Thursday, Feb 16, 2006 at 21:12
Travellers,
Sounds like a great trip. Can I assume you are starting from
Brisbane? (I assume this from your first few stops).
If you are starting from
Brisbane, I'd suggest you put some serious kilometres under your belt on the first few days. You can always get to some of these
places easily when back
home after the trip. It's the
places on the other side of the continent that aren't so easy to get to, where you should plan to spend more time. I'd probably make 1770 my first stop. I have nothing against
Tin Can Bay or Woodgate but they are pretty easy to get to and I'm not sure what you'd do in
Tin Can Bay for 4 nights. If you really want to stay in that region I might suggest
Rainbow Beach or
Inskip Point National Park, but Fraser for the first 11 days would be better than
Tin Can Bay &
Hervey Bay.
On the east coast you've listed quite a few
places that are really no more than 2-3 hours apart and there's not alot of difference between them (Don't get me wrong, I know that area quite
well and it is lovely, but if you've got 6 months, I'd make the travel days worthwhile, with a longer stay in each 'selective' location.
You could then skip the major east coast towns (
Bargara, Yepoon,
Sarina, Mackay, etc) & head to
Cape Hillsborough National Park (20k North of Mackay).
IMO, with 2 x 6year olds, you may find one long day's drive, between stays of 7-8 days more enjoyable and relaxing than shifting every 3-4 days.
You can realistically get to
Cairns with 3 nice stops along the way rather than 14 you have listed (remember that I'm assuming you live in
Brisbane and can see the east coast on another trip). If you're going beyond
Cairns to
Port Douglas, I'd suggest skip
Port Douglas and head for
Cooktown. Great history for the kids, Endeavour River, Captain
Cook & all that (This type of experience & knowledge will give the kids a 'look & touch' aspect to the kids holiday that they won't get in a classroom!
Once heading west, the majors like Charters Towers,
Hughenden & Mt Isa are a must but there's not much between Mt Isa & Tennant Ck (I wouldn't stay there 2 nights).
Anyway I can dribble for hours and I hope I didn't offend anyone with my comments about towns on the east coast (I live in
Brisbane but know the East Coast pretty
well).
My view is less short stops & more longer stays. You can truly get to explore aplace if you spend 4-7 quality days rather than 1-2 rushed days. And the trip won't be such a blurr when you get back.
I'm willing to discuss further privately if you have any questions and I hope my
views have helped.
Andrew
AnswerID:
155441
Follow Up By: travellingblooms - Friday, Feb 17, 2006 at 02:28
Friday, Feb 17, 2006 at 02:28
Thanks Andrew and Thank you to everyone for replying and providing great advice. :)
We do live in
Brisbane and have purchased a Galaxy
Southern Cross Family Caravan. it is 21ft and not off road so we are restricted to roads. We are towing it with a 100 series Landcruiser and can obviously go off road once we unhook.
Sounds like there are some great
places to see. Our itinery does not stop at
Mount Gambier, as we are yet to plan the trip back to Brizzy. Probably go the Great Ocean Rd. and coastal NSW.
I have made up an Excel spreadsheet that calculates the distances, fuel burn and price and accomodation costs. I have averaged $1.50/L But if the US go to war with Iran I will amend this to $3.00/L :(
Can't wait to take the family on an adventure of a lifetime and to meet lots of decent people along the way.
Regards
Travellingblooms
FollowupID:
409447
Follow Up By: travellingblooms - Friday, Feb 17, 2006 at 02:34
Friday, Feb 17, 2006 at 02:34
Another question that comes to mind is:
Are there many free/cheap
camp sites for large caravans along the way.
We will be staying in caravan parks but would like to reduce costs a little if there were some
nice camp spots to stay.
Thanks
Travellingblooms
FollowupID:
409449