Places to visit down under?

[clif2001]

My wife is graduating from vet school next May and we are planning on taking a trip to Australia to celebrate. I am wondering if any of you Aussies might give me some suggestions on places that we should visit or sights we should see. It is a bit overwhelming trying to research all that there is to do. I've done some research online, but there is not substitute for asking the locals.

Thanks in advance!

[clif2001]

My wife is graduating from vet school next May and we are planning on taking a trip to Australia to celebrate. I am wondering if any of you Aussies might give me some suggestions on places that we should visit or sights we should see. It is a bit overwhelming trying to research all that there is to do. I've done some research online, but there is not substitute for asking the locals.

Thanks in advance!

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What state(s) are you planning on going to?

[Peter7307]

clif, More than happy to help out with some advice and suggestions.
Which parts of Australia are you planning to visit and are there any particular items you want to see like the Great Barrier Reef , Uluru (Ayre's Rock) , Sydney opera house and Harbour Bridge etc?

Cheers , Pete.
Victoria , Australia.

[Big Bird]

Are you coming to Melbourne, or travelling in Victoria? Good stuff down here includes the Great Ocean Road and Wilsons Promontory. Both are beautiful bits of the countryside. Melbourne is a pretty decent sort of place, and we'd gladly point you in the right direction. You've got access to Tasmania from here too, via overnight ferry. Tassie has got some beautiful scenery and some great driving roads - might be a little on the cold side in May though.

I'd definitely recommend some sort of outback stuff if you can, maybe Uluru / Alice Springs. It will give you some idea about how damn big and barren this place is. Huge lumps of Oz are pretty well uninhabitable by human beings, including most of South Australia, Western Australia and the RMIT workshop.

Honestly, I think the best way to travel is just get here, meet a few of the locals and take it from there. There's plenty of good toursity things to do here, but the best bits are the little hidden away things that the locals know about.

Cheers mate, give us a call if you get down to Vic.

[clif2001]

We are planning on visiting as much as possible. It will be a two week trip, so there is a lot of time to fill. We definitely want to see the outback, Great Barrier Reef, and Sydney. I wanted to get the opinion of the locals because that is always the best way to get some suggesions. I'm open to anything fun or interesting. From my experiences with FSAE I am expecting that most Aussies are fun and entertaining. Has to be a fun place to visit.

[Peter7307]

clif,
A couple of websites for some basic info below:

The first one is New South Wales and Sydney.
Walking the Harbour Bridge is popular. Visits and stays in the Blue Mountains (about an hour out of Sydney) likewise. Some good boutique wineries as well.

http://www.tourism.nsw.gov.au/home/

The second one is Queensland. Great Barrier Reef , Fraser Island , Daintree rainforest. All popular and well supported for facilities.

http://www.tq.com.au/

The outback is vast and well worth a look. One suggestion is the train trip from Adelaide to Darwin called "The Ghan".

May is the last of Autumn (Fall) here so temps can be cool depending on where you are.

One good point for you is the Aussie dollar is about 84 or so US cents so the exchange rate is in your favour just now.

cheers , Pete.