Australia advice please!

[lumpybumpydumpy]

We went to Australia for the first time last year and loved it.
We went to Perth and Margaret River.
Sydney, Cairns and Port Douglas.
We'd like to go back in January/ feb . I keep looking at Broome and Darwin but it doesn't seem the best time to go weather wise?
Also looking at Melbourne and driving along the coast. Or maybe I can do both ? Would have about 3 weeks . We like food wine culture wildlife. We like walking but not huge hikes.

How about starting in Melbourne, then driving the Great Ocean Road with overnight stops along the way?

Given it's summer when you want to go (so will be hot and very busy!), I'd go south to Tasmania. Incredible wine, amazing food (it's the hot foodie destination in Australia), wildlife everywhere - including wildlife you won't see anywhere else in the wild such as Tassie devils and pademelons.

You could do 2 centres so 1 week in Melbourne / driving the GOR / seeing penguins on Philip Island then fly to Tassie for the rest of the time.

You could start in Melbourne and drive along the great ocean road to South Australia. Visit the Barossa Valley and Clare Valley for wine. There’s also cute little towns by the sea like Robe, with excellent seafood. Food and wine are fantastic. SA is really underrated.

Bear in mind that wherever you choose to go, it’s peak season and January is school summer holidays, so you’ll need to start booking now to get decent and semi reasonably priced accomodation. Make restaurant and cellar door reservations in advance too. If you turn up on the day you likely won’t get in.

It’s the wet season in the up in Broome/Darwin at that time of year, so definitely not the best time to go. Save that area for May-July which is early dry season. It’s also very far from Melbourne so may be a bit much for one trip.

Thankyiu so much all
Sounds wonderful!
Loved it so much the people the landscape cannot wait to return xx

January is tennis season in Melbourne, with warm-up events followed by the Australian open for 2 weeks which will have some affect on accommodation availability and prices in the city at least. Also the schools are all off in January, until at least Australia Day on the 26th, which makes everywhere busier. I'd travel in Feb rather January, and Tassie is a great call. I love spending time in Tasmania! Otherwise if you could wait until June then you'd have the option to drive from Perth to Broome, with loads of great stops along the way including Pinnacles, Shark Bay, Ningaloo and Karijini national park. Then fly onwards to Darwin for Kakadu and Litchfield etc.

We did the south coast of Western Australia this January…..Esperance, Lucky Bay, Denmark, Albany, Bremer Bay….some lovely national parks along the way….we camped in a swag…..it was very reasonable campsite prices …..the weather was around 30 most days…..evenings got cooler but not cold