Fall trip to Australia and New Zealand

[Kathleen Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kathleen]

Hi All,

Sam and I are looking into going to Australia for three weeks and New Zealand for one week. Our timeline would be September or October.

We would probably not do timeshares.

We will be going with another couple. All of us are middle aged. Sam and I don't do camping,hiking or mountain climbing things. We do like landscape and people/culture related things. History is good. Highbrow artsy stuff,not so much. Farms and ranches good. Opera and ballet,not. You get the picture.

I would prefer to book tours from chosen cities over driving a rental car.

Are we better off to just pick a well rounded tour package from here or do it ourselves? We are aware of the Quantas Pass that includes flights from the US and three flights within Australia.

Thanks for your help.
Kathleen

[Sydney Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close Sydney]

Hiya Kathleen. Wow, so you and Sam are going to brave the looonng flight?

OK, first thing Phil said when I told him about you and Sam coming is "don't bother with Melbourne". We've only been here a month and aren't the people to tell you about Melbourne but Chubby is from here and should know heaps.

Sydney is lovely and there are plenty of tours that take you to the interesting places with-in a day's drive. You can do a cruise on the harbour for tea or Lunch or dinner, even opera, but since you're not into opera....By the way, the site I've given you do tours for many places all over Oz & NZ. Check it out to give you ideas.

Try checking Travelmate to get more info on things to do all over Australia. I can recommend the Blue Mountains which is quite interesting with the 3 sisters (rock formation) and the dreamtime legend linked to it. Also Uluru if you have the time and inclination.

Check out Taronga Zoo if you want to get up close and personal with some of the local wildlife. Or if you want to go into the suburbs there's a place called Featherdale Wildlife Park that's wonderful for visitors.

Are you interested in climbing the Harbour Bridge? On weekends there's The Rocks Market under the bridge at the end of George Street.

We haven't been to the Great Barrier Reef but I think Chubby has. He'll head on over soon to give you advice. You'd probably fly to Cairns for that or if you want to check out the Whitsundays, then fly to Hamilton Island or Proserpine.

Ron and Joan went to the Gold Coast and seren't too impressed so not sure if you want to give it a miss. If you want to handfeed dolphins, you can do that on Moreton Island near Brisbane, Queensland at Tangalooma Dolphin Resort.

This is just a brief post off the top of my head. Chcek out some of the sites listed in the stickies to give you some more ideas.

I'll be back with more when I have more time to do a bit of research.

[chubby Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chubby]

Hi Kathleen

To see Australia tha best way is to pick parts you want to see and fly to them as you have three stops to take and Sydney is where you most likely to fly into you could take bus tours out from there 5 or 6 days then go to Melbourne and do the same thing a must see is the Geat Ocean Road best a 2 day trip or it can be done in 1 day there are other things to see there to again 5 or 6 days in Melbourne .
The Barrier Reef of Cairnes is also a must see over here you can book cruises from the marina in Cairnes the day before you go
And then there is the Red centre to go to if you like that type of place there are lots of trips to from Alice Springs
If you look up some of the web sites that has been given at the top of the from on Australia you will get bit of an idear on what there is to see aatkings do trips out of most of the big citys most hotels have pamplets on trips in the foyour to pick trips a hire car does give you more of a pick of where to go.
New Zealand you could easy spend a week on each island where you going to there if you want any info i am only to happy to give it to you.
chubby

[Sydney Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close Sydney]

Just another thought. About a 90mins drive form Melbourne is Phillip Island where you can see Fairy Penguins everynight.

We'll be in North Island of NZ from 15th -22nd Sept. We did the South Island a few years ago. Both Islands have their charms. There's Rotorua, Lake Taupo and Bay of Islands in the North and the South has Queenstown for skiing, Milford Sound Fjordland, and glaciers. Ideally, a week in each island would work, otherwise just do a shortlist of places you particularly want to see. You can see NZ in a campervan if you're game.

[Kathleen Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kathleen]

Dear Lang and Chubby,

I knew that you both would respond,but,such speed. WOW!

Our friends are coming for breakfast Sunday. I will print out everything. Then we can make some educated choices. You've given us a terrific base to get our plans underway.

I appreciate your help. We are looking forward to this trip.

Lang, we're going to be in CA the first week of Oct. So, we're thinking of just heading out from there. It cuts a little bit off the long flight. I'm not getting any younger. I'd like to see Australia and New Zealand while I can still straighten my legs after the flight. Say "hi" to Phil and the kiddos. Are you enjoying your new home?

Many thanks.
Kathleen

[chubby Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chubby]

Hi Again

Yes the penguin parade on Phillip Island is very good but dress warm if a south wind is blowing it is very cold .
To get the best of New Zealand have the two weeks one on each island there is so much to see and both islands are so differant the campervan bit Sydney not a good idea there is so many hills over there and the motors in campervans are so small you see them doing it so hard on the hills we are going back to NZ on the 22 of May to 5 of June going around the north island and staying around the Bay of Islands for a week in TS and motel the rest we missed that part last time we was over there.

[Sydney Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close Sydney]

We did the South Island in a Maui campervan in 2000 when we only had the 2 kids. We decided it was less disruptive for us as a family. Went from Christchurch to Queenstown to Milford Town (did a cruise there) with a stop at Mt Cook, then back to Queenstown and flew back to Sydney. We really enjoyed it.

The worst part was emptying the toilet on the campervan. Not everyone's thing but it meant we could drive straight up to the Remarkables and have a nice warm cooked lunch in our campervan after a snowball fight. Would love to campervan again in the North Island. As I said, not everyone's cup of tea though.

We'll be at Club Paihia (Bay of Islands) in September then Tahiti the week after. If Phil can get a few extra days off work, we'll campervan for a few days to see Lake Taupo and Rotorua before going to Bay of Islands.

Kathleen, click on the links I provided in my first post for more info.

Yes, we're really enjoying our time in Melbourne. Will say hi to all for you.

[Kathleen Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kathleen]

Hi Chubby and Lang,

The gang of four met this morning. We're going to try for this fall with a back up of a spring trip. Our friends are in the process of buying another home which could impact our dates.

We're compiling our research with heavy weight on all of your helpful suggestions. We may include a timeshare or two so that we can eat non restaurant food for a while. Also, we realize that we probably need a bit more that a month if we are going to do any justice to New Zealand.

Many thanks.
Kathleen

[chubby Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chubby]

Hi Again

As you seem to like timeshare type of accommodation over here we have cabins in camping grounds that give you a kitchen sitting room most have two bedrooms and bathroom we use these cabins where on timeshare are not around and find them ok they are not as large as timeshare but you can do your own thing and get your own meals if that is your thing the cost of these cabins range from $70.00 to $140.00 per night for 4 people a web site is.
http://www.toptouristparks.com.au

You will find these parks in most towns even if they are not in that chain of parks motels cost about the same for 2 people per room.

[caribbeansun Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close caribbeansun]

With only a week in NZ you should pick either the North or South Island - if South fly into CHC and you can drive down to Queenstown (you can also fly there if so inclined) - you can easily spend a week in that area.

If north, most will head to Bay of Islands area.

Everything I've read suggests the South Island is the better spot though or sightseeing.

We go Nov 29-Dec 17th

[chubby Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chubby]

Yes I agree you need at least a week or 10 days on each island in NZ there is so much to see so if any one is thinking of going do so and the boat trip in between the two island even though it is very rough going when you get near the south island and going through all the islands up the channel to Picton it is out of this world both islands are so differant to each other we are going back in May and spending a week in the Bay of Island area in the North island .

[MaryH Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close MaryH]

Oh, definitely at least a week an island. I was working in AKL for 6 months and did some weekend trips in NZ and OZ and there are lots to see. If you only have limited time, I would suggest either do only Australia or Do Australia and only part of NZ.

[Kathleen Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kathleen]

Hello All,

I'm home for a few days between trips. I haven't had the laptop on the last two trips so I'm afraid I've fallen a bit behind.

We are supposed to have a discussion meeting with our traveling friends early next week. A friend,who spends the month of February in Canberra, brought me some travel info from the Sunday newspapers. We'll compile our stuff and make some decisions.

Our local library had a good number of travel videos. I've collected a bunch of tour books.

I have a couple of questions. Does some of the landscape of New Zealand look similiar to some of the Hawaiian islands?
Does some of the landscape of Australia look like the US southwest and west coast?

As always..Thanks.
Kathleen

[MaryH Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close MaryH]

NZ have very diverse scenery. Queenstown is very dramatic with the southern alps and Milford sound is very interesting. Christchurch area is more english like and North Island is different again.

If you want to see some beautiful NZ scenery, try watching the Lord of the Rings movies or the Lion, the witch and the Wardrobe.. On my way to NZ, I watched Return of the King 1 full run and a couple partial runs of the movie..

[chubby Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chubby]

Hi Again

New Zealand is just as Maryh has said there is much to see and do there both islands are so different to each other and it is different to Hawaii in lots of ways the north island is very hilly over most of it the south has a range of mountain on the west side and flatter country on the east side we liked New Zealand as much as Hawaii

Australia I can not compare it with west coast of the USA as I have not been there yet but we have mountain range that goes from the tip in the north to the bottom of Victoria near Melbourne in the south there is some flat ground near the coast and some places the range goes to the sea line as it does near Sydney and just past Melbourne where the Great Ocean Road is it is a must see part of Aus.
Over the range of mountains it goes to farm land and the more in land you go the more dryer it gets so that is the rough guide of Aus there is so much to see in both countries but do take a week on both island in NZ