Cairns or Melbourne for 3 days with 10 month old
 

Hi,

We are planning a trip in November 06 to attend my brothers wedding in Margaret River. We will end up in Perth for two days and drive down to Marg River. We are an active couple who want to do as much as we can but have our 10 mo old daughter with us. We are planning on staying in Sydney for 3 days then on to either Cairns/Port Douglas or Melbourne (as its in the gen direction of Perth) and I am looking for advice on what we should do. My husband has done GBR and Cairns previously but I really want to visit Daintree and Kuranda..Please help with suggestions..if not Melbourne or Cairns then where?
Thanks.

Neither Melbourne or Cairns/Port Douglas are in any kind of general direction of Perth. If you want to go to Port Douglas and surrounds then make sure that you have plenty of time just to get there and back as it takes a few hours on the plane. Why not think of Tasmania if there are things there that would be interesting for you. What you have not said is how long would you have and what details of your trip to Perth and return you have already arranged.

We have 2 weeks in all. Planning on leaving JFK on Nov 15th arrive Syd Nov 17th. We need to be in Perth on Thurs Nov 23rd at some point. We leave Perth on Nov 25th to drive to Margaret River for the wedding and remainder of the holiday. Should we extend the Sydney portion possibly? Go to Melbourne instead of Cairns? I dont just want to sit on a beach..I want to enjoy as much of Australia as I can in such a small time frame...and with a 10 month old.

If you fly direct from Sydney to Perth the flight takes approx. 5hrs - if you add the time it takes to check in etc. you will be spending most of a day travelling. (If the flight goes via Melbourne it takes approx. 6.5 hours)

A flight from Sydney to Cairns takes about 3 hours. A flight from Cairns to Perth takes anything from 7.5 to 13.5 hours depending on the routing.

Not sure about you - but spending that much time in a plane with a baby doesn't sound like much fun - particularly right after you have completed an international flight.

Australia is BIG.

I suggest that you extend your time in either Sydney or Perth. There are plenty of things to do beside sitting on a beach. Check out some of the tourist websites for either city.

Perth is a beautiful city with lots to do and see. Since you are going to Margaret River the whole area of the South West is full of interesting things and great scenery. It is a major wine region in Australia. If you had more time I would advise you to go to Cairns but I would suggest its Melbourne, Perth or the South West.

Me again. I just noticed another thread titled Wandering through Western Australia - Trip report. You may get some ideas from this.

Thank you so much for your advice...especially on the travel times from Syd to Perth. We have had to (regrettably) remove Cairns as we agree that we cannot subject our little one to any more long journeys in such a short time frame. We only have 3 days in Melbourne...what should we do? We want to do part of the GOR...I have seen some postings on it. Any other advice?

Born in Melbourne, live in Cairns!! November in Cairns is the 'wet' season. I expect taking a 10 month old around the rainforest would be a nightmare. Melbourne on the other hand should be dry and hot. Port Douglas should have some good deals in the wet season, but I would go for Melbourne.

Go to Cairns! Cairns has the Barrier Reef!