Am I mad to consider going to Australia for a week?

[GearBots]

I've been invited to an old friends wedding in Brisbane. I'm keen to go. I'd like to try to see a couple of friends in Perth and Sydney as well.

Is this a mad idea? Flying to Perth for 2 /3 days then to Sydney for 2/3 days and then to Brisbane for 4 days. I'm half wondering about driving up the coast from Sydney to Brisbane. I think I'd need to fly home from Sydney.

I want to try to fit in as much as possible and catch up with some very dear friends. I've never been to Australia and I'm unlikely to be able to go again for many years.

I feel incredibly guilty going and leaving husband and kids at home. Husband 100% on board and actively encouraging me to go. But it's such a lot of money out of the family pot so I want to make sure I have a good time and making best use of my limited time!

You could combine Sydney and Brisbane in a week if you don't mind a fairly hectic pace, but it would be impractical to get to Perth as well.

I wouldn’t do it personally. Let alone with all that domestic travel. Maybe i’m in the minority, as I already have chronic fatigue, but it takes me at least 2 weeks to properly recover from jetlag after flying UK to Aus.

I have been to Aus/NZ several times for work and l'd say there and back in 10 days (including flight time) is the minimum you should be considering if you're flying economy. Maybe ask your Sydney friends to come up to the Gold Coast?

That's ten days

As PP said, I really don't think this is viable. Australia is not just far away but fucking BIG. It's not like nipping from London to Manchester, it's like nipping from London to Istanbul. It might just about be doable if you pick a single city and spend your whole week there, but bear in mind that jet lag will have you feeling like death with a hangover for at least a few days of that.

Do the brisbane/Sydney part. Your Perth friends could fly over for a couple of days to the east. After all, you've flown across the globe.

There have been terrible severe floods in Sydney recently so check if there are travel disruptions

Going to Australia for a week for a wedding isn't (that) mad, a colleague did exactly that years ago.

However, trying to fly around Australia during that time IS mad. Just go to the wedding and enjoy a couple of days in the area, and then come back. Could the friends in Sydney get to Brisbane to see you? Probably not possible to meet the Perth friend though.

I’ve done U.K. to Brisbane for 8 days. No children then and could suit myself. It was absolutely fine and well worth it. Only bad day was feeling off on the first day there. I paid for the better (economy) seat too to sleep.

Agree re driving/flying to Brisbane. One of the friends suggested it we'd drive together, probably stay somewhere overnight and have a day less in Brisbane. I thought it could be a nice way to spend some time together. But probably infeasible.

I have to do the three cities - that's where the friends are. Sydney friends could possibly meet me in Brisbane but seems a shame to not go to Sydney. But Perth friend not able to travel so I'd need to go to them.

Maybe it's too much and I should wait until I can go for longer?

I would just go to Brisbane for the wedding. You can't drive to Sydney from Brisbane - your jet-lag will render you dangerous on the roads. It's a long and mostly very boring trip through some very recently flooded areas (damaged roads etc).

If I were you I think it would be better to enjoy one city well, rather than trying to rum yourself ragged.

For a wedding. Not mad to go to Australia if they are people important enough to you.

Mad to go to Perth, Sydney and Brisbane in a week though.

I have done the bus journey between Sydney and Brisbane one way. I flew the other. You are insane to even consider it on such a short trip.

You will spend the entire time in airports, on a bus or in a plane. Whilst jet lagged.

One week, One city is doable. Anything else is just a complete lack of comprehension at what you plan to do.

I did it a few years back. 3 days in NZ for a wedding, 5 days in Sydney sightseeing.

I was VERY jet lagged in NZ, but it was a great trip and no regrets.

The flights are very expensive now. I was talking to a man recently and he said the flights are €6000 at the moment. If you have to add internal flights on top of that, it’s going to be an expensive week.
I would just go to one city, after such a huge flight you don’t want to be exhausted for the whole week.

have a great time anyway

I live in Perth and can tell you this is way too much distance to travel in a week! If I were you I'd pick on city and stick to it. You remind me of when my mum came to stay and said she'd love to take a drive to Uluru for the weekend . You are basically saying something like you want to spend a week in London , Istanbul and Portugal.

Do you know whether you suffer from jet lag or not? Not everybody does (I have a theory about insomniacs being much better able to cope with jet lag) in which case it would be possible to do two of the cities, but three would be a push. It is a long way from Perth to anywhere else in Australia, but if you're flying through Asia then leaving from Perth will take a few hours off your home flight too.

Do it! Stretch every other day of annual leave toi can to go if you can take even another day. The road trip with your friend sounds perfect actually as it’s about spending time together chatting

@TheSandgroper I had considered doing Perth last but i need to be back in London by a specific date which means I need to fly back after the wedding.

@3luckystars I've done a quick search for flights - yes they are expensive but not much beyond what I was expecting tbh.

Errr Perth to Sydney is a 4 1/2 hour flight, and $600 plus a ticket, its not like nipping up the road to see someone!

You need to do some prioritising.

The road trip isn't as daft as it originally sounded if it's about spending time with friends, but why go to all the cost and time effort to see three cities if you are than going to detract from that by spending ages driving.

If Perth is a must and your Sydney friends can meet you in Brisbane then that's what I'd do. Yes, it's a shame not to get to Sydney but far better to do a couple of things well. And you'd barely scratch the surface of Sydney in a couple of days.

Depending on budget you can fly directly from London to Perth (but ££££), Perth to Brisbane and back from Brisbane via Asia so no need to go to Sydney at all.

Yes it’s madness as you’ll spend most of your time traveling either by car (fuel is very expensive), or waiting for delayed flights in airports as airlines all over the place are losing bags, or cancelling or delaying flights. Fly to Brisbane and then waste a day driving or flying to Sydney OR flying to Perth before you fly home. Or consider just basing yourself in brisbane and doing a few side trips to Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast

The OP was considering it.

I do take on board everyone's point re being jetlagged and the distances. I'm prepared to be knackered and spend a lot of time in airports.

I've done a fair bit of traveling - though not for a loong time but think am fairly well equipped to deal with jetlag. And should be able to afford things that will make it easier like taxis rather than buses and nicer hotels than in my 20s!

Honestly these two sets of friends are really important to me and I hope it'll be worth it.

THE OP is on holiday, her friends in Perth are not. It's a long and expensive trip, not one you can just blithely suggest to someone! It's like asking someone who lives in London to meet you in Moscow for the weekend.

@RedCardigan thank you! That's what I thought about the drive.