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I'd always wanted to go to Australia! So, I'm delighted to share my experience with you.

I'd been to Thailand before, and loved it. So, this was dream come true for me to visit both countries.
Due to time restrictions, the trip had to be fitted into 2 weeks leave. So, I planned it around booking our long haul flights overnight - to save time. We flew Thai Air throughout, which was not only helped by their direct overnight services out from the UK to Bangkok, but also those onwards to Sydney and Brisbane. The internal flight between the two in Australia I booked with Virgin Blue - a brilliant low cost service. It all worked well, and proved to be a real time saver, and meant we got the most out of the trip. It also broke the long journey to Australia down into manageable lengths, and with a stopover at each destination, meant we didn't get too tired.

We hit Bangkok running on the first day! It was steaming hot, noisy, congested - and we absolutely loved it!
I've been to a few Far Eastern cities now, and it's not the cleanest, but it was interesting!
Arriving at breakfast time, we dropped our bags at the hotel and hit the city. We were booked into the Bangkok Princess, a good average tourist hotel. Later that first day, after hours of sightseeing and travelling around, when the heat and the long overnight flight caught up with us, we enjoyed a refreshing swim in the hotel's roof top pool. That night we had our first ride of this trip in a tuk tuk.

We took the City and Canals trip the next day - well worth it. And paid at reception to keep our room on till 9pm - which meant we had a full day there, with time to have a shower before the night flight to Australia.
One tip here - is to always ask at reception how much it would cost to keep your room on until evening - we did this throughout, and it made a huge difference to our holiday. And it wasn't expensive.

Overnight we flew to Sydney and arrived in the Australian springtime - and a drop in temperatures!
Staying centrally at the Menzies Hotel, we had a great few days. The landmarks of Sydney are so famous, I almost had to keep pinching myself to realise I was actually there. We caught the hop-on-hop-off bus, and got it one day out to Bondi Beach. We walked all around the Rocks. We saw Darling Harbour, and had coffee with the city workers around us in Circular Quay. We toured the Botanical Gardens with it's backdrop of the Opera House and Bridge. We caught the ferry from Circular Quay out to Manly Beach and ate fish and chips. We had a fantastic day trip out to the Blue Mountains. We reluctantly left on a day with brilliant blue skies, and took a mid day Virgin Blue flight up the Queensland coast and flew in to Brisbane.

Brisbane was different. Very laid back, and equally as fascinating. The river cuts the city in two, as it meanders along. The Jacaranda trees with their lavender blossom were in full bloom on it's banks. Our hotel, The Royal On The Park, was near to the river. We acted like locals on the Sunday, and did the Riverside markets, and sat outside on the terrace enjoying a late brunch. We did a river trip, and saw the city in a leisurely way. One day we caught a local bus out to the Loan Pine Sanctuary to see the Kangaroos and Koalas. It was laid back, and easy way to see the city boundaries.

On the last leg of the journey, we caught an overnight flight back to Bangkok, and met our booked transfer which took us the couple of hours drive to the beach resort. There we spent the last 4 days relaxing in the Aisawan Beachfront Hotel and Spa. There we thoroughly chilled out, and swam, sunbathed, shopped, relaxed, had spa treatments. A fitting antidote to all our travelling and sightseeing.

It was a dream of a trip, and made me realise that long haul travel has opened up the world, and made it all so possible. I couldn't believe I'd been to Australia and back, and I can't wait to do it all again - hopefully sooner rather than later.