Melbourne

Get a stopover in SE Asian en route - Singapore/Bangkok etc.
Or get a flight up to Darwin or Queensland

Fiji etc is expensive to get to

Yes ... if flying west to east from Europe, I would look at Phuket, Kho Samui, Bali, Langkawi, etc, in SE Asia. All good for 10-14 days, and guaranteed warm water and nice weather. Alternatively you can fly Europe > Singapore, and then from there to say Cairns and visit the rainforest and Great Barrier Reef, then onto Melbourne. See JetStar for fare possibilities SE Asia to Melbourne, and also VirginBlue. The Pacific (and even the US) would make financial and logistical sense if you have a good RTW ticket price, so worth checking.

I would consider taking a stopover with the airline you are travelling with.

ie. Singapore Airlines - stopover Singapore
Emirates - stopover Dubai
JAL - Tokyo /Osaka

they usually offer good deals.

Anywhere north of the tropic of Capricorn has the perfect travelling weather. I am Australian and have travelled all around Australia and would have to say my holiday to Ningaloo Reef combined with the trip to Karinjini N.P. was the best I've had. I took two weeks to explore this area, but could easily be done in 10days. Highly recommended. Requires some camping though as they are not huge tourist destinations, but there are some caravan parks. good luck!

Generally true, but we have been in Exmouth (Ningaloo Reef) in early September and it was quite cold and really windy. August can be a bit of a gamble, other than in Darwin, the Kimberley and Broome. Cairns can be chilly in July-September as well.

Thanks to all. I have spent a lot of time in Thailand and have been to Indonesia and Malaysia so I was thinking more along the lines of the pacific islands or Aus itself. As well as that my son will travel with me so Melbourne will be our starting point. Bearing that in mind any further recommendations?

Outside of school holidays you can fly to Cairns for about $A320 return, and see the Great Barrier Reef, Rainforests and more. August in the Whitsunday Islands is good too, particularly if a sailing trip is attractive.

I lived in Cairns for 3yrs and there is an awful lot to do there from the Atherton Tablelands where you'll find Lake Barrine, Lake Eacham and Lake Tinneroo which are old volcano craters. Kuranda, Green Island, Port Douglas are other places in the Cairns area. A few hours drive south to Townsville. Even though Cairns maybe cooler at the July/August time of the year, it's still beautiful warm weather, just cooler in the mornings and evenings.

<blockquote>Quote<br><hr>it's still beautiful warm weather<hr></blockquote>I have been in Cairns twice in winter (July-August) when there was a very cool SE breeze, and the water out on the Reef was cold - people on the pontoon were shivering, and snorkelling was not pleasurable! So you cannot <i>guarantee </i>hot swimming weather in Australia in July-August, except in Darwin and you can't swim there. SE Asia will always be warm, and so will Fiji.