Australia (hotel, hotel, airlines, best)

[okaydorothy]

Hi there
My dh, two sons (8&9) and I hope to visit Australia next year. We will be leaving from NY. Any advice on what time of the year is best, what flight is best and of course sight seeing. Dosnt have to be best, jsut better.

Thanks

dorothy

[statefan]

My husband left in late January to go for work and paid an arm and a leg for his flight since it is their peak time. My kids and I (kids are 7 &5) left Austin at the beginning of March to join him for a couple of weeks. Our airfares were way cheaper at that time, I think I got both domestic and international flight for under $4500 which I thought was amazing! I shopped around a lot for the good prices. We ended up flying Air New Zealand out of San Francisco.

We basically had wonderful weather in early March (the 6th thru 22 while the kids were on spring break), with highs in the mids 80s, it did not rain until the day before we left. We were in Sydney the whole time, that is where my husband was working, but there was plenty to do for the kids.

With small kids, I will tell you to spend a little extra money on a flight if you can get on Quantas or Air New Zealand. They both have personal entertainment units on all coach seats (unless you are lucky enough to fly business or first class). The kids can watch their own movies on demand, they can play games, listen to music or even watch certain tv shows. Trust me, it goes a long way entertaining smaller kids on those long flights! (We went to New Zealand in 2005 so we were aware of this). In my searches, United and American airlines kept coming up cheaper, but I was aware of the tvs, so we went with Air NZ.

I don't know if you have ever used seatguru.com, but you can look up the airline and type of plane to find the best seats and what else is available on the specific plane. You can order children's meals in advance, I found my picky kids did not eat anything but snacks I had packed.

I would assume you would fly to the west coast and depart from there. Just make sure you get a late flight out of LA or SF. I think late is best so the kids could eat, watch some TV and then go to sleep. By the time they wake up, hopefully it is time for breakfast and about time to land. And plan on being exhausted the first day! We got there, were feeling good, got to our hotel and were out by 3pm and slept all night! But after that we were fine!

Hopefully this is not too much info for you. If you have any more questions, just PM me, I would be glad to help!

[wit-nit]

Just remember their seasons are opposite ours. Our winter is their summer/spring tourist time.
I highly recommend you going to Australia. It is a great country and a lot to see. The people are friendly , especially towards Americans. The food is fantastic.
As the previous poster mentioned, jet lag will get you. It's about a 20 hour flight from Los Angeles and the time difference when you get there will be different, so you'll need to go to bed early that first day or two, then bam, you're on their time and will have a ball.
We went to Sydney, Cairns, the Great Barrier Reef and Canberra. Plus side trips all over. Fantastic time. Lot's to see and do.

[tonrob]

Originally Posted by okaydorothy

Hi there
My dh, two sons (8&9) and I hope to visit Australia next year. We will be leaving from NY. Any advice on what time of the year is best, what flight is best and of course sight seeing. Dosnt have to be best, jsut better.

Thanks

dorothy

I'm only pointing out that Oz is a huge continent because different parts of it have massively different climates. In the north they have two seasons - raining and not raining, but scorching hot whichever. In the south you can find places to go skiing on snow if you time it right.

Whereabouts were you thinking of going and what kind of weather do you like?

[okaydorothy]

Oh gosh, where to begin. I did look up flights for nov time, but if it was cheaper in say feb, I woudlnt have a problem going then at all. Jet lag ; we are from Ireland and do overnight flights a lot (twice a year), but I imagine its different from a 20 hour flight.
Weather we like temps in the 70's which is bearable and nice. As for what to do ; we love to be dropped in a city and exploring it, taking bus tours and then going back to see things that we were impressed with. One son is into sports so maybe cricket or something would be good. The other son is into animals and would love to see a koala or kangaroo.
What are the temps like from october to Feb? or August?

Thanks
dorothy

[moonshadow]

Originally Posted by okaydorothy

Oh gosh, where to begin. I did look up flights for nov time, but if it was cheaper in say feb, I woudlnt have a problem going then at all. Jet lag ; we are from Ireland and do overnight flights a lot (twice a year), but I imagine its different from a 20 hour flight.
Weather we like temps in the 70's which is bearable and nice. As for what to do ; we love to be dropped in a city and exploring it, taking bus tours and then going back to see things that we were impressed with. One son is into sports so maybe cricket or something would be good. The other son is into animals and would love to see a koala or kangaroo.
What are the temps like from october to Feb? or August?

Thanks
dorothy

February is Summer and pretty hot usually between 30c to 40c.

August is the last month of Winter although we often get an early spring and the weather can range from 15c to 25c.

Cricket is only on in the Summer. In August, you'd be seeing Football. Aussie Rules or Rugby.

Sydney's Taronga Park Zoo is lovely and the city itself is very beautiful with lots to see and do. You'd see koalas and kangaroos at the zoo.

If Queensland is more you scene, there is Australia Zoo, or Currumbin, Seaworld and Dreamworld on the Gold Coast. I think they all have Kangaroos and Koalas. Well maybe not Seaworld but the others all do.

Melbourne has The Open Plains Zoo at Werribee, The Royal Melbourne Zoo and The Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary. There are also koalas at Phillip Island along with the fairy penguins.

You'll pretty much be able to see sport wherever you go, but cricket is usually only in the warmer months although it seems the season is becoming longer and longer each year.

Hope that helps.

[ausboy]

G'day Okaydorothy. August, September are great months to come over as the days are not too hot and the nights not too cold. During September the finals of the football codes are on ( rugby league and Aussie rules ). In August you would also catch the humpback whale migration in Queensland and NSW. The other replies have covered the better sights.
As far as flights go, when we go to MN we prefer to fly via Hawaii as it is about half way. We have two young boys and staying a night or two really helps with adjusting body clocks and destressing. Quantas has another company called Jetstar which often has good priced flights to Hawaii. But be careful of Quantas flights as we paid more to fly with them because we where told they look after you more and had the personal TV in the headrest , but it turned out to an older plane and the kids were a handful!!
Hope this helps. Have a great trip.

[tonrob]

Forget koalas and kangaroos - wombats are the way forward...

[esselcue]

Been to OZ twice (the flight is a killer!!!)...love it and would live there if it was possible! But definitely Queensland, from Brisbane to Cairns, is incredible!!!! I cannot think of a single negative thing about OZ (Queensland) ...perfect weather, food, sights, people...I have travelled the world and I really love Australia best. Especially in their autumn (our spring)

O'Reilley's Bird Sanctuary
Frasier Island
Barrier Reef
Entire Gold Coast!

Aaaahhhhhh

[shannybannany]

I thought Oz was great but I did not dare leave Sydney or Bondi Beach (where I was staying) for fear of encountering creepy-crawlies, {SNAKES and spiders} blech!

Shanny