Where to start? (with planning your Australian holiday)

So you think — I'll just book the flights to Sydney and then we're off... but then you realise the Reef is quite far away from Sydney, and you quite fancy seeing that too, and then there's the Rock (Uluru) to consider too... and everywhere else besides.

So here's the plan:

Firstly, forget thinking that you are going to see everything — you won't!

Also, don't plan a whistle-stop tour thinking you have to see everything — all you will do is photograph a few 'main sights' (Opera House — 'click!', Harbour Bridge — 'click!'), and the rest of the time you will mostly see the inside of lots of airports, buses, cars, and probably not much else.

Think about the things you really love to see and do, and start from there — also factor in the weather.

Remember that you get the opposite seasons to the UK in the bottom (drawing a horizontal line across) half of Australia, and then the more 'temperate' weather (i.e. not tropical storms and dripping humidity) in the 'summer' for the UK in the top half of the country.

So here's quick guide to getting started planning your holiday to Australia:

Sydney (and Melbourne, and Adelaide, and Perth too) are the opposite seasons to the UK: Spring is Autumn, Summer is Winter, Autumn is Spring and Winter is Summer. So in December it's the 'June' equivalent of the UK (except more likely to be sunny and warm, as no Wimbledon!).
However 'summer' (Jan, Feb, Mar) up near the Reef in North Queensland (Cairns, etc) you are starting to head into the tropical season and it can get pretty sweaty up there... not to mention the cyclones!
Spring and Autumn, like here, you take your chances in most places, and can have gloriously sunny days, and rain too. Melbourne in August, for example, is serious coat weather!

So now that you know when you want to travel, think about how you like to spend time, and plan accordingly. Decide if you prefer beaches to countryside, outback to cities, rainforest to coral reefs. If you only have 2—3 weeks, try and spend at least 2—3 days in each place to really enjoy it.

And don't underestimate distances in Australia! The drive might look short on the map, but it really isn't. Factor in, also, that a lot of 'main' roads are only single carriageway, so you might want to take your driving in shorter stages — or fly.

Australia now has an excellent network of low-cost domestic flights — all of which you can book online from the UK (or anywhere).

Take a look at www.virginblue.com.au and also www.qantas.com.au, both of which do some great cheap fares, and cover most of Australia.

Another domestic carrier is Jetstar, which I'm not including the link to as I wouldn't recommend their service to anyone (my personal opinion of course, and you may receive a wonderful friendly, helpful and accommodating service from them... even if I didn't!).

There are also some 'local' carriers in certain areas of the country; for example, www.skywest.com.au flies a lot of the West coast destinations (we flew with them from Exmouth to Perth — and can I say that's a very scenic flight if you ever get the chance to take it — all past the Ningaloo Reef and over Shark Bay).

So, once you have worked out where you want to be in terms of the weather you want, then the type of experiences, plus you've worked out how to link them all by road or air, you are halfway there. Now there's just the accommodation to think about... but we should be able to help you out with that!

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