would do again with only a few minor changes
Australian people are incredibly hospitable and fun to talk with. One story: When we disembarked our train early in the morning in Cooroy, there was no station, just a platform on a country(...)
(...) road and no taxi stand. But there was a group of guys meeting up to go kayaking. One offered to drive us free the 30 minutes to our destination ---- the attendant in a filling station was able to call a taxi; so we went that way and got 30 minutes of expert commentary on the area.
All accommodations were excellent. Locations were walking accessible to things we enjoyed. Many had washer/dryers which was helpful. In Darwin there was some confusion about the two neighboring DoubleTree hotels. We didn't know there were two; and AATKings expected to pick us up at the other. Fortunately the concierge at our hotel went way beyond the call of duty to catch us up with our tour.
In every place, we could have easily spent one more day.
Sydney - great, but traffic congestion so we abandoned hop-on-off bus because we could walk faster and the sound system was broken - museums, opera house tour were super
Free Days with friend - Bowral, Canberra, etc., highs were parliament building, Last Post ceremony
Tasmania - wonderful guides, enjoyed walking, dining with two Aussie families
Sydney again - waterfront performance of West Side Story with outstanding dance
Melbourne - another wonderful guide, we were chastised for not doing Phillips Island
Ayers Rock - all good, but the weather was mild enough that we could have done the early morning 6 mile walk around the rock, next time really need to rent a car to get to trail heads
Alice Springs - much delayed flight - on Good Friday almost everything was closed but the reptile zoo/museum which while not at the Steve Irwin Zoo level actually had many more snakes, etc. and well worth a visit
Darwin - next time will trade 3 day Kakadu tour for two days plus a day at highly recommended Litchfield - perhaps this was because we were early season and some roads were still flooded - anyway day 3 was mostly a repeat with a lot of driving - saw lots of birds and crocs and rock art
Port Douglas - the reef was great but the cruise operator didn't have a lycra suit and flippers that would really fit Sue so her snorkeling was limited; for the Daintree Rainforest, there was quite a good nature guide on our bus; so we traded the zip line experience for a guided walk which was excellent - she had a story about every bird, bug, and plant in the forest
Free Days with friends in Noosa Head - Steve Irwin Zoo more kangaroos, koalas, the aviary was the best part with close up viewing of many that we had only seen at a distance like emus and cassowaries
and kookaburras
