BudBrain

Hi,

I visited Perth around 15 years ago and fell in love with the place. Now I'm all growed up and have a family of my own, I'm almost in a position financially to take the family on a holiday to Australia.

I'd really like to emigrate in the next few years, the wife is semi-keen and my eldest kid isn't too hot on the idea (11yo) and thinks the place is full of bugs waiting to kill them.

I had always planned to take them to Perth, but that's only because it's all I know (and love). My question is, where should we plan to go? I'm really needing to impress here!

Would love to hear from those that have travelled Oz.

I guess we're looking for somewhere safe/clean with nice beaches and cool stuff to see and do.

mohogony

Most people would say the gold coast, but the best holidays l have done in OZ was in Victoria along the great ocean road to Warrnambool and Pt Fairy and then 1 hour North to the Grampians mountains national park staying at Halls Gap. Plenty of great beaches , spectacular scenery and wildlife.

Petals

So many great places to go, Victoria because I am biased.

New South Wales, Blue Mountains, high country in Victoria and New South Wales, Canberra, Gold Coast ok but too plastic for me. Sunshine coast hinterland in Queensland. Cairns. Adelaide, Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills area.

Kimberly North Western Australia

Favourite place for me Tasmania I love Tasmania mainly because its an island and its just fantastic.

SunnyMD

I guess it depends on what they like ... the mountains are awesome, but if your 11yo gets bored then (s)he isn't going to be impressed. Also depends on what time of year you are here, how much you want to spend when you get here and how long you have

From the limited trips we have done so far everywhere had something to offer, having said that, my personal list ...

Whitsundays - gotta see them
Gold Coast (biased, we live there), can be plastic if you go to Surfers, but loads of beautiful things to see and do all around the area, great for kids, beautiful inland - Tambourine etc
Uluru - nuff said
Sunshine Coast - wanna see Oz Zoo (home of the Steve Irwin)
Monkey Mia - dolphins
Perth, Bunbury, Margaret River - West Coast, more dolphins
Kakadoo National Park (not convinced that's how you spell it)
Sydney - only had a quick weekend, but the harbour views were stunning and great eateries round Darling Harbour
Whale watching - June to Nov, all along the East coast, awesome to watch ... even my 14yo son was deeply impressed

I could carry on for hours ... absolutely love the place ... pm if you want any more help and dare risk a 3 hour email

Guess you really need to think about what kind of things they like and will be awed by

Good Luck

BTW, say Hi to Bristol - it's almost home territory for me

the troubadour

Can second this as just done it a couple of weeks ago then stayed in Melbourne which is also pretty cool.
I live in Perth and in my opinion there is little of tourist interest here although the beaches are good.
A road trip up to Broome and beyond to Darwin is what i would do to see something very different from UK and there is some magnificent country up there but also very great distances to cover which can be a little tedious.

BudBrain

Thanks for all your suggestions

We're probably looking at a 3 week trip and I'd like to come over in the middle of summer so we all know what to expect if we were to move. Although I want to impress, I still want them to experience reality

Liking the sound of the Gold Coast. If we did go there, maybe it'd be an idea to start at the Great barrier reef and 'tick a box'

Edit: SunnyMD - Sent you a PM

mohogony

l don't think the gold coast would give them an experince of reality of life in OZ unless you plan to live there, maybe also think about A Melbourne - great ocean road -Grampians mountains trip, very spectacular scenery and great beaches.

BudBrain

True enough, but you'll never experience reality when you compare it to somewhere else.

All I meant was that I want them to know how hot it gets

We don't plan to live anywhere as yet, that all depends on the work I guess.

WelshSarah

You could go up to Port Douglas from the Goldie for a few days.. We did and its fantastic!!

Here on the GC there is something for everyone... Theme parks ( Movie world, Wet and wild ..), Beaches galore, Restaurants ( Broadbeach is fantastic!!) and is very central to explore ( Sunny coast, NSW, ) Hell ,even Surfers is great for toursity things.. You have to see the meter maids!!

Ou can also fly from Coolie to Sydney in an hour or up to cairns from Brizzie in a couple of hours.. Very central we are and the best temps too..

WelshSarah

[quote=mohogony;7323313]l don't think the gold coast would give them an experince of reality of life in OZ

Why not?

jayr

The Gold Coast is real enough, not sure why seeing the Gold Coast wouldn't give a real impression of Oz. It is the largest non-capital city, is bigger than Canberra, Hobart and Darwin by population and is only marginally smaller than Canberra, Hobart and Darwin combined

Gold Coast is also the second largest local government authority after Brisbane. It includes 80km of coastline, population growing by about 10,000 per annum, visitied by 3.5 million domestic tourists each year and 750,000 overseas visitors.

You can go whale watching, go to the tallest residential tower in the world (Q1), go to Australia's best theme parks, some of the best beaches and the beautiful hinterland of Lamington and Springbrook National Parks.

Close to Brisbane, very close to New South Wales, it's own airport. Sounds perfect to me for a visitor.

steve`o

the guys trying to impress his kids and mrs not bore them to death

mountains, scenery and clear blue seas with white sand beaches would be a must for myself and my mrs ( but then we are in our 40`s ) taking kids who are 11 at the oldest ??? mmm like i said they would be bored within a couple of days,

even though i do live in the goldcoast i dont think i`m just being biased when i say to impress the kids it has to tick all the boxes and you`ll find that if the kids are enjoying themselfs mum will be more relaxed and join in the fun too

the following link is a cracking site with links to most events etc in the GC
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/outdoors...tractions.html


hope this helps regards steve

ps for middle aged couples ( i`m thinking fourties ) i dont think you can beat cairns i spent a month there at christmas 04 and was blown away by the rainforest and all the spectacular scenery and wildlife

Petals

If you want to know how hot it gets try Melbourne with fires all around very very hot 47 the day of the fires at our place on the south veranda

moneypenny20

Completely agree. Plastic seems like a very strange word for such a beautiful, diverse place. Unless you're going on preconceived ideas and have never actually visited of course. It sounds like the perfect place to live to me, let alone visit. Oh hang on.........

chocciecake

i grew up in melbourne, but we are moving back to live on the gold coast.
we lived there for over 3 years,10 years ago, and i can't think of a better place for my kids to grow up!
every weekend, we used to go up to one of the rainforests for a walk, and used to drive round exploring all the time.
on the drive out, thru tallebudgerra ,we used to look out for "honesty" boxes on the side of the road,that you could stop at and buy some home grown avocados, or mangos or eggs etc....and then you pop some money in the tin for it. my dh can't wait to find one of those again...!
we used to go for walks in the evening down at the spit or main beach, or walk around one of the marinas looking at the boats, and having fish and chips.
early in the morning ,you can go for a run down the beach and there are even oldies out exercising and looking happy at that time in the morning (6am...i never get out of bed at that time willing, except on the goldie!)
i love it...
there are some really crap cheesy things though, like all the startup hairbrained businesses that go bust, and really bad homemade ads on tele etc, but that just makes me like the place more...
i can't wait for my little kids to go and do the little life saver training lessons on the beach, or go exploring around burleigh heads again...
you can get yearly passes for the theme parks and water world parks too, so a great place to take the kids for a treat..
we never found it too hot when we lived there, as most places you go have airconditioning anyway, so there was plenty of cool places to go.
the heat was different, than say, when you get a 40 deg c day in melbourne...
you got more frequent hot weather, but not reaching the heights of other places.

and the place we are moving into is awesome...4 beds double storey detatched house in a luxury development, with gorgeous tropical landscaping.2500sq ft including the remote control double garage, and onsite managment who keep the place in tip top order.
then you have the outdoor clover leaf shaped pool with the water fall, which has a spa behind it, a bbq area, an indoor heated pool, a sauna, a communal clubhouse, gym,and tennis courts!
for $400 wk!!!

i would tell where it is, but not until we have secured the next available house, as they are in demand!
then i'll spill the beans

i can't wait...

melbourne has a lot of good points, but seeing i grew up there, i wanted a different life...

oh, just wanted to add, that i agree with what someone earlier said, about activities...
over here ,all the stuff i do with the kiddies on a day to day basis is bloody boring, although they have a great time, so i can't wait to be able to take them places where i will enjoy the activities too...unfortunately we weren't in a place in uk where its particulary scanic with out a long drive (unless you enjoy watching the prisoners exercise at belmarsh prison nearby!)