Lizard island for Great Barrier Reef. Worth the splurge. Just incredible.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In January, I’d visit Sydney, Tasmania (esp Cradle Mountain), and if the grandparents enjoy wine, South Australia - combine the Barossa with the Eyre Peninsula for beaches and water. Perhaps fly in or out of Melbourne to add that.

I’d skip the red center in January. Too hot.

I should add this all assumes you’re comfortable driving. If you want Queensland in January and really want the reef experience, I’d consider a road trip from Sunshine Coast or Brisbane airports up to Gladstone/Heron Island stopping at Australia Zoo, Giant Pineapple, Noosa, K’gari (Fraser Island) before snorkeling in stinger suits at Heron Island. January is stinger season and hot so less than ideal esp in Far North Queensland like Port Douglas.

Good rec but the Big Pineapple doesn’t belong on the itinerary.

I was kinda joking but also it’s just right off the road so might as well snap a pic.

Do not go to Sydney. They have conservative Trump supporters and they are on the heavy rise.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In January, I’d visit Sydney, Tasmania (esp Cradle Mountain), and if the grandparents enjoy wine, South Australia - combine the Barossa with the Eyre Peninsula for beaches and water. Perhaps fly in or out of Melbourne to add that.

I’d skip the red center in January. Too hot.

I should add this all assumes you’re comfortable driving. If you want Queensland in January and really want the reef experience, I’d consider a road trip from Sunshine Coast or Brisbane airports up to Gladstone/Heron Island stopping at Australia Zoo, Giant Pineapple, Noosa, K’gari (Fraser Island) before snorkeling in stinger suits at Heron Island. January is stinger season and hot so less than ideal esp in Far North Queensland like Port Douglas.

Good rec but the Big Pineapple doesn’t belong on the itinerary.

Anonymous wrote:In January, I’d visit Sydney, Tasmania (esp Cradle Mountain), and if the grandparents enjoy wine, South Australia - combine the Barossa with the Eyre Peninsula for beaches and water. Perhaps fly in or out of Melbourne to add that.

I’d skip the red center in January. Too hot.

I should add this all assumes you’re comfortable driving. If you want Queensland in January and really want the reef experience, I’d consider a road trip from Sunshine Coast or Brisbane airports up to Gladstone/Heron Island stopping at Australia Zoo, Giant Pineapple, Noosa, K’gari (Fraser Island) before snorkeling in stinger suits at Heron Island. January is stinger season and hot so less than ideal esp in Far North Queensland like Port Douglas.

In January, I’d visit Sydney, Tasmania (esp Cradle Mountain), and if the grandparents enjoy wine, South Australia - combine the Barossa with the Eyre Peninsula for beaches and water. Perhaps fly in or out of Melbourne to add that.

I’d skip the red center in January. Too hot.

Melbourne— like others, used mostly as jumping off point for day tours (penguins, etc). Didn’t love it but also probably didn’t find the right things to love. It was cold in May and we were coming from Fiji and hadn’t packed anything warm.

Cairns— loved diving GBR, even with bleaching (though it was a decade ago so maybe it’s worse?); at least back then you could hold a koala in Cairns (no koala snuggling in other states). I, like others, found the Daintree rainforest underwhelming. It’s super ancient which is interesting but also means it’s missing the biodiversity of Costa Rica or Amazon rainforests. Birds and very old plants, not much else in my experience.

Sydney: bridge climb is really fun, in May they do Vivid, a light show and art installations which are awesome. (Again, may be outdated info but I hope they still do it bc it’s cool). Hiking the blue mountains was also fun

Syn

Sydney is my favorite city in the world. I thought Melbourne was boring. Just like any other US large city. Sydney was much more unique, and pretty.

Loved GBR and the rainforests up north. Red center was dull, but also very unique in terms of landscape so I am glad in retrospect I saw it. Loved Tasmania too actually! Especially the penguins.

Make sure you have a vegamite sandwich.

If you do Sydney, don't forget about the theater scene. We saw a great ballet at the opera house and a play at another theater. Depending on the time of year there are a lot of options.

Anonymous wrote:Sydney is absolutely do not miss. You can do ferry trips to Manley, do the Bronte to Bondi walk, see The Rocks, day trip to the Blue Mountains. We never get tired of it. Museums, art scene...great food.

Port Douglas is a good base for the Reef and Daintree. Fly to Cairns.

I would skip Melbourne.

Agree with this - really loved Sydney, and the transport set up to get around the area is excellent.

Your teens might like the Sydney Bridge climb. I'm afraid of heights and even did it.

The problem with January is that it will be stinger season at the Great Barrier Reef, and too hot to comfortably visit the Red Center. Maybe go for Tasmania? We loved Sydney and Melbourne too.

Hi Australian here. Could you extend your trip a little? 12 days total is doable but not a long time for such a long way to go, jet lag will be a struggle for at least the first 24 hours.

Sydney and Melbourne are both gorgeous cities and different vibes- Sydney is more stunning scenery, iconic landmarks, beaches while Melbourne has more character and cultural type things.

The Great Barrier Reef has experienced bleaching so do some research on where is best to go- maybe you could ask on reddit or something.

I'd opt for New Zealand.