10 Days in Australia w/ 3 yr old.
 

Hello,
My husband and I are planning a relatively "last minute" vacation to Australia with our 3-year-old. We are flying from Tokyo and will use Sydney as our base. We will be there for approx. 10 days in early January; were thinking of driving to Melbourne and seeing some sights along the way OR heading to Cairns and the GBR. Our daughter is a good traveler, but we obviously need to take her needs into account with the amount of traveling and sights that we see. Any suggestions re. an itinerary and/or "must dos" would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!

Whatever you do - fly, don't drive. It's 1,000+ kms from Sydney to Melbourne and not very interesting. Canberra is sort of on the way but not likely to be of much interest to your 3 year old. I'd go to Cairns (though I'd stay in Palm Cove or Port Douglas). Go out to the reef, go to Kuranda, find some wildlife (and rainforest) that your 3 year old won't see anywhere else.

If you go to Cairns do take your 3yo to Muddies, children's playground on Esplanade. All little kids love this, loads of water features to keep them cool and happy, its hot in January. A full day reef trip can be a bit much for a 3 yo, little kids also love Green Island, only about 45 mins out from Cairns where there's sandy beach to run around.

Yes, I definately agree about the flying between the state capitals - as the distance is great and the attractions/amusements for three year olds not many in that regional drive. if your three year old is 'beach baby' then Cairns and surrounds are great and your baby would wonder at all the splendor! GBR and islands etc. on the way if you have the time, stop off at the gold coast (for anight or two - probably out of the centre with young kids - many resorts cater for young families not in the heart), if your three year old has heard of the Wiggles, their theme park is in dreamworld and wiggles shop for all those 'neccesary' items :).

sure Melbourne has a patting zoo and the trams and the markets and some science museums where kids can play as well great food and fashion...it depends on what focus your holiday will take a beachy vibe with natural wonder(Queensland/cairns) and family down/relaxing time or city escape (melbourne)with great food, shopping and experiences.

but flying and prioritising it the way to go with 10 days. don't do both do either.

oops when I said not in the heart I meant not in the heart of the 'action or city' the resorts treat young families well, and gecko and other chains have special packages! lol
nothing bad :D

Thank you for your replies and the information - it was very helpful! We have actually revised our trip based on the information and further research. We are going to stay in Sydney for the majority of the trip and then venture into the Hunter Valley for two or three nights.

Why the Hunter Valley? For me that's an adult wine tasting destination, not where one would go with a 3 year old! Will you be flying back to Tokyo as well? Maybe you could fly to Sydney and then on to Cairns (rain forest, gbr etc - but I would stay in Port Douglas) and back to Tokyo. Don't miss the aquarium and wildlife experience at Darling Harbour in Sydney.

As everyone has already mentioned, the driving between Sydney and Melbourne ( any capitals in fact is a waste of time). Cairns and GBR are VERY humid in January. VERY uncomfortable.
Melbourne has alot of attractions. In the CBD and drives less than 2 hours away. eg. Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, Great Ocean Road, Phillip Island, Mt Dandenong, etc.
With your time constraints, Melbourne's the way to go.