Melbourne to Cairns 2012

[pbike2012]

Hello all, I am also coming to Australia by March 1, 2012, I will be in Melbourne. I would like to ride up as far north to see the great barrier reef, I am open to spending some time seeing Great Ocean Road, In total I have 6-8 weeks and am open to a train a bit if it facilitates seeing some things. I rode across the USA in 2008 from Seattle to NYC in in 43 days, I am open to camping but prefer hotels more, I am on a cyclocross bike but with slicks. Any advice would be great and routes really the unknown to me, I bought the Lonely Planet guide. I would probably take a train or plane back to Sydney after reaching the northern points.
Thank you so much for any help, PC