# Brisbane to Sydney or Cairns



## oli271

Myself and 3 (possibly 4) friends are coming to Australia in August/September this year. We arrive in Melbourne on 21st August, then are heading up to the Gold Coast for one week from 24th until 31st August. We then want to hire a campervan for the next two weeks and drive from Brisbane to either Sydney or Cairns.

We'd originally decided to do Brisbane to Sydney, and got some great advice from people about where to stay, what to see etc, but have been discussing the possibility of going north instead. I think if we went North we'd obvisouly get the benefit of the warm weather (I think?), bearing in mind we're British so 30 degrees is a scorcher for us. We'd also get to see places like Noosa, Sunshine Coast, Hervey Bay, 1770 and of course the GBR. There's also Australia Zoo, and places like Magnetic Island, Fraser island etc. By the way feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about any of this.

Going south we'd see Tweed Heads, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Newcastle, Forster-Tuncurry, Port Stephens, Byron Bay, Ballina, and of course Sydney, where we could do the Blue Mountains.

We would be flying from Cairns or Sydney back to Melbourne as that's where we fly back to the UK from. Which would be more exciting, fun and interesting? I'm the planner, so am panicking about it, but the others really are only bothered about having a relaxing time, chilling out on some beaches and having a few beers and seeing some sights, and meeting some cool people. I think if it weren't for Sydney, we'd definitely go north for the weather and the islands/GBR, but Sydney is something that most people say is a great place to visit.

What do you guys think?


----------



## Wanderer

Sydney and Melbourne are going to be cool to cold in August and so you may want to make tracks north sooner than later to catch up with the warmer weather and the Gold Coastwill also not be overly warm in August either.

You really need to get right up to Cairns to have some warm weather and it will be more mid twenties than thirtyish.

Two weeks to do Brisbane to Cairns is doable but a bit tight and I'd suggest that you may want to consider getting that early start and head straight for Cairns from Melbourne if you haven't already booked with Tiger to the GC, but they're cheap enough for it not to be a great loss and so rebooking is not such a big deal.

Then you could see the GBR and head south and by scheduling not all that many days at the GC you'll give yourself closer to three weeks and with all the locations you want to cover, I reckon you ought to make yourself up a priority list and then on working out logistics you can drop a few off/decide on whether you can make it nack to Sydney or just do Brisbane to Sydney after some travel north for Fraser and 1770 from where you can do a trip to Lady Musgrave Island on the GBR.

Other alternative would be in starting at Cairns, get as far as the GC, aday or overnight trip to BB and fly from either GC or Ballina [ Byron airport] to Sydney.

Campervans are great for flexibility but if you have five people, you'll need either two smaller/medium ones [~$60-70/d] or a six berther at about $200/d and then that's a lot of dead money while you head over to Fraser unless you just do it as a day tour, a bit of a rush but maybe that's all you'll have time for.

The alternative would be to hire a medium size car that five could fit into at a squeeze and you'll likely pay about $50/d, be cheaper on fuel, easier to drive and then you could stop overnight at hostels and caravan park on site vans/cabins, probably about $120/n for 5 but much more comfortable and with fuel for just one car as against either two vans or one big one, you'll about break even if not be a bit in front.


----------



## Travelyackie

oli271 said:


> Myself and 3 (possibly 4) friends are coming to Australia in August/September this year. We arrive in Melbourne on 21st August, then are heading up to the Gold Coast for one week from 24th until 31st August. We then want to hire a campervan for the next two weeks and drive from Brisbane to either Sydney or Cairns.
> 
> We'd originally decided to do Brisbane to Sydney, and got some great advice from people about where to stay, what to see etc, but have been discussing the possibility of going north instead. I think if we went North we'd obvisouly get the benefit of the warm weather (I think?), bearing in mind we're British so 30 degrees is a scorcher for us. We'd also get to see places like Noosa, Sunshine Coast, Hervey Bay, 1770 and of course the GBR. There's also Australia Zoo, and places like Magnetic Island, Fraser island etc. By the way feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about any of this.
> 
> Going south we'd see Tweed Heads, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Newcastle, Forster-Tuncurry, Port Stephens, Byron Bay, Ballina, and of course Sydney, where we could do the Blue Mountains.
> 
> We would be flying from Cairns or Sydney back to Melbourne as that's where we fly back to the UK from. Which would be more exciting, fun and interesting? I'm the planner, so am panicking about it, but the others really are only bothered about having a relaxing time, chilling out on some beaches and having a few beers and seeing some sights, and meeting some cool people. I think if it weren't for Sydney, we'd definitely go north for the weather and the islands/GBR, but Sydney is something that most people say is a great place to visit.
> 
> What do you guys think?


I reckon given the time of the year I would head north.ot sure why you would waste time going to the Gold Coast unless you are after theme parks which may be the case.
Brisbane to cairns is pretty especially around the Whitsunday Islands.
Here are some handy links

Australia Motorhome Hire | Maui Australia, Motorhome, Campervan, RV & Car Rentals
Campervan Hire Australia | Britz Cammpervan Hire & Car Hire Australia, Motorhomes, RVs and Cars to Rent
Australia Backpacker Campervan Selection | Cheap Campervan Hire

If you hire a Britz Campervan you get 10% discounht at Big 4 Holiday parks
BIG4 Holiday Parks - Australia

This is a good site for finding last minsute cheap accommodation rates throughout Australia
Last Minute Accommodation - Need It Now - Australia & New Zealand Hotels, Motels, Apartments and Resorts

Happy travels


----------

