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2 weeks in Australia - Itenarary help
Family of 4 which includes a 7yr old daughter and 2 yr old son getting into Melbourne on May 25th (have 4 day work commitment in Melbourne) and have return flight out of Sydney on 8th May. We are not into hiking but are pretty much open to anything else that would work with 2 small kids between May 29th - June 8 . I would appreciate any help with suggestions on places/cities to visit in those 2 weeks ( we completely understand that Aus is a huge country and 2 weeks is very small but our plan was not to cover the entire country from the beginning with time off limitations)
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May 25th to 8th June will be brisk in Melbourne (approaching winter)
A good time to go far north Queensland (Cairns etc) or the red centre (Alice Uluru), for a cost. But depends what you like to do and how much you are willing to spend. |
Originally Posted by Mwenenzi
(Post 31070472)
May 25th to 8th June will be brisk in Melbourne (approaching winter)
A good time to go far north Queensland (Cairns etc) or the red centre (Alice Uluru), for a cost. But depends what you like to do and how much you are willing to spend. |
So basically a week to go north (for better weather)
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Originally Posted by Mwenenzi
(Post 31070746)
So basically a week to go north (for better weather)
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What is your budget? As Mwenenzi said, the weather will be better further north, but 4 plane tickets on short notice could be pricey.
Since you are in Melbourne but need to travel to Sydney, you can do a 'triangle' with 2 one-way flights MEL-X and X-SYD, and save time and money (assuming you haven't already booked flights to Sydney). Australian flights are usually priced one-way so unlike the USA you don't pay a premium to book as one-way tickets. I would suggest the red center. It's quintessential Australia, and that is a good time of year to visit. You can see heaps without hiking. Fly to Alice Springs, check out the Kangaroo Sanctuary (a must-see but sells out, make sure they have bookings available before you lock in your dates!). Fly to Uluru (or drive/bus, about 6 hours) and see the 'big rock'. It's pretty special. You can fly from Uluru (AYQ airport) back to Sydney. Here are some photos from my trip to the red center: Another option might be Perth, a bit further to fly but the weather is usually nice in late May / early June. Rottnest Island is a main attraction out there, as well as the Margaret River region. If your budget is tight, I'd stay around Melbourne, especially if you don't mind if its a bit colder. There's lots to see in Victoria, and plenty of threads on that. |
Originally Posted by CPMaverick
(Post 31070857)
What is your budget? As Mwenenzi said, the weather will be better further north, but 4 plane tickets on short notice could be pricey.
Since you are in Melbourne but need to travel to Sydney, you can do a 'triangle' with 2 one-way flights MEL-X and X-SYD, and save time and money (assuming you haven't already booked flights to Sydney). Australian flights are usually priced one-way so unlike the USA you don't pay a premium to book as one-way tickets. I would suggest the red center. It's quintessential Australia, and that is a good time of year to visit. You can see heaps without hiking. Fly to Alice Springs, check out the Kangaroo Sanctuary (a must-see but sells out, make sure they have bookings available before you lock in your dates!). Fly to Uluru (or drive/bus, about 6 hours) and see the 'big rock'. It's pretty special. You can fly from Uluru (AYQ airport) back to Sydney. Here are some photos from my trip to the red center: https://www.flickr.com/photos/149998...57673508059797 Another option might be Perth, a bit further to fly but the weather is usually nice in late May / early June. Rottnest Island is a main attraction out there, as well as the Margaret River region. If your budget is tight, I'd stay around Melbourne, especially if you don't mind if its a bit colder. There's lots to see in Victoria, and plenty of threads on that. |
Uluru has very limited accommodation, all owned by the same company. They do have an affiliation with Accor Hotels so if you have points with them it may help. Otherwise expect overnights in Uluru to be pricey.
Otherwise, Alice Springs does have some hotel point options. I stayed at the DoubleTree in Alice Springs and it was probably one of the better options. |
Originally Posted by Stivelio
(Post 31070878)
I have lot of points/miles with airlines and hotels and so budget isn't really an issue fortunately. I will start looking for tickets for the places that you mentioned just to double check if the stash of miles that I have will help us get last minute tickets without a lot of money of out of pocket.
If considering those look at the ticket t&c's carefuly and cost for add on's. And a few small regional airlines (REX and others) Some of the international hotel chains/brands in Au, but read some where Accor has the most rooms in Au. SFO to MEL by OP on QF with AS ff miles-->https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alas...l#post30755762 |
My only 2c is not sure how kid friendly Yulara is, especially considering the costs to get there you’d want it to really work for all of you? Is it possible that the reef might be a better fit? I’m kind of thinking glass bottom boats but other options could work too |
I had thought that having a 2yo on a boat would be much worse than in the red center, but I'm not a parent so very far from my area of expertise :)
You can see the main sights around Uluru with very short walks that are stroller-friendly. |
Originally Posted by CPMaverick
(Post 31071443)
I had thought that having a 2yo on a boat would be much worse than in the red center, but I'm not a parent so very far from my area of expertise :)
You can see the main sights around Uluru with very short walks that are stroller-friendly. |
Originally Posted by CPMaverick
(Post 31071443)
I had thought that having a 2yo on a boat would be much worse than in the red center, but I'm not a parent so very far from my area of expertise :)
You can see the main sights around Uluru with very short walks that are stroller-friendly. |
Originally Posted by nancypants
(Post 31071388)
My only 2c is not sure how kid friendly Yulara is, especially considering the costs to get there you’d want it to really work for all of you? Is it possible that the reef might be a better fit? I’m kind of thinking glass bottom boats but other options could work too |
I’m assuming you looked at a third party website as there is limited availability showing on the official Ayers Rock resort website- I searched 29/5 for 3 nights which should be enough (ayersrockresort.com.au). With kids I would suggest Emu walk apartments although i’m Not sure if they have access to a pool which may or may not be relevant (I believe all the Yulara hotels are affiliated with Accor, points stays may be more limited than paid, I don’t know enough about the program to comment on that) you will probably do well to rent a car. Booked directly they usually have a pathetic 100km a day limit although I believe arranging it through tourism NT means it has unlimited KMs (the tourist office in Alice Springs would be able to help with this). You may decide you want to go to kings canyon and do the rim walk- then again with small kids you may not there’s not a huge amount of flight options out of Yulara to go somewhere else as well. I also wouldn’t really recommend using it as a base cos it is crazy expensive. Although there are Cairns-Yulara flights (it’s a triangle route at the moment with one way via Alice Springs), which could work nicely the reef (great barrier reef) is more towards the coast, cairns is probably the most sensible jumping off point ps Alice to Yulara is about a 4-6 hour drive with not a huge amount of diversions on the way. With 2 kids i’d Probably not recommend it. The flights are generally a fairly good deal on points, especially the cairns triangle I mention above) |
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