We started in Brisbane, heading up to Noosa and K’gari, travelling down the east coast to Byron Bay and Sydney, before finishing in Western Australia on Rottnest Island.

Australia is the kind of trip that can feel huge to plan. Where do you start? The distances are big, there are so many places you could include, and it is very easy to either try to fit in too much or miss the moments that make the trip really special. For us, my aim was not to tick off as many places as possible but to make sure we had a balance, after all it is a holiday. I started with creating a route that worked for all of us, with surf beaches for my son, islands for me, beach driving for my husband, wildlife, city time, good food, and enough slower moments for everyone to enjoy.

We started by returning to Noosa, it was where we ended our Queensland road trip last year, and we all agreed we wanted to return. It was also the perfect base to access Fraser Island/K'gari, we hired a 4WD to avoid the long drive up to Hervey Bay which also meant we would have to lose a night with an overnight stay. But it also meant we could experience driving on the beach!!

This was a real highlight - beach driving, Eli Creek, Lake McKenzie and that feeling of being somewhere completely different. It is one of those places where the planning really matters, from tide times and ferry timings to knowing how much time to allow feels exciting rather than stressful.

After K’gari, we travelled back down the Sunshine Coast, stopping in Mooloolaba before heading over to Moreton Island and a 2 night stay at the Tangalooma Island Resort. This gave the trip a lovely change of pace again, with snorkelling the shipwrecks, sandboarding and a helicopter ride over those incredible turquoise waters. Highly recommend a stay here to finish off a trip if you're looking for a beach stay after exploring Brisbane. 

One thing I was really conscious of when planning was the driving and avoiding long days in the car, so I kept the driving to around three hours max between locations, with planned stops that actually added something to the journey. The Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie was a good example of this, it broke up the journey, and it was meaningful and interesting in its own right. 

If I had less time to do this route I'd  of made good use of Australia's domestic airports, which connects Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast to Sydney  & Brisbane easily. 

Brisbane was another real highlight for us. We had time with family and friends, which brought a completely different feel to the trip, and their shared their local recommendations which meant we had a few evenings that felt close to 'living like a local'. We also went to our first AFL game at the Gabba, which was brilliant, I like to be able to combine a sporting event into our itineraries, this time we watched the Brisbane Loins beat Collingwood Magpies. Sorry to my Aussie family. At the end of the match, thousands of fans were allowed onto the pitch, and it was complete chaos in the best possible way. That would never happen after a match in the UK we thought. Those are the moments you can't plan for, and I'm sure it will be my son's lasting memory of the trip.

From Brisbane, we headed towards Byron Bay, stopping at Burleigh Heads along the way for lunch with beautiful views over the Gold Coast. Byron absolutely delivered after our time in the city: surf, beach days, great food and kayaking with dolphins, plus a great stay at the Crystalbrook Byron hotel.

Then came the journey south towards Sydney, with an overnight stop in Port Macquarie and a few well-timed breaks along the way, including to see the BIG banana at Coffs harbour, we took our time stopping at Lennox Head and Yamba and just enjoying the viewpoints along the coast. We even spotted dolphins from the car park they were playing in the surf!
  
Again, this part worked well as we arrived at our base in Manley in time to watch the sunset and enjoy a swim on the rooftop pool before we headed out for dinner, it felt not too rushed, not too slow, and with enough variety to keep everyone happy.

In Sydney, I chose to base us in Manly, and I'm sure this is what made us fall in love with Sydney. It gave us the best of both worlds: beach on our doorstep, incredible sunrises, an easy 30min ferry ride into the city - which gave us the best views of the Opera House & bridge every time we went into the city. The transport links from Circular Quay as well were brilliant, making it easy to get across the city to either Bondi, and the suburbs and to our prebooked tour at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Another highlight and must do for cricket fans. Being in the Northern beaches you can also drive up to see the beach where they film Summer Bay! We also did the Harbour Bridge Climb and spent time wandering the Rocks, and learning about the history of the city and European settlers.

We finished our trip in NSW by flying west to Perth and spending a couple of nights on Rottnest Island, I always like to finish a long road trip with a relaxing stay at a beach, and Western Australia has some of the most idyllic beaches, so I convinced my husband it would make the flight home shorter. Win win so after a busy few weeks, it was the perfect ending: cycling, swimming in some of the clearest water I have ever seen, and of course I knew my son would love to see the quokkas. In fact he spent a few hours with an injured Quokka that he had found in the grounds of our hotel and called the ranger so he could be cared for and get the treatment they needed from the island's Quokka hospital. 

For me, the biggest reminder from this trip was that a seamless itinerary does not happen by accident. It is the right number of nights in each place, prebooked activities to give you structure all helps. It is about keeping driving times realistic to allow stops that add something along the way. It is about making space for slow days, sunsets, and enough time you can always go back to that favourite restaurant and moments that are not planned down to the minute.

When I talk about my travels, I can't recommend Australia enough - it is just an incredible destination for a family holiday, but it really does benefit from some careful planning. There are so many ways to do it, and the best route will depend on your family, your pace, your interests and how much time you have.

If Australia is on your family travel wish list, I would love to help you plan a trip so it feels as easy as ours did.