My husband and I will be in Australia for a couple of weeks in Feb and already planning time in Sydney with relatives as well as 4 days in Melbourne. We'll have an additional 5 days back in Sydney so we would like to see/experience more of the country than just visiting cities.
We're already planning on going to the Blue Mountains and are considering a few days in the Great Barrier Reef but not sure if we should go all that way for only 3 days. What other parts of the country are closer to Sydney and worth seeing for first-time visitors? Anywhere we can take a train or bus that would be worthwhile?
We love nature and outdoors and experiencing new adventures so we're open to any ideas.
What would you do with 5 extra days in Sydney?
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You could go north to Nelson Bay, it's a great place to see koalas in the wild. Other possibilities with about a two hour drive are: going south to Kangaroo Valley in the Southern Highlands, or the south coast--Hyams Beach and Jervis Bay.
The capital, Canberra, is another possiblity, it's about a 3-4 hour drive south.
If your available on a Sunday, a trip out to the Hawkesbury which is 1 hour north west of Sydney is worth a visit. It is a historial town with a beautiful setting and a cute country market on the Sunday.
Also a train ride down to Kiama would be a lovely experience. The winding coast lines, the forest, the beach, the blow hole. Great for a little day trip!
If you are interested in the Hawkesbury (& it is lovely) check out the ferry which delivers the mail. The riverboat postman trip runs from around 10am-1pm, chugs its way around the Hawkesbury & includes morning tea & lunch if you wish. Magic on a fine day.
Here's another vote for the boat which leaves Brooklyn to deliver mail to the Hawkesbury River residents. www.riverboatpostman.com.au . The boat looks prettier now that when I went on it a couple of years ago (we live just up the road). I agree with Trotsky's comment that it's magical on a fine day - don't go if it's raining or dreary. It only operates Monday to Friday but other river ferries operate and go to different parts of the river on the weekend.
If you go, do visit a wonderful but small secondhand bookstore in Brooklyn. The sign on the door reads, "We are open every day from morning tea to cocktail hour. But we close all day Tuesdays for lunch".
If you are interested in hang-gliding here is a link http://www.hanggliding.com.au/- and most information centres will be able to direct you to other locations or different companies.
Parasailing is good that time of year too: http://www.parasail.net/shp/about.htm
"considering a few days in the Great Barrier Reef but not sure if we should go all that way for only 3 days"
Do it. Fly to Cairns but stay in Palm Cove (or Port Douglas). A day out on the reef, a day up at Kuranda (take the train up and the skyrail back) and a day out on the Atherton Tablelands, maybe stay overnight at Yungaburra.
Either that or just stay in Melbourne ....
http://www.palmcoveaustralia.com
http://www.kuranda.org
http://www.yungaburra.com
Not sure what you have planned for Melbourne but if you want to get out of town, visit the Yarra Valley (an easy 1+ hour drive), drive the Great Ocean Road (really need a couple of days) or go up to Daylesford/Hepburn Springs, the spa capital of Victoria (about 1.5 hours drive).
http://www.visityarravalley.com.au
http://www.visitvictoria.com/Regions/Great-Ocean-Road.aspx
http://www.visitvictoria.com/Regions/Daylesford-and-the-Macedon-Ranges/Destinations/Daylesford.aspx
oh..id head down to kiama beach on the south coast and feast on the best fish and chips in the world!
it's a restaurant and theres a takeaway right next to it...
just follow the green grassy slope to where they clean the fish..youll usually see the pelicans first and the big line up second!
kiama is really pretty and there are some cute shops and if its the right sort of weather the blowhole might be blowing its stack
oh another idea... canberra
stay a couple of days and see our beautiful bush-capital
one of the nicest in the world id say
I love the GBR region, but the weather's not the greatest in February and you have so few days for this trip that I would recommend another destination.
I agree with Lanjohann that Canberra would be a good choice. It's a good place to see nature in the wild--Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve and Namadgi National Park, especially the Yankee Hat trail. You can even see kangaroos and lots of native birds right in the city, e.g. Red Hill. While you can take a bus or a train there from Sydney, you'd have a hard time getting out to the places I've mentioned without a car. So, I'd recommend driving from Sydney. It's an easy drive of around 3 hours.
Many thanks for all the good suggestions. I am very appreciative of all who took the time to write!
lanejohann and longhorn55-
Thanks for validating my interest in visiting Canberra. Whenever I mention it here in Perth, I'm given a perplexed look and asked 'why do you want to visit Canberra?'
Canberra is really popular to people for its nature of beauty, I think not just in this site I have heard of it but also from what I have read on Travel Explosion a few days back. Good luck on your trip!
We've just come back from a week's holiday in Canberra. I think 20 years ago people might have been justified in criticising it but now there is a lot to do in Canberra, including some really good museums and superb restaurants (yum). Our interest nowadays is family travel, but we love the National Gallery and the War Memorial. There is a Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition at the NGA at the moment. We did visit it (a nice exhibition, which I recommend; wrangling small people in galleries is made better by the fact that there was a children's play room installed halfway through the exhibition) but mostly spent days doing things like the pedal bikes around Lake Burley-Griffin. A nice holiday in all, and we didn't get to the end of our to-do list.
The architecture is quite modern, which I suppose might put a few off, but I think the planning history of the city is actually one of its biggest drawcards. Do delve into that if you think you might be spending any time there, it will help you 'get' the city.
Lavandula