Australia: We started in Sydney before heading to New Zealand and then to Melbourne after New Zealand. Some highlights:
Sydney: Visited the Rocks area, wharf, Sydney bridge and Opera house, Royal Botanic Garden, Manly, Bondi, Tower Eye, Darling and King Street Wharf, and sites in between. Beautiful city, nice people, clean and modern. Great walking city, however, buses/ferry/tram easy to use. Uber back and forth from airport, as Taxi’s are expensive. Manly beach worth the visit, but, the hikes are long! Bar 83 is a good option to visit the tower. Take the shuttle ferry at night to see the city in the evening.
Melbourne: This was unique experience for us as we went there to house/dog site for just over 3 weeks. So, we live there more like residence than tourist. Highlights:
Recommend getting around the city via the tram. Only negative, is you can not use an American credit card to top off your Myki card, Need to find locations that support. Melbourne Museum is a typical museum, Old Melbourne Gaol was cool, city circle tram is free, Queen Victoria market is great, must do the Parade of Penguins and pay extra for good seats, Moonlight Sanctuary fun to feed/pet Kangaroo’s and Wallaby’s, Royal Botanical a great walk, National Gallery is free and good on a rainy day, must go to a AFL game at the MCG if during the season, Peninsula spa a great experience, to find wild Kangaroos go to Mt. Lofty Wanga, hike the 1000 steps in Dandenong Range, Treasury building free, hit some of the lanes and do the great ocean drive (full day, better to do in a couple of days, amazing views)!
Wines in Australia are very good. Great wineries in both the Yarra Valley and Peninsula area. Again, low producers, so, many you can only get in Australia.
Overall: Australia is a country of 25m, mostly congregated on both of the coasts. Very nice and helpful people and made our visit very enjoyable!