Australia with a 6 and 3 year old

[Rabbitswhiskers]

So wise travellers of Mumsnet, we’re off to Australia next August for 2-3 weeks. Me, DH, DS6 & DD3.

What would you recommend as must do’s? Definitely going to spend a week in Sydney. Would love to do Melbourne or Kangaroo Island but think it might be a bit chilly in August.

Obvious choice is Goldcoast, but would like to do things that are unique to Australia not just theme parks.

Think the kids are a bit young for barrier reef/ far North Queensland. I’d love to see Uluru/ Red centre but think a bit boring for young kids.

WA seems a long way away and Darwin/NT again doesn’t look great for very young kids.

So has anyone been with kids this age? What was a must see?

Sorry if this has been mentioned, but you really should go to Noosa. I'd go there over Port Douglas. It's easier to get to, more child friendly, and the weather is fantastic.
It's a fabulous place for a holiday.
Melbourne is shit. It's just a big, dirty city.
I'd also recommend Tasmania, a truly beautiful part of the world.

In August I would stick to your plan of Far North Qld - ie Palm Cove/Port Douglas. Noosa and Gold Coast (which I would avoid anyway) will still be quite cool.

Uluru/outback should be interesting for 6 yo. As pp said doesn't matter where you stay - it's all one resort, just diff levels of accommodation.

Sydney/Uluru/Cairns area def doable in 2 weeks.

I’m going against the grain and would suggest staying in Carins and visiting Port Douglas. Yes it is very pretty but with young ones they will love Skippys and the Blue Lagoon- both free attractions which ours spent a lot of time in cooling off after a day out. check out Waters edge apartments for accommodation in Carins.

I agree Cairns over Palm cove or Port Douglas, there is a free lagoon pool, kids play area, marina where you can look at the boats and a really nice boardwalk. I would go to breakfast with the birds, I think there is an aquarium in Cairns now too. Sugar world water park, I would hire a small car for about $50 a day and go for a drive to the Atherton Tablelands to explore the rain forest and have a look at some waterfalls or drive to the Daintree. Possibly Green Island for snorkelling off he beach. Hartley Crocodile farm, Daintree River Cruise.

We live near the Gold Coast and go there about once a month, its great for kids. There is so much to do. Yes its touristy and Aussie families go there for a reason, its great.

Personally i would not bother with Sydney or Melbourne.

Have you thought about the journey with dc that young??

I have been to Australia a few times as a young adult and the flight is brutal, not to mention the jet lag. I would worry less about what you will visit and more about the reality of getting there. Esp with your 3 year old

Noosa is lovely in August. Warm enough for swimming.

We flew to Perth, then drove (it's a long way!) north. Went to Monkey Mia to see the wild dolphins, then up to Coral Bay for snorkelling. Coral Bay was 33 degrees in September - a bit cooler would have been lovely! Snorkelling was incredible - you just walk in off the beautiful beach, no nasty jellies at that time of year. We took 3mm wetsuits and the water was warm enough to stay in for 1.5 hours. We had an 8 yr old who couldn't really swim when we got there, but she had a special float and was like a fish by the time we left!

We went with dc 9 and 11 in April a few years back.

Flew to Sydney via KL. spent a few days in the Cambridge hotel (cheap, basic, small swimming pool and jacuzzi) all waking up at 2-4am (I went jogging at 6am with the pre-work Sydney commuters). The weather was rainy and cold. Loved Taronga Zoo, the ferry to Manley beach, luna park, the harbour bridge, the park by the opera house, the restaurants. Went to the cinema but dd2 fell asleep instantly.

Flew to tropical north queensland stayed in a lovely spacious apartment complex at trinity beach. By then we knew that a tropical storm had flown in behind us. Our barrier reef trip was postponed and we drove up to the Daintree rainforest as everyone battened down the hatches. Went on a boat trip and to the rainforest centre. Everyone looked after us well but we had to stay in as the storm was cat 5 (quite fun). The day after we spent in Cairns which had lovely open air swimming pool area but it was being cleaned up from storm debris. Went to a kind of indoor zoo place there and actually loved it - some climbing/tree trekking inside there and with little kids you do need to decide if you want to do the cuddling koala/crocodile type activities for photos or not. Then went on a catamaran trip to a coral island reef and went snorkelling - over too quick and the kids were a bit overwhelmed and moany but it was still fabulous (remember kids still have tantrums during amazing life experiences!). Then we flew to the Gold coast and did the three theme park package (sea world, which I didn’t rate, wet and wild and warner bros movie world which were ace). Loved the beach (a few miles up from the tacky centre) and our hotel had a revolving restaurant. It was sunny and warm from the day after the storm. We didn’t want to go home!

Port Douglas is much prettier than Cairns but prices also reflect this. We stayed in a lovely AirBNB just outside Cairns but had its own lake and tropical gardens and not sure with 3 year old and lake. We did Seastar GBR trip amazing but half day trip maybe better with little ones, maybe Fitzroy Island from Cairns or Low Isles from PD Wavedancer but haven't been on either. Would not take 3 year old to Outer Reef, go to somewhere with a beach in GBR and maybe glass bottom boat tours. We were advised by locals not to go to beaches in FNQ due to crocodile risk though people do but if you do take note of safety warnings. There's place called Granite Gorge you can feed rock wallabies, didn't go but young kids would probably like that.

We also stayed at Lumholtz Lodge, this is amazing, 3 tree kangaroos in the house plus a bettong my daughter bottlefed and children got to feed the possums and pademelon outside. Lady looks after injured animals or orphaned ones. She's lovely with kids. We stayed 2 nights. In Atherton Tablelands. We took full board option and she made wonderful meals. Animals vary depending on what rescued but she specialises in tree kangaroo. If you say just drive round Tablelands you could miss all wildlife, best on a short holiday to either stay at somewhere like this or a guided tour. Kuranda very touristy and busy but lots of different things for children there, koala gardens, bird place, croc boat tour, cable car, scenic train, Rainforestation has duck boat tour so worth a day or two. Car hire is best.

I would agree with comments about flights, the time didn't bother me but BA economy was cramped and way back seatbelts on due to turbulence about 70 percent of flight and sons meal went flying. If you don't need to go next summer I would also wait until children are older. If you do book with BA do multi flight, a lot cheaper.

Sydney we stayed in Watsons Bay hotel its very beautiful out of centre by beach and harbour but 1 min walk to pier to boats in, amazing breakfast included with fresh pancakes, cream, strawberries, fresh fruit, croissants, cereals. Sydney worth a look but personally I prefer seeing the wildlife and out in the open. Weather in Queensland was so much better though about 1/2 of days in Sydney weather lovely, 1/2 not very windy and rainy.

Went this August. You can cuddle koalas in Queensland zoos but illegal in NSW so if want to do that needs to be in Queensland. We all did it at Kuranda koala gardens, was a very cute baby, its quick 1 min each or so but lovely. Kuranda KG is small but can also feed wallabies etc and lots of other things in Kuranda. We got the combined ticket online. Less busy pre 11am.

Uhhm, you can cuddle koala’s in NSW, e.g. Koala Park, West Pennant Hills.

I think you can also do it at Taronga and Featherdale if you book I.e. pay a lot more in addition to entry fee for a cuddle - that is a cuddle if a smelly, sleepy creature.

*of a

No it isn't and they don't smell

news.experienceoz.com.au/where-to-cuddle-a-koala-in-australia/

You can pay to touch the bottom half of a koala at Featherdale if you only want to touch bottom half but cuddling is now illegal in NSW.

www.australia.com/en/things-to-do/nature-and-wildlife/where-to-snuggle-a-koala.html

Just returned from Australia after a two week holiday.

Don't go to Melbourne as it's a utter shithole. Especially in August when it's still cold. We felt deprseef after two days there.

Sydney is nice but just the city, so try to stay in the heart of the city centre if you can. Tick boxes for opera house, harbour bridge and Darling harbour. However, they will be rather boring for the kids.

Philip Island was nice but so, so cold. It's nature at its best though. You can see penguins, wallabies, geese all in the wild. Well worth it imo provided you wear all the right warm clothing.

The Great Barrier Reef is breathtakingly beautiful. DD is 8 and enjoyed snorkelling immensely. Perhaps your 6 year old might enjoy it, too. You could take a helicopter ride to see it from above or take a ride on the glass bottom boat, if snorkelling isnt your thing. You can also snorkel from Green Island which gives your kids opportunity to play on the beach.

The scenic railway ride to Kuranda rainforest town was also really good. You get to come back down in a cable car which I'm sure your older child will enjoy. I'm Kuranda, there's lots to see as well - a koala and other indigenous animal park where you can cuddle a koala and feed wallabies and kangaroo.

The one thing I wish we did was Uluru and the red centre. We did see it from the plane whilst flying back to the UK and it looked amazing.

My recommendation is, if you are doing Australia, just do Queensland and the Northern Territory.

Oh and also, if you are going in August, it'll be term time in Australia so most places will be really quiet and accessible.

No it isn't and they don't smell

We have many overseas visitors at work and there is at least one place here that lets them ‘cuddle’. Basically they can touch the koala but hey what’s to stop the koala jumping onto them and clinging on! If you google you can probably figure out which one as the rspca is constantly on about it but no one will intervene because ‘tourism’.

They ARE noisy and dirty creatures in their natural habitat. I spent a bit of time up Northern NSW where they were prolific. Their mating/courtship/fighting noises at night are pretty vocal and they leave copious amounts of shit everywhere. Nature at its finest .

Yes Palm Cove is way nicer than Cairns but smaller and not much to do. A previous poster said they went to Fraser Island when visiting Cairns- I think you meant Fitzroy Island. Fraser Island is off Hervey Bay near Sunshine Coast.

I went to Cairns a year ago and found it quite ‘meh’ for the kids. The sky rail was cool, we took the Karunda (?) rail up and the sky rail down but the kids found it pretty boring. The rainforest were nice too but again, the kids didn’t really appreciate the beauty and were just bored.

Forget Melbourne in August. Just stick to Sydney and somewhere in QLD for the short amount of time you are here. Gold Coast means you can access Byron Bay and Brisbane. Sunshine Coast will give you access to Brisbane, Noosa and Hervey Bay Area as well as inland to the hinterland areas and Australia Zoo. Cairns will give you Palm Cove, Port Douglas, Great Barrier Reef etc but the beaches are nicer elsewhere.

We did Featherdale and had breakfast with the koala with their "new improved breakfast" (a bacon and egg roll 😎) and their animals seemed very well looked after, not allowed to touch at breakfast and the guy told a girl off for getting too close. They did say you could touch the bottom half if you pay 25 dollars each or so but not sure about touching a koalas bottom.

Would guess the dodgy one is Koala Park from this:
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3425917/RSPCA-photos-Koala-Park-Sanctuary-emaciated-koalas-infected-eyes.html

Dead penguins floating in pool 😱

I can imagine they would smell if no one clearing up after them but we didn't smell anything at either zoo other than both zoos paths seemed to be animal toilets. We never found the wild ones in NSW though Port Stephens has place opening in December at Treescape I think.

Both mine loved Queensland primarily the animals and GBR. Rainforest needed an activity with so ziplining or seeing animals. I am being nagged for s pet bettong everyday. The only thing they struggled with in Australia was places with no WIFi or phone which was a 'near death experience' but hopefully yours are too young for that. They were very happy with the easy availability of McDonalds and KFC, we were less impressed but saved on the food budget.

I keep coming back to this thread as this trip us do fresh im my mind.

The jet lag is horrendous. I felt like all I did was brush my teeth - once for the UK time and once for Aussie time. You might want to allocate at least two days to recover from that before you move in to actual sightseeing.

We flew Royal Brunei Airlines. Two stopovers and 7 hours flying time either side of each. The last stopover was the hardest. The tickets were so cheap which is why we chose this airline but if you can fly via Singapore, that might br easier for the kids.

Having said all that, if you can wait till your kids are a bit older, I'd leave Australia till then. As beautiful as Queensland and the northern parts are, you can probably find similar or even more beautiful homiday destinations closer to home.

We never found the wild ones in NSW though Port Stephens has place opening in December at Treescape I think.

Yes, ‘tis Koala Park.
Lots of areas around Port Macquarie have them. You can spot them up trees and by god you can hear them all night carrying on in mating season. Hardly the sounds of a cute cuddly creature . If the area is dense with them there is also a tonne of shit. Everywhere.

www.livescience.com/62517-how-koalas-get-chlamydia.html

It's a difficult problem to solve though.

Ive just got back from 7 weeks in Oz with a 3, 5, and 7 year old. We stayed on the gold coast and loved it here. The playgrounds are amazing as are the beaches so you can have lots of nice days out for very little expenditure. we did Sydney in late july and it was cold! there are a couple of great kids museums: the powerhouse and the Australian both have lots of interactive displays. we also did the theme parks of the gold coast: dreamworld (which has a nickelodeon world inside it with lots of suitable rides for the under 7s) and the sealife centre. both are huge and you could easily spend 2 days in there. Dreamworld has white water world next door (you can walk between the two) and that has a great water park. Ooooh, which brings me onto water parks: they're great and free though the weather has to be right as the water is not heated. the gold coast had nice weather (about 24 degrees, sunny through august) but the sea was too cold to swim in. we went upto cairns and the sea was warm enough and it has some nice things for the kids (the lagoon). the skyrail was great and jellurgal looked good but we didn't have the chance to do it. however, the playgrounds aren't as good as gold coast (less local govt funds, I guess). we also went to maloolaba which is on the sunshine coast. it was lovely and warm and I swam in the sea (quickly, it was quite nippy) but the kids were in and out.

if you want 'australian' experiences, then wildlife parks are everywhere but if you aboriginal stuff then it tends to be a bit 'theme park-y'. It doesn't help that it's often in the zoo or wildlife park so it feels as if the bloke with the didgeridoo is an exhibit. cairns is different as it has a less white population. we went to north Stradbroke island for the quandamooka, which is a festival of aboriginal art, culture and music. about half the audience was white so it felt a bit more genuine.

hope that helps!

We are just back from 3 weeks in Oz with 6 and 3.5 year old. 10 days FNQ and 10 days Northern NSW (to see family).
My tip is Cairns area first (Port Douglas maybe?) and being walking distance to a beach, as nothing makes the long flight feel worth it as seeing the sunrise over the water with your kids at 6am. I saw a lot of sunrises the first few days but they were glorious.
We stayed a few nights in Port Douglas and a few in cairns. We enjoyed sky rail, aboriginal centre, Daintree trip and low isles. We had family meet us in FNQ which also helped entertain our kids.

Def go to Sydney. I’d do 2-3 locations only in your trip. It takes my kids 4 days/nights to get over jetlag but it only really completely wipes out 1-2 days so just have reasonable expectations.

Load up an iPad with cbbies for 3 year old for flight. My 6 year old enjoyed movies on flight but 3 year old struggled to maintain concentration.