So planning a two week trip to Australia over Christmas to visit a friend who is living there and I'm looking for some advice as we only have two weeks down there and I want to make sure we don't screw up trying to plan too little or too much or the wrong places. I do want a framework laid out soon so I have time to budget and save for the trip. Dates are Leave Dec 21st and return Jan 6th (we'll suck it up and work the next day.... well the gf will. I'll take an extra day :P )
So my friend lives in Melbourne so that has to be base camp for at least part of the trip and that's really what complicates things since ideally we would be there for Christmas and New years but I don't know if that will work since that encompasses the middle 7 days of the trip and we don't really just want to hang around Melbourne the entire time.
The two must see's for us are obviously Sydney and Melbourne which shouldn't be an issue at all, fly into one and then drive to the other, what complicates things is the desire to also trek to the north to see Great Barrier Reef. I realize Australia is huge but I heard that you can get cheap domestic flights to Cairns and go from there? Has anyone managed to make these three stops work? I feel like we could do Sydney first, hit Melbourne for Christmas and some relaxing, then fly up to Cairns for 3 or 4 days and check out the GBR and then jet back to Melbourne for New years and some more exploring before flying home?
Just seems like a bit of a fuck around though. Is this a realistic itinerary or am I out to lunch? I'm just starting to research the trip so forgive my ignorance. Is there anything else we should see? Is flying up to the GBR even worth it or is there enough to do and see around the south to keep us happy? It's the lady that is very adamant we see the GBR and I kinda agree if we're going all of that way. I just don't want to feel rushed.
As always, any help is appreciated!
P.S. We're stuck with the two weeks she has off for Christmas (teacher). Our alternative idea was Thailand. Which option is better? I feel like there's more to see in SE Asia and it would be somewhere that you want to absorb more and thus stay longer in. But I'm going to be 30 in two years, is that too old to bum around Thailand? I know Thailand Hostels usually have age limits? (not that staying in Hostels is a must)