Of clourse, this answer depends on what time of year you are planning to come, but the answer to the cheapest way to get from Sydney to cairns and back is, very often, by air!

We have two budget airlines -- VirginBlue and Jetstar -- and most Sydneysiders travelling to Cairns would "haunt" the websites of both these airlines waiting for a sale. Sales come up quite frequently, but at irregular intervals, and they are so incredibly popular that the tickets are usually sold out within a couple of hours -- sometimes within minutes. If you are lucky, however, and you are prepared to be a little bit flexible with the dates, you can sometimes fly up and back for a few dollars.

Otherwise, you have trains and coaches -- you'd have to change in Brisbane -- or driving a rent-a-car. I really don't see the first two of these as being a reasonable option with a nine-month-old in tow, and the third option is a LOT of driving over a variety of road standards... unless you have a couple of spare weeks, it probably wouldn't be worth the effort.

As far as the flight out is concerned, the only thing I can think of to tell you is that you should make sure the airline knows you have a baby with you, and then request a seat with a soft baby-bed in front of it. This will mean that you'll be so close to the TV screen that you won't enjoy the movies much, but you won't have to take turns cradling the bub for twenty-four hours.

When you get to Sydney, relax. We know all about babies; people in shops, restaurants and on public transport will do everything they can to make life easy for you. You can buy a cut-price stroller at a department store and donate it to one of the city charities on the day you are leaving. Sydney is an easily-walkable city, and a stroller won't be much of a burden to push around, except if you want to walk across the Harbour Bridge (steps both ends).

Have a great holiday!

Hi

My brother came over with a 12month old. They were fortunate enought to be able to pay for a seat for the little one so they brought their car seat with them. The flight was really smooth for them in this way - they and the baby slept really well. They stopped over on the way in both directions as well which all made the jetlag less once they got here and really broke the trip up. I'm not sure if you have your flight booked yet but, even for myself and my partner, we found having 3 legs in the journey rather than just 2 made it much easier - it didn't make the whole journey that much longer either.

They also brought a backpack carrier rather than relying on the pram / buggy. In fact they didn't use the buggy we had for them at all as they found it much easier with the backpack.

One thing I would be very aware of is the heat, depending on what time of year you are coming. It can take it out of you as adults if you are not used to it, never mind your son.

As for top tips it would really depend on the time of year you came and the things you enjoy doing

where possible, book into apartment accommodation rather than a hotel. this way you'll have more space to move around compared to a hotel room and also full kitchen (and laundry) facilities to prepare food for the baby and yourselves. also, try to book your accommodation in the centre of town so that either one of you or both of you can go back to the apartment and have a rest with the baby in the middle of the day.

there is the temptation of trying to fit plenty during your stay here but this is difficult with a baby so plan for stays of 3-4 days(minimum) per location.

try to get your son to suck on a dummy or have a bootle during take-off and landing as this will minimise the change in air pressure on his ears.

pack many changes of clothes for him in your hand luggage (and some for yourself too!!)

oops...that should be 'bottle'.....lol.

Thank's alot for your replies, were coming to Australia in september, so i'm hoping the weather will be warm at least.

in regards to getting a good deal to flights to cairns, what would be classed as a good deal?

we've booked the infant seats on our flights, hoping that our son will be able to play on the floor or sleep if he wants to? as i think he's going to be to big for the basenets.

Jetstar and Virgin will occasionally have sales in which one-way tickets between Sydney and Cairns will go for under $100.

There are also the "crazy" sales.... Jetstar had a one-cent sale not so very long ago -- but usually when they occur their website gets hundreds of thousands of hits in the first few minutes, and everything crashes (except, one hopes, the planes!)

But it's not all that hard to get under the $100 mark, and, considering the distance, that's pretty good, I think.

Odds and ends in the baby department:

Plastic bags (for dirty clothes or diapers), including ziplocs, plenty of wipes, and more diapers than you'll ever think you'll need. First time I flew with the baby our flight got diverted.

Figure out your "side": I prefer the frontpack but we use the backpack when hiking. We packed both (the Baby Bjorn is soft and very easy to stick in luggage).

Strollers: good for hanging diaper bag and extra carry-on and walking quickly through airport with kid to catch connecting flight. Cheap umbrella stroller works wonders.

Use car seat on board? (Just had to throw in a question myself.) Depends on type. "Baby bucket" (infant car seat) worked wonders, easy to get kid on and off plane without disturbing sleep. Bring extra blanket to drape over canopy. Regular car seat: After our small two year old (22 lb) daughter's legs were squished when the seat in front of her reclined, we stopped flying with the car seat and now check it as luggage. How big is your son and which type of car seat will he use?

Yes, completely agree to stay central. We travel for hubby's work (and thanks to work, we enjoyed -- and loved -- Sydney last December) and central is crucial. Pop back into the room for some quick and instant downtime for both you and him. Worth extra money.

Try to time bottle feedings with take offs and landings to relieve ear pressure. Hard to do, but worth it if you can pull it off.

my son is already 19lbs, and can sit up by himself, but we are still using the bucket type car seat as he is only 6 and half months at the moment.

When you say take the car seat on do you mean so that he has it in his own chair or to put on the floor?

My little frequent flyer did over 20 flights in his first year and not once did we have a scene:))

My top tips on traveling with little ones are..

Get a good quality stroller before you leave as it will become your best friend... and make sure it lies back for happy sleeping, the cheap ones tend to stay in one position.. also if you have a baby sling then pack that as well as it comes in handy to confine and to take the extra weight when boarding planes and also comes in handy as a blanket/throw..

Another must to pack is a light weight porta cot (and babies favorite bedding).. the cost of these in hotels can be up to $30 a night so after 4 nights you could have brought another one, and the same bed each night helps for settled sleeping.. as for on the plane pack lots of snacks and extra powdered milk along with little toys like books and fav toys..

SB

great tips Sailbabe...