KarenWoo

Hello! I am new to the Australia/Pacific forum but I am frequently on the Europe and US forum, and sometimes on the Canadian forum. My husband I are planning a trip to Australia and New Zealand for sometime during the fall of 2024 – most likely September or October. This will most likely be a 5-week trip. We are currently thinking we will divide the trip this way: 3 weeks in Australia and 2 weeks in New Zealand. We know that is not a lot of time but we don’t think we can handle a longer trip given our ages. 😊 And have to be realistic about affordability.

First, some information about ourselves. I am 73 and my husband (Ed) is 76. I have never been to Australia, and neither one of us have been to New Zealand. My husband went to school in Melbourne from age 13 – 17. This was in the 1960’s and he hasn’t been back since. So this trip will be a trip down memory lane for him to visit his old school, neighborhoods, etc. He also has 3 relatives in Melbourne he wants to visit. And he wants to visit some places outside of Melbourne that he visited so many years ago. We both also want to visit Sydney.

I have been reading my Lonely Planet Australia guidebook and some blogs on the internet. I purchased my LP New Zealand guidebook today and only thumbed through it. So I don’t really have any thoughts yet on NZ.

Tonight we were looking up airline schedules and fares, and talking about what he/we want to do in Melbourne and surrounding area, and for a moment I thought maybe we should spend all 5 weeks in Australia, but we both really want to visit NZ, too. And at our ages this will be our only trip to this part of the world. So we have a lot to visit in a short timeframe.

I should add that we live in Massachusetts so we will fly from Boston’s Logan Airport. We plugged in some dates to get ideas of schedules and fares, and looks like the most logical flight schedule will be Boston to Melbourne via SFO and then Auckland to Boston via SFO. I am nervous about the long-haul over the Pacific but we have flown to China several times so I think I can handle it albeit with a stiff and sore body! 😊

(I hope I am not being too long-winded but I think the more you know about us the better you can advise us.)

What do we like? Just about anything: cities, small towns, beautiful scenery (coastal and mountains), easy flat walks, art museums, history museums, culture and local food.

So, here is a very preliminary itinerary, and I welcome all suggestions and thoughts:

Melbourne and surrounding area- probably around 10 nights (or more?)

Visit my husband’s school and old neighborhoods and visit with relatives

Sightseeing in Melbourne – such as Hosier Lane, Victoria Market, Chinatown, Ian Potter Center, Royal Botanic Garden, St. Kilda Foreshore

The surrounding area is:

Great Ocean Road – stay over 1 night somewhere – don’t like the idea of doing a daytrip from Melbourne.

Philip Island – daytrip from Melbourne

Gold mining towns – Ballarat and Bendigo – probably spend at least 1 night (or more?) in this area

Sorrento – beach town where my husband worked

Wandiligong

Then we are thinking of driving from Melbourne to Sydney via the coastal road to visit Kosciuszko NP and drive the Grand Pacific Drive – stay overnight somewhere for 1 night (or 2?)

Sydney – 5 nights?

Blue Mountains – 1 or 2 nights?

Does this sound at all doable for 3 weeks?

Then we would fly from Sydney to Auckland.

Any suggestions for 2 weeks in New Zealand? What can we realistically see? Will start reading my NZ guidebook in the next day or two.

And one more question - does flying Premium Economy give you more leg room?

Thank you!

Karen

Melnq8

With only two weeks in NZ, I'd stick to the South Island. September/October in NZ can be quite cold (late winter/early spring in the Southern Hemisphere), and the roads can be frosty (think black ice). We've often visited NZ in September so I speak from experience when I say you'll want to be flexible, because anything can happen weatherwise.

To fit in some of the highlights without spending the entire time in the car, I suggest you make a quasi diriving loop, say starting in Christchurch and ending in Christchurch or making a one way drive by flying to Queenstown and working your way back up towards Christchurch and departing from there.

The South Island is long and skinny with a mountain range running through it, so roads are limited and it takes more time to get from Point A to Point B than you might expect.

It's nearly impossible to fit both the far south of the SI and the far north of the SI into two weeks without spending most of your time in the car, so I suggest you pick one or the other, and based on what the majority of first time visitors want to see, I suggest the south.

Your main choice will be how to get south - either via Arthur's Pass and then down the West Coast, or via Lake Tekapo and via the inland route. If making a quasi loop (more of a figure eight), it is possible to begin in Christchurch, head down the West Coast towards Queenstown and then return to Christchurch via the inland route. If only driving one way, say from Queenstown to Christchurch, you'll have to choose between the two.

The highlights of the SI for most first time visitors:

Arthur's Pass
Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers (West Coast)
Mt Cook (inland route)
Milford Sound
Queenstown

There are more of course, as the SI is brimming with beautiful scenery, but with two weeks, you'll be somewhat limited.

If you'd prefer to go north from Christchurch, the highlights up that way include:

Abel Tasman National Park
Marlborough Sounds
Nelson
Punakaiki

Planning NZ itineraries can be tricky, as most people try to cram too much into too little time, and underestimate the driving challenges - narrow, winding roads, the potential for landslips and constantly changing weather.

I have many trip reports posted here that might give you an idea of what's possible within a given time frame, actual travel time with stops (no drive in NZ is straightforward, there's always a reason to stop!) and weather challenges, etc.

Once you narrow your focus and decide what you'd most like to see, I can offer more advice and perhaps point you towards a specific trip report.

Primium Economy...depends on the airline. I can highly recommend Premium Economy on Air New Zealand. Much better than any premium economy on any American based airline I've flown. I suspect Qantas is pretty darn nice as well.

I assume you're comfortable driving on the left?

KarenWoo

Hi Melnq8,
Thank you so much for your detailed and helpful information! I really, really appreciate it. Based on your advice and what I read today in my guidebook, we will definitely spend the 2 weeks on the South Island. We will go south from Christchurch. This also means we will fly from Sydney to Christchurch, not Auckland. I am leaning more towards the quasi loop that you mention. I would love to read your trip reports. Do you have one that describes the quasi loop you mention? Your list of highlights for first time visitors is very helpful in narrowing down what to see.

Your comments about the weather in NZ in September/October make me a bit nervous. We really don't want to deal with black ice and severe weather, if we don't have to. We are flexible in our dates. We could do any one of the following timeframes. I assume these would mean we would have better weather because we would be there in the late spring instead of early spring.

Here are the 3 options:
1) Leave Boston on/around October 1. Spend the first 3 weeks of Oct in Australia. Spend the last week of October and first week of November in NZ.
2) Leave Boston on/around October 15. Spend the last 2 weeks of October & first week of November in Australia. Spend the 2nd and 3rd weeks of November in NZ.
3) Leave Boston on/around November 1. Spend the first 3 weeks of Nov in Australia. Spend the last week of November and first week of December in NZ.

We just want to make sure we are home in time to celebrate Christmas with our daughters and grandchildren. This is very important to us.

Another thought: Would March, April or May be a better time to visit NZ? We prefer autumn of 2024 because we can't go during the spring of 2024 and we are hesitant to put this trip off until spring 2025. We aren't getting any younger and we want to be in good health for this trip.

The best flight schedules that I found mean we would fly United from Boston to Melbourne, and Air New Zealand from Christchurch to Boston. We will definitely fly premium economy on Air New Zealand. Have you flown premium economy on United? If we flew premium economy both ways, the difference is about $1650. Is this worth it on United?

My husband drove in Scotland last June. He acclimated quite quickly to driving on the left. The only difficulty initially was getting used to the roundabouts. We did reserve an automatic.

Once again, thank you so much for your advice!

Melnq8

I'm about to embark on my first Premium Plus flight on United to Europe in about 10 days. I'll try to remember to come back here and let you know how it went. I've flown Economy Plus on United many times, but as you probably know, it's just a few more inches of leg room, nothing to get excited about, so I'm looking forward to trying out their new Premium Plus product. Air NZ's Premium Economy is excellent, and I'm not expecting nearly as much from United.

We used to visit the SI of NZ routinely in September - it can still be cold, but personally I like that time of year (I like cold) - fewer people, less expensive accommodation, etc. Our last visit to the SI was in May of 2018 - I loved visiting then - autumn in NZ is gorgeous. As for those frosty roads...it just means you need to avoid getting too early a start. It melts pretty fast.

It will be getting pretty warm in Australia in November, but of course how warm depends on exactly where you're going. I lived in Perth for seven years and it was plenty warm in November there, but I'm not that familiar with Sydney or Melbourne, so will leave that for the Aussie posters to comment on.

I'll look through a few of my trip reports and post the links to those that might be helpful to you - keep in mind they're a bit dated, but the basic info like driving routes won't have changed.

Melnq8

Looks like some of my older reports have been deleted. Because we tend to seek out lesser visited places, my newer ones won't be much help, but this one might give you a few ideas.

Sweet As - A Month in God’s Country - South Island, NZ

The quasi loop I'm suggesting looks something like this:

Arrive Christchurch
Drive Christchurch via Arthur's Pass to West Coast
Detour north to Punakaiki (if time allows)
Head down West coast to Hokitika, Fox Glacier, Franz Josef Glacier
Continue driving down West Coast via Haast to Wanaka
Drive Wanaka to Te Anau, base for Milford Sound
Visit Milford Sound as day trip from Te Anau
Te Anau to Queenstown
Queenstown to Lake Tekapo/Mt Cook (inland route)
Return to Christchurch for departure

How much time you spend in each place is up to you of course, but you can see how quickly those two weeks will go.

northie

Im so excited that you are coming to Melbourne.
I haven't flown premium economy of United but we fly to US and London on Qantas premium economy.You certainly get more leg room ,wider and more comfortable seats and better lay back, beter food lol . When I look at the seats and other extras on United it just doesnt seem to be anywhere near what Qantas and AirNZ offer. I hope Mel can give a better report.
weather is lovely in November -its the big spring racing carnival. Average temp 22C .a few days of rain on average.
Why Wandiligong ?
Do you realize AirNZ flies from Auckland to New York

dreamon

A couple of suggestions about your Victorian bit…

But my Fodor’s web interface is behaving a bit weirdly so will see if this reply works first

dreamon

Seems okay so to continue…

One option which my be worth investigating would be to travel from Melbourne - Bendigo - Ballarat - Great Ocean Road - ferry to Sorrento - Phillip Island - then north towards NSW. I’ve never taken the Queenscliff Sorrento ferry so you’d need to check - and also check whether can take a hire car on it. I think GOR area needs more than one night to properly enjoy it.

yestravel

Hi Karen! You got some excellent advice on NZ. I tried to think what was my fav in NZ and really I loved every day of that trip. I agree to stick with the SI for 2 weeks. We did do 2 cruises, one overnight on the Doubtful Sound which was great fun and spectacular and the other the Milford sound day trip which I believe is the more popular of the two. I would try to fly into Christchurch rather than AKL. Personally I would spend more time on the SI than in Australia.

For Australia we didn't go to many of the places you mention. Loved Melbourne and given your connection to it, 10 days is probably good. We also drove to the GOR and did an overnight I will say having driven many gorgeous ocean drives that GOR was lovely, but short of spectacular. I guess I expected more like the Amalfi Coast or even Rte 1 in the US. Also a word of advice, my husband is a slow driver, really goes the speed limit or less. He got a ticket going something like 5km over the speed. He thinks what happened is as he came off the GOR into a town with a lower speed he didn't slow down fast enough. Expensive ticket too. The Blue MOuntains are very pretty. I try to avoid 1 nighters so would do 2 nights there.

We had planned a drive from Melbourne to Sydney but as I recall when planning the trip lots of Aussies said we'd be better off flyin. We loved Tasmania, but I doubt you want to add to your trip. Here's our TR from 6 weeks in Australia.
Six Weeks Down Under

mlgb

Melnq8, I think your trip reports are still there, Perhaps Advanced Search is difficult to find on phone?

https://www.fodors.com/community/sea...archid=8931637

I recall this excellent Trip Report by indiancouple

16 days all over New Zealand

They also did one for Australia.

Melnq8

Thanks mlgb, I was using my desk top, but couldn't scroll past 2012. I see all of them now thanks to your link. I'll see if any might help Karen.

Melnq8

Karen - I've skimmed my many reports and none of them really stick to the quasi loop I mentioned as we usually travel for a month. But if you want to read a few, you'll find them on the link mlgb has so kindly posted.

KarenWoo

Melnq8, thank you so much! I will look at the link that mlgb provided, and I will also read your report that you included yesterday "A Month in God's Country". I appreciate all your help.

mlgb, thank you for providing the link!

KarenWoo

Northie, thank you for your advice and suggestions. I looked at flight schedules again, and there is a Quantas flight out of Boston via LAX to Melbourne that we will consider. I didn't initially consider it because the flight time is about 3 hours longer than if we flew UA via SFO. But based on what you and others have said, I think it makes more sense to spend the money on Premium Economy on Quantas instead of UA. Unless Melnq8 comes back with a good report about UA!

Why Wandiligong? My husband went on his first overnight school trip to Wandiligong. They stayed in a lodge at a campground and he has fond memories of this trip and wants to see it again. Not sure what we will do there but he wants to re-visit places from that part of his life.

We have decided against going in September and are now seriously considering October/November or November/early December. How would you compare October to November weather-wise? I know I am probably nitpicking! I am thinking of last 3 weeks of October for Australia and first 2 weeks of November for NZ.

KarenWoo

Thank you, dreamon! Will look into doing this combined roadtrip. Seems like it would be a more organized way to see these places and then head from there to Sydney.

KarenWoo

Hi Yestravel! thank you so much for your advice and for the link to your TR. I have skimmed through it but will read it in much more detail within a day or two. I can see it will be very helpful regarding Melbourne and Sydney, including the Blue Mountains. Will consider spending 2 nights in the Blue Mountains. And I will talk to Ed about possibly flying from Melbourne to Sydney rather than driving to save time. We plan on seeing the GOR so it's probably not necessary to drive along the coastal route to Sydney.

And we will fly from Sydney to Christchurch, not Auckland.

And I like the idea of the 2 cruises you did in NZ. Not sure if we would do both but definitely want to do one. I assume these require advance reservations?

KarenWoo

My husband and I have some things to consider, but we might add an extra week to NZ, so this would be a 6-week trip, a new thing for us! Hope we can handle it! So, I am curious. Should we spend all 3 weeks on the South Island or spend that extra week on the North Island?

yestravel

And I like the idea of the 2 cruises you did in NZ. Not sure if we would do both but definitely want to do one. I assume these require advance reservations?
You can drive yourself if you like to the Milford Sound and pick up a boat there. We did the Milford Sound drive and boat trip with a tour company which we reserved in advance. As it turned out it was fortunate we did it that way as there were bad storms. Milford Sound road was closed for quite a bit and then only tours were [size=13px]allowed[/size], no private cars. For Doubtful Sound we booked in advance.

I would spend all three weeks on the SI which you will easily fill up your days there. I liked Wellington alot but much of of the NI coastal sections reminded me of the [size=13px]Caribbean & not sure how much there was to see on the interior. To me there is no comparison between the SI & NI. Tripplanner has a great TR on NZ.[/size]

mlgb

Another quasi-loop, you could sort of follow indiancouple's report, except fly Auckland to Wellington

Auckland (depending on when your flight arrives, you could risk an onward hop to Wellington same day) 0 or 1 night
Wellington (1 or 2 nights ) I think Wellington is worth a day's visit. You can rent a car in Picton and drop it off in Christchurch.
Cook Straight Ferry to Picton, collect car and continue to Nelson
Nelson (2 nights, Abel Tasman)
Nelson to West Coast (Punakaiki, Westport are options to overnight).1 night
Fox Glacier 2 nights
Queenstown (or Wanaka) 2 nights
Te Anau (2 nights)
Twizel (1 night, Mt Cook) We stayed in Twizel most recently, rather than Tekapo or Mt Cook Village .
Christchurch 1 night

See my trip report for hotels and restaurants (last Nov/Dec)

Melnq8

Should we spend all 3 weeks on the South Island or spend that extra week on the North Island?

The south. No contest IMO and IME.