Originally Posted by
Thunderroad
A third consideration is weather. This would be a biggie for me. July is winter (and short days) in Australia and New Zealand and the rainy season in the Maldives.
Actually in Queensland around the GBR, the Daintree and such, there will be about 10 hours of daylight in July. It's a great time to visit as mentioned above.
I'd avoid the Maldives any time of year, but they seem incredibly boring to me.