canucker

Hey there,

I'll try to make this as short as possible.

me + g/f + best friend + new wife are going to Australia Jan 04 Arriving the 20th in Sydney.

We have a friend that lives in New Castle 3 1/2 hrs drive north of Sydney? Is that correct? We do want to spend a few days with him as well. Anywho,

We have two weeks to explore the eastern shore of Australia and want to be in Sydney for Australia day (Jan 26).

So here is a rundown of what we want to do.

Sunshine Coast
Australia Zoo (gotta see the Croc Hunter ya know!!)
Gold Coast
Heron Island
Whitsunday Islands
and up to Cairns if we have enough time.

So whats the best way to do this? We will be renting a minivan etc, and staying in nice hotels so that won't be an issue.

Is there something I'm missing that we should see?
Something I should take out?
In the guide book it says to book hotels EARLY as they seem to book up during this time of year. Is this right? Or will we have no problems just driving up there and finding a hotel along the way?

Should we just go from Sydney and head north for a few days then come back down for Sydney Day? We are kinda screwed cuz Australia day is on the 26th wich is kinda right in the middle of the holiday so if we go north then come back south then we have to go north again trying to get to the reef and we will see everything again.

Any help would be appreciated,

Thanks in advance