are we crazy to consider going to australia for a month with a toddler???

[yummyummy]

possibly for 5-6 wks (november time), we have some money saved up and DH & I have always wanted to travel up the east coast of Australia. Ideally we dream of the lovely beaches and all the national parks etc.....but in reality it could be dragging an incooperable screaming toddler around, long journeys, long haul plane rides all a very long way from home....

One minute I am convinced we would have a fantastic time spending loads of quality time together as a family, the next minute I am filled with dread. Has anyone else travelled to Oz for a month in a similar situation?
tia

No, your not mad, we went to Australia last year with a 2 year old and a 6 month old, we went for a month and had a great time and wouldnt have missed it for the world.

There will be difficulties and its no where near as easy travelling with kids than travelling on your own. But with good planning you can ovecome most things.

Lots of tips flying long haul with kids on here in the archives.

We found the flights easy, it was the jet lag that killed us, for about a week playtime was between 2 and 5 in the morning.

But we really did have a fantastic time and so glad that we went, so much so we are looking to live there for a couple of years, but thats another topic!

We've been all over with a toddler (Singapore,Thailand,Malaysia,Sri Lanka,Russia,France,Dubai.....

Also done similar with two.

It's more hards work,but still fun,and people are nicer to you when you are a family than they are when you are a couple we found.

Not crazy at all. We have just spent a month in Australia with two - aged 2 and 5.

My top tips would be:

Concentrate on the coast between Sydney and Brisbane if you are going to drive.

The scenery between Cairns and Brisbane is boring with a few notable exceptions. The main one being Airlie Beach - this is where we visited the Great Barrier Reef from. It has fabulous parks and facilities for children - in fact all of the towns we visited along the east coast did.

Go for it. It will be fab!

Oh - one last thing - take your own carseat, the carseat the hire car co. gave us wasn't particularly comfy for DS2.

Oh and use www.wotif.com for booking - their range of self catering apartments are great value for money - especially if you book well in advance.

Go!!! Another loon here who has taken a toddler all over the place including Australia, Japan, Thailand, USA, etc. As jenkel says there are loads of tips for travel on here. I find it really helps (hand luggage rules allowing) to take a few small new toys for the journey. I strongly recommend flying Singapore, Qantas, Virgin or Emirates for a child-friendly trip.

we travelled to and round Oz for a month with a 10 monther. the journey was long and the jetlag was grim. the month there was fine with a crawling and active baby.

we went as we had relatives to see there, I wouldn't personally bother with such a long trip with a toddler otherwise. why not go somewhere with a shorter flight and less time difference?

we enjoyed staying in little lodges and cottages on campsites. that was quite toddler friendly.

the youth hostels with family rooms were also good for toddlers.

we did an overnight train trip from Sydney to Melbourne with dd1 in tow which was surprisingly pain free too.

thanks everyone for your advice!! well we ahve decided to go and DH is speaking to someone today about flights etc, we are trying to get the flights where you touch down in singapore for a few hours where we can take DD swiming and then wear her out for the last leg of the journey...must admit i am dreading the flights! after looking at the routes etc and the size of oz (never really occured to me before just how massive it is) we originally wanted to start in melbourne with the great ocean road, then move up to sydney, brisbane then up to cairns, but i doubt we will have time in a month ? so much to plan......back to goolge it is