Australia trip; where do I start?

[mumblechum0]

We've decided to go to Australia for a month next winter.
We'd like to go to 4 places for 6 nights each (and stopovers each way), rather than try to fit loads in and get knackered.

The only definite is visiting rellies inByron Bay near Brisbane. Won't be staying with them for a week, just a night or two.

We'll be flying Emirates as they have the best business class but looking for recommendations for internal flights if poss.

Any ideas much appreciated 😊

Tasmania is a great place to visit if you like the outdoors. I was there in March for two weeks and managed to see loads. It's easy to drive around and the distances aren't quite as big as other places in Australia.
I did the three capes track which is an easy four day hike with nice huts to sleep in. There are lots of historical sites in that area too, if you are into that - I found Port Arthur convict station really interesting. I then had a couple of days each in Freycinet NP and Cradle Mountain NP. Hobart and Launceston are great cities to spend a day or two.
Tasmania is only an hour's flight from Melbourne.

Fraser Island is fantastic - I’d definitely recommend visiting there.

Uluru and do the “sounds of silence” dinner ... they set up a an open air restaurant in the middle of nowhere and the sky is amazing in the dark. So many stars. They have telescopes to look at the planets - we saw the rings around Saturn. Unforgettable.

Sydney for the bridge climb, taronga zoo, ferry to Manly, breathtaking harbour. Coogee beach as a much better alternative to Bondi.

Mt Gambier (SA) for the brightest bluest lake you’ve ever seen.

4 weeks isn't going to be enough is it......

No it's not!!! I went for the first time years ago on a stopover in Sydney on my way to new zealand, didn't think I'd be that bothered about Australia as I'm not really a beach holiday sort of person but I got addicted and I've been back six times.
I love the out back, getting off the beaten track and camping out under the stars. The national parks have some breathtakingly scenery and abundant wildlife.

It's an amazing country!

The country is enormous. I spent 5 months there and it still wasn’t enough!

First of all, are you taking any DC?
If so how old?
You're going in our summer, how do you get on with heat & humidity? Remember it gets hotter the further North you go

Do you enjoy...
Cities
Beaches
Reef snorkelling
Wilderness walks
Wine regions
Museums/ heritage ?
Do you enjoy boats or get sea-sick?
Would a long road trip be boring or fun for you?
Will you be here for Christmas?
I would tailor my suggestions to your answers

Stopover: The Raffles in Singapore is currently being refurbished and the Long Bar is closed, check when its due to reopen. It is a wonderful hotel if you're looking for Heritage Singapore, but I also prefer Marina Bay Sands for contemporary wow (check out photos of the Sky Pool)

Emirates Business Class on the A380 is wonderful. You also get a free Limo to pick you up from home & drop you off at your destination (you'd have to check how far from the airport this applies, also if the stopover transfers are included.

Melbourne is a fantastic city, so much to see and do

Sydney I wasn't keen on but there are great beaches to check out e.g. Manly, Bondi, Bronte, Coogee. There is a fabulous walk from Bondi to Coogee.

The Blue Mountains are amazing and the Youth Hostel there is beautiful!

Up the east coast I loved Noosa, Fraser Island, the Whitsundays, Cairns and Port Douglas.

We flew to the centre and walked round Uluru and through The Olgas which was great. Alice Springs was pretty rough though

I'd love to go back and visit Perth

MargaretRiver
First of all, are you taking any DC?
If so how old?
No, we're mid fifties, empty nesters.

You're going in our summer, how do you get on with heat & humidity?
OK, I'm a sun lover. DH is black.

Remember it gets hotter the further North you go
OK

Do you enjoy...
Cities yes

Beaches
to a limited degree, and not crowded. Usually aim to get somewhere with a private beach.

Reef snorkelling
yes

Wilderness walks
Yes, a lot.

Wine regions
Yes a big lot

Museums/ heritage ?
Not too fussed, get plenty of that in the UK

Do you enjoy boats or get sea-sick?
I like boats but almost drowned sailing off Greek island this summer so DH will be super-twitchy

Would a long road trip be boring or fun for you?
Ok but not more than 3 hours at a go.

Will you be here for Christmas?
Yes, also NY.

I would tailor my suggestions to your answers
Thank you very much!!

So far I've booked this place for a few days as it's near where my cousins live : www.booking.com/hotel/au/kaylani-beach-houses.en-gb.html?aid=356983;label=gog235jc-hotel-en-au-theNvillasNofNbyron-unspec-gb-com-L%3Aen-O%3AwindowsS10-B%3Afirefox-N%3AXX-S%3Abo-U%3Ac-H%3As;sid=58ec3ecfb314ac7da23cd72864d51123;all_sr_blocks=234745401_105434171_8_0_0;checkin=2018-09-01;checkout=2018-09-04;dest_id=-1563414;dest_type=city;dist=0;group_adults=2;hapos=9;highlighted_blocks=234745401_105434171_8_0_0;hpos=9;nflt=di%3D6171;room1=A%2CA;sb_price_type=total;srepoch=1510609555;srfid=e7f56dd852d366aeffd374df307712d6e5f814e1X9;srpvid=ef639908a019008f;type=total;ucfs=1&#hotelTmpl

OK here's my thoughts
CITY: Sydney for a few days over New Year's Eve, staying right in the centre and also doing the Bridge Climb, walks around the Rocks, Opera House, Botanic Gardens, get a commuter ferry out to Manly beach and over to the zoo. It is a very expensive time of year so I'd stay somewhere relatively cheap like the Holiday Inn Old Sydney The Rocks. Hotel is dated but location is excellent (you can walk everywhere) and it has a rooftop pool with wonderful views, including of the fireworks.
WILDERNESS WALKS: At that time of year I'd go to Tasmania for the relative coolness. Its just so exhausting walking when its very hot & humid up North. I haven't been on the Three Capes Track as suggested by PP but have heard good things, worth a research.
ULURU: If you can manage to do a trip to the red centre, I really would do it. You can do organised 4WD treks to Uluru / Kata Tjuta / Kings Canyon (as in Priscilla Queen of the Desert) sleeping in swags under the stars, or go to the opposite extreme & do "glamping" at Longitude 131 and the Sounds of Silence dinner as mentioned by a PP. I would do one extreme or the other, not something in the middle. In any case, strong insect repellent and a flint over your hat is advisable.Alice Springs, however, is not great.
RAINFOREST: You may want to go further north from Byron Bay to the Daintree Rainforest. I loved it but did not go at that time of year, your family in QLD would advise
WINE REGIONS: I would normally advise Barossa Valley, but I'm going to throw a curveball here and suggest my namesake Margaret River in Western Australia as an alternative. Normally I would say the 5 hr internal flight is not worth your while. However, from March, Qantas are doing a direct flight 16 hours from Perth to LHR, which would be very do-able in Business Class. It will be code-share with Emirates too. You could do that instead of a stopover on the way back. If so you should also stay on Rottnest Island lots of deserted beaches, reefs to snorkel, no cars (bikes & buses only) (however accommodation books up quickly)

"fly-net" auto-corrected to "flint"

Cairns was good for the beaches and barrier reef but that was 29 years ago and there weren’t any road markings either

Margaret river has some great ideas.

I want to make a pitch for the Brisbane/ south Queensland part of your trip.
Have a look at Lady Elliot island. It is a coral cay part of the Great Barrier Reef with fantastic snorkelling. It is impossible to get in the water without seeing a turtle . It is also a turtle nesting ground. Turtles will be nesting in the last 3 months of the year and then the eggs will hatch from January to May. You can do day tours but overnight is much better. It also has a lagoon which is only waist deep if you are not a confident Snorkeller. If you go there you don't need to go further north to see the reef and it will save you a lot of travelling time.

We flew there from Hervey Bay which is 3-4 hours drive north of Brisbane or you can fly there from Sydney or Brisbane. Hervey Bay is also the starting point for Fraser Island which is a massive sand island, world heritage listed. You can do day tours or hire a 4WD or join a tag along tour. You can also fly to Lady Elliot from Brisbane or the Gold Coast but it is more expensive.

Inland from the Sunshine Coast are the glasshouse mountains which have some great hikes. I would also look at staying in Noosa (on the Sunshine Coast) which is a beach town but with a great national park for walks, close to Austtalia zoo (Steven Irvin zoo) and eMundi markets.

Brisbane is fairly boring, don't try and stay there.

Remember January are school holidays for Australians so if you can time most of your trip for December it will be less crowded and cheaper. Also December tends to be cooler than January- still hot but cooler!!

I would try and get to Uluru if you can. It will be very very hot so less than 6 days will probably do it. A friend of mine went in mid October and some of the walks etc were closed already or you had to complete them by 11am because of the heat. Fly direct to Uluru, Alice springs is the closest town but it is still 400km away.

Have a wonderful time planning and post again if you have any specific questions

Definitely The Great Barrier Reef. When I went (nearly 30 years ago) Cairns didn't have anything to offer, other than the boat trips to the reef, but you don't want to miss that.
Contrary to other posters, I think Canberra is worth a visit - I thought it was really fascinating. It is strange, and I can see why people don't like it, but you should go and make your own mind up.
Sydney, as you say is also a must - I see you've already got that booked.

Crikey you've quite a trip planned.

Melbourne.
Tasmania.
Sydney.
Queensland.

Don't bother with Canberra, Adelaide or Perth.

If I were you I'd stick to the East Coast and tassie. A month isn't that long in Australia, you simply can't do it all so I'd pick the best bits.

Hi, I'm looking for advice from anyone who has flown with Emirates long haul with a toddler and a baby. We're heading to Australia in March, my children will be 3 years and 5 months. I was originally planning on buying a sleep device for the 3 year old but understand they have now been banned? Does anyone have any recent experience of this? I'm also unsure if we'd be better in bulkhead seats where the armrests do not lift up but they have a bassinet or a normal row where we would hold the baby but the 3 year old can at least stretch out on us and sleep. Any advice would be most appreciated.

I think you’d be better with the bulkhead seats and the sky cot from the airline. It will be a very long time to hold a baby for . Do the armrests not go up in the bulkhead seats.

We traveled to oz last year with emirates. With my ds 7months and dd just turned 4. We had the bulkhead seats. It worked really well. My daughter slept absolutely fine curled up in the seat we got the a neck pillow which worked well. My son slept well in the bassinet. (It was also a great place to store stuff when he was awake) bear in mind the baby has to be removed from the bassinet when the seatbelt sign is on which is annoying if like us the seatbelt sign is on for hours!

Wrong time of year for northern Australia. Do not sunbathe whatever colour you are.

Sydney ( admire harbour, manly beach walk, blue mountains)
Tasmania for scenery and wildlife.
Adelaide and around for a peek at a more relaxed australia, or Perth (long way) for Fremantle and rottnest, best beaches and sunsets.
Big rock in the middle - didn't bother in several trips, again their summer is the wrong time.

Thanks Special. Furthest north place we’ve booked is this place www.executiveretreats.com.au/accommodation/mali-mali/
In the rainforest near Port Douglas.
I’m a bit gutted that we’re going at the height of the stinger season, so snorkelling off the beach is out, but trying to find an island on the ref which isn’t too crowded; so far Qualia is looking hopeful.
We’ve tentatively booked houses in Hunter Valley, Blue Mountains, Byron Bay and the grand finale will be Sidney for the fireworks 🎉🎉🎉

I think it's a shame to miss out Victoria and Tasmania but as others have said, you can't do it all. Victoria has the Yarra Valley and other wine areas, the Mornington Peninsula and the Great Ocean Road for great views and chill out areas, and of course the world's best city, Melbourne. Tassie is utterly stunning.

Yes, they dont tell you that those lovely waters and beaches are a no go for a big chunk of the year! Remember your deet too as regrettably there have been cases of dengue in Queensland.

Say hello to the cassowary - from a distance !

We’re going to Elliott Island as recommended by Margaret River for the snorkelling. Tasmania does look lovely, but we’re already taking 9 flights and don’t want to spread ourselves too thinly.
Thanks all 😘