Hi Vicki,

Have you visited Australia often? Or are you from there?? I really appreciate your information. Rock hounding is
going out looking for rocks! We belong to a group called the diehards, all with a great interest in rocks and geology. We get together as often as possible and go out on field
trips in the desert or to mines to find Tourmaline, Geodes, Crystals and any other beautiful rocks or just interesting pieces. It is great exercise and if you love the outdoors like we do it is very peaceful. Our dogs love to go on the outing too!

I have read that Coober Pedy has Opal mines and
since we have never looked for Opals I know we
would probably have a great time. Not sure
how we would get there though as we will be
flying into Sydney and possibly flying up
to Cairns and then renting an RV. We don't have
it all planned out yet. As you said it sounds like the places we want to visit are long stretches apart. I know I would love
to see the AUS rainforest too. We love hiking
camping and backpack stuff so that is why I was leaning towards renting an RV rather than having
to make a hotel reservation for each night and have our trip all planned out. We tend to be spontaneous and if we hear about something interesting would like to be able to investigate it rather than be scheduled somewhere. Do not know if that would be doable in AUS though not sure of last minute availability and such.

Anyway we are just in the beginning of planning this trip. I have purchased a couple of travel guides on Australia to kinda help us decide what we want to see.
Thank you for the RV park sites you included I have already checked them out.
Australia seems to have so much to offer that is
right up our alley that my head is reeling trying to figure this all out.

Thanks again for your words of wisdom. It sounds like the weather will be nice for snorkeling in Cairns and we will bring a jacket for Sydney.
Kathy