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Thank you all very much for your replies. After posting I realized that I should have phrased it better. I know saying I have two weeks to visit an entire country is kinda naive, its just that I don't know anyone who has actually been to Australia. The only thing I really have to go off of so far different travel sites which basically highlight Sydney and the Gold Coast. I'd love to go to Sydney because I've heard so many great things. However, as one of the replies mentioned, the gold coast sounds pretty similar to going to one of the tourists places here in the US, which is fun but I'd really like to see more of Australia.
I was wondering if we were to fly into Sydney for the first week and then travel up north for the second week, whats the best way to travel? Thanks again for all your input. The more I look into planning this trip, the more excited I get.
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Plane, it is too far to drive, from Sydney just to Brisbane is about 12-13 hours by car so unless you wish to spend a lot of time sitting on your butt driving (coach and trains take similar or longer times) then the only way to go is domestic flight. If you are going from Sydney to Brisbane it would take about 2 hrs to fly, and 3 to somewhere like Airlee (Proserpine Airport). You can get pretty great deals on domestic flights so the cost isn't really a factor given the time saved, and the savings on hotels if you need to overnight on a trip, most people find 12 hrs driving pretty tiring especially if they don't know the routes and will overnight somewhere along the way.
As I suggest above, I think 1 week in Sydney is fine and for your second week pick somewhere where there is lots to do and see, hence why I suggested the Whitsundays, fly up there from Sydney and you have a range of budget-expensive accommodations, a venue set for tourists but still pretty laid back and where a lot of Aussies go to vacation as well, and the choice of tropical rain forests, islands, water sports, cheap and fine dining and of course one of the main natural wonders of Australia, the Barrier Reef. The area caters to the poor and rich and everything in between so it will suit any budget.
If the Whitsundays don't grab you then I would pick something else with a similar 'main' attraction such as head inland to
Alice Springs (Ayers Rock) and see the 'real' outback. You can fly there from Sydney, and can do enough day trips and things from there to get a great week of 'aussie' but completely different to the 'coastal' areas and a taste of the real inland Australia, tho at the time of year you are looking at, January, then the temperature would be pretty darn hot (tooooo extreme depending on what part of the USA you are coming from) and the flies would be really bad lol.
Another area I like for 'stuff to do' to fill a whole week is Canberra, Australia's Capital. From here you can day trips to a lot of 'outer' hinterland areas, dams, Ned Kelly territory at Bungendore, some of the oldest inland pubs etc around the Braidwood area. All the national museums, art gallerys, lake burley griffin dinner cruises, heaps of parks, gardens and recreation areas, wildlife parks at Brindibella etc etc.
Canberra While Canberra is our capital city, it is probably unlike a city you have ever 'seen' before in that is is fully preplanned and didn't 'originate' and then grow as most cities do, therefore getting around is easy, the city itself is very pretty with street plantings, and while it is a 'city' it doesn't feel like a city as such but more like a large country town. The beauty of it is even tho it is 'preplanned' as a city the outer hinterlands are very 'like' a lot of the inland Australian areas, sheep farms, granite country, etc.
If you didn't want to go to one 'place' then my suggestion would be spend your first 3-4 nights in Sydney, then hire a car and head on a
road trip with 2 night stays at each stop so one half day traveling (between 2-4 hrs] where you get a great look at the landscapes, and a day and 3/4's to 'see' the area. To get an idea of where you are on the following 2 mini road trips see the
MAP here, type in sydney then zoom it out til you can read the names of the places listed below to get your bearings.
Northern from Sydney:
To see the 'most' for your time I would be inclined to head north up through Maitland, then head inland to
Tamworth, Australias country music capital spend 2 nights there, then head up the inner route to
Armidale, Glenn Innes or Tenterfield and spend 2-3 nights in those areas, then cut east across to the coast [about 4 hrs drive] and spend 2-4 nights in
Byron Bay heaps of stuff to do here (can make a day trip up to the gold coast easily from here [about 2hrs]), and work your way back down the coast to Sydney stopping at
Coffs Harbour and/or cutting in to say
South West Rocks, (great beaches, diving etc, food) and visiting Trial Bay Gaol which is a great attraction to spend a few hours in and has some good historical info on the area. Then keep going down the coast and stop at
Port Macquarie with lots of beaches and stuff to do. Then head back to Sydney.
Southern from Sydney:
A similar road trip only heading south, taking you to within a days drive of Sydney, would be to leave Sydney and head south to
Goulburn, Australia's sheep capital, see the 'big merino', tour the brewery etc or do a 'farm stay' for a couple of nights, then down to
Canberra, (see above) spend a few nights there, then head further south-east to the coast to
Eden (great docks here for fishing etc), Tathra which is close by has great fishing, beaches and a great pub with live music, then start heading back up stopping at
Batemans Bay, then up to
Shoalhaven Heads , and up via Wollongong to Sydney.
Both the above trips would give you a small taste of inland plus heaps of stuff on the coasts. You really need to go much further 'inland' to experience the real 'outback' but in two weeks I think you would be pushing it unless you flew into Alice Springs for the real deal lol. The beauty of a road trip is you are flexible in that if you find a place you 'really' like you can stop an extra night or two or only stay the one night, just plan your 'basic' route before you go. The above routes would really only require 'pre-booking' at that time of year at Byron Bay, Coffs, Port Mac, Canberra, Batemans the rest you could probably 'wing it' and ring ahead to book as your traveling. Plus you are within a 10 hour drive of the middle of Sydney so if you get to one place and want to spend the rest of your time there, then you know you can get back to Sydney in a days drive. Plus you would have transport the whole time you are in the country and car rental rates are really not that expensive given the flexibility a car gives you. Not to mention that driving and stopping at service stations for fuel and meals lets you taste the 'real' country in as much as you will meet lots of people along the way to chat to in pubs and lunch places etc. If you do decide on a more flexible 'road trip' style of holiday then I would recommend one of the first things you do in Sydney is head to the local
NRMA office and buy a Hotel and Accommodation directory or similar which will have a listing of all towns and available places to stay with telephone numbers etc and a rough price guide, the NRMA can also supply you with whatever maps you need.
It just depends on how 'active' you want to be, whether you want to get in and 'see' as much as you can while you're here and different 'areas' from coast to hinterlands or would prefer to just go to Sydney and one other place etc.
(smack in the middle of NSW) Biggest & best open range zoo this side of the world and theres tazzy devils there now *squee* thers outback house old homestead thing to experiance life in the 1800's i think the year is, thers also the gaol set up with all sorts of animatronics and fancy dodads so you can see what the err.. justice system was like theres tonnes more here but it'd be easier if i just found a link then trying to remember everything i shall look later (im in the middle of cooking 