Vacation in Australia?

[Alex]

Does anyone know much about Australia? Where to go? What to see?

My wife's bday is in January and I want to surprise her with a vacation to Aussie land, since all her life she wanted to go there. But I have no clue what to even look for in Australia. Has anyone been there?

Just a bit of background.

-Something more outdoorish/beach.
-We are certified Open Water divers
-Maybe snorkeling
-Hikes/Exploration
-Less city/more small town attractions

Let me know if you guys have any recommendations on some vacations.

[blueeyes]

You are dabomb!

Wish I had more for you than that. I say go scuba diving on The Great Barrier Reef!


I am jealous!!

[jgowans]

Does anyone know much about Australia? Where to go? What to see?

-Something more outdoorish/beach.
-We are certified Open Water divers
-Maybe snorkeling

Let me know if you guys have any recommendations on some vacations.

Two words....Heron Island:

http://www.heronisland.com

[ststephen]

I can't write up a big thing right now but I did an extended trip there 10 years ago. I'm not a diver so I can't comment on that. But we hiked and did a lot of birding which took us to some great wilderness spots.

One NP I loved was Lamington outside of Brisbane. There a lot of good spots around Cairns like Daintree and Cape Tribulation. The Blue Mountains outside of Sydney have some fun hikes but it is a bit touristy.

Ask some questions as you start to research and I can try to give you some of our experiences.

[ststephen]

Oh, and one place we didn't do was Kakadu outside of Darwin. This is very far from the east coast. It's closer to Bali and to Sydney. I hear it is fantastic though.

We did do the "center" and Ayer's Rock and some canyons and other rock formations near there. It too is far.

[Alex]

Australia is pretty big, I guess I better narrow my choices. I think I want to take her more to the beach area, more secluded and private resort type.

That Heron island is looking good....

thanks for input guys!

[ststephen]

If you go to Cairns as part of visiting the Barrier Reef there is a guy who runs an early morning birding boat trip on the Daintree River. If you have even a passing interest in birds I think it would be worthwhile. It's a very small boat and you get to see some great birds up close and experience the river in an intimate way. Not your typical tourist tour.

http://www.daintreerivertours.com.au/

The town of Daintree is cool too and has some nice quiet B&B's surrounded by beautiful forests. I remember my son who was 2 at the time getting excited watching bandicoots feeding on lawn outside our B&B in the evening while we relaxed with a cold Aussie beer.

[Alex]

Can't say that I am a bird lover to be honest

[RedMan]

Cairns for diving. (say it like "cans")
Check out the three day live-a-boards for a fantastic trip.
Much better than day trips from shore and really not that much more than
paying for rooms, meals etc in town.
Several great trimarans running out of Cairns.

If your lucky you will be on a boat built for 60 passengers with only 20 onboard like my last trip. It was fantastic. Can't wait to go again.

A few days in Sydney at the beach and a visit to the zoo and the rocks to top it off.

[KapitanSparrow]

Alex, if I ever go down under it will be to dive on the great barrier reef, climb Mt. Kosciuszko and visit Bon Scott's grave.