mbshrout

Will be spending 6 weeks on our trip, about 4 weeks in Australia and about 12 days in NZ South Island.
Will be arriving in Sydney Sept. 4th, driving to Blue Mountains, return to Sydney Sept 7th.
Sept. 11 fly to Cairns, spend a week there, will have a rental car.
Fly to Alice Springs Sept 18, have 2 nights in Alice then do a 3 day 2 night tour to Uluru, returning to Alice Sept 22. Spend 3 nights in Alice before flying to Melbourne Sept.25th. Will we need a car in Alice or is there other transportation/tours available? I know we want to visit the Desert Park.....looks like the Alice Wanderer bus can get us to most places?
Our plan for Melbourne is rental car and drive GOR and exploring that area before returning to Melbourne and flying to NZ. Don't have firm date yet for flight... thinking Oct.2 or 3 to Christchurch, rental car, explore the area several days, drive to Queenstown, explore that region, including Milford Sound. Would likely spend night in Te Anau going to Milford Sound and on return trip to Queenstown. Probably fly to Sydney on Oct14, flying back to the US on Oct 16.
Will want to pack as little as possible, will have washer/dryer available several places. Would like some hints about what weather to typically expect., I know Alice/Ayers Rock will probably be quite warm, and I assume NZ will still be cool/cold/damp.
Any comments, suggestions, advice appreciated.

tripplanner001

Your itinerary looks doable and should give you time in each area. I would not spend 5 nights in Alice Springs; it's too many.

Melnq8

For NZ - expect anything! - think layers - I find a water proof that fits over a fleece is ideal - and quite versatile.

For Australia - expect flies.

KayF

Melbourne weather in September could be almost anything. Might be warm with sunshine or cold and damp. Doubtful there would be snow or really hot days but Melbourne's weather is very changeable. Take layers, you will need long sleeves (jacket or jumper) in the evenings and probably during the day.

Kay

Ozian

With 3 full days in Alice Springs I would hire a car for 1 day to visit the MacDonnnell Ranges. There are numerous gorges with short walks and splendid scenery and rock wallabies at Simpsons Gap.

Alice Springs itself is quite small and I walked everywhere so am not sure how well the bus works. The Desert Park has interesting talks on bush tucker and a good bird show so check their times before visiting.

As Kay wrote, Melbourne weather could be anything but probably nothing extreme. Oct 1 is Grand Final Day in Melbourne (Aussie Rules Football) with a public holiday on the Friday. Melbourne will be extremely busy this weekend so early bookings will be necessary. The Great Ocean Rd may also be busy this weekend as non footy people escape the city.

tasmangirl

September is still winter here in New Zealand (and in Australia as well) and definitely cold in the South Island. You will need to bring some warm layering clothes, a good rain jacket would be better than a coat and hat/gloves/scarf if you feel the cold.
There are some good merino shops in Queenstown so you could buy a quality jumper there. If you are near 'The Warehouse' (big red discount store everywhere)you could buy some cheap warm clothing there as they are pretty cheap.
Australia is always warmer than NZ. Maybe not Melbourne as we went one October expecting it to be warm and it was so cold I had to buy a jumper the first day I was there.

mbshrout

Thanks Ozian for the heads up regarding Oct. 1st in Melbourne.
Should have included in my origional post that we are in our 60's, active. Like to hike, kayak, horseback riding, snorkeling but no extreem sports. We like some city things, but mostly outdoorsy pursuits. We are looking forward to the GOR area. Will a week give us enough time? We hope to get to Grampians National Park, returning to Melbourne by the inland route.
We are assuming that Cairns, Alice and Ulure will be prety warm in Sept? What about Sydney and the Blue Mtns.?
Also, hate to be ignorant of the lingo, but what is a "jumper".

tripplanner001

Jumper = sweater. Weather in Sydney should be good. Uluru is getting warm but still good.

annhig

is there some reason that you are splitting up your stay in Sydney? Why not fly from there straight to Cairns [suggest staying in Port Douglas rather than Cairns] then Alice Springs etc.. and Melbourne.

That would free up a few more days for NZ where you will benefit from all the time you can get. Then back to Sydney to finish your trip .

mbshrout

Our flight from Queenstown to Sydney on the 14th arrives around 4pm and flight back to USA leaves on the am of the 16th. Just wanted a nonflying day before another very long flight.

FromDC

We flew to Cairns in mid October (from Darwin) and immediately drove to the Daintree area which we loved. Had three nights there, then to the Tablelands for 2 days. Wish we'd had more time in the area, we completely skipped Port Douglas and Cairns (except for overnight for early morning flight the next day). Highly recommend those two areas after flying into Cairns.