hello looking for some commentary on an itinerary for my wife, 1 year old and me. I'm travelling from Connecticut in Asia/Australia for work and wife and son are meeting me &quot;down under&quot; for a couple of weeks of vaca. <BR><BR>Sydney 6 nights Renaissance Hotel<BR><BR>Ayers Rock Desert Gardens 2 nights<BR><BR>Noosa Sebel Resort 5 nights<BR><BR> - 1 day to Fraser Island<BR><BR>Melbourne Novotel St Kilda 3 nights<BR><BR>Specifically commentary on location of the hotels and things to do. My wife and I are very active and love hiking and being outdoors (but also great restaurants). This will probably be our only opportunity to see Australia so we're trying to squeeze in a lot and see the must sees. It so happens that we'll be in Melbourne for the Grand Prix. How is the city during this time, aside from Hotel prices going through the roof. Feedback is greatly appreciated.

Novotel is walking distance to the Grand Prix track so you will be close to the action but is YERY loud.Hotel is close to the city and it is easy to get a tram(trolley) into the city.Take the free City Circle Tram to orientate yourselves.

Hi, Andy!<BR>Late February in Australia will still be VERY hot (it could be around 30 - 35 degrees celsius), so you may find (if you're accustomed to the weather in Connecticut) that hiking in Australia is easier to do in small doses. Make sure you bring plenty of gear to protect yourselves from the sun!<BR>With six full days in Sydney (a small enough city to be seen in three) you will be able to indulge your passion for hiking both around the coast (the half-day Spit Bridge to Manly walk is one I highly recommend, and the cool sea breezes will keep you comfortable) and in places beyond. This means a trip to the Blue Mountains, starting perhaps at Katoomba, where there are lots of signposted walks ranging in time from an hour to overnight. It's always pleasantly cool down in the valley under the waterfalls at Katoomba, Leura, or Wentworth Falls, and if you take one of the longer walks, it will be late afternoon and cooling off by the time you have to make the inevitable climb up several hundred steps to get back. To see the Mountains well (since there are three of you) it might pay you to hire a car once you get to Katoomba -- there's no traffic to speak of, there are tourist centres with maps of all the places to see, and this will make it easy for you to get to some of the great restaurants around Leura or Blackheath (Glenella at Blackheath used to be wonderful, but it has changed hands since I have been there, so I can't tell you about its present fare).<BR>Ayer's Rock will still be extremely hot in late February... if it were me, I would be cutting out this part of your holiday and extending your time in either Sydney or Noosa... the centre of Australia is interesting to see, but it's a lot of travelling (and expensive, since the whole infrastructure at Ayer's Rock is geared to the tourist with monery to burn) just to look at a great rock! Have you thought as an alternative trying a one-day flight from, say, Sydney to Broken Hill, or Brisbane to Charleville? Same outback, no rock, but you might save yourself thousands!<BR>Apart from this, your itinerary sounds just great... if time permits maybe a trip to Canberra (only 3 1/2 hours drive from Sydney) is also recommended... the capital of Australia, very much like a mini-Washington (on which plan it was modelled), and full of important buildings and Australian institutions... yet 95% of tourists never get there, which is a pity. Much more interesting, I would say, than Ayer's Rock!<BR>Have a great holiday!

I agree with Alan,Ayres Rock is out on a limb in terms of designing a logical and practical itinerary.Travelling up and down the East Coast is the best attack.

I agree with Alan and his comments re: weather - take note of what he says.

Don't go all the way to Ayers Rock for two nights in February. It will be hot, the flies may be bad, and you won't enjoy hiking in the heat with a small child in a backpack. It's a pity that you won't get there this time, but perhaps on another visit you can allow extra time to see the Rock and also Kings Canyon and the Olgas in better weather conditions.<BR>Would you consider using these two days to hire a car and do a two-day trip from Melbourne along the Great Ocean Road. You can easily get as far as Warrnambool or Port Fairy for the night and perhaps return to Melbourne through Ballarat for a look at an interesting old Victorian gold town.<BR>The St Kilda Novotel is opposite the beach. If you are there on a Sunday, check out the craft market on the Esplanade. Also check out the cake shops in Acland Street. <BR>Southbank in the CBD - about 10 minutes by tram from St Kilda - is a good place to wander and eat. You can do a boat trip from here to either Williamstown (old port area, lots of eating places, shops etc), or up-river to the Botanical Gardens and then walk back. In the city, look out for the free City Circle trams (brown vintage trams). If you like art, have a look at the Ian Potter Gallery in Federation Square. The Queen Victoria market is great for presents, clothes and good food. The Melbourne Zoo is excellent and only minutes away from the CBD by tram. It stays open late on Thursday evenings during the summer with live music, barbecues etc.<BR>Hope you enjoy your visit to our country.

Noosa is lovely but if its your first time to Australia I'd recommend you go to Far North Queensland instead to see the reef &amp; rainforest - Port Douglas would be your best bet.

Okay...now we're changing our itinerary around a bit. We've decided against Ayer's Rock and now we're contemplating just adding another night on to Sydney and Noosa each. Is six nights too much in Noosa? We also considered the Whitsundays but it seems like there is more to do on the Sunshine Coast then on say Hayman.

Noosa is great but 6 days might be too much.Maybe another night in Melbourne or a day away from Melbourne to Port Fairy as suggested.

There are 80 or so Islands in the Whitsundays and Hayman is only one of them. There is so much to do there that you wouldn't have enough time even if you went for one month. The Sunshine Coast or Gold Coast does not stack up in any way with the GBR of which Hayman is part. <BR>You might get an idea if you understand that Hayman is one of the top 10 Island resorts in the world whilst Noosa is just a nice ( non- international ) holiday destination with really very little to do other than sit on the beach. There are 100s of places like it in Australia but nowhere like the Whitsundays.

Liz-where would you recommend going for a family stay with five nights in the Whitsunday's. We like to hike, hang out on the beach and see some town life. Additionally we have the one year old.

Hi Andy,<BR>you can hike &amp; hang out on the beach on any number of the islands but given you also want some 'town life' I think Hamilton Island would be the best choice as its the major hub of the whitsunday islands...&amp; you can drive around it in golf buggies which is a lot of fun (I assume you still can)! Plus its easy to do day trips to other islands from there. Cheers....

I would like to some of the tropical jungles and hear the South Molle Island is beautiful. Is it possible to take a ferry and how long would it take to arrive at South Molle or another island with a good jungle?

Hamilton is the largest in terms of facilities and accommodation in the Whitsundays as the previous poster said. You have plenty of things to do at night and I am sure that there would be baby sitting arrangements as well. You can get boats from island to island and to the mainland of course ( Airlie Beach which also has a lot of things going on). You may like the idea of Linderman Island which has Club Med or Club Crocodile on Long Island. Daydream Island is the smallest of the lot and I think is undergoing renovations but I am not sure about that. Here is a website that you may like to look at and check out some of the available accommodations. You can get out to the outer reef from the islands there and spend some time either diving or snorkling. A picnic on Whitehaven Beach for the day is also a wonderful time waster. There is a National Park at the end of the road from Airlie Beach which I think you can also research first. Also perhaps run a search on this site for other comments on the area. <BR>Good luck........ http://www.whitsundaysonline.com/mai...ommodation.php