Gold Coast And Cairns Reviews

In Sept 2003 I visited Australia for the fist time and it was the best holiday I have ever had. We booked through Trailfinders and they were brilliant. We stopped over in Hong Kong for 2 nights on the way out there, staying at the Novotel Century in Wanchai which is a really bustling place. I recommend taking the train to Victoria Peak for fab views of the city. It's also really cheap to eat out, so long as you don't mind the constant smell of Chinese food everywhere you go!

From Hong Kong we flew to Sydney. Sydney is amazing and this was my favourite part of the holiday. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Darling Harbour which is a great place for eating out and has some great bars and a brilliant club called 'Home'. The best restaurants are along cockle bay wharf - 'I'm Angus' is great for steaks and Baia is a fantastic pizza/pasta restaurant. There are loads of fish restaurants too. If you go to Sydney you have to without a doubt do the Bridgeclimb. I have never been so nervous but once you are at the top the view is like no other and you can see for miles, it really is worth it. It's also worth hiring a car and driving for 2 hours to the Blue Mountains for amazing scenery. For beaches, Manly is lovely and the best way to get there is by taking the ferry from Circular Quay, sailing right past the Opera House. Overall Sydney can offer something for everyone- great weather, shopping, sights and entertainment.

Next stop was Cairns. We stayed at the Rydges Reef Resort in Port Douglas which is set on Four Mile beach. We spent five days relaxing here. There are lots of nice shops and a few bars but really this is where you come to relax after a few mad days in Sydney! There are some really lovely restaurants, especially if you like fish and seafood! We also went on the Quiksilver trip to the Gt Barrier Reef - wow - this is a definite highlight and I will never forget the first time I snorkelled in the barrier reef, it really does take your breath away. The Quiksilver crew are really cool, and provide a nice lunch on board after you have exhausted yourself under water!

Our final leg of Australia was the Gold Coast near Brisbane. This isn't the tacky, high-rise place I had expected. It is mad, and there is a lot to do but Surfers Paradise beach is great for chilling out and surfing. We stayed in a self-catering apartment at the Beachcomber Surfers Paradise resort, and cannot fault the place. The Gold Coast is great for shopping and it's worth driving to some of the outlet shopping centres for some bargains. We didn't go to any of the theme parks but if you are with young children then I would think these are great places to spend a day. Once thing I would recommend is to visit Australia Zoo -home of Steve Irwin and his crocs. It's a good couple of hour's drive and although we didn't see the man himself they put on some great shows (feeding time with the crocs is a must-see) and they also do a koala show that will leave you loving koalas forever!

We were really depressed to leave Australia and already plan to go back, this time to visit West Australia. It is worth doing the stopovers to break up the very long flight. We stayed in Singapore for 2 nights on the way home and this is a fantastic place - so clean and unspoilt, and great for shopping! A must-do is having a Singapore Sling in Raffles hotel. We also visited Sentosa Island for the day - you can get to it by Cable Car which gives fantastic views of Singapore.

All in all I cannot think of a single downside to Australia -apart from the fact that 3 weeks is just not long enough!!