Best time to go to Australia
Since it’s in the southern hemisphere, Australia’s seasons are completely opposite to ours. So their long, hot summer coincides with our winter and vice versa. That said – Australian winter might not be a bad time to visit. Melbourne is the ‘coldest’ of the big tourist cities, with lows of 6/7 from May through to September and highs of 14/15. During these British summer months, however, Perth and Sydney hover in the high teens during daytime while Brisbane and Cairns stay in the low to mid-twenties. From December through to February – high summer in Australia – Melbourne sees highs of 25 while Brisbane, Cairns and even Perth can top 30 degrees. Tropical North Queensland can be rainy in summer, between January and April, and Cairns and the surrounding mountains are lush and green at this time.
For northern Australia, the peak bushfire period is during the dry season, which is generally throughout winter and spring (May onwards). In southern Australia, the bushfire season peaks in summer and autumn. However, local conditions can cause bushfires at any time, so it’s worth keeping an eye on the news.
If you’re heading to Australia to dive or snorkel, be sure to check out if there’s a migratory season for the underwater creatures you’re hoping to spot, or a closed season on the reef you’re planning on visiting. In most of Australia’s peak diving and surfing regions, the sea is over 20 or 25 degrees in the summer (December–April), although slightly cooler in Melbourne and Adelaide. In June/July/August, Cairns, Brisbane, Bondi Beach and Gold Coast still all boast delightful water temperatures around twenty degrees.
How to get to Australia
Even though it’s an incredibly long way, you can actually take direct flights to Australia from the UK. A non-stop flight from London Heathrow to Perth takes around 16–17 hours. However, when flying to Australia, many people prefer a little break in the middle. You can either have a regular layover of a few hours – taking your total travel time to anywhere from 20 to 30 hours – or book a day or two’s layover in another country you want to visit along the way.
There are literally dozens of flight options from Edinburgh to London to Bristol, taking you all over Australia. For example, Edinburgh to Melbourne usually involves a stop at Doha, while a flight from London might stop in Beijing or Kuala Lumpur. Another example: Manchester or Birmingham to Sydney both take around 23 hours and might stop in Doha or Dubai.
Getting around Australia
Once you arrive in Australia, you may have quite some ground to cover to tick off your bucket list. One of the easiest ways to get between the farthest points in the country (say, Perth and Sydney) is to fly. You have more options to get between slightly closer cities, say Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane (though they’re still not close in UK terms).
Car hire is most popular for the freedom it allows, and 4x4 hire is often recommended if you’re looking to explore the countryside or carry your surfboard – or you could hire a van for accommodation and transport in one. There are several luxurious long-distance train routes in Australia, which are a holiday in and of themselves, or those on a budget can use the regular trains or the long-distance buses and coaches. Buses are a particularly easy way to see the east coast. Of course, to get to any island, you’ll have to hop on a boat or ferry.
Within cities, using the public transport system is usually preferable to driving. Trams, metros, and buses can get you from A to B.
