<p>Hubby has a conference in Brisbane in mid July, so D2 (just graduated HS) and I are planning to tag along. We are very excited! Any suggestions on things to see/do in the area? We will probably be in Brisbane for 2 days, we’ll have 2 1/2 days to drive fly to other areas of interest and have one day in Sydney before departing. I appreciate suggestions/tips! Thanks.</p>
<p>In Brisbane we enjoyed a trip to the Lone Pine koala sanctuary. The staff at the hotel helped us figure out the bus route. There is also a way to get there via a river ferry.
[Lone</a> Pine Koala Sanctuary - Since 1927](<a href=“http://www.koala.net/index.php]Lone”>http://www.koala.net/index.php)</p>
<p>We took the commuter rail up to the Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin’s zoo.)
[Australia</a> Zoo - Visit Us - How To Get Here](<a href=“http://www.australiazoo.com.au/visit-us/how-to-get-here/]Australia”>How to Get Here - Australia Zoo - Directions to Our Location)</p>
<p>The zoo was extensive and a great day out. Both the Australia Zoo and the koala sanctuary has massive grassy enclosures. You purchase some stuff that looks like goat food before going in. Once inside you approach kangaroos and see if they would like some to eat. My daughters could have done this all day long. We got some great photos there. If the roos don’t want to eat, they ignore you or just hop away.</p>
<p>There are a lot of beachy day trips or overnights that you can take.
[Side</a> Trips in Brisbane at Frommer’s](<a href=“Side Trips in Brisbane | Frommer's”>Side Trips in Brisbane | Frommer's)</p>
<p>There is a resort that has wild dolphins come up in the evening for feeding, if that is your thing. We didn’t go there so I can’t tell you what it is really like.
[Tangalooma</a> Island Resort | Tangalooma Holidays | Moreton Island Tours | Family Holidays Qld | Whale Watching | Day Cruises](<a href=“http://www.tangalooma.com/info/home/]Tangalooma”>Tangalooma Island Resort | Moreton Island Hotel & Tours)</p>
<p>We flew from Brisbane on a cheapo flight up to Magnetic Island for a few days. A large portion of it is a national park and there were lots of great hikes to empty bays.
[Magnetic</a> Island - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_Island]Magnetic”>Magnetic Island - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>We also took a short cruise along the GBR on this small ship. If you have 3 nights available, I highly recommend it. The snorkeling was fantastic!
[Great</a> Barrier Reef Cruises With Coral Princess - Cairns Townsville and Lizard Island](<a href=“http://www.coralprincess.com.au/g3.html]Great”>http://www.coralprincess.com.au/g3.html)</p>
<p>We found food to be a bit more expensive than we anticipated but there are lots of ethnic food places that are a good bargain. It is pretty much a no tipping country which helped the budget too, all day long.</p>
<p>We flew Quantas and had a really good experience.</p>
<p>Wow twomules, thanks so much! These are exactly the kind of suggestions I need. I tried to browse the internet but there is way too much information and it was getting hard to filter the good/reliable vs. junk/scam stuff.<br>
We really want to do the Great Barrier Reef area and will definitely look into the Coral Princess cruise. We are not great swimmers–can we still snorkel?</p>
<p>I am SO jealous!!! Immediately upon winning the lotto I am booking that trip!</p>
<p>re snorkeling- lots of people snorkel while wearing a lifejacket. That cruise, and I imagine other day trips too, had a marine biologist on board and she would lead a 15-20 guided snorkel around a reef to show us anything particularly awesome like giant clams. The girls became really good at diving 10 feet or so under to follow fish or look at coral (of course with out the life vest).</p>
<p>We used this canon camera that is waterproof with a floating strap and had some excellent pictures. They did need a like tweaking on the computer for adjusting the light.
[Amazon.com:</a> Canon PowerShot D10 12.1 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image…](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-D10-Waterproof-Stabilized/dp/B001SER460/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1276635963&sr=8-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-D10-Waterproof-Stabilized/dp/B001SER460/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1276635963&sr=8-1)</p>
<p>in Sydney, take the commuter ferry to Manley and walk about 500 yards to the beach. It’s where locals go, vs Bondi, which is where the tourists go. This is also cheaper than a tourist harbor boat tour. Walk around the Circular Quay area to see the Rocks, Opera House & Botanical Gardens. Tourist bus tour is one of the least exciting that I’ve done, so I would skip it. (that is my typical way to see a city in a few hours, as I’m trying to squeeze it in between business meetings). </p>
<p>Also realize this will be the dead of winter in Sydney, so expect rain. (I was just there 3 weeks ago on business and it rained the entire time).</p>
<p>Thanks for the warning! We will be sure to pack a few umbrellas.</p>
<p>We went to Australia years ago, but didn’t go to Brisbane. We spent several days at a resort on Dunk Island, on the Great Barrier Reef – it was gorgeous and I’d do it again in a heartbeat if I knew it hadn’t changed. We also flew to the center and went to Ayres Rock and the Olgas, which were very memorable. </p>
<p>I love going to tripadvisor.com to plan for trips. The forums there are very informative (it’s the CC of travel).</p>
<p>fireandrain brings up a good point. There are some islands on the reef that have hotels - usually pretty upscale. Back when I was first out of college, I went to Australia by myself and stayed on Heron Island. This was before it became so upscale and they had bunkbed cottages. It was wonderful - sea turtles nesting on the beach at night! (January) We wanted to stay there on our family trip but it was booked up. </p>
<p>Take a look:
[Great</a> Barrier Reef Resort - Heron Island Resort Great Barrier Reef](<a href=“http://www.heronisland.com/]Great”>http://www.heronisland.com/)</p>