starting in Thailand and ending in Austrailia

Mid December to the end of January is school holidays in Australia, so make sure your accommodation is booked well in advance. There is a budget airline , Jetstar, in Australia that flies to some countries as well.

what sort of things do you want to see in Australia?

hope this helps.

Depends upon your specific interests. After a few days to a week in Thailand you could take the train south to Kuala Lumpur, either delaying there or continuing on to Singapore. It's a comfortable, and relatively cheap, journey. Singapore would then be a gateway for a flight to Bali (perhaps), or directly on to Perth (great city), Adelaide or Sydney using one of the Asian discount airlines like Jetstar or Tiger Air (the SingAir low-cost airline).
Vietnam would be beautiful but the visa requirements require some advance planning, whereas for Indonesia there used to be a "Visa on arrival" service at the airport. I'd double check on that one, however, as it's been a few years since I was there.
You could just spend most of your time in Australia and not run out of things to do. That time of year would still be "the wet" in Darwin, and temps in the rest of the country would be quite hot (especially in Perth or Alice) but that would be your tradeoff. Adelaide is an unappreciated little gem of a city and is worth a few days. Could make your way from there to Melbourne and Sydney via the Gold Fields and part of the Outback (Broken Hill).
Good advice from glennlorrainer regarding the school holidays - advance prep would be essential...especially if you wanted to go to someplace like Uluru - which is a full day's drive from Alice Springs.

Midsummer in Australia means you should cross out the Reef (Cairns), Rock (Alice Springs) and Top End (Darwin) - too hot or too wet. With just a few weeks concentrate on Sydney, Melbourne and places in between. If you had s bit longer then choose an add on - Noosa+Byron+Brisbane, or Tasmania. As noted, mid Dec to end of Jan is peak summer holiday time so everything should be booked in advance. Make sure you are in Sydney for New Year (and with deep pockets).

The best way to travel from place to place in most of Southeast Asia is by plane. It's fast and cheap. Based only on what I've read, trains are slow (not like high-speed European/Japanese trains), can be uncomfortable and unreliable. I've always flown, both between countries and within them. So the route doesn't matter too much.

Based on my personal experiences, Singapore is the most expensive and least interesting. Hong Kong/Macau are more expensive than other places, but cheap compared to Singapore, with a lot to see and do for 3-4 days at least. Thailand is even easier on the budget. Bangkok in the center is lively with lots and lots to offer, Chiang Mai in the north offers cooler, drier climes and different experiences, and the south has beautiful tropical beaches. Vietnam and Cambodia are even cheaper with interesting sights as well.

Then there's Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines . . .

None is close to Sydney, so just pick up some guide books and see what sounds the most interesting to you. How long do you have in Asia?

Thanks guys, this helps a lot.

If I had to give dates on when I would be doing this it would be December 1st thru January 5th, give or take a few days.

I wanted to go to Asia for awhile, and since it seems so close to Australia I figured I would fit that in as well.

I've heard a lot of great things about Christmas and New Years in the summer time in the land down under, and wanted to see what it is like.

I'm still figuring things out, and don't have anything set in stone, but I do want to celebrate x-mas and New Years in the land down under.

My biggest concern is to avoid touristy things. The last thing that I want to do is something I can do in California.

from your reply its a little interesting, as the obvious thing to do in summer in Australia is to hit the beach, but you don't want to do that. hum?
having driven up the west coast of USA I must say our beaches can be 'different' ( read that as, I would not swap them)
Sometimes December can be nice and not too hot ( around Sydney etc). Sydney is definitely the place to be at New Years as the fireworks on the harbour is what Aussies are known for. So perhaps plan on spending a good few days in Sydney. ( just consider your accommodation)

Have a look at some of these suggestions
http://www.australia.com/en

hope this helps.

Just a thought, but you are planning this as an open jaw, right? ie flying into Bangkok and out of Sydney?

Spend 10 days exploring Thailand (or even Vietnam+AngkorWat). Follow with a few days in Singapore en route to Australia. Start in Melbourne for 4/5 nights, then fly to Brisbane. Make your way down the coast, spending Xmas in Byron Bay, and finishing off with a week in Sydney over New Year.

BOOK NOW for Byron/Sydney.

I want to go to the popular festivals between the 22nd and the 5th.

This is an open jaw flight.

I don't mind hitting the beach, I can always do the beach, but I want to see how Aussies do their Christmas.

I want an Aussie x-mas. If that means going to the beach than so be it.

some of the last recent xmas days ( in the sydney area - east coast NSW) have been quite mild days and a little overcast. very comfortable for eating, eating, eating and having an afternoon sleep, before preparing for more eating at Dinner.

it might come as a bit of a surprise but for a lot of Aussies a typical Xmas is spent with family having very large hot lunches eg: baked vegies and turkey etc etc. ( strange I know) and if its not a hot 'English style' lunch its a seafood feast ( Australia is known for seafood)
and generally a lot of driving around in the suburbs visiting family. so the beaches are not really busy.
Boxing day, the 26th is more of a day for hitting the beach/lake/park etc and generally chilling out with friends. watching and playing cricket .
If your in Sydney the famous Sydney to Hobart yacht race starts out of the harbour on Boxing day. get a good vantage point.

Hi mate,

If you're spending two weeks in Australia following a trip in Thailand. I recommend you visit two cities and see them throughly. Any combination of Cairns, Melbourne and Sydney would be great.

In Cairns you're right on the doorstep of the great barrier reef, you can go on crocile adventures and there's some national parks nearby.

The highlight of Sydney includes the city centre i.e. opera house, harbour bridge, The Rocks, darling harbour, and toronga zoo. Then theres the city beaches locates to the city's east. Finally you can head to the blue mountains national park, royal national park, nsw southern highlands and ku-rin-gai chase national park for an Australian bush whacking experience.

In Melbourne you can visit the city laneway, south bank, and st kilda to get a taste of the city. Hire a car though and then head to the Grampians National Park as well as the Great Ocean Road.

These are just some of the things you can do.

We visited Australia in 2013 and loved it. Not sure exactly how much time you have for this trip, but you probably have about 10 days in Australia.

I visited Thailand in 1981, Malaysia and Singapore in 2015 and Bali, Indonesia in 2013.

There is a lot to see in SE Asia, so not sure what you have planned. Most posters have already provided specific suggestions.

The one problem that we had in Bangkok in 1981 was the awful traffic. I have read that the traffic is even worse today. Also, the air pollution is about as bad as most Chinese cities, which is very bad. If you have respiratory problems, you need to be aware of that. Still, Thailand has much to see. We enjoyed Malaysia, but I expect you would like Thailand more. We loved Singapore, and suggest 2-3 days there.

As for Australia, we loved the country and its people. While in Sydney, be sure to visit the Blue Mountains. Cairns was great and you can go to the Great Barrier Reef. I understand that Melbourne is great. We visited Brisbane, nice city, but I would skip it.

I would visit Cambodia next door. I would fly to Siem Reap and visit the Angkor Wat complex with a certified Guide that speaks English. It is truly amazing. To be so close to it and skip it would be a shame. It is up there with Macchu Picchu, the Terra Cotta Soldiers in Xian China, the Great Wall.