hello everybody!!!

I am a french guy and I'll come in your country in october for three weeks. I want to trip on the east coast from sydney to cairns or the opposite. I come on this forum because I would like some help to organize my travel.

_ I need advices for renting a 4X4 or a van (we want to sleep in it)
_ what are the conditions (wind, temperature of water,ect...) during this period
_ where are the unforgettables spots because unfortunately I don't know if I could come another time
_ ect...

I do surf and kite but I want to visit so what are things to do all over the road, the beautiful places..... overwise I come with my girlfriend and she won't be happy in I only ride.

Sorry for my limited english.
Thanks

As you are saying 3 weeks is nothing!!!! So I would like good plan not to loose time and money with organisation's problem
Thanks

For the moment, I haven't take my plane's tickets, me and my girlfriend are fixed to trip between cairns and sydney. For the moment that's approximately our plans !!!!

We don't know if it's better to do from north to south or the other side?? Perhaps we find better price with the car rent in one of the side ???

I want to know what size of kite I have to travel with in that period and on theses spots, I have 7/9/12 but if I can let one it's better for airport taxes

ALso a lot of advices because it's difficult to prepare a trip in the other side of the world and as says murray 3 weeks is nothing so we have to make choices but I expect it'll be the good one.

THat's the reason, I am here

Think I'd start North and work South at that time, purely on a temperature basis. I'm not familiar with winds on that side of the country.
There are great surfspots between Sydney and Fraser Island, too numerous to mention. North of that the Great barrier reef gets in the way of the swell.

Water temp will be quite warm in the North, no wetsuit needed, Not sure about Sydney at that time, but I'd think the most you'd need is a light springsuit.

Hi froggie,
What most Europeans do not grasp before they come here is just how big Australia is.

From Sydney to Cairns is about 2,000 kilometers. To travel that distance and see all the sights in between in three weeks will mean you will be very busy.

I strongly recommend you hire a camper van as it will save you a lot of time hunting for accommodation at backpacker hostels. Many of the hostels are very low quality.

With a camper you know you will have the same standard of accomodation for every night of your trip plus plus your belongings (passports, cameras etc) will be generally more secure.

Most of the camper van companies have pick up and drop off at either end of your trip.

Wicked Campers are at the bottom of the scale and, although covered in trendy graffiti paint work, the vehicles will mostly be well over 10 years old with doubtful mechanical reliability. They were recently investigated by the Queensland Transport Authority.

Britz Campers are probably at the top of the cost scale, but top quality.

A couple of other companies you might like to look at are these www.hippiecamper.com/ and www.travellers-autobarn.com.au/

Bringing a small laptop computer with wireless networking capability would be a good idea. Apart from all the McDonalds shops, nearly all the local town councils provide free internet with wireless network access as do the public libraries.

This will allow you during your trip to maintain contact with home and this forum as well as upload your photos to a storage server.

My suggestion is that you travel from south to north as Cairns has an international airport and departing from there will shorten your home flight by 3 or more hours.

The best surfing spots are mostly along the New South Wales coast. North of Fraser Island, surfing is almost non existant except during certain weather conditions.

There are a couple of very good kite and windsurfing locations here at Bundaberg.

They are Elliot Heads and Burnett Heads, look here,
www.wannakitesurf.com/spot/Australia_Pacific/Australia/Queensland/Elliot_Heads/index.html
www.kitesurfobsession.com.au/lessons.htm www.findseedo.com/spwindsurfing.html
And at Mackay www.kiterush.net/

If you go to this place www.capricornresort.com.au/ there is a guy who hires land yachts on the beach. This is without doubt the best place in Queensland for land sailing if you would like to try it out.

If you click around on those sites you will find a lot of good information.

Undoubtedly the best time to be travelling our coast is the middle of our winter.
There is more wind and less heat.

If you are interested in sailing Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands is the place to do that. Although available from there, it is not the best place from which to go to the Great Barrier Reef.

Check out the sailing here www.whitsundaysailing.com.au/

Cairns is best because the reef is so much closer to the coast with Upolo Reef being just 17 miles directly out from Cairns.

Possibly the best reef day tour from Cairns is aboard "Passions of Paradise". Check them out here www.passions.com.au/.

I hope you have a wonderful time in our country and by the way, if you meet any Danes while you are here be sure to tell them the law in Australia is "Whether you enjoy the trip or not, there are no refunds."

Cisco.....the only thing you missed out on was good old

SLIP............SLOP.............SLAP..

beware of : crocodiles, sharks, stingers, jellyfish, stingrays, stonefish, spiders, snakes, scorpions, dingos, ciguatera poisoning, tropical ulcers, dehydration, sunburn, scuba diver abandonment, hangovers, over regulation, over indulgence, etc etc.

Scully said...
Australia has strict laws against where you can/cant sleep along the eastern coastline.
You wont want to find out the hard way with a hefty fine.
Just something you should look into.

Solve this problem, by planning ahead, and finding ideal camping grounds where you can park your van up overnight for something like 20$

I had thought about mentioning something along those lines but I did not want to be misleading. Many international travellers seem to ignore the rules or are not aware of them.

I believe it is quite OK to use the many highway "Rest Areas" for single overnight stops without incurring charges or fines. I could be wrong though.

There is a book that costs around $35 and it has maps and listings of hundreds of legal freecamps, and cheap camping spots all around OZ. It is called Camps Australia, pay for itself in a couple of nights. I travelled around Oz couple years ago and stayed 60 nights in freecamps ( 60x$20= more money for fuel and grog !!!!!!!!)Well worth the investment

If you want to kitesurf then the only reliable place that time of year will be north of Mackay, the further North the better. You might find wind further south occasionally but it will be at best one day a week.

As mentioned Cairns to Sydney is actually about 2,500km by road. It is a big ask for 3 weeks and you will spend all your time driving and see nothing. I would perhaps suggest spending 2 weeks in the Cairns area, maybe go as far as Witsunday Islands (really nice). There is heaps to do around there in a camper and you will get wind. Then fly to Sydney (or consider Brisbane area) and spend a week around there in another camper or backpacking.

A 12m kite should get you though, but there will be days you will wish you had your 9m. Forget the 7.

Swim between the flags on patrolled beaches or we will see you on Bondi Rescue.

hello,
I've seen it's jellyfish period from october to may!!!! Is it a big problem?? how do you do with that???

Heys
Would have to agree with Cairns-Sydney as opposed to Sydney-Cairns! Especially if you sleep in a campervan with no A/C!!

I've heard of books which mention dozens of free campsites! Would be worth having a look...

As for the campervan itself, travellers-autobarn is a good budget option, but if you've got the money, Apollo is a great 5star option!

Whatever you go for, you'll have the time of your life though

I think both Virgin Blue and Quantas have an online booking facility, prices vary all the time, so if you know when you're going, you could get a good price by booking early.

For the Sydney hotel try
www.wotif.com