Knie

Hi, new member here.
My husband and I are starting to plan a trip in Australia/New Zealand. We are in our mid 50s and live in the US, New Hampshire to be exact. We don't mind staying in the cities but we want to see wildlife and my husband would love to visit Coober Pedy. We also love to eat and appreciate fine dining.
We are planning a 2-3 week trip.
So a few questions to being with:

1: What is the best time to year to visit.
2. What is the best way to get there; which airline?
3. Since this is our first big trip, do you suggest a tour? If so is there a company you
recommend. We have looked at Tucks, any thoughts?

margo_oz

Spring and autumn are generally the best times to visit, but Australia is the same size as mainland USA, so any time is good to visit some place.
2-3 weeks doesn't really give you time to visit both countries, so distilling what you really want to see, with the help of a guidebook is a good idea.

Airlines - Qantas, United, Virgin Australia, Air New Zealand. You get what you pay for. Get on each of the airline's mailing lists to get news of any special offers.

Tours - no idea. Most people here plan to do it themselves, as it's pretty easy and you (more or less) speak the language.

Claify more what you'd really like to do then ask questions. Plenty of good help here.

Look at previous trip reports as well.

Melnq8

Pick one country.

With three weeks you could see quite a lot of NZ - I'd suggest one week on the NI and two on the SI. I've written and posted several detailed trip reports on the SI here on Fodor's - just click on my screen name and scroll through them if interested.

With three weeks you could also see a wee bit of the massive continent of Australia - I suggest you pick a maximum of three states, although you could easily spend all your time in just one.

As you're interested in Coober Pedy, you might find my South Australia trip report handy - we flew to Adelaide then drove to Coober. We spent two weeks in SA, yet barely scratched the surface.

http://www.fodors.com/community/aust...-australia.cfm

Akpeli

In terms of airlines, Qantas, United, Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand are very good

annhig

Knie,

We spent just over 2 weeks in NZ recently, and saw quite a lot of both islands, though another week would have allowed us to see even more. That is to say, in 3 weeks you can cover a lot of ground in and get a very good over-view of the country.

Whereas in Australia, 3 weeks would hardly scratch the surface, though you could see 2-3 areas quite thoroughly or get an over-view of 4 or 5.

A lot depends on the time of year you intend to travel - if you are able to travel in the NZ summer, that would be ideal, but if you want to travel in the NZ winter, unless you like skiing I would stick to Australia. N. Queensland would be lovely that time of year and you could team it with Ayres Rock and Sydney.

RoamsAround

Agree, with only 3 weeks stay in one country. We did a month long trip to NZ and while we saw/did a lot there was much we missed and would go back in a heartbeat. same with Australia - been there twice for 2 weeks at a time and still have lots more to see.

Go in late Spring or early Fall - weather is "good' and you'll miss the summer crowds. Remember, both countries are south of the equator so seasons are "reversed" from what you have in the US.

Which airline is "best" depends on which country you are visiting and which "class" ticket you purchase. It's a long flight (20 to 24 hours total travel time) so opt for "Business Class" if your budget allows.

There are plenty of great restaurants throughout NZ and Australia so you won't go hungry. Once you work out your itinerary you can focus on restaurants that fit your needs. We tell friends we "ate our way" around NZ and had some "World Class" meals.

We made all our own travel arrangements - We spent 2 to 3 days in each location, stayed in upscale lodges and B&B's, our itinerary usually had us driving no more than 3 or 4 hours to reach our "next" destination. In some instances we fly between points such as between the North & South islands of NZ, between Christchurch & Queenstown and when hoped around parts of Australia (Ayres Rock & Darwin)

Have fun planning your trip - NZ and Australia are great countries to visit..

TerryThor

There is so much to see in Australia I can't imagine losing a large part of your vacation to fly all the way to NZ and lose all that time flying, customs,etc. Qantas was a wonderful way to fly to Oz and also has this thing where you can book one way flights within Oz. We are do it yourselves types so we made all our arrangements. If you have time there are lots of resources online. Unless you go in the summer I would definitely go to Ayers Rock. Its extraordinary and not to be missed. Take netting from a sports store to protect against the flies. I thought Sydney was a good first destination to rest and get over jet lag and just enjoy the views and the waterfront. We stayed at the Holiday Inn in the Rocks district which was fun and a heritage neighborhood. If you are nature lovers you should know that in the spring there is a huge humpback whale migration with the mamas coming back with their calves. We stayed in Eden which had good boats to go out on and even saw whales from the beach. If you like to eat out I hope you are prepared for the prices in Oz. Food is expensive. We flew to Cairns to go out on the Barrier Reef and snorkel. We are in our 50s too so we liked taking a boat to the platform by Reef Magic because it was easy to get in and out of the water. There is a gorgeous lodge near Cairns called the Thala which is a natural paradise. They'll even take you on a complimentary bird watching around the property.