re: has anyone done Australia?

looks like Australia is having supply chain problems now. Be sure and stay on top of it as you make your plans.

Good post. I've been to Australia a few times on nature trips that spent time around Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Cairns, and Tasmania. And I traveled on my own to Darwin, Alice Springs/Uluru, Cairns, and flew up to the Iron Range almost up to New Guinea. It's a place I really love and I'm considering spending 3 months on a camper van trip there in 2028. Aussies love their camper vans and camping in general. My natural bias is against cities but Sydney and Perth are nice ones. Cairns and Darwin are much smaller and more my speed, though I prefer places even more remote.

The OP asked:

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What do you think about 3 nights Sydney-3hr flight to Cairns for 3 nights-3hr flight to Uluru for 3 nights-2 hr flight to Melbourne 3 nights? Then fly home from Melbourne. Thats 12 nights total. I could probably do 15 total…
Thanks so much again

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I'd be tempted to leave Melbourne off entirely if you are going to see Sydney. Melbourne was chilly and rainy when we were there in September which was unusual, but that's normal in July, it's pretty far south. Odds are good for poor weather. If you do go, though, be sure to make the drive down along the coast.

An alternative to Melbourne could be Darwin. A bit of a flight but it's due north of Uluru and July is the best time to go there. The monsoon is over and it's pretty warm, but not scorching hot. Nice town but it has a frontier feel and the outback is not far. Be careful of crocs there.

Cairns is nice. Two of my favorite memories are watching a duck-billed platypus for 30 minutes behind the Kingfisher Lodge. Just luck, we'd tried for one the previous day and had an awful view for 5 seconds. And seeing a Cassowary at a beach south of Cairns, those were the two animals I really wanted for that trip. Kangaroos shouldn't be a problem for you though there are many types.

"try a Morton's Bay Bug (google it...it's awesome)." - I'll second this. A friend and I each had it at a waterfront restaurant in Cairns (I think it's a specialty there so look for it when in Cairns). One of the best meals I've ever had.

For lunch look for bakeries. They are easier to find in smaller towns and are not just bakeries. They have meat pies and sandwiches and other things too. I love a good meat pie. Steak and mushroom, but also butter chicken and beef curry are favorites. And the deserts are great because the bakeries have a lot of selections freshly made. You can't go wrong with
anything topped with clotted cream, especially apple tart. Vanilla slice is a very Australian desert that is decent if not great. Also known there as "snot blocks", worth trying anyway.

My beer of choice is a pint of Victoria Bitter but Tuohy's New is a close second.

As mentioned from Cairns it's worth visiting Daintree for a nature boat ride (there will be crocs). And a boat trip or flight out to one of the barrier reef islands is a must. We did that from further south in the Brisbane area, the short flight was very cool.

You could spend a few more days in the Cairns area and do a roadtrip up to the Atherton Tablelands. It's maybe my favorite area of Australia. I guess you could do it as a long day from Cairns but it would be better to drive up and find a hotel at one of the small towns. It's got a little elevation so it's a bit cooler than Cairns, one of the greenest places in Australia with good rain, waterfalls, farms, cute towns, kangaroos and platypus (with luck). I'd certainly recommend it over Melbourne in July (any time, really).

ETA - Uluru is impressive but it's also a big tourist trap that doesn't have much of an Australian feel. When I was there it got brutally hot and they closed the hiking trails in mid morning. So a bunch of whiny tourists from all over the world were stuck in their too expensive rooms and way too expensive restaurants. You should be OK in July. The trail around the rock is good for a few hours. There is another rock outcrop to the west that is also impressive - less than an hour drive west if you can get a rental. There is a sign just past the rock area that says something like "Great Western Road Starts Here" and the pavement ends. Now you feel like you are in the outback, it's worth going to Uluru to be able to get a feel for the outback.

I did Uluru from Alice Springs and it's a pretty fair drive. The outback can be quite beautiful in places, not so much for a lot of it. Alice Springs is a somewhat depressing place. A poor aboriginal town where you have to show an ID to buy beer just to show that you aren't aboriginal. It's a lot like being near a reservation in the US. Not a lot of love between the Aboriginals and the other Australians.

You really should not try to include New Zealand on the trip. New Zealand deserves 2 weeks on it's own. Australia deserves a month or two. New Zealand is the more beautiful of the two and the people there are great. But Australia has good places too and I love the people that live in the small towns and the outback.