Hi, Tomarkot.
You will find that most NZ accommodation places have laundry facilities - not sure what type of accommodation you are using, so would suggest you contact the places you are staying. South Island is having good warm weather at present. Again, depending where you are staying, it is hard to advise but the temperatures seem to be anything between 16 at night to 23/24 plus during the day. There are plenty of supermarkets for you to buy toiletries and food items such as bread, pastries, etc, and most places will also have a bakery, unless you are going off the beaten track.

This is a good time to travel as school will be back in as from 7 February at the latest. Boo hoo, end of my holidays!
Enjoy your travels.

tomarkot, I hope you have a great trip! I lived in Sydney for 7 years so I'll try to help.

Summer clothes will be fine for Sydney, Cairns and Fiji although Australia is having it's worst summer in 60 years apparently so I'd check the weather right before you go. I'm not sure about the South Island but it is summer there too so I'd guess that light sweaters/jackets will be sufficient.

And yes, there will be lots of places to get toiletries. I'm sure there will be laundry facilities in most towns as well, but you could try Googling the towns you will be in or send an email to your hotels.I'd also ask about bakeries and restaurants in their vicinity. Where exactly on the South Island of NZ are you going?
Normally February in Sydney is very humid and warm, so cotton and linen are great.

Where in Sydney are you staying? Perhaps I can help with bakeries/restaurants.
As far as casual clothing, certainly if you are dining out it depends on the type of restaurant, you are pretty safe with "smart casual" in most places. Everyone's idea of casual is different so it is a bit hard to advise. Sydney is a big cosmopolitan city so quite different to say, Cairns or Fiji in what most people wear. I'd not wear shorts and flip flops in Sydney except to the beach but I suppose when you are a tourist you can get away with it.

Have a great trip.

The South Island of NZ can get very cold even in summer and the wind makes it worse. You'll be at moderate altitude some of the time and on the west coast too so the wind can really whip in.

raincitygirl, "although Australia is having it's worst summer in 60 years apparently." Apparent to whom? Up here on the Atherton Tablelands we have been having a wonderful summer. Only a couple of days where the elderly and unfit headed for libraries or shopping centres just to keep cool is the middle of the day. Just enough rain to keep things green and growing. Down on the coast they have had light winds for ages and the visibility on the reef is excellent.

tomarkot -

We virtually pack the same for all our SI trips, regardless of time of year. We always include a fleece jacket, a waterproof/windproof layer, and a hat (warm hat in cold months, plus a sun hat). For February, I'd also include a pair of shorts, swimmers, sunblock and 100% DEET for those pesky sandflies.

Just think layers and you'll be fine, nothing bulky required.

Laundry facilities are easy to find in NZ. Most accommodation has something on offer - even the most basic motel usually has a small laundry room. Even tiny towns seem to have laundromats, sometimes in unlikely places, like petrol stations. NZ is well set up for travelers.

We usually fill a small ziploc with laundry detergent before leaving home and just toss it into our suitcase. Saves having to buy expensive individual packets or massive amounts at the grocery store.

Have a great trip. We'd planned to spend the entire month of February on the SI, but we had to cancel. So it goes.

Worst summer? Certainly not around Cairns - as Alan says, perfect reef weather for weeks now. Last summer was a shocker for Queensland with horrendous flooding in south of state and shortly followed by a cat 5 cyclone south of Cairns, this summer is terrific so far, but it would be normal to expect some rain in February. Its warm rain, so still wear light clothes.

Thanks to all for your helpful responses:

raincitygirl: about dress for Sydney. We're staying at the Marriott at Circular Quay. Any suggestions of moderately priced restaurants in that area? Not sure what you were suggesting about the weather this year: hotter, cooler, wetter???

pat_woolford: helpful info re:weather around Cairns (hope the warmth keeps up!)

Melnq8, AlanJG, dottyp: Excellent ideas about SI: fleece jackets, waterproof layer, hats, etc. We prep'd to layer, but weren't sure just how chilly it would get. And, if we get rain/wind, (hope not!)that makes the weather feel all the colder. Suggestion of DEET/sandflies is appreciated. Melnq8, when planning our trip to the SI, we followed some of your earlier suggestions, and were able to book, among other places, the Croft in TeAnau. Thanks, again for the help!!! So sorry about your trip cancelation, but hopefully you can resurrect your plans at another time.

A couple other practical questions:

-Is it advisable to arrange transportation from the Sydney Airport to our hotel, or are taxis readily available? We will be arriving a little "zoned out" having flown straight from the US midwest through LAX to SYD. Having someone to meet us with our name on a sign might be "comforting" at that hour. Any thoughts? Suggestions?

-While in Sydney, we'd like to take in a performance at the Opera House. In mid-February, any risk waiting until we arrive to book tickets? We've read that any seat in the Opera House is good.

From Cairns, we're renting a car and have our 3-night lodging set up in Port Douglas. From there, we'd like to do a reef trip. Any problem waiting until we arrive to book?

Fiji: Wondering whether to get a transport from the airport to our hotel, and then decide about a car rental from the hotel for a couple of days. Among other things, hope to do an "out-island" excursion. We're staying 5 nights at the Outrigger on the Lagoon. Does anyone know if there are restaurants close enough to that hotel that we can walk to?

Thanks again, so much, for all your helpful ideas!

re your Cairns reef trip: It is a good idea to leave booking until you are there. Shame you don't have time to visit the Atherton Tablelands.

In Sydney you'll be very unlucky to have to wait more than a few minutes for a taxi. Most of the time there are ones waiting.

Thanks, AlanJG. We, too, regret not having time to visit the Atherton Tablelands. We'll just have to plan a return trip to your part of the world! Too much to see and do.

Yes taxis are plentiful and would probably cost you $40 or so from the airport to the Marriott. I would not necessarily agree that all seats in the Opera House are good but , depending on the show, you should be ok. If you want to see a particular show,I would be inclined to book before you come. If you just want the experience of going to the Opera House, you could take your chances when you are here.

Well AlanJG and pat_woolford, I'm glad you are having a great summer, all of our family and friends in NSW have been complaining about the lousy summer this year and that is where I got the remark from.
My son and his friend were in Brisbane before Christmas, weather was not fantastic and are in Melbourne at the moment and having patchy weather there too.

So tomarkot it is good to know the weather in Cairns is good. The weather in Sydney has been unseasonably cool but as I said, check the weather before you go as it may improve.

You will get a taxi easily at the Sydney airport. I agree with Peteralan's ideas about the Opera House.

raincitygirl,
Sorry you have had such cold weather to keep people off the beaches. Don't worry, before the season is over it will have been too hot for people to go to the beach too.

I have never been able to understand how geographers get away with calling that area between the tropics and the polar circles the 'temperate zone'. The temperate areas are at altitude in the tropics and I've had this argument many times with people who think that because I live closer to the equator than they do it MUST be hotter. Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and even Hobart get hotter than Cairns most summers and up here on the Tablelands it is 4-6*C cooler still.

Just as well most Aussies couldn't survive outside a city otherwise we would be overrun!

Actually raincity girl, one of the reasons I left Sydney was because of unpredictable summer weather. When I was a kid, many years ago, summers in Sydney were great, lived on northern beaches and was beach weather almost every day. Something changed. Up here you know where you are weather wise, yes, the odd cyclone, but we're prepared for that.

There is this perception that FNQ (and this is fostered by the southern media), is unbearable at this time of year, and its just not true. In fact, invariably reef conditions are far better now than in our winter months, when there's usually a prevailing south easterly, but the guide books all tell tourists to come in winter. Doesn't make sense to me.

Alan and Pat, I wish I were in your neck of the woods right now,my husband and I spent our honeymoon in Cairns and on Brampton Island. What a beautiful area!
The best mangoes I ever ate came from the Atherton Tablelands, we bought a whole box!
And the best bananas ever we bought from a lady with a stand near Cairns, she was growing them organically.

I have tried to convince my son and his friend to go up to Port Douglas but they are pinching their pennies (on a gap year) and didn't want to spend the money for the flight.

My advice to tomarkot would be to spend more time up in Far NOrth Queensland or plan a trip back soon!

I actually don't live in Sydney anymore, I am looking out at a light dusting of snow (our first of the season and it will be gone by afternoon), so any beach is sounding good to me right now!
We are in Vancouver but speak regularly with friends and family in Australia and all have been complaining about the weather.
And Alan, you are right, usually at this time of year it is too hot to go to the beach unless you get down there at seven a.m.!

tomarkot: Circular Quay will be a great central spot for you to stay. Unfortunately, none of the restaurants I am familiar with there are in the moderate price range.
I think the La Renaissance Cafe Patisserie in the Rocks has nice pastries and light lunches, it is at 47 Argyle Street.
There are a lot of good Thai restaurants in Sydney, you'd be best to ask at the hotel for a good one close by. Those are usually BYO which helps keep the bill down.
If you felt like really splurging on an expensive meal the food is very good at Aria which is near your hotel.
You may find restaurant meals in general more expensive than what you are used to in the midwest.
If you like seafood, Australia has fantastic fresh seafood and it is particularly good up around Cairns/Port Douglas, maybe pat or alan can recommend some good spots for that.

Also I recommend that you eat as much fresh fruit as possible while there, it is delicious.

raincitygirl, Hope you enjoy your time in Vancouver. for a city I think it a wonderful place and the great outdoors are so close and varied.

tomarkot, Darling Harbour is not all that far to walk and has lots of eating places of a good range in prices. We enjoyed Teras Bali in Watson Bay so much that we went back for a second feed and were not disappointed. This is closer to Circular Quay, you can walk around the shoreline or over the hill.

Just to clarify - Teras Bali is in WALSH Bay, and is indeed just a short walk from Circular Quay.

http://www.terasbali.com.au/

Watsons Bay is a ferry trip away.

Thanks Bokhara. And to think I was complaining about geographers last night! Shame on me.

Thanks so much to all who have responded to us. We have been "taking notes". We may have made our post too "wide" in subjects, from AUS to NZ to Fiji. But all of you have been very helpful. For us, it's an exciting, if long, trip. With all the flight connections, etc. we're trying to get the logistical things settled, and have time to just "enjoy" the areas we visit. If anyone has any other ideas, or things we haven't considered, we'd appreciate your thoughts.

A special note of thanks to Melnq8 for help with South Island, NZ, both now and at earlier dates. Your suggestions helped us develop our itinerary on the SI, book lodging, and plan activities...playing it by ear according to weather. We hope that you can "resurrect" your trip plans for the SI in the near future. Thanks, again!

Dear Tomarkot,
I'm sure you will have a wonderful holiday, and have had great advice on this site.
However, and I'm sorry to disagree with Mel, there is just one thing - 100% DEET. I personally spent a miserable day at Mount Kinabalu, after applying 80% DEET to my face and exposed areas, and wasted precious time there trying to remove it - it burnt! I may have been oversensitive to it, of course. But as a chemist in a previous life, I've researched it a bit, and it seems there is no proof that anything over 50% works any better. So do try it on a small area at home before your trip. In any case, 100% is not available in Australia as far as I know.

If you catch the Kurraba Point ferry from Circular Quay in Sydney, get off at Kurraba Steps and climb up a little way, you'll find a delightful swinging sign. It says, good advice for any holiday..

"Enjoy the Road
The Truth is Lost to those who hurry blindly to the Journey's Close"

(There are other swinging signs there too, erected in the thirties as I remember, quoting Goethe.)I loved this place as a child, and it was still there a few years ago. It's a very short trip from the Quay.

I remember another sign said.. "Earth's crambed with Heaven
But only he who sees takes off his shoes"
That's a bit more cryptic!

Oh, ouch Carrabella, that must have been miserable. I've never had a problem with DEET, although I limit insect repellant in general as I hate the way it feels on my skin.

DEET is widely sold in the US in assorted concentrations. I find the wipes handy, as they easily fit into a backpack while hiking and are easy to apply.

tomarkot -

Glad to help. I hope the planning pays off and that you have a fantastic trip.

Melnq8, since you know the South Island so well, we'd appreciate your input into this possible "Plan B" question. If we should encounter yucky weather (we hope not!) around Te Anau/Queenstown, or find that the same is predicted for Mt. Cook, do you think a change of itinerary routing us from Te Anau to Dunedin is worth it? We have flexibility with one night. Our plans now are to spend another night in Queenstown following our two nights in Te Anau, en route to Mt. Cook, with an overnight in Lake Tekapo. From there, we're returning to Christchurch, via your suggested Rt. 72. The change would be going from Te Anau to Dundedin for one night, and then. . .would it be too far to pick up Lake Tekapo for our last night before Christchurch? Or do you have any suggestion for Plan B activities in case of inclement weather? We'll be in this area at the end of February.
Thanks for any ideas!

tomarkot -

Well...I'm of two minds on this one. Considering it's just over a four hour drive from Te Anau to Dunedin and a near 4.5 hour drive from Dunedin back to Tekapo, I personally wouldn't do it for just one night.

Granted, there's plenty to see and do in Dunedin (as Diamantina's informative posts clearly indicate), but for this you'd need more time.

However, I absolutely would consider driving from Te Anau to the Catlins, spending a night somewhere in the Catlins (Fortrose, Owaka, etc) and then heading back up to Tekapo.

My only hesitation with making this suggestion is that I'm not sure whether to recommend the route via SH8 from Milton to Alexandra or suggest a secondary road (in terms of scenery). There's also a time component, as the drive from Te Anau to Owaka (an arbitrary choice as NZ distance calculators don't list smaller towns) is about 3:45, but the drive from Owaka to Tekapo is closer to six hours, so this is actually a longer drive.

My thinking is that you'd need time to explore the city of Dunedin, whereas you could get a nice scenic taste of the windswept Catlin coastline and do a bit of exploring on both drive days, to and from Te Anau/Tekapo.

Clear as mud, huh?

Melnq8, thanks for your input. It does seems like a toss-up of choices. . .just hoping that the weather is decent so that we don't have to follow a Plan B.

Another question: Do you know if there are any wineries in between Queenstown and/or Te Anau and Tekapo? That might be another thing to have in our back pockets.

Our latest anxiety: the rain/floods in Fiji. We're scheduled to spend 5 days there when we leave NZ, en route home to the US. Flooded out roads and resorts aren't exactly what we had in mind when planning this R & R stop. So we're juggling the planning of activities in NZ as well as this situation in Fiji.

Thanks again, Melnq8.

Yeah, I read your thread about Fiji, unfortunate timing for you and a huge mess for the residents. As Fiji is your last stop on a long trip, hopefully the situation will improve between now and then. Fingers crossed it all works out - I know how much planning you've done.

No shortage of wineries between Queenstown and Tekapo. Northburn Station is right off of SH8 near Lake Dunstan. Bannockburn and Cromwell have some excellent wineries and you'll drive right through there on SH 8 from Queenstown to Tekapo.

I can't think of any wineries between Queenstown and Te Anau, but there are so many in and around QT, that you can certainly fit in a few before driving to Te Anau.

Wine trail map here:

http://www.otagowine.com/otagowine/winetrailmap.html

Thanks, Melnq8, for the link to the wine trail map, as well as all the other helpful information you've provided. Having a resource such as yourself was invaluable for our South Island planning. No matter what happens, weatherwise or otherwise, we always seem to have a good time on vacation. But it helps to have some alternatives in mind. We'll give you a report when we return in mid-March.

Just a note regarding the Fiji situation: We tried to change our flight itinerary, and delete that part of our trip. It was intended as an R & R stop on our return to the US. But perhaps because we're using FF miles, we can't find any half-convenient way around it. So we'll just "go with the flow" and possibly make it a learning experience rather than R & R. We do feel sorry for the Fijian people, and their economy probably needs the tourism.

I'll look forward to that report tomarkot. Have a wonderful trip!

Hi Tomarkot,

You asked about breakfast places around the Circular Quay Marriott. As raincitygirl said, there are lots of cafes around Circular Quay, but none are inexpensive.

However, if you're prepared to do without the harbour view for breakfast, duck into one of the shopping centre food courts around your hotel. There's one pretty much across the street, off Circular Quay and another just up the road in Pitt Street, under Australia Square. There you'll find a selection of different eateries. You buy what you want and eat it at one of the tables they all share. There'll be everything from muffins to muesli to more exotic offerings. Juice, tea, coffee etc as well.

And while you're in Sydney, do go for at least one yum cha (you might know it as dim sum) breakfast/brunch/lunch. There are places serving yum cha throughout the city, and every Sydneysider you ask will have a different best yum cha restaurant. In Chinatown the Marigold or East Ocean are traditional yum cha favourites, Palace, in the Piccadilly Tower in Castlereagh St in the city is a newer yum cha hangout and, for something a little different, you could try Bodhi, in Cook and Phillip Park (by the Cathedral) which is both vegan and outside. We go there whenever my vegetarian daughter is in town and it's excellent.

As far as Opera House tickets go, there's no economic reason for waiting to book tickets, as there's no price advantage in booking on the day. Unless, that is, you're prepared to run a bit of a risk and go for standing room tickets - the risk being that you may really have to stand if the performance is fully sold. And there are a few other seats released on the day at a lower price - but it's their normal price, they're often reduced view seats and they're not bookable in advance. Some of them are still pretty good though. If you're interested in these have a look at http://www.sydneycloseup.com/discount-concert-tickets.html#sydney_opera_house_tickets for description and directions.

It sounds as though you have an excellent holiday planned. Have a great trip!

SydneyCloseup, thanks for your information. Regarding the Opera. . .we weren't thinking that we'd be able to purchase less expensive tickets. . .just that we like to remain flexible and weren't sure what we'll end of doing day by day in Sydney. But your suggestion of possible "standing room" tickets has us re-thinking things and just choosing a night for the Opera and working around it.

Since your name indicates that you live in/around Sydney, one other question we have: Is a day-trip to the Blue Mountains worth it? We have 5 days in Sydney, including the first day of "jet lag". Someone told us that if we've been to the mts. of the western US, which we have a number of times, that we shouldn't take a day from Sydney to see the Blue Mountains. What is your opinion? Is there something unique about them? We appreciate your thoughts.

Although I love going there, I wouldn't take a day out of only 5 to go to the Blue Mountains. Unless you're particularly interested in steam trains (the zig zag railway), bushwalking (lots) or you really can't stand the Sydney heat and humidity (people traditionally went to the Blue Mountains to escape the Sydney summer).

I'd be more inclined to spend a whole day exploring the harbour, its islands and surrounds. Buy a day pass that covers all public trains, buses and ferries - even better: weekly city passes http://www.sydneycloseup.com/city-passes.html which will cover all your public transport without your having to work out what the right fare is each time.

Regarding the opera - there are three current productions showing: Mozart's The Magic Flute, his Marriage of Figaro and Puccini's Turandot (it's the summer season). The Magic Flute production was originally staged by the Met in NY. It is sung in English and very large puppets play a big role. When I went there were lots of families with children in the audience and they all seemed to be engrossed. So it could be a good choice. We enjoyed it. I haven't seen the other two yet. I'm also noticing plenty of seats available for most things at the Opera House - the economic downturn again.

Thanks so much, SydneyCloseup. That helps us with the decision to spend our time enjoying the attractions around Sydney. We like the idea of that weekly pass for transportation. And thanks for the info on the current productions at the Opera House. We've never seen "The Marriage of Figaro" so we'll probably go for that.

We've read that the Sydney airport will have plenty of taxis waiting to take us into the city, so no need to pre-book a transport. Would that be your assessment?

Thanks, again, for all of your helpful info.

Every day has a couple of short periods where lots of planes come in at once. One of those is the pre 7am slot. But even then the wait is quite short. At other times there are taxis to burn. So no, I wouldn't pre-book.

If you're planning to get a weekly public transport pass anyway, you could get that immediately at the station under the airport, pay a small add-on fee for the airport gateway ticket (which will be valid for your return as well, once you have a weekly pass) and take the train right from the start. It will take you directly to Circular Quay, no change of train required.

The train runs every 10 minutes or so, and it will take about 15 minutes to get you into the city. So, if there's a queue for the taxis just carry on down to the train. It's very convenient. Taxis will take at least that time, considerably more during morning peak hour traffic. It can get bad around the airport. That link I gave you in the last mail has the details on the airport link.

I guess I'd go for taxis for convenience provided it's not peak hour and there's not much of a queue. Otherwise I'd just take the train. The Marriott is less than 5 minutes walk from Circular Quay station.

The one thing you would need to do in advance, if you decide to go with the train option, is to decide how far afield you wanted to go with your weekly ticket so you know which one to ask for. I'd probably take the MyMulti 3 which would take you west as far as the Blue Mountains (if you change your mind), north as far as Newcastle and the Hunter Valley and to the Southern Highlands, Wollongong and Kiama in the south. That covers a lot of territory. You can pay by credit card as well, if you haven't organised much Australian cash that soon into your holiday.