[AllOverTheGaff]

Hi RoadKing

I stayed at Quay Grand Suites in Circular Quay and had a one-bed suite overlooking the bridge. Had breakfast a couple of mornings on my own private balcony and was right in the heart of the action, the views were amazing as was the walk around the botanical gardens. I had the assistance of my best friend who is a native of Sydney and his recommendation was spot-on.

Nice large living room, kitchen with washer-dryer, luxurious bedroom, quality linens and an amazing bathroom – even though I didn’t spend loads of time in the apartment, the views, luxury and location were perfect.

http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-8779-pullman-quay-grand-sydney-harbour-prev-quay-grand-suites/index.shtml

Behind the scenes tour of Opera House is amazing as is the dinner at Guillaume at Bennelong, their degustation menu with wine pairing is amazing. If you get a nice Scottish waiter, stick him a $20 and he’ll pour more wine than even a fellow Scot can handle….oh the hangover the next morning.

Lastly, something which is a bit different is the Sea Plane tour – spectacular views and landing on the water is a bizarre and frightening experience!

On my bucket-list is Sydney at New Year, said on another thread that I loved Sydney as it took my very much by surprise, hope you have a great time!

Rgds.
AOTG.

[seanyjmuclhr]

We stayed at the Four Seasons last year with a harbour view room. Was spectacular, as was the club lounge up on the 32nd floor. Great staff, great food and spectacular views.

[ANDREWYOUNG1]

Has to be the Park Hyatt – AMAZING views of the Opera House – it’s recently re-opened after a full refurb. It’s not cheap of course and could already be booked up for NYE this year as it does have one of the best views in the city for the fireworks.

[HongKongLady]

The circular quay and Rocks area is a great place to base yourself although will obviously be extremely busy at New Year.
I ditto Papillions suggestion of the Shanri-la which has a lovely club level lounge with great views of the bridge and opera house, so even if you do not have this view from your room it might be a good idea to have a club room. The hotel is up a fairly steep hill but great for working those thigh muscles !
I would just check on the New Year policy at any hotel you book, as there may be restrictions or extras to pay. In Hong Kong both New Years mean hotels and venues find extrodinary ways of ‘making you pay’ for a great view.
Sydney is fab x enjoy

[RoadKing]

Thank you all for the recommendations pouring in. We can hardly wait to get there :).

We will be driving south from Cairns along the east coast, any must see things along the route?

We will be seeing The Great Barrier Reef, probably out of Port Douglas. Apart of that we don’t have plans, but going south :).

From Sydney we drive on to Melbourne.

We are considering Ayer’s Rock, if time permits.

[BigDog.]

Unless you are flying to Ayres rock then forget it. Driving will take 3-4 days total – Cairns-Ayres Rock. Some roads N to S but forget E – W through the middle.

If you try the Ghan then invest a in sleeper (Gold). Katherine is a great stop-off if departing from Darwin

Avoid driving at night if in the outback – as Wombats and Roos etc can cause damage.

MCG for Aussie Rules is quite a spectacle

The Whitsundays have the best access to the GBReef.

[Papillion53]

Hi RoadKing –

We did the exact same drive last year, after a few days on Lizard Island which had been preceded by a few days camping in the outback. With hindsight, we both were glad we had gone to Uluru and did the outback camping thing, but having done it, there are may other places I would now put top of my list for a first time visit to Australia.

We took just over two weeks to drive from Brisbane to Sydney, and we went inland via the Scenic Rim (Boonah) and then back to the coast at Port Macquarrie (there is a koala rescue hospital there).

We stayed at bed and breakfasts – all quite different and fabulous. We felt it gave us a real taste of the local areas and we met some very nice people on the way.

Here are a few links:

http://www.zengarra.com
http://www.diamondwaters.com.au
(the area and beaches around here are just stunning)
http://www.glenhopebnb.com

After Port Macquarrie we continued south along the Pacific highway and then headed inland taking the scenic route to the Hunter Valley.

We stayed here http://www.thill.com.au and did this http://www.twofatblokes.com.au
(Absolutely brilliant!)

For a bit of fun in Sydney you could try this http://www.mysydneydetour.com.
Good pub: http://www.hartspub.com (a traditional pub around the corner from the Shangri-la offering good pub food)

We found Australia quite expensive and totally underestimated distances and the time it took to drive anywhere! 🙂

[NTarrant]

I’d agree with BigDog on Ayres Rock. You could do a side trip from SYD to Ayres Rock, QF and APT do tours where you get the afternoon sunset over Ayres Rock and sunrise in the morning and a trip to the Olgars. Then on to Kings Canyon for a walk around the rim, then on to Alice Springs. That is one night in Ayres Rock, one night at Kings Canyon and then two nights in Alic Springs with a trip to the MacDonald Ranges and Stanley Chasm.

You could then fly down to MEL or back to SYD and then take the train to MEL which is a good trip and reasonably priced for first class.

[paulkaz]

Hi RoadKing, I agree totally with Mrs Pap. Her Aus travel posts were fabulous and would provide an excellent guide.
I would not recommend driving from Cairns to Sydney it s the best part of 3000 km. Sadly our interstate roads (other than syd -port macquarie syd -melb and bris – sunshine and gold coasts) are from poor to terrible and for large parts single lane undivided roads so european travel time estimates cant apply.
Also ironically the coast roads does nt hug the coast so you just see miles (and miles) of sugar cane or bush unless you detour east.
The exception is the Cairns- Port Douglas trip which is beautiful with Port Douglas being my no 1 recommendation to visit for it s Daintree national park, crocodile infested rivers, beautiful palm tree lined beach and fun tourist/country mix town centre.
I would recommend (time permitting) driving,firstly north from Cairns to Port Douglas and south the further distance to mission beach. Then fly to Brisbane, drive north to the sunshine coast ( including the glass house mountains inland) then back track south to Sydney.
If you want to visit the great barrier reef proper you can fly from Brisbane to central Queensland to visit the Witsunday island area.
If possible check the likely rain predictions in the months you re traveling in North Queensland as the wet season can bet very very wet!
Again all the best and happy travels.

[RoadKing]

Great input! Yes, I rememeber Mrs Pap and her report, I think that was the final trigger to make us decide to go down under :).

If we are doing Ayer’s, it will be a flight from Sydney, I am not driving in there in the middle of the summer :).

I get a load of warnings about distances, I am getting really curious of what we are going to face. Us coming from Norway are not spoiled with quality roads at all, I am used to main roads that are so narrow you could not pass two trucks at a time, there are frost damage and pot holes. Still I have managed ~700 kms in one day on a motorcycle with the missus hanging on. I think we shall cope if need be.

I have put all these suggested spots on my list and we will come up with some itinerary :).

Train from SYD to MEL was an excellent idea, did not think of that. We have contemplated turning in the rental car when we arrive SYD and pick it up again when we move on to SYD, but you make it sound tempting to use a train instead.

Thanks all 🙂

[maiden-voyage.com]

I did NYE in Sydney this year and it was fantastic. It’s easy to get on to the Circular Quay and Darling Harbour so you don’t need to panic buy and go into a super expensive hotel there to enjoy the festivities and you can see the fireworks from lots of vantage points.

I can’t recommed the QT hotel highly enough, here’s my blog about both the hotel, New Years Eve Sydney style and other things to do in Sydney too.

http://www.wearethecity.com/sydneys-five-star-qt-hotel-travel-blog

We also have an ambassador and other travel bloggers out there in our network who can answer specific questions.

Most of all, have fun,it will be amazing

[Tipperary]

Is there a rep or similar who can look after you while you’re in Sydney?

[RoadKing]

Look after me? What for?

[RoadKing]

Thanksx maiden-voyage for the blog link, but it does not work. We do indeed look fwd to not just new years eve but it all down under.

[maiden-voyage.com]

Hi Roadking,

I think you must have just got them during a temporary glitch, it;’s working again now and I’ve added a post to another Sydney blog I did for MrsOAroundTheWorld
http://www.wearethecity.com/sydneys-five-star-qt-hotel-travel-blog/

http://mrsoaroundtheworld.com/2013/02/11/gday-sydney-by-maiden_voyage/

Enjoy!
Carolyn

[Author]

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