Beach/ocean side trip for 2 for Easter

[Ade]

Hey everyone,

I'm back !

Looking for some trip ideas to do over Easter break. As ALWAYS I'm late to do the planning and won't be surprised if I end up spending Easter at my western Sydney apartment, with no where to go because all nice places are booked.

Anyhow, I thought I'd post this here and see if there is anything can be done.

The trip is for 2, preferably beach/ocean side, can be anywhere in AU, as long as there are flights & no driving involved (because both of us can't drive). Can do only public transport & or Uber.

I was limiting my search to beaches/coast of NSW only, but now I'm happy to do any place. The idea of this trip is to get away from it all and spend a few days/nights in peace - things are not fine work-wise, so both of us need a break. We both love good wine & food, so we will be sure to stock up on supplies for the entire duration of the trip.

+1 likes to read books (I can't understand why, but hey, if that's what she likes to do, so be it) and I like to indulge myself with a nice glass of Riesling or Rose

Budget wise looking at around $1000 without flights. Hopeful that I can book flights using points, or the budget can be extended to cover any additional costs.

Thoughts?

Cheers,
Ade

 

[eric2011]

Reports are that both the Gold Coast and the Sunshine coast are both very heavily booked. Even if you could find something I doubt your $1000 would cover it to stay somewhere half decent. Good luck down the NSW coast to find somewhere that hasn't been washed away

 

[AIRwin]

Magnetic Island?

And welcome back! Couldn't resist the "attraction" and "pull" of AFF...

 

[Happy Dude]

I've been watching the news recently and lots of tourist destinations have so few tourists that the gov will subsidise your flights. By the way the industry has been squealing, you'll practically have the place to yourself and hotels, restuarants etc will be fighting for your $$ too.

 

[eric2011]

I've been watching the news recently and lots of tourist destinations have so few tourists that the gov will subsidise your flights. By the way the industry has been squealing, you'll practically have the place to yourself and hotels, restuarants etc will be fighting for your $$ too.

Don't necessarily listen to the news media. They don't report the news, they make it.
I live in Brisbane and go to both the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast often. They're not struggling but still use "covid" as the excuse for bad service and under performance and inability to get things back to "sort of normal"

 

[Happy Dude]

Don't necessarily listen to the news media. They don't report the news, they make it.
I live in Brisbane and go to both the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast often. They're not struggling but still use "covid" as the excuse for bad service and under performance and inability to get things back to "sort of normal"

Yes indeed. And think of how much worse it'll be when jobkeeper ends!

 

[daft009]

I would suggest perhaps around Ettalong beach area maybe?

Can catch the train to Wyong and then perhaps a cab or similar, only 1hr drive from Sydney. Full of families with young kids or older couples and retirees

 

[henrus]

Can you give us an idea of the dates, also I assume you're in Sydney with Qantas points?

Looking online there are not really any points flights out of Sydney over the Easter weekend so you might need to start looking at flight prices as well.

Unsurprisingly places with less accommodation have cheaper flights and places with cheaper accommodation have rather expensive flights.

 

[luxury-lizard]

here's an off the wall idea - why not a staycation in Sydney - easy to get to from where you are - hotels are really suffering - if you want beach-side try Manly or Bondi or .... but a 5* right near Circular Quay could be perfect - take the ferry to Manly, do a walk, . . .

 

[Dr Ralph]

Wollongong. Can get train direct from airport (about 60 mins). Stay at the Novotel or similar. I suggested the Novotel because it is right by the beach and has a bus stop outside which is part of the free bus route to the CBD (and other places). A bus goes every 10 mins on a weekday and 20 mins on a weekend.

 

[Gremlin]

I think anywhere up the NSW coast isn't going to be the best beach holiday this Easter. Even though it's still 10 days away, there is going to be a lot of silt, debris and detritus in the surf and on the sand, washed down from the flooded rivers. It's going to be at least a couple of weeks before that all clears itself out. My guess is that the same goes for the Gold Coast.

The South Coast might be a slightly better option

 

[Mattg]

I know you said your preference was for a beach destination, but with the recent floods there may not be many options available at the moment without flying somewhere outside of NSW.

Have you considered heading west on the train? For example there's daily XPT services to Orange & Dubbo - both are nice for a few days. There's the zoo in Dubbo and some great wineries around Orange.

 

[kamchatsky]

I know you said your preference was for a beach destination, but with the recent floods there may not be many options available at the moment without flying somewhere outside of NSW.

Have you considered heading west on the train? For example there's daily XPT services to Orange & Dubbo - both are nice for a few days. There's the zoo in Dubbo and some great wineries around Orange.

I was looking to drive with the kids to Dubbo to visit Western Plains Zoo at Easter. However accommodation are practically not available at all of Dubbo!