Tasmania is a BEAUTIFUL place and you wouldn't want to rush it!!

Although if you DO want to go bad enough, then you could probably squish it in - although it'd mean longer days driving and less time at each place along the way... *shrugs* It is possible though, it's all about how badly you want to go!!
 
I think it would be just too much adding Tasmania to your trip. You'll have plenty to do between Bris and Melb. Though if you want to go a bit further past Melbourne the Great Ocean Road is a spectacular drive. Then head inland a bit to the Grampians.
 
Thanks guys!
Keep the suggestions coming! This is our first "family" trip, so not really sure how it will go...Hubby and I are fairly well travelled, but I have a feeling that throwing a toddler and a young'un into the mix is going to change our normal travel practices a little....

Having a hard time deciding what we should stop for along the way as every place i read about sounds SPECTACULAR!
 
Cara after following your postings about your trip to Australia, my hubby and i have decided to go at short notice! We are going to go at the very end of this month for about 14 days using the CX holiday package.

We are thinking Sydney and Tasmania. Nicolejoy, what do you recommend for Tasmania? How many days would you stay there? We have a 5 month old baby with us so just leisurely driving and sightseeing is what we are looking for. Any suggestions welcome as I am just trying to plan this trip at short notice!
 
ahhh... 5 months! i remember that! it all seemed so easy (i was really lucky!) at the time.... THE GOOD OLD DAYS!

i've just had a day from hell! terrible cramps, nauseous, migraine headache, over-tired screaming kids...at least i had a lovely lunch!

anyone want to come over and knock the kids on the head with a frying pan, so i can get an early night?
 
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