I really want to backpack Australia this summer

Yeah Ive done it. Not really that much backpacking though. I went there with two friends for 3 months. We stayed in Sydney and worked meanwhile, well at least two of us did. I worked for about a month in Sydney and then we bought a van and drove around cross country. It was so cool. A very good website to find condos, jobs, cars and what else is http://www.gumtree.com.au/ Its kinda like craigslist.
Places you should visit are definitely Byron Bay, Brisbane, The Gold Coast, You should do some surfing aswell. Nimbin is pretty fucked up. If you want to go there it will be good to have friends with you. If you want to smoke weed buy it and then fucking leave.
We just travelled around the East Coast of Australia but depending how long you want to stay you could visit Perth, Melbourne and maybe hit up the hot North. Many people visit Canberra aswell but its not impressive or anything.
Depending when you want to go you have to consider its the opposite season. So if you go in Summer it will be winter in Australia. It was like this when we went and it was awesome. I went skiing at Perisher in the South and then we headed up the coast and went surfing. Haha.
So maybe think about bringing your boots and some old skis or something if you want to.
Inbox me if you want any more info, travellers tips or you just have a question.
Regards

steve irwin is dead can we please be more sensitive

do it man, cant wait till im done school so i can get out. not necessarily to australia, but still, go backpacking, seems fun.

cant give you any specific advice relative to australia but for anyone backpacking, the lonely planet guides are pretty good. lots available online too via lonely planet forums

I was just about to post this, these books are great.

Yeah put a thread in the Aus forums - there should be some help there

As for Australia - yeah man, give it a go, it's a pretty sick country.

or come to NZ a far better country where not every fucking thing  is trying to kill you

I would go to NZ.. much more diversity there..

Definately come nz, much more worth your time

id stay stick to the east coast, go to melbourne, sydney and gold coast/brisbane

As someone who lives in Aus I think this would be the best way to do it:

Land in Brisbane - Good for a party, beaches and surfing

Head North, check out the Great Barrier Reef etc then start heading south.

Byron Bay - Great for a surf and probably the chillest place in the whole country

Coffs Harbour - Surf and bananas

Newcastle (Where I'm from) - More surfing and relax by the beach some pretty cool places to explore along the coastline here

Sydney (I live here) - It's Big city with some good night life and some great touristy things to check out. Give it a couple of days and check out the blue mountains as well which are out west a bit.

Follow the coast down to Melbourne stopping at towns along the way, there are some really cool little places to see here.

Note on Canberra: The place is a fucking dirt hole. There is probably only one thing worth seeing and that is the War Memorial/Museum. Aside from that it's a waste of time.

Melbourne - Coffe, and hipster culture. I haven't been there for a while but everyone loves it.

Drive around regional Victoria - A lot of Australia's interesting history happened here and its worth checking out.(Ned Kelly and the Eureka Stockade etc.)

Drive along the Great Ocean Road - Amazing scenery not sure what the beaches are like around here though.

From here you could head to Tasmania which is one of the most beautiful and spectacular places in Australia, especially if you like hiking and bushwalking.

Alternatively you could check out Perth and the west coast. There is actually a lot of amazing stuff over that side of the country, probably worth doing some research on it (I've never been so I can't really make comment)

Lastly, although I don't know much about it at all I have seen some photo's of amazing places in the north west of the country (northern WA or western NT). Look into it, might be hard to get to though.

Places to avoid:

Adelaide - It's just a city and there's nothing interesting there.
Darwin - Unless its on the way to somewhere in the Northern Territory there is not much there except petrol sniffing drunk Aboriginals
Canberra - DIRT HOLE!

Exactly this.

Newcastle is fucking chill and Coffs Harbour is nice aswell. You can do some nice hiking around these areas, along the coast and its awesome.

I did not want to talk bad about Canberra but b.utters said it right. You dont need to see it!

Backpacking around Australias East Coast is very cool. There are lots of public picnic sides where you can refill your water bottles, there are toilets and sometimes also showers (cold of course, but just grow some)
In addition these picnic sides also have grills or places where you can make a BBQ. Its pretty cool.

Just let me know if you want any more info.

id skip the public bbq's that are in reasonably high traffic areas. alot of them have been pissed on regularly.

My cousin lived there for a bunch of years, said it was the best experience of her life. I would give you advice, but I know nothing about it, other then the obvious. Watch out for snakes and spiders. And lizards. And other shit that's there that will probably kill you.

Wow thanks every body, I checked out that Lonely Planet site and that will probably be really helpful, and especially Thank You to pow pow, b.utters, S.Ki and the other locals, you basically planned the whole trip out for me.



One thing I'm thinking about is its going to be a lot of ground to cover in a short amount of time if I want to see everything I want to, Is there reliable public transportation on the east coast? Or should I look into finding a really cheap car, or cheap motorcycle, then just giving it away or trying to sell it before my flight back home
and karmaz to all of you

I totally agree with my fellow Aussies up there^ just stick to the east coast. The tourist spots in Australia are the spots for a reason. They're amazing!

I would say fly into Brisbane first too, but head up north and check out all the fucking amazing islands of shore like The Whitsundays and stuff. So amazing.

Personally, i think the best trip would be starting up north and roadtripping down through all the spots mentioned until probably Sydney then jump on a plane to NZ! The south of the east coast is cool, but i think going to NZ would be better. It's awesome over there!!

Most of the animals that will kill you won't bother you as long as you keep your distance and don't try and be Steve Irwin. Actually, you probably aren't likely to see anything that will kill you at all.

The beaches are pristine, really nice and depending on whether you want to surf or swim there are a lot of options. There is a lot of wild life down there too. Koala's, Kangaroos. I would also recommend going down to Phillip Island and seeing the Penguin parade. There is some cool stuff down there.

Melbourne has a pretty good club life, there are some cool buildings to see, good coffee and a more chill vibe than Sydney.

Apart from that what b.utters said is pretty spot on. If you come down to Melbourne, hit me up and I can give you some more specific details on where to go/ what to see.

cept the abbos

Don't forget a map!

i just put one and a half plus hours, 30+ pictures into writing a sick guide sorta thing, leave window with obvious writing open and go get food.. come back and my mother has closed safari....... will re-write tonight