elysag

My fiance and I are trying to select a honeymoon destination for the summer of 2012. Australia and New Zealand are at the top of both our travel wish lists. We understand that July and August are during winter there but since my fiance is a teacher, the summer is the only time that he can take a long trip.

We can take approximately 3.5 weeks. Is that long enough to fit in both Australia and New Zealand? If so, can anyone help with an itinerary for that time of year?

Thanks!

stormbird

Whilst it is winter Downunder it is also a perfect time of year to visit places such as the Red Centre - Uluru, Kata Tjuta, and places in the west such as Broome, Ningaloo Reef etc.

Also North Queensland with the beautiful islands of the Great Barrier Reef offer some magnificent honeymoon destinations.

I'd be inclined to stay put in one country or the other but you'd have to decide if you would rather be warm, hot, cold, colder or coldest.

New Zealand at that time of year will just be cold - I believe - the top of the North Island could well be okay at the time of year though but not sure. I've certainly travelled there and many places in winter and I quite like to travel in cooler weather rather than hot weather.

The next thing we'd need to know is what interests you. What would you hope to see/experience?

RalphR

July and August are actually great months for that part of the world, particularly the north and outback of Australia: the Barrier Reef, Far North Queensland, the "Top End" (Darwin, Kakadu Natl Park), the Red Center (Uluru, Olgas, Kings Canyon, etc.) and the Kimberley. Even further south, around Sydney and Brisbane, winters are quite mild by North American standards and generally do not preclude outdoor activities.

As for NZ, I've twice been to the South Island in winter and loved it. For the most part we had cool and crisp weather, freezing at night, but mild during the day. Snow covered mountains everywhere. Stunning!

elysag

Thanks so much. It looks like this trip will be a top contender for us. Given that we won't be going until 2012, we should have plenty of time to come up with a manageable itinerary.

In terms of things we like to do, we love wine and definitely want to consider visiting wineries if possible. In terms of regular sight seeing, we like museums -- art mainly -- and music. We're not huge beach fans but I am sure that we will want a few days to relax somewhere nice. We are very into spas. We do want to see the Great Barrier Reef of course.

I think that this might be our only trip to Australia/New Zealand (if we decide to do both together) so we want to see all of the must see places. But we don't want to pack too much in so that we are exhausted.

AlanJG

elysag,
The art scene here on the Atherton Tablelands is vibrant with a number of small galleries and artists' workshops. There is a spa here in Yungaburra at Eden House. I suggest that you could do what many second or third time visitors to north Queensland do and base yourself here on the Tablelands for access to the coast and the hinterland or 'outback'. Have a look at www.yungaburra.com.au