Extended trip to Australia

[hmcgeoch]

Hi everyone,

I'm in need of some help from anyone else who has done a similar trip.

I would move to Australia in a heartbeat so taking an extended family trip in 2026 to try and convince my husband.

We are a family of 4, our 2 boys will be 3.5 and 9.5 at time of the trip. Planning for around 5/6months from October to March but totally flexible.

I'm looking for any recommendations of must visit places, how long you'd recommend staying in each place and a rough budget.

What are your plans for accommodation and a car?

Are you wanting to see the entire country or just specific states/towns?

You need to narrow it down. What’s your lifestyle like? Do you want city or more rural life. Where in Oz are you drawn to? That might be a good starting place. Your post is too vague I think. If you are completely unsure, over 6 months I think I’d fly to Brisbane and spend 8-10 weeks ish in and around the city, sunshine and gold coasts, then a month in and around Sydney, same with Melbourne and a month or so in Perth/WA. It really depends on your lifestyle. You might reject Perth in favour of Adelaide or even Canberra. It’s a massive place. Darwin might appeal as might Tasmania.

Budget wise, how long is a piece of string really. Rentals can be expensive but a better way to get a feel for the cost of living. 6 months in hotels would not appeal. Try air b and b. There is car hire too. Internal flights can be cheap or they were when we lived there.

Your post does sound like you decided yesterday, let’s move to Australia. I’ll ask mumsnet.

If it's a tourist visa you can only stay for 3 months but can leave the country briefly and return.

I've looked into the tourist visa subclass 600 and that one has 3,6 or 12 month options.

Check what your hubby might like, each city has a different vibe, and offers different types of lifestyle. Sydney is my favourite place in the world but many people prefer a more camping fishing lifestyle in somewhere like Perth or Brisbane

Have you been to Australia before?

9.5 so year 4?

I've been to Perth before and we both have family and friends now living out there. My plan would be to start and finish our trip in Perth but I'd love to see many other areas.

Really just looking for ideas on how long people would spend around each of the big cities and the surrounding areas. Also if anyone has any hidden gems of where we could go. Think backpackers but with 2 kids in tow,

Do the working holiday visas let you have dependents? They didn't in my day. Unless you are looking to do tourist for your trips and then a skills-based one.

Several years ago, I had a 6 month tourist visa, but I had to go and apply at the embassy for it and they did ask a lot of questions. I don't know if there were any rules about dependents.
In terms of itinerary, 6 months is ages and you can see loads, although Australia is huge. I started in Melbourne and headed East to Sydney and went up the East coast and then flew to Darwin from Cairns and travelled back down the middle to Uluru, Cooper Pedy to Adelaide and worked my way back to Sydney and that took 5 months, but I stopped a lot and saw loads of stuff, being on the move all the time is more tricky with kids. If you are starting in Perth, the northern part of the state is remote and basically the outback and the most different to the UK. I lived in Australia for 8 years so I have seen quite a few bits of WA, as separate trips whilst living there. I would go that way, you can loop through the various national parks as you drive north, so the pinnacles, Kalbarri national park, monkey Mia and the stromatolites, Karijini, Broome, across to the bungle bungles and up to Darwin to see Kakadu. You just need to be aware of where petrol stations are, as there can be massive gaps between places in this part of the country. From Darwin go down to Uluru, via Katherine Gorge and then go across to Cairns, if you feel like you have the time and the energy. The East coast is much more populated, with lots of stuff to do.
I moved to Australia aged 31, married my husband and had 2 kids, but as your parents age being a 24 hour flight away sucks. I woke up one morning to have my husband tell me my step-father had died. It was awful, my Mum struggled in the months afterwards and I eventually dragged him over to the the UK for a couple of years, It was fine at 31 when my parents were in their 60s, but by 40 it wasn't the best. We may go back to live there when my Mum eventually passes, but my kids now feel British rather than Australian after living here for almost 9 years, the oldest is in high school, and it becomes tricky to move them.

Neither Working Holiday Visas (417 - the normal option for UK) nor Work and Holiday Visas (462) allow dependents. But OP says she is looking at the 600 visa, which does not allow work and since it needs to be applied for from w/in Australia, would have to piggyback on a regular tourist visa.

There's a world of difference between spending time as a tourist somewhere and living there. If you want to give somewhere a fair shot for your family you'd spend much longer in a few places to try and imagine what living would be like there.

What are your plans for earning income during your six month stay? Many employers won't let you work from abroad because of tax implications and liability in other jurisdictions so you need to investigate this early if it's part of your plans

What about schooling your children while you are away (especially the oldest) and ensuring school places for when they return? Have you already talked to the local authority?
I agree with others that treating this as an extended holiday is the wrong approach. You need to actually simulate normal day-to-day life in a few of these places: look at properties and schools, talk to prospective employers etc.

I am a teacher and will be taking a career break for the trip. I am not worried about the schooling aspect of the trip. I have already approached our school and have discussed about extended leave for my eldest.

We are lucky enough to have around 30-40K set aside for the trip so wouldn't be thinking about earning whilst away.

I really want it to be more about exploring the country and seeing as much as we can just to inspire my husband who has never been.

I'm taking a career break and we have around 30-40K set aside for the trip. I hope this would be enough to fund us for the 5/6months.

We wouldn't be applying for working visas, it would be solely a tourist visa, I believe the tourist Visa subclass 600 has 3,6 & 12 month options.

The trip is more about exploring as much of the country as possible as a family and hopefully it will inspire my husband to take my views on emigrating more serious.

I'd start in FNQ so you can get it in before the rainy season starts. Port Douglas is absolutely beautiful in October.

You might be surprised how expensive Australia is! I've visited many times and food shopping costs blow my mind compared to here with a cost of living crisis! Petrol cheaper. Eating out is more expensive. Days out and visiting places is comparable

It sounds like a wonderful adventure for you all! I hope you will find the right place for you and your family to move to. Best of luck!

You probably already know that there is a Australia & NZ board here on Mumsnet, lots of interesting posts with advice and discussions about Australia there. Perhaps post your question there, too?

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/aussie-nz-mumsnetters

I can't comment on budget as things have gone up since I was last there. My recommendation is to do the WA coast in spring time. The wildflowers will be out and the weather pleasant. I did it in a camper van, but didn't have to consider having enough space for child car seats!