Two Weeks In Oz--What to do?

[DCThunder]

I am giving serious consideration to booking a 21-day cruise-tour of Australia and New Zealand from Sydney in December 2024.  The land portion would do the usual spots in the Outback (Ayres Rock, Darwin, Cairns) before returning to Sydney for the cruise portion to various ports in New Zealand.  I also have a 28-day cruise out of Singapore that goes to the islands and countries north of Australia and ideally would like to get the most bang for my long flight to Down Under, so amy considering seeing as much of Oz as I could.

 

If I book the cruise/tour, I'd have two weeks over Christmas 2024 to spend in Australia before going to Singapore and departing in early January 2025.  I was thinking of spending a few days post cruise in Sydney, then flying to Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth before heading to Singapore. 

• Is this too ambitious an itinerary to consider?
• If it is, which of those cities would you skip? 
• Should I consider just sticking to visiting cities like Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane and not heading to Western Australia?
• Finally, I see that there's a train (Indian Pacific) that goes Sydney to Perth over four days.  I know this is a cruise site, but any experience on this train?

 

I'd be 73 1/2 by the time of this trip and I'd expect it to be my one and only trip to the Antipodes.  I live on the East Coast of the USA.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[yarramar]

The 2 weeks over Christmas/New Year and the following week is the busiest 2 weeks in Australia. Brisbane may be too hot and humid for a comfortable visit and the coastal areas outside of Sydney and Melbourne are too crowded to be worth visiting. The cities themselves, though are worth visiting and most inhabitants are on the coast so it is a good time to visit without crowds.

The Indian Pacific would be a great journey but at that time of year you may struggle to find a fare.

If you like train travel, The Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin via Alice Springs is an iconic journey.

[possum52]

21 hours ago, yarramar said:

The 2 weeks over Christmas/New Year and the following week is the busiest 2 weeks in Australia. Brisbane may be too hot and humid for a comfortable visit and the coastal areas outside of Sydney and Melbourne are too crowded to be worth visiting. The cities themselves, though are worth visiting and most inhabitants are on the coast so it is a good time to visit without crowds.

The Indian Pacific would be a great journey but at that time of year you may struggle to find a fare.

If you like train travel, The Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin via Alice Springs is an iconic journey.

The Ghan doesn't operate in December. January or February.

[possum52]

I would suggest that these times are not the best time to visit downunder. It will be the wet season at Kakadu, Cairns and Darwn and very unpleasant weather wise - hot and very humid. 

 

From part way through December and most of January is school holiday time so many families will be on holidays and accommodation is will be scarce and expensive in the capital citiies. New Year's Eve is a big deal in the capitals and their fire works' display particularly in Sydney bring many visitors into the cities. It will likely be quite warm to hot and humid in both Brisbane and Sydney and Melbourne will likely be hot. Perth is likely to be very hot as will be Adelaide. 

 

 

 

[Over from NZ]

"2-weeks in Oz what to do?". Fly to NZ! Ouch lol. "Runs out of thread really fast" before Aussies jump me..

 

Jokes aside. If it's your one and only time - Cruise Aussie and do NZ by land. 

[mrmoviezombie]

Two weeks is a good period to explore one part of Australia.

 

Australia is big, as in about the same size as the US big.

 

So saying you're going to "I was thinking of spending a few days post cruise in Sydney, then flying to Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth"

Is like saying you are going to visit New York, Maimi, Houston, and Los Angeles in the same trip.

And worse the airfares are much higher because the is a lot smaller population, and there isn't much competition in the airline market.