Australia travel ideas & suggestions

We’re planning a once in a lifetime trip for my dad (my father in law) to Australia. We are travelling from the UK.

Me and my wife have been down under three times and this will be our fourth visit.

Mum & Dad were diagnosed with cancer at the same time in October of 2016. Sadly our mum passed away from advanced ovarian cancer in May 2017.

Dad has advanced prostate cancer and is in remission which is controlled by medication. Dad’s mobility is not great. Following his radiotherapy back in May 2022, his general stamina and mobility has diminished.

We want to create the best memories with Dad and he will be totally surprised and maybe shocked when we break the news to him nearer the time.

Me and my wife are both in our early 50’s.

We are all vegetarian and do not drink alcohol. Dad and my wife follow Jainism.

We are looking for help to pull together an itinerary probably more focused on showing Dad the best of Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia taking into consideration his Health and Mobility restrictions.

We have our outbound flight booked for 23 December 2023 and we are focusing on returning to the UK towards the tail end of January 2024.

Initially our focus will be to climatise to the change in time and be ready for the NYE fireworks over the Habour.

Other ideas we have is taking dad to Phillip Island to watch the penguins.

We would welcome ideals and suggestions on where and what else we could do in Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia.

Dad will be 78 this year.

A month is ambitious to get around Australia, NZ, and any places in southeast Asia at any sort of comfortable pace. Personally (early 50s) I struggle to make choices to get around just NZ in a month.

With limited mobility and limited time in NZ, I'd try to fly into Queenstown (doing things there such as a boat trip on the TSS Earnslaw and the gondola ride), fly to Wellington and drive to Auckland trying to see along the way including (according to interest) Napier's art deco or seeing Tongariro's volcanoes, Taupo and Rotorua's geothermals, Hobbiton, maybe the Coromandel peninsula (where Driving Creek Railway is my favourite).

Suggest Singapore with a visit to Gardens by the Bay and the free Botanic Gardens that also is home to the National Orchid Garden (modest fee for the latter). The food is great and the city is readily accessible for those who are mobility challenged. I was in Singapore in December and flew from there to Brisbane, where I spent four days, my fifth visit to that city. Brisbane has two botanical gardens including one in the city center. There's also the Roma Street Parkland with its gorgeous garden and water features. It will be decorated with lights for the holidays. There are several museums and theater venues on the South Bank. You can walk there along the Brisbane River. Also take a CityCat ride on the river. I flew from Brisbane to Auckland on Air New Zealand. It's a great city to explore. Visit the beaches at Mission Bay or Takapuna. Stop by the cafe at the latter. The i-SITE office in Auckland can help arrange transportation, hotels and other bookings. It's a part of Tourism New Zealand. In the past, it helped me purchase tickets on the Northern Explorer train to Wellington and the TranzAlpine train from Christchurch to Greymouth. The latter is one of the world's most scenic rail journeys. In Wellington, visit the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. After that take the ferry from Wellington to the South Island, where there are several transportation options. I've used public transportation, including buses, and rented a car. On the South Island, suggest you take a boat tour of spectacular Milford Sound. From Queenstown, there are nonstop flights to Melbourne and/or Sydney. Stop at one or both before flying home.