What to do with 6 days after cruise (from Sydney)?

[debeni]

We will spend 4 days in Sydney before and then 6 days after the cruise to New Zealand. We will explore Sydney the 4 days before the cruise but what to do with the 6 days after the cruise during the third week of February.

We’ve heard Cairns is interesting, but February is their rainiest month and is very hot. The same with the Gold coast.

We are looking for interesting, historic or scenic sites. We are an active older couple. We are not interested in relaxing on a beach or extreme adventures.

I’m tempted to rent a car but fear driving out of Sydney as my first experience (in years) with driving on the “wrong” (haha) side of the road. Maybe if we took a train/bus to a smaller town and rented a car from there.

Any ideas on what to do with these 6 days? On our seventh day we will have to get back near the Sydney airport to fly home the next morning.

Thanks,

NorcalBeni

[GUT2407]

Blue mountains

 

Trip up to Newcastle,hHunter Valley, Lake Macquarie.

 

Canberra

 

All doable by train. If you went to NEWCASTLE a ar would be handy.

[sailco]

Express bus from Sydney Central Railway Station then hire a car. The bus is really cheap and has senior discounts if you're over 60. Spend a couple of days exploring Australia's capital city then head down to our Snowy Mts for a day or two hiking, cross to the coast and drive north past some magnificent beaches towards Sydney. Depending how confident you feel, the car can be returned in Sydney or Wollongong and there's also the option of looping back to Canberra.

Canberra to Melbourne would also be great either around the coast or via the mts and vineyards.

[GUT2407]

Re historic sites, remember Australia is a young country.

 

The Rocks area of Sydney is probably the best bet in Sydney, Tasmania hasn’t done a bad job, but is probably a bit far.

 

There is a lot to see and do just In Sydney if you don’t want to travel.

[sailco]

Express bus from Sydney Central Railway Station then hire a car. The bus is really cheap and has senior discounts if you're over 60. Spend a couple of days exploring Australia's capital city then head down to our Snowy Mts for a day or two hiking, cross to the coast and drive north past some magnificent beaches towards Sydney. Depending how confident you feel, the car can be returned in Sydney or Wollongong and there's also the option of looping back to Canberra.

Canberra to Melbourne would also be great either around the coast or via the mts and vineyards.

Should read express bus to Canberra :rolleyes::eek:

[Chiliburn]

You would want to see something different. Tasmania or the red Center.

Tasmania you can get cheap flights and sometimes Alice springs.

Hire a car it’s not that hard driving on the wrong side of the road

[GUT2407]

You would want to see something different. Tasmania or the red Center.

Tasmania you can get cheap flights and sometimes Alice springs.

Hire a car it’s not that hard driving on the wrong side of the road

Tasmania is great for historic sites and if you head along the coast or in to cradle mountain some fantastic scenery.

[sailco]

The centre would be uncomfortably hot in February for most people.

[Chiliburn]

It’s going to be hot everywhere

[Suzbluz]

I think Canberra is worth a visit for a couple of days. Canberra to Sydney is a very easy drive especially if finishing around the airport. Freeway virtually the whole way. You could train from Sydney to blue mountains and then drive from there. I'm not sure where you'd pick a hire car from out there though. Maybe you'd have to train back in to the airport and drive to and from Canberra.

 

Sent from my Lenovo A7600-F using Forums mobile app

[SinbadThePorter]

We’ve heard Cairns is interesting, but February is their rainiest month and is very hot. The same with the Gold coast.

 

In February in Australia, everywhere can be hot. The variation is in humidity.

 

Cairns and the Gold Coast are fine in February. Yes, it will probably rain in Cairns, but it doesn't rain all the time. The Gold Coast is 1200 miles south of Cairns, it's not exactly in a tropical monsoon area. It's far more like San Diego.

 

If you want historical, then outside of Sydney your best bet is Hobart and Port Arthur. Lots of old stuff there and great scenery too.

Edited October 7, 2018 by SinbadThePorter

[debeni]

Thanks all for the great ideas.

 

We are researching the following for our 6 free days out of Sydney:

 

Flying to Hobart, Tasmania and renting a car there. We see a return flight from Sydney is a little more than 200$us. Not bad.

 

Taking an express bus to Canberra, rent a car, drive around then back to Sydney.

 

Go back to the airport after the cruise and rent a car from there since the freeway is close to the airport. Drive to Canberra then tour around.

 

I rented a car years ago in England and then Ireland. Once I drove through the first few roundabouts I felt more comfortable.

 

We do plan to visit the Blue Mountains one day during our 4 days in Sydney before the cruise.

 

Any more ideas?

Norcalbeni

[Chiliburn]

For Tasmanian flights ,did you try Jetstar ,sometime it’s under $100 return.

For the blue Mountains,catch the train or go on a tour.on your return to Sydney.catch the rivercat ( Sydney ferries)from parramatta to circular quay.its a great ride our favourite,with the harbour Bridge and opera house as the grand finale.

Some tours incorporate it .

Edited October 8, 2018 by Chiliburn

[GUT2407]

Thanks all for the great ideas.

 

We are researching the following for our 6 free days out of Sydney:

 

Flying to Hobart, Tasmania and renting a car there. We see a return flight from Sydney is a little more than 200$us. Not bad.

 

Taking an express bus to Canberra, rent a car, drive around then back to Sydney.

 

Go back to the airport after the cruise and rent a car from there since the freeway is close to the airport. Drive to Canberra then tour around.

 

I rented a car years ago in England and then Ireland. Once I drove through the first few roundabouts I felt more comfortable.

 

We do plan to visit the Blue Mountains one day during our 4 days in Sydney before the cruise.

 

Any more ideas?

Norcalbeni

How many days are you planning in Tasmania?

[debeni]

We can spend 6 days and nights in Tasmania then fly back to Sydney to spend the 7thand our last night near the airport

I did check the Australian site for Jetstar and see the flights are around 200$Au return, so it is cheaper than the American sites.

[GUT2407]

We can spend 6 days and nights in Tasmania then fly back to Sydney to spend the 7thand our last night near the airport

 

I did check the Australian site for Jetstar and see the flights are around 200$Au return, so it is cheaper than the American sites.

 

 

Great 6 nights is ample.

 

Port Arthur s really a full day if you can maybe drive out one day, stopping at the wildlife park, spend the night at the hotel there (do the ghost tour) and have most of the next day there before heading back to Hobart.

 

If you are in Hobart ona Saturday Mrs G loves the Salamanca markets if tats your sort of thing.

 

A drie down the south coast is highly recommended as are a trip to Cradle Mountain, again probably an overnight stop, and a trip up to Ross and Richmond, if you can fit it in Freycinet National Park.

 

Strongly suggest you sit with a map (google maps etc) and check driving times, personally I always allow about 15% extra time, plus maybe 15 mins every hour driving time to let me stop whenever I feel like it.

[Chiliburn]

If you are going to hire a car and you are mobile,it’s cheaper to fly into Launceston.

Tasmania is a fantastic place,probably step back in time 30 years for California.you will see sheep walking along the beach country pubs and a pristine environment but don’t expect the Marriott as it is very rural.

[sailco]

Oh dear, our beautiful Capital city, the summer glory of the alps and bushranger territory, and the ragged cliffs and sandy beaches of the south coast have once again been relegated to third last. :confused::confused::(

[Globaliser]

Any ideas on what to do with these 6 days?

You simply can't see Sydney in four days. So with the additional 6, you could do more Sydney - and also Blue Mountains, Canberra and the Hunter Valley. No need to waste sightseeing time doing longer-distance travel.

[debeni]

Our current plan for February 2019 is as follows:

Spend 4 nights in Sydney before cruise (day trip to the Blue Mountains)

14-day Norwegian cruise to New Zealand

Fly to Hobart for 4 nights. Rent a car (Hobart, Port Arthur, Mount Wellington and the Salamanca market on Saturday)

Back to the Sydney area for the last 3 nights.

We will have to plan another trip to Australia at a better time of year.  We were limited to the February heat this time.  There are so many interesting places to visit.

Thanks to everyone for your input.

 I see my past posts did not convert well to the new format:   Here is my original post.

We will spend 4 days in Sydney before and then 6 days after the cruise to New Zealand.   We will explore Sydney the 4 days before the cruise but what to do with the 6 days after the cruise during the third week of February.  

We’ve heard Cairns is interesting, but February is their rainiest month and is very hot. The same with the Gold coast.

We are looking for interesting, historic or scenic sites.  We are an active older couple.  We are not interested in relaxing on a beach or extreme adventures.

I’m tempted to rent a car but fear driving out of Sydney as my first experience (in years) with driving on the “wrong” (haha) side of the road.  Maybe if we took a train/bus to a smaller town and rented a car from there.

Any ideas on what to do with these 6 days? On our seventh day we will have to get back near the Sydney airport to fly home the next morning.

Thanks, NorcalBeni

 

 

[GUT2407]

That sounds good.

[debeni]

We wanted to let you all know how we decided to spend our last 7 nights in New South Wales.

 

We will spend 4 days in Sydney before our 14-day cruise of New Zealand.  Although we did not plan this, we see we arrive in the morning on Australia Day.  We will get to experience the boat parade and fireworks from our hotel rooftop on The Rocks.

Our last 7 nights after the cruise:

Rent a car at the airport and spend 3 nights in the Blue Mountains staying in Katoomba:  Explore the surrounding area by car and hiking

Drive to Galga to spend a day and night in a cabin at the Australia Walkabout Wildlife Park

Spend 2 nights over on the Central Coast

Spend the last day around Sydney and the last night by the Sydney Airport 

 

Thank you all for your valuable input.

Dean

[GUT2407]

I hope you enjoy your stay.

[roothy123]

Hi.  I'm not the original poster, but I was hoping that person doesn't mind me jumping on here to ask a question or two.  I am looking seriously at booking a cruise in February, so could someone please tell me this:  About how hot are we talking, at least  for the major areas of Sydney, Melbourne, etc.?  I live in a city that gets pretty hot and humid in (our) summer, so I think I'm fairly tolerant of heat and humidity.  But I just thought I'd ask the question!!   

 

I'm wrestling with what to add to a 14 day cruise down under.  We want to stay longer, but aren't sure how to do it.  To take another cruise (back to back cruise with different ports) gets a little expensive and add a lot of time.  However, I don't want to fly all the way to Australia without seeing what we can in about a month's time (New Zealand, too).   I realize we could probably spend two months, but I just want to see the highlights, and a month is probably as much as I can handle before getting a little weary. 

[GUT2407]

Obviously  hard to predict.

 

But this week in Sydney area we have had 40+ C every day in Western suburbs and it has been very humid. Today is much cooler probably only low 30s.

 

February is usually warmer.

 

January is still School holidays so some lines will have a lot of kids.

 

with a month, here’s what I’d look at

 

Fly to Auckland, spend few days, cruises to Sydney, look for one that includes, Hobart and/or Melbourne, spend time in Sydney

 

then

 

either a Queensland coastal cruise out of Sydney, or fly home