We've got flights booked to land in Sydney end of July. We're spending 3 nights there and then have tentatively scheduled
Port Stephens (2 nights)
Port Macquairie (1 night)
Coff's Harbour (2 nights)
Byron Bay (1 night)
Is this long enough in each place or is there anywhere we should spend longer? Then we have 6 nights that we plan to spend around Surfer's paradise, we want to visit the National Parks and Brisbane - is Stradbroke island worth a trip?. Alternatively we may fly up to the Whitsundays to spend a couple of nights there. Is it really expensive? If we fly into Hamilton is it easy enough to get to another island to stay. The main reason to go would be to visit Whitehaven beach - is this easy to do from any island? Then we fly to Darwin for our last 6 nights. We would like to visit Kakadu and the Katherine Gorge, but would need a hotel / apartment of family frienldy hostel as we don't want to camp out. Are there any must sees around this area in addition to these, what are the beaches round Darwin like?
I'd really aprreciate any answers to these many questions so that I can try and tighten our plans up. By the way we are a family with 2 boys 9 and 11, travelling with fit grandparents.
Many thanks!

You don't seem to be getting much help from us downunder Fodorites! If this is my first trip to Australia I am not sure that I would spend so much time driving between Sydney and Brisbane. Port Stephens is a nice area. Personally I don't think there's a lot to do in Coffs Harbour. The Great Barrier Reef is a must if you're up that way. I've been told Litchfield National Park (130 km south of Darwin) is beautiful. Then there's Arnhem Land. Uluru (Ayers Rock) and the Olgas are a must if you don't plan on coming back. Another favourite spot of mine is in NW of Western Australia, the Bungle Bungles. But I forget that you have 2 boys and grandparents in tow. The boys would enjoy Surfers and the islands. It's probably too much to include Uluru etc. Maybe someone with young kids can help you.

I think I would have to agree that spending time in Port Stephens, Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour & Byron Bay in the middle of winter is not a great plan. Even flying to the Whitsundays would not be that warm either - I would be off to Cairns and that area on arrival, then to Darwin. I doubt that there are apartments in either Kakudu or Kathrine but it would be more likely to be Kathrine if any at all. However if you google the Northern Territory Tourist Bureau you could find something in the line of hostels. Do a search on this site, on the areas in the Northern Territory for other must dos. Frankly swimming on beaches there is a "must not" in my view and there are other fresh water places to swim in and around Darwin which are nice.

as always depends what you like to do.

Re: coffs harbour - easy to kill 2 days there. Go up to bellingen or dorrigo and or you might be interested in doing a raft on the nymboida river, in which case coffs is a good base. plus there's the beaches around coffs - of which there's plenty. of course then theres the big banana and I think it should be mandatory that all visitors to australia should see at least one 'big thing' in their trip. there's actually a lot on that road up the coast - you could make a mission to visit as many as possible. they're kinda creepy some of them! I am fond of the big prawn. the big oyster is now a car yard ... how sad http://www.bigthings.com.au/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia's_Big_Things

with your beach places - not sure what you like but you might like to consider a smaller place for one of your stops - the ones you've picked are the 'bigger' centres and it may be nice to do something different and go to one of the smaller towns. For example, you could do laurieton (south of port) instead? just a thought.

If you're going port S to port M you might like to detour through hawks nest/tea gardens, go to the sand dunes at myall lakes. take some cardboard and see if you can slide down them. great fun.

I've only been to nth stradbroke island and it was great - but with kids, I'd be tempted to give couran cove a run on sth stradbroke - it looks fantastic and there's a million things you can do. seems to be extremely family friendly. Any fodories been there?
http://www.couran-cove.com.au/

as for darwin/kakadu. july is a fantastic time to be north and 6 days would be fantastic. you could have a couple in darwin (heaps to do there - fish feeding, mindl beach markets) and also 3 days in kakadu plus maybe day trip to lichfield. i wouldn't do kakadu for less than 2.5 - 3 days - theres so much to see and do and it is a reasonable drive. If you had an extra day (or 2) you could manage atherine and katherine gorge (plus a couple of things in a loop back through lichfield). I went to kakadu for the first time when I was .... 13/14 and I loved it. you can do a wetlands cruise, sunset at ubirr, nourlangie rock art, then there's the falls. I liked barramundi the best I think, but also found gunlom interesting - good hike to the top and great views.

beaches around darwin - no go for swimming unforunately and watch out for the diving boards at parap swimming pool - I gave myself rib injuries last time I was there ... trying to compete with 11yo's doing somersaults. unfortunately my effort was a dismal attempt!

as for accommodation - you won't have probs finding apts in darwin or surfers (or your coastal places). as for kakadu - do a couple of searches, I think there's been some discussion about this on these forums before. I camped at the kakadu lodge place and it was fine - I remember swimming in the pool was good! http://www.auroraresorts.com.au/disp...Property_ID=14

Thanks for these suggestions - especially Lancefan. We did visit Oz last year and went to Cairns, saw the reef and drove down part of the coast and saw a bit of Brisbane, loved it and wanted to see more around this area which is why we've planned a week or so around there. We liked the sound of some of the places we plan to visit on the drive between Sydney and Brisbane and are able to spend 4 weeks in Oz next year and so wanted to see other bits that will be new to us. The weather is a bit of a concern ,though saying that last year we visited Oz in your Winter and it was better weather than our summer in the UK, so as long as we don't get stacks of rain we'd be happy, although obviously we don't want to freeze either. That's also why we're taking in Darwin on the way back for a bit of guaranteed warmth! The dolphin and whale watching opportunites up the coast sound good, might we spot wild koalas too? We'd rather drive than fly up to Brisbane as we have the time and it's a good way to see the country. Is there anywhere where 1 night would be enough or 2 not long enough? we can play around with this schedule. Thank you!

Been doing a bit more research and would like some more opinions please! We've scheduled in 2 nights in Coff's Harbour and 3 in Byron Bay. The more I've read about the 'alternative' side of Byron leads me to ask is it ok and safe there with kids? It sounds a bit druggy?? I've found a nice accommodation there and one in Ballina too, can anyone recommend which region would be best to stay in? Also would our time be better split 3 nights coffs 2 byron area? We like the sound of the Dorrigo national park area for a day. We are going up to the Gold Coast after that. Many thanks!

I am not sure that you really understand that it will be the middle of winter here with your plans to go to Port M. and Byron Bay. If you take away the swimming factor and the beach from Byron there is little to do there except go and have a walk around the light house. The hinterland is nice but it is still not the best time of year there. Then there is the "druggy" side of Byron or rather hippy side of it, I personally don't see what is wonderful about the place but others like it. I would be spending more time around the Gold Coast where there is all year entertainment going on for all the family as well as great trips into the hinterland and surrounds.

Do a search for Darwin and Kakadu on this forum. There are several threads which have a lot of information about recent trips to the area. This past August 2006 my husband, 10 year old daughter and I spent 8 days in Cairns and 10 days in the NT, including Darwin, Kakadu, Katherine, Litchfield and back to Darwin. I've written a lot about our experiences. We were actually cold while we were in Cairns due to how windy it was, but were never cold in Darwin. Very tropical and warm and pleasant, even in "winter"...In the outback the landscape is brown but as you get into it you begin to see all the variations and it is not just a dull pallet, but a rich and varied landscape. We loved Kakadu in August and are really glad we went. Lots of waterholes to swim in the NT if you seek them out. Beaches aren't the thing but I don't think you'd be sorry you spent some Australian winter in the NT.

Thanks for the tip lynAK. I've had a look through your review of the NT and I'm really looking forward to going there now - it sounds fab! We have had a quote for a personal guided tour from Sacred Earth Safaris for 4 days of $AD5700. It sounds quite expensive, but includes all food, accommodation. I'm going to cost it up to do the trip independently. Any offers from anyone about whether they think the trip would be a good option?

Hi dizzyb

I tend to agree with Cilla, there is very little to see or do in winter along the NSW coast. I have driven the coast road numerous times, one time stopping off at all the little seaside towns. Don't get me wrong, there are some lovely places along the coast, but after seeing a few coastal towns they all become much of a muchness. If you have set you mind on doing this, i recommend you really think about and research what to see and do otherwise that leg of your journey will be like a chore.

As for the Whitsundays, it's easy to get to other islands (you must book transfers however) and whitehaven beach is easy to get to, you just need to book a boat trip.

Have you thought about spending anytime in Western Australia? Now that's a coast line worth driving

Re Port Macquarie - last time we were there, we visited a koala hospital where they look after sick and injured animals. If it's still there, your boys would probably enjoy seeing the koalas.

Thanks Marg,
I'd read about this place and it was one of the reasons for stopping off in Port Macquarie, that and the large population of native koalas. The kids love koalas! Does anyone elso know whether it is still there?