Thoughts on Australia

Sister-in-law married a guy from Melbourne and lived in Sydney for a few years so I was able to go about 5 years ago.

Sydney was just like any other big city to me. The opera house, harbor bridge, botanical gardens, and the zoo were cool. It was nice but I would only spend ~3 days there and go explore other areas like blue mountains, gold coast, barrier reef (also went there to Heron Island which was amazing), outback, etc...

Would love to visit but too many other places on my list to make that long flight. Rather go to South America 6 times than AUS.

Downtown Sydney is obviously a huge business, financial, and government center, and I found that a lot of shops, stands, and restaurants in the area catered to that schedule, which is annoying as frick when you're on vacation. My wife had a list of sites to hit (Bondi, bridge climb, the Zoo, etc.), and while it's a very pretty city that probably has a ton of cool areas outside of the CBD, I left Australia wishing I spent less time there. Saw some criticisms of their public transportation system prior to going but found it fairly convenient as a tourist because you can get out to the Blue Mountains or ride the ferry through the harbor for just a few dollars.

Melbourne was really cool, and I probably could have spent a week there just eating and drinking my way through the city. Very active city that's big into sports, so there's a lot to do from that perspective as well.

Melbourne, Sydney, and maybe one other place semi-close by is a solid trip. Obviously, Australia has many iconic sites to visit, but it's a huge, relatively sparsely populated country, so some of those things (e.g., Uluru) are a pain in the arse to get to. Would take 3 or more weeks off if you wanted to see more than that unless you absolutely love flying.

I'm torn. I want to go so I can check off all the continents, but I can't decide when to go. I feel like you have to go during their summer but I would love to get some August skiing in at Thredbo. I feel like missing out on the beaches would be too much to pull the trigger on that though.

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I've also been there in Mid/Late June, which is their winter, and it was outstanding. Could not have been more beautiful. Mobs of kangaroos, wallabies, and other wildlife just everywhere. In the summer, the only roos you see are the dead ones on the road. 

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Can I still hit the beaches and surf in August? I'm not very familiar with their weather and assumed it gets significantly colder on the coast in the winter