4 free days - Brisbane - what to do?

what would you do if you had 4 free days in Brisbane? no limits on distance, expense, etc.

Spend a day in the city taking full advantage of the hop-on-off bus/boat.

Take a trip to amazing Fraser Island.

I went to North Stradbroke Island when I was in Brisbane for a few days... it's not too terribly far away - a bus and a ferry ride or something, good for a one day/one night adventure. You can rent a bicycle and see the entire island, or there's a nice walk by Point Lookout that is breathtaking, with views of the Gorge and down the main beach - quite lovely!

Fraser Island is a not to be missed place IMO but logistically etc a little hard to do and time consuming for 4 days.

Stradbroke Island though is perfect. 20 minutes out of the city where the Cleveland train line is met by a courtesy bus for the 5 minute trip to the jetty for the Stradbroke Flyer (the best of the water taxis).

The Water taxi is met by buses on the other side and you are away.

It also has great ocean beaches to drive a 4wd on if you have time. Take one of the vehicle barges instead of the water taxis.

Australia Zoo is a bit over an hour north.

There is also Dreamworld, Movieworld, Wet and Wild water park 40-50 minutes away to the south.

If staying in Brisbane city, Southbank would be my choice of location for restaurants, the esplanade etc.

how about flying up to Cairns or farther north to dive? are there quick tours/trips, etc. Is it worth it?

That is totally up to you. It is only a 2 hour flight so time is not an issue.
I would hire a car and drive to Palm Cove and then onto Port Douglas while I was there...I do every time I'm there for business.
Just over an hour of very scenic coastline driving from Cairns northern beaches and they do many dive charters out of PD.
Funky little town too..emphasis on little though I guess.

If you have the money and can find specials I can't recommend Sea Temple highly enough for accom in PD..also a very nice golf course there - watch out for the crocs in the water hazards! They are all under 2 metres though they tell me...

Personally I think The Whitsundays (Arlie Beach) is a better tropical destination than Cairns - though I'm certainly not knocking Cairns as a destination.
Fly into Mackay - or better still Proserpine - or straight onto Hamilton Island.
If you go there you must take a trip to Whitehaven Beach...just very pretty. It's the very white beach you will see in most ads.

Don't discount Straddie (Stradbroke Island) or Fraser Island though. I would do Fraser in a 4wd as on a par with any of the other places mentioned.

Edit: thinking about it, if you want to see The Great Barrier Reef then definitely Cairns/PD or Whitsundays is where you should go.

I was in Brisbane a little over a year ago. I would book a trip on Micat out to Moreton Island for some sandboarding and also a swim in the Blue Lagoon. The water is insane. I've never experienced anything quite like that swim.

If I had 4 days in Brisbane, I would head up to the sunshine coast about an hour north of Brisbane and surf. Some of the best beaches in Australia.

Come to New Zealand!

Mama-to-many wrote:Come to New Zealand!

Then they won't want to return to OZ.

If you're game I can take you out sailing on Moreton Bay