tushar

we are planning on taking a 8 month old to australia in june. we have 18 days (not counting travel).

our thoughts are as follows:
sydney( 6 nights) with daytrips to blue mountains and hunter valley
palm cove/cairns (6 nights ) with trips to the reef and rainforest
ayers rock 2 nights

what would one do with 4 more nights? (darwin, melbourne, great ocean road?)

any other modifications to above?

of course, we know with a baby what we can do is limited and will take at least twice as long.

thanks, tushar

Judy_in_Calgary

Tushar, with an 8 month old baby, minimize the amount you have to pack up, check out, travel and check in again.

Go to three destinations maximum (6 days each).

Keep away from Australia's southern coast during the southern hemisphere winter. While you could be lucky and have fairly pleasant weather, the chances are better that you will have drizzly, cold, windy weather. Not much fun under the best of circumstances, and definitely not much fun for an 8 month old baby.

I'd recommend a northern location as your third destination. Darwin, which you yourself mentioned, could be a candidate.

Sydney could be a bit cool in June. What we regard as fall / spring jackets in North America should be suitable. I have more than once experienced overnight frost and light dustings of snow in the Blue Mountains during winter.

With an 8 month old baby, you wouldn't go wrong if you cut three destinations down to two destinations (9 nights each). But I do urge you to make it no more than three destinations.

While Uluru is a uniquely Australian site / sight, and under normal circumstances I would recommend it, having an 8 month old baby in tow changes everything. If I were you, I would not let myself in for yet another move just for the sake of seeing Uluru.

Alan

Hi, Tushar!

I recall doing two weeks in New Zealand with a six-month old, and in the middle of winter; the experience was a very positive one, mainly because we hired a car, stuck a baby capsule in the back, and were able to ensure the baby got plenty of sleep and didn't interfere with anyone else's comfort (always a particular concern of ours, especially after the plane trip over, when the baby interfered with EVERYONE'S comfort!)

Given that, I would suggest only one major change to your itinerary: forget Uluru, as that's a lot of travelling for one good photograph, and instead while you're in Sydney, book a cabin on the ferry to Tasmania. When you arrive there, hire a car and spend four dyas cruising around this enchanting island. It will be cold, but keeping a baby warm isn't really such a big deal, is it? The roads will be quiet, so driving on the "wrong" side won't be much of a hassle. You could either come back on the ferry, or arrange your schedule so that you departed by plane from Hobart for home. I reckon this would be a nice contrast to your Barrier Reef experience, and far better than all that travelling out to Uluru (which, I presume, would be by air, which is not usually an eight-month-old's favourite form of transport!)

Chris7

Hi Tushar,

As above, steer clear of the southern states IF its warmth your after.

Wouldn't bother with Uluru - unless you desperately want to see it. There are lots of nice places between Sydney and Cairns to stay a couple of nights at - depends on what you want to see/do.

Brisbane is nice (City)
Fraser Island
Perhaps one of the Whitsunday Islands (you can get stand by rates if your not fussed on booking ahead)
Townsville (now most people may baulk at this one, but for a couple of nights, it may be ok?) You can go Magnetic Island for a day trip and The Strand is great.

Cheers

tushar

thanks for your helpful information!

we are considering tasmania after your comments.

to give you background, my wife and I have travelled extensively sans child to a wide variety of places including NZ, Bali, Canadian Rockies, British Isles, India. We like places culturally distinct with natural beauty.

we are not beach people by nature. while we would enjoy a day or two at the beach, we certainly are not traveling 20 hours by plane to sit for long by the water. we want to experience as much of the diversity of australia within the confines of an 8month old's temprament!

that said, would you all rate tasmania above melbourne/kangaroo island/darwin?

thanks.

Chris7

Hi Tushar
Ok, I would definitely say Melbourne then. Also, if you want diversity why not try Canberra too? Doesn't have a beach, but lots of cultural things to do and suitable with baby.

Cheers

Alan

Tushar, I would DEFINITELY rate Tasmania above Melbourne, which is merely a pleasant city like hundreds of others... after you have spent five or six days in Sydney, Melbourne will seem quite a let-down, and the Melbourne weather in June is just awful (and much of the rest of the year, too, it must be added).

However, I would imagine that Dariwn is so different from the southern half of Australia -- more like Asia, I have heard -- that it would certainly be worth a look.