Any recommendations for Australia 3-4 weeks

[championquartz]

Thinking of Australia this summer (July) with 13 and 11 yo DDs (and DH!).

We have to stay in Perth for one week and other than that we’re free agents.
Anyone have any suggestions for itineraries/what to do etc?

TIA

2 things to remember- 1- Australia is huge and another week will allow you to see maybe a little bit of WA or part of one other state. 2- It will be winter so head north for the sun!

You could go up to exmouth to swim with the whale sharks and to Broome. Or fly to Darwin and spend some time in Kakadu. Or Alice and go to Uluru and Kings Canyon. It is a great season for being outdoors in the north.

Head north from Perth to Coral Bay for snorkelling (via Monkey Mia for the dolphins). We took 3mm summer wetsuits, snorkels and fins - temps on the beach were around 30, wetsuits let us stay in the water for a couple of hours at a time. Snorkelling is straight off the beach and a 10m swim, and it's incredible (plus no nasty jellyfish or dangerous sharks, compared to Great Barrier Reef). You can also get boats out to swim with manta rays, whale sharks etc.
Not much else to do there though!

Be different. Don't do the usual Sydney and Cairns trip. Id do half in Western Australia and half in the Northern Territory. Youll see things most tourists dont and many Australians havent (I certainly havent been there). Look at Ningaloo Reef, Wave Rock, Broome and Margaret River (cheese and wine galore).
Head then to Darwin and Kakadu and see the sights there.

Thank you!

I would love to go further north in WA and love the idea of swimming with whale sharks etc. What about Sydney? Worth it with kids? Or the Gold Coast or Port Douglas for a few days ‘rest’?

Oh I missed your post Ivy.

We have relatives that talk about Margaret River a lot. But will it be cold? Well out of season??

Broome is beautiful. If you have loads of cash you could also do a trip to the Kimberleys. Between coral bay and Broome is Karajini national park which is stunning. What do you like to do other than scenery, beaches and wild life? If u can fly between places you could do more. Don't spend any time in Darwin itself, it's a very odd place and when I was there the aborigines were very marginalised. Hopefully this had improved now. There are some very trendy suburbs just out of Perth and Fremantle is lovely.

We can fly between places.

I’ve asked the kids what one thing would they like to do. One says Uluru, one says Barrier Reef. But that’s probably because that’s what’s most mentioned everywhere.

Is Broome beautiful? Somehow or other I thought it was just ‘hot’

It's stunning. But I only went there as a result of ending there after a Kimberleys trip. Ended up staying and working there for six weeks! Depends what else you're doing. I have been to the barrier reef also (but on a different trip) but if you're going to coral bay that could be overkill. Didn't make it to the centre on either trip to oz!

Would I need a flight from Perth to Broome?