air1975

Hi everyone!

I am a male in my late 20s from Chicago in the US. I am planning a trip to Australia/NZ in February 2005. Unfortunatly I have only 2 weeks, so I don't expect to be seeing all of Oz/NZ, but only parts of it.

I plan to spend 4-5 days in Sydney, and 3-4 days in Port Douglas.

For the remaining 5-6 days, I am having difficulty deciding between Tasmania or New Zealand. I am interested in hiking, driving, scenery, outdoors, and wildlife - I know that both places are good for these activities, but which would you people recommend more?


If I did go to New Zealand, I am thinking of focusing on the South Island (Milford Sound, Franz Josef, Dunedin).
Any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated! Thanks

Judy_in_Calgary

Air1975, what you're proposing is the equivalent of an Aussie flying to the Americas, going to Atlanta, hopping down to the Panama Canal and then jumping over to Portland, Oregon.

I may be shot at dawn for saying this but, given the distances involved, given your relatively short time frame, and given that The Wet will be in process in Far North Queensland, how about just going to Sydney and NZ South Island?

Carrabella

I agree with Judy - you'd spend a quarter of your holiday in airports or planes. At least NZ is on the way, and won't take as much precious time up as getting to Tassie. Leave Tassie for another day -it's worth it. Planes from the USA land in Auckland on the North Island,on the way to Australia and a connecting flight would take you to Christchurch or Queenstown in the South. Hire a car here.

A day boat trip from TeAnau to Doubtful Sound is atmospheric and exciting - like a quick trip in Alaska's Prince William Sound (without the glaciers and salmon), and less touristy than Milford. But Milford is worth even the drive there too, and the short walks along the way. Or you could trek the Milford Track (4-5 days) or the Routebourne Track and forget about the rest.

I lived in Tassie for 6 years. The climate is similar to NZ, and it has wonderful scenery, wildlife etc too, but no glaciers.

air1975

Thanks for your advice!

Regarding Port Douglas - I do understand your point about the wet season up north in February. However, I do want to see the reef quite badly. Do you think it would be preferable to see the reef via Rockhampton (I'm thinking about Heron Island)? Would it be any drier/sunnier around there?

lizF

ONE BIG NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! In answer to your question about seeing the reef via Rockhampton or Gladstone. It is not the same and it is from 2 of Australia's worst towns. You are just about as likely to get bad weather from those 2 places as you would be from further up north.

air1975

Do you mean its best NOT to go to the reef at all, if one is travelling in February?

lizF

No, just don't go from Rockhampton or Gladstone. This year has been a very, very wet one but you can never rely on the weather anyway and you could well get great weather when you are there. If it were to rain I would want to be in and around the Cairns/Port Douglas area anyway as there are other things to see.

alice13

aaah - the weather! Of course every year is different but the SMH weather page yesterday showed for Cairns: Thurs 26 sultry no rain, 27,28,29 rain forecast at/by 2100. For the same period for Townsville rain one day out of the three; for Rockhampton - no rain. You could check out the Met Bureau www.bom.gov.au - bottom line is Cairns gets more rain than Townsville which gets more rain than Rockhampton.
I mention Townsville as you might like to consider the Whitsunday islands, located south of there. Nearest town Airlie Beach - known as a place to party if you want to. A sailing trip round the islands (usually 3 days 2 nights and sleep on board) is a great thing to do. And there's a wide range of operators to choose from - all budgets and comfort levels catered for.

lizF

Alicw, there are 2 dry belts which cut through Queensland - one goes through Townsville and the other through Rockhampton but neither of those means a thing when there is either a rain/monsoon depression or cyclone off the coast.
By the way the Whitsundays are a long way from Townsville and are not in a dry belt.