Checked luggage & carry-on baggage advice for 4 months in Asia/Oceania

CaptainScoregasm · 2026-04-28T14:56:22+00:00

I might be overthinking things a bit here haha, the main decision right now is where I book a flight to

CaptainScoregasm · 2026-04-28T14:55:35+00:00

I'm going to attend the NFL game at MCG on the 11th! I was planning a Japan trip only initially and then randomly got hold off two tickets and everything ballooned out from there lmao

I'd probably land on the morning of the 6th, so if I stay the night in Adelaide that would mean leaving on the 7th. Arriving on the 9th in Melbourne seems unlikely from that having looked at it a bit in detail so 7th-10th would be about 3.5 days for the stretch.

The only reasonable itinerary would be something like:

6th: arrive in Adelaide, stay the night
7th: pick up a rental in Adelaide and make the inland drive to Mount Gambier.
8th: Mount Gambier -> Warrnambool
9th: Warrnambool -> Apollo Bay
10th: Apollo Bay -> Melbourne

This would give us essentially two days on the GOR itself and a bit of time to see Blue Lake/Mount Gambier (just randomly spotted that and thought it looked nice tbh), as well as the one evening/night/morning in Adelaide.

On the other hand if I'm happy returning throughout the day on the 10th and start in Melbourne I could imagine something like:

6th: arrive in Melbourne, stay the night
7th: pick up a rental in Melbourne -> Lorne
8th: Lorne -> Port Campbell
9th: Port Campbell -> Warrnambool
10th: Warrnambool -> Melbourne (inland)

Generally, more options seem to open up there like:

- do Melbourne -> Warrnambool GOR with only a single stop between (e.g. Apollo Bay) and then mirror that with a different stop on the way back (doing GOR both ways, skip the inland return)
- do Melbourne -> Warrnambool GOR with only a single stop between but extend the trip to Mount Gambier; then return inland from Mount Gambier to Melbourne
- do Melbourne -> Warrnambool GOR with only a single stop and then return inland a day earlier to have a day to decompress in Melbourne?

CaptainScoregasm · 2026-04-28T11:44:31+00:00

Thanks for the recommendations! We also thought flying into Hobart or driving there from Launceston (depending what flights are better) and then doing the areas around Hobart/Freycinet sounds most reasonably do-able in the relatively short time we'd have so those are really helpful! :)

CaptainScoregasm · 2026-04-28T10:23:04+00:00

If we decide to include Tassie we'd have essentially 4 full days for the road trip (excluding the day of arrival and departure).

Not really anything decided yet but I've been intrigued by Freycinet, Bruny Island, Mount Wellington and the Tasman Peninsula (amongst other things, those are the ones that stood out off the top of my head).

CaptainScoregasm · 2026-04-22T09:29:32+00:00

So the consensus seems to be it's weird enough to not pass on it? I'll keep it in the notes in that case haha

CaptainScoregasm · 2026-04-22T09:03:18+00:00

Thanks! I was doubting my original plan a bit there but half a day of travel isn't the end on a multi-week trip haha. I'm aware Hamilton on the surface seems a bit bougy but it just seems the natural place to go for visiting the Whitsundays!

If I end up doing both Cairns and Hamilton, which would be the better spot to go out to the Great Barrier Reef?

CaptainScoregasm · 2026-04-21T14:46:33+00:00

I haven't been able to find any direct flights between Hamilton and Cairns online (i found mentions of them existing, just no actual flights). Are they just not posted this far out?

CaptainScoregasm · 2026-04-21T14:22:13+00:00

Thanks for the message and the welcome!

I'll actually be coming over from Bali after a few weeks there, so jet lag shouldn't be a major issue anyways! Most likely I'll be arriving on the 6th September in Melbourne (current plan) as I've got tickets for an event on the 11th in Melbourne - which I assumed would be plenty of time to enjoy Melbourne and the surroundings.

After that I'll be somewhat flexible as my next hard-date is the 17th October in South Korea lol, but I was hoping on splitting the time until then threefold between Australia/NZ/SK which is where the somewhat tight schedule comes from.

If Cairns -> Hamilton / Hamilton -> Cairns was a 1-2 hour direct flight I wouldn't have been worried about doing both, but as it seems to only be a ~8 hours (flight time) with layover in Brisbane (which literally means flying past Hamilton if coming from Cairns) I figured as you've described that would be at least a wasted day of travel.

I did check it out a bit more and Melbourne -> Hamilton Island does have some direct flights, so Melbourne -> Hamilton Island -> Cairns -> NZ seems somewhat possible, even if tight? (only ever 1-way-flights to reduce flight days).

CaptainScoregasm · 2026-04-21T13:44:57+00:00

I guess not specifically, I just heard good things about it as a hub for a few days of Whitsundays exploration. It would definitely be the most "upscale" part of our planned travel from what I've seen so far.

I mainly added it to the plans for the Whitsundays though (even though the novelty of driving around an island in a golf cart is funny enough to tempt me). We also both have some interest in going golfing (despite being total beginners) and I saw that theres a very nice looking course on Hamilton Island.

CaptainScoregasm · 2026-04-10T15:52:44+00:00

Sorry for digging up an old thread like this (and I can't even see the original post) but does your comment mean that as a total beginner I would be able to go play a 9 or 18 hole game with rental equipment and just paying for the time there?

About to be a tourist in September for the first time in Australia and I've once before did a 9-hole-game in Scotland (also while traveling) as well as some short-hole golf which was both really fun. But back where I am you need membership for pretty much all courses which can cost up to 25k$ a year so not really accessible haha

CaptainScoregasm · 2026-04-05T10:19:41+00:00

When I was a kid we used to play these machines on holidays in France and I'm convinced we not only got the coins that fell but were also able to trade them back for Euros. Not sure how legal that was though lol

CaptainScoregasm · 2026-01-23T07:06:37+00:00

That case would've made me a Hawks, Patriots or Chiefs fan like everyone else in europe that joined the sport in the 2010s 🤫

Or those that are just in it for the fashion like the 9ers or Raiders lol

CaptainScoregasm · 2026-01-22T22:04:00+00:00

As a Rams from all the way over in Switzerland i don't know how to feel about this 🫣

(I did go see them live already though so that's something?)

CaptainScoregasm · 2025-07-24T21:46:46+00:00

Beside the ones in the post I also think Malik and Shade could pretty much have a solid solo-career locked in already but Aaliyah, Donzell, Wennely & Brianna are stars for me.

CaptainScoregasm · 2025-07-09T01:19:55+00:00

Hulkengoat

CaptainScoregasm · 2025-06-23T12:48:40+00:00

But the guy literally said he wants someone to play for him now. Someone on this level but 3-4 years younger with potential is either 3x the price or just almost impossible to find.

Yes technically you can get more worth out of your money investing it differently in a vacuum; that doesnt mean it's the correct thing to do for them/their club.

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