The Perfect 10 Day Itinerary In Australia
Ready for a trip down unda’?! Well grab your budgie smugglers and thongs and set out to plan the best bucket list trip of your life! Filled with all the most beautiful surf, animals, and people in the entire world. Wondering where the best places to go in Australia?! Check out my perfect two week itinerary in Australia….
When starting your Australia research, you have to start by narrowing down what and where you want to see. If you are wanting to see more than one state in the country, you are going to have to plan a hell of a lot longer than two weeks to see this massive country. I narrowed down that I wanted to see the Great Barrier Reef, Sydney and some of Queensland’s best beaches. Here’s how we planned it!
TWO DAYS IN SYDNEY
I found a great deal flying in from Los Angeles spent two days exploring Sydney. If I were to compare Sydney to any other metropolitan city it would be New York City. There is amazing food, a bay with a monument to explore, and a lot of luxury condo skyscrapers with a metropolitan type of vibe.
Photo Cred: Balcony of this Airbnb
We stayed in Bondi Beach (at this Airbnb) and kept to the costal life when it came to the majority Sydney trip. I have written another blog post about all the bucket list things to do during your trip to Sydney, including our ferry ride to Manly and ride up to the "Hamptons" area just north of the city. Overall 2 days is enough in Sydney and we earned an extra night with severe storms that left us stranded in the SYD airport at midnight. PRO TIP: Get travel insurance.
TWO DAYS IN GOLD COAST
Gold Coast, just an hour south of Brisbane, was our next stop. We flew in from Sydney late and even though we were tired as hell, we threw on our bikinis and headed out for our first adventure: Stradbroke Island.
Day 3- Straddie
Stradbroke Island, aka Straddie, is about an hour drive from Gold Coast. There are two options for getting onto the island: either you can take the car ferry or the passenger water taxi. Prices and all of the island info can be found on their website here! We decided to keep costs low and take the passenger water taxi over and use their bus system to get around the sizeable island. I would recommend getting a day bus pass if you plan on hitting more than one stop on the island, which you purchase on the bus.
Once you get to Straddie, head up to the North George Walk to take in the coast and spot kangaroos, manta rays, dolphins, and all the birds. Walk out onto the rocks and just look at how crazy the views are. After you come to the end of the walk, head down to the beach and have a picnic or a swim. After lunch, we headed up to the small town full of shops and grabbed us some ice cream. Also, if you are wanting a stubbie (beer), head over to the Surf Life Saving Club’s upstairs bar that opens in the arvo (afternoon).
Day 4- Currumbin and Burleigh
Our second day in Gold Coast was filled with all the fury Aussie creatures. After we picked up another friend the airport in Brisbane, we headed to Currumbin Animal Sanctuary located in Currumbin, Queensland. This animal sanctuary is full of koalas, dingos, kangaroos, wallabies, alligators, and all the creepy crawly things you can think of. We bypassed the creepy crawlies and headed to meet a kangaroo IRL!
I am wary when it comes to animal tourism because I am a huge animal lover. Currumbin Sanctuary acts as a wildlife hospital and rehabilitates to release, offering education to the public about conservation and research on the native Australian animals. It did feel a bit like a petting zoo but there are rest areas the animals can go to if they aren’t digging the human interaction. The other sanctuary I would recommend is Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane.
After getting our kangaroo snuggle on, we headed to lunch at Justin’s Lane in Burleigh. It was the cutest pizza joint complete with a DJ, pizza and amazing beers. Burleigh Heads is a cute beach side town full of shopping, beaches, and all the views to the north of Surfer’s Paradise. It is a cool spot to work off that pizza. The rest of our day, we spent grabbing beers back in Surfers for St. Patty’s Day.
ONE DAY IN BYRON BAY
I have been dreaming of Byron Bay since the first time I laid my eyes on an Insta photo of the beaches. It is the coolest, laid back, hippie town. Surfers, acai bowls, bare foot walks, VW buses, live street music, and the bluest waters ever equals my dream. We began our day with a trip up to the lighthouse. Luckily, we had a car and got a great parking spot at the top. We walked up to catch the views then down the trail to a rocky beach. From there, we followed the beach trail at low tide to Wategoes Beach. We walked along the water enjoying the sunny day.
From Wategoes, we headed to the Pass, another great, local beach with lots of surfers. It was my heaven. Then we drove to the main beach in Byron to eat and hit some shops. I shop a lot of the local stores online so I was jazzed to see the stores in person. My favorites were Spell, Auguste, Kivari, Rowie, and Sea Bones. We finished the day with some cocktails at Balcony Bar. This city would be the perfect place to spend a few days and just do the laid back beach vibe.
Photo Cred: TripAdvisor
The next morning, after our stay at The Garden Burees and acai bowls at the Pressed Pantry, we hit the road. We made several stops on the way to our next stop to beach hop and go for a swim. Our top stops included Cabarita Beach and Duranbah! Nothing beats Queensland beaches!
Other Hot Spots in Byron Bay:
ROAD TRIP- 4 days in Queensland
Day 6- Noosa
Our first stop before making it to the Great Barrier Reef was in Noosa National Park. This is around a 2 ½ hour drive from Gold Coast. The fairy pools are natural occuring rock pools along the coastal walk that are kind of a local secret. They are located about 1.5-2 km out from where we parked at the entrance to Noosa National Park. The round trip hike is about 2 hours and is a moderate hike, including climbing down some rocks to the pools. Be sure to stop along the way at the many beaches and even time to spot the wild koalas that hang there. After our brisk hike, we headed into town for some snacks and shopping. We headed out for the next leg of our road trip to Rainbow Beach.
Day 7- Rainbow Beach/Hervey Bay
Photo cred: Visit Sunshine Coast
We arrived late in the evening to our Airbnb. The next morning, we woke up around 4:30 am to go and catch the sunrise at Carlo Sand Blow in Rainbow Beach. Carlo Sand Blow is one of the largest collections of windblown sand in Queensland. It is part of the Cooloola sand mass and stretches acres along Rainbow beach. You take a trail from the parking area through the busch and exit onto the golden sand. To the left is the coastline and ginormous cliffs that reach down to the crashing waves below. And to the right are views of the inland including Tin Can Bay and Cooloola Cove. It is the perfect place to watch the sunrise and sunset in the same day. Some visitors even sand surf here. Be sure to take your bug spray cause the mozzies (mosquitoes) are vicious.
We spent the rest of the morning in town, grabbing brekky, walking the beach, and stopping by the iconic rainbow stairs. The main tourist pull to the area is Fraser Island. There are daily excursions out to see the wild dingos and the longest stretch of beach on an island in Australia. We opted out since we were going on our Great Barrier Reef excursion the next day. So we headed out from there to Hervey Bay, town with plane access to Lady Elliot Island on the Great Barrier Reef.
Day 8- Lady Elliot Island
At the most southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef sits Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort. This green protected area of the UNESCO World Heritage offers a world class opportunity to experience the largest living thing on Earth. There are both options for overnight stays at the resort and day trips from Hervey Bay, Gold Coast, and other Queensland ports of access.
We opted for the day trip to maximize our experience while not breaking the bank. The day trip includes a plane ride from Hervey Bay to the gravel lined air strip, reef walks, fish feeding, snorkeling, and a glass bottom boat ride. The beach around the island is a coral beach that is walkable all the way around. There are more shallow pools to be explored at high tide and the deeper hard coral reef on the opposite side.
Lady Elliot Island is said to be the home of the manta ray. High time to see all the manta rays, whales and other marine life is in the winter time (May-August). I would recommend going at this time. We did see many large turtles, fish, starfish, etc. It was honestly a great experience and great way to check off seeing the GBR. 10/10 recommend.
We flew back from our excursion around 4 pm that evening and headed for a beer at Eno’s on the Beach Hervey Bay to watch the sunset and for a swim. The beaches in the Bay have orangish brown sand that is fine and flat. The water was almost bath water warm and swimmable with little to no marine life present on the shores. It was far from my favorite beach but a pleasant place to be.
Day 9- Road trip to Gold Coast
After checking out from our unique Airbnb, we headed for some shopping at the local vintage op shops and local town market. Saturdays and Sundays are popular for town markets in nearly every beach town in Queensland. From there we headed back to Gold Coast on the 4 ½ hour car ride. We made a pit stop in Mooloolaba beach for lunch and to take in the beach there. It was another beautiful beach town with good shops and surf. There were even people paragliding right along the coast. Great stop if you’re planning a road trip.
LAST DAY IN SYDNEY
The next morning, I took a plane solo back to Sydney to prepare for my trip back to the states. I wasn’t sure what else I wanted to do in Sydney so I rented a car and headed north to Avalon and Whale Beach that were recommended to us by an Uber driver we had! I then drove back to the city and took in a few more sites I wanted to see before heading to my Airbnb. I talk more about Sydney and this day trip in my Sydney bucket list post here! Here is a link to my favorite Airbnb in Tamara Beach!
10 Day Itinerary Overview
March 10-13- Flight to Australia
March 13-15- Sydney
March 16-17- Gold Coast
March 18-19- Byron Bay
March 20-21- Rainbow Beach
March 21-23- Hervey Bay & Lady Elliot Island
March 23-24- Road trip back to Gold Coast
March 24-25- Back to Sydney
March 25- Flight to USA
And then I flew home! Australia was an amazing bucket list trip for me! I was so happy I got to visit my mate, meet kangas, experience the Queensland sun, and have the perfect holiday. I hope you have as much fun planning and exploring this WONDERFUL country! Cheers mate!
