FlossieFlyer

Feb/March is still potential cyclone season in Cairns. At the very least it will be humid and raining most afternoons.

You can do everything in/around Hamilton Island/Airlie that you can in Cairns except for the Kuranda train/sky cable car ride.

Another alternative is also Heron Island which could be diving and also turtle hatching but southern enough that you should not be effected.

To match Kuranda experience head to the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.

Cairns and Airline offer very similar offerings so to do both is a bit much unless it is something you really just want to tick off.

KLouis

Tell your wife she looks great and doesn't need a hairdresser. You'll save a lot of money and she'll be forever thankful!

emustyle

Thanks Flossie I'll pass it by my friends to see if picking one over the other is preferable

CPMaverick

I second the recommendation to pick Cairns or Whitsundays, not do both.

I prefer the Whitsundays personally for anything on or in the water. It's just spectacular. It is more difficult to see the GBR proper from Airlie than from Cairns, but possible.

For inland, I don't have as much experience. I haven't been north of Cairns or done the Karunda so not sure. There are rainforest trips from Airlie but a lot more choices from Cairns.

Given the questionable weather patterns that time of year, I would focus on one place. Not sure if they have direct flights from Cairns to the Whitsundays but even if they do you would spend a half day traveling instead of doing something more fun. I would pick the Whitsundays personally. Then you can handle any weather delays and if you are 'stuck' in town because of bad weather I think Airlie is a much better option.

You can also fly to Hamilton Island (HTI), it is a step more expensive than Airlie to stay there. But if you intend to visit Hamilton, it might make sense to look at that airport option (one way) to stay your last or first night there, and save some travel time.

JClasstraveller

Sounds like a hectic trip and I'd pick one and stay there and get some relaxation time in.

Travelling around Australia is tiring due to its size and with a go go go itinerary, all the more so.

Whitsundays less prone to cyclone weather as well (marginally) at that time of the year.

You will miss out on Daintree and it is spectacular but at 95% humidity and 30-35C, it's not particularly pleasant.

raincityman

Call us crazy, but my wife and I are going down under in February with a 4 month old. Thankfully we will be up front for the voyage over from Seattle.

We will arrive on feb. 11th into Sydney and leave from there on the 26th. Looking for suggestions on things to do, places to go, where to stay with an infant. None of us have been there before. I would like to see the barrier reef, but other than that everything is open... flyertakers, suggestions???

Mwenenzi

February is peak summer and after schools/universities are back. Can be very hot (by our standards). Humid in some places.
There are a lot of what to do - Aussie itineraries in this forum. Just go down the screen/pages.

A lot depends on what you want to see & experience and how much your budget is:- cities, wildlife, barrier reef, Aussie outback or ??

Having said that, February is too hot and unpleasant for the outback-central Australia. And not the best time for far north Queensland (FNQ). A bit south like the Whitsundays / Hamilton Island would have more pleasant weather and reef access. And easier with a junior frequent flyer. A very good time for Tasmania.

And you need to appreciate the size of Australia. Is sort of similar in size to the US 48 states. Considering from hotel, to airport, flight and to the next hotel it can take the best part of a day to go a destination. The day of arrival and day of departure you will not do much.

Airlines that fly in Australia domestically. Excludes some small operators
- Airnorth TL Regional airline in northern central Australia
- Jetstar JQ (a low cost carrier with low-medium-high priced fares owned by QF)
- Regional Express Airways (REX) ZL Regional airline
- Tiger Airways TT (a low cost carrier with low fares part owned by Virgin Australia)
- Qantas QF [OneWorld Alliance]
- Virgin Australia VA (Delta & AC* partner) *= ~2017 some routes

raincityman

Would you recommed the Whitsundays over going to Cairnes?

Mwenenzi

In February: yes. Others may have a different opinion

The city of Cairns its-self is uninspiring. Can be overrun with low $ Eu backpackers there for a continuous party. Does not even have a real beach. 20km and more north its a lot better.

BSBtraveller

Whitsundays means Hamilton Island which is perfect if you've got children and is family friendly. You can go to Whitehaven Beach, although I'm not sure how the baby will cope with the boat rides so you'd better check with Hamilton Island first. It's all owned by the one entity so has a combined website.

Cairns is just a stopping off point to get to other places. It's pretty blah in of itself unless you're a backpacker and want to get hammered 24/7

I doubt you'll be allowed to take a baby out to the reef as they are very safety conscious but check with the operators - there are several, just google.

All of Queensland will be hot but more importantly, steamy as it's the rainy season.

I'd head to Tasmania if you like quaint. It's very easy to drive around. Go to Freycinet - spectacular but you won't be able to go to Wineglass Bay unless you carry your baby, so bring a carry pack. It's quite a walk.

Sydney is a fun, big city and is stunning. It can be hot and steamy at that time of year but it's still beautiful. Melbourne is very European and the capital of cool, lots of cafes and restaurants- the top level ones won't let you bring a baby and you won't want to. Melbourne will be hot but dry. You could actually drive from one to the other via the coastal roads and stay along there. Merimbula, Batemans Bay, Jerivs Bay, Ulladulla and Kiama and everything in between is really quite stunning and at that time of the year will be the best places to be weather wise. It'll still be hot.

Enjoy your time downunder.

Travel K

We took our daughter to Bali when she was 10 months old. Traveling with a baby is much easier than a toddler as they are less mobile. There are a few things to keep in mind though:

I know this is obvious, but it will be hot and you need to keep the baby cool enough. We always used our Boba when traveling, so we had to be diligent to make sure she wasn't too hot in it.

Australia has good sidewalks, so a pram/trolley/stroller would be helpful. Bali didn't and if we would have brought one, it wouldn't have been used.

Think through prior to going what happens if you need to go to a doctor for the baby. We flew in first class and yet she still had a double ear infection by the time we came home. We almost went to a doctor in Hong Kong on our layover because of her fever. The are little and get sick much quicker than at home.

Less is best. Our days of long activities we not much fun. If we had a half day activity planned, we did great.

I agree with some of the others - Don't go to the Outback/Central Australia (Uluru, Olgas, etc). It is way too hot for your baby.

Mwenenzi

Also Airlie Beach, without the Hamilton Island price tag, but with Eu backpackers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airlie_Beach,_Queensland
https://www.tourismwhitsundays.com.a...s/airlie-beach

emustyle

Again much appreciated to all of you! Its sounding more and more like it may be a trip to Arlie/Whitsunday for the duration of our trip.

If this ends up being the case, any thoughts on what to do with 6 days in the region? (Admittedly I haven't searched the forum for sample itineraries before posting this response!)

mcbg1

(Ignore my thread title, I mistakenly typed 6 weeks when this trip would be more like 3 weeks long)

I'm in the beginning stages of planning a trip to Australia next year in late-May, early-June. Was thinking of something like this:

Fly into Sydney for 4 nights
Brisbane for 4 nights
Surfers Paradise for 4 nights
Cairns for 4 nights
Darwin for 4 nights

I'd love to also see Perth and Melbourne but the weather at this time of year doesn't seem to be the best and since my current itinerary is moving up along the coast, I'd like to head to Indonesia from Darwin (Bali and Sulawesi) before flying back home. I've got 5 weeks total.

Does this seem reasonable? Any tweaks you would suggest?

Thanks!

Mwenenzi

Have a look the numerous other threads on Au trips, including a few down the page.
Australia is not about the cities. Its about the areas out of the cities. A city is a city is a city. They all have a lot of boring Toyota's, just like your home town/city,

3 weeks is a just reasonable time. Does the 3 weeks include your travel time from/to home? You will not do much on the day of arrival & day of departure

Forget Brisbane for 4 nights. 1 night is too much
Surfers Paradise for 4 nights. Ughh. Its very commercialised. And about 60-80minues drive from Brisbane.

Cairns 4 days. Ok, 5 would be better. A good time of the year to be in FNQ

Darwin. Go out to Kakadu for several days. And other national parks in the area. Darwin is different

But best if all you can attend Oz Fest 14 Newcastle, just north of Sydney. @:-) ^
You can learn a lot about Aussie from some people who travel Au frequently and from some locals (better than 4/4 days in BNE/Surfers, but that is not hard)