Hi Kritter -

I live in Perth too, but get to the US once or twice a year. We fly from LAX or SFO to Narita, then on to Singapore then on to Perth. I've never flown via the eastern states as our FF status is with Star Alliance and the connections don't work well for us.

I find Singapore the perfect resting stop, as the wonderfully efficient Changi has the Transit Hotel, the Transit lounge, and it's easy to leave the airport for a few hours if needed.

Singapore also makes a great place for a stopover, and your Mom could see two countries instead of one, but it sounds as if you've already decided on Sydney?

For some ideas on what to do in/around Perth on the weekends, you might want to take a look at my thread on Perth and the Vicinity...it's a running blog of things I've discovered while in Perth over the past four years. I also have several reports from deeper into WA such as Kalgoorlie (did someone say Outback?), the Great Southern, Esperance, the NW and of course the beautiful SW of WA. Just click on my screen name and scroll down through Trip Reports.

http://www.fodors.com/community/australia-the-pacific/a-taste-of-perth-and-vicinity.cfm

Broome is a bit ambitious for a four day weekend - it's more than 2,000 km away, three hours by air, and quite expensive to get to and stay in from what I understand.

Many people love Rotto, but I'm not amongst them. Your Mom might enjoy it though.

For dolphins, you could head to Busselton (2.5 hours south of Perth), for penguins, Penguin Island near Rockingham, for local animals, Caversham Wildlife Park in the Swan Valley, for wild, yet slightly accustomed to people kangaroos, Pinnaroo Memorial Park (a cemetery), for completely wild kangaroos...well lots of places, for koalas (which aren't native to WA) Yanchep Nat'l Park, the Perth Zoo and Caversham again (of these I prefer Yanchep and Caversham).

You can also occasionally see dolphins in the Swan River. I highly recommend the Capt Cook Cruise from Barrack Street Jetty to Fremantle - it's the perfect introduction to Perth.

For the Outback...perhaps a weekend up at Kalgoorlie - the drive alone is an adventure. It's about eight hours each way, but will give her a nice taste of the Outback and the rough and tumble world of the mining industry.

If you do make it to South Australia at some point, the 7-8 hour drive to Coober Pedy from Adelaide is well worth the long drive - serious Outback with underground living.

I'm a similar age to your mum and I love the Kimberleys -not the least because I have family there. She could a trip or 2 out Broome and see lots of outback

oops you would have to look and see if the wet season has started as that will put a dampener on travels to the outback -so to speak

Thanks for these! I will look them all up. Also, having only been in Perth for four weeks, I will explore some of this myself She may come in March now due to schedule. Good to know this Singapore info too. Much appreciated!