2.5 Weeks in Australia / NZ - Itinerary Help Needed
 

My family and I (me, my wife, 7 yr. old, & 4 yr. old) are planning a 2.5 week trip to Australia and/or NZ in Dec 13/Jan 14. We are reasonably experienced travelers and prefer renting cars to have maximum flexibility. We typically spend 2-3 nights per city rather than settle too long in one place. That being said, our recent trip experiences (with kids) have been in western and eastern europe primarily where distances between cities are a little more manageble.

When tackling these types of trips with small children, I do my best to know my limits (i.e. not pack too much in as we tend to move slower than most given the kids). We try to avoid traveling by plane domestically as it is difficult to do so with samll children after a long international haul. That being said, I am not sure I will have any choice if we want to tackle this trip.

My wife wants to see both Australia and NZ, I am concerned that may be too much to do. I am willing to try anything but do not know what would be best for our family.

We plan on flying in / out Sydney (that is only city we could get in / out of with miles).

I would appreciate any itinerary advice that would allow us to hit a few key places in Australia and / or NZ. We know we will miss more than most but will enjoy whatever we see.

Where are you coming from? When we come home from Europe the jetlag is awful so allow a few days to get over that. As you've already realised distances in Australia are huge and driving will cut into a lot of your time. Sydney-Brisbane is a minimum 10 hour drive. Sydney-Melbourne is about the same.

Your children are a great age to enjoy Taronga zoo but don't go there on a hot day, it's murder! It's a lovely view with wonderful views across the harbour to the city.

I'm sure you will get lots of help. To be honest, I don't think you have enough time to do both countries, but maybe others will help you work that out,

Just to give you somewhere to start: many people do Sydney - Melbourne - Cairns if they have limited time (the latter to see the Great Barrier Reef), and fly between the three. Also just a thought about your timing: you've picked the hottest part of the year to visit (okay, February is often hotter still), and also smack bang in the middle of school holidays. Make sure you get onto reservations sharpish because you are competing with the domestic market. Cairns may be starting to get warm at that time, ask the opinions here of people who know Cairns better than I do.
People also often try to do New Year's Eve in Sydney because of the fireworks. If you are concerned about the children, there are two sessions, one at 9:00 so the children can see the fireworks and then go to bed, and then a session at midnight for the grown-ups (only slightly better and longer than the early one, so if you go back to the hotel with the kids, you won't feel dudded). Hotel rooms at that time also book out fast, especially at the lower end, so again if that will be part of your plan, move decisively. Hope you have a great trip, it will be a lifetime of memories for the little people.

Lavandula

Hi MT,

I've dropped into your thread because I'm planning a trip to Aus and NZ in late 2013, and though it'll be our first trip, i think that I can say that to try to fit both of them into 2-3 weeks and hope to see anything meaningful would be impossible.

if that's the most time you've got, only 2 ways to do it, IMO - pick 2-3 places and fly between them as Lavendula says, or choose Aus OR NZ.

and though I've never been to that part of the world before i have travelled a lot with kids, and IME 2-3 days in each place is really pushing your luck. our most successful trips were where we spend at least a week in one place, getting familiar with an area, seeing the sights locally, and fitting in a couple of long day trips [or even an overnight] before changing our base.

with your interests, if you can stretch to 3 weeks, you could fly into Sydney, spend a few days there, then fly to the South Island, perhaps staying in Queenstown or Christchurch for a weeek, then fly to Brisbane/Cairns spending a week there before going back to Sydney to finish your trip.

Thanks for all of the great input...we are coming from the US. We have batted around the idea of connecting to a flight from Sydney to NZ immediately so we can slightly reduce (a relative term) the amount of time dealing with airports. We figured we can spend 5-6 in NZ (not sure where would be the best area to focus on). From there, possibly fly to Cairns (if that is even possible) and stay for 4-5 days. Then we might and head down to Sydney and stay for 4-5 days. We would like to be able to drive a little but I am not sure if that is possible. If you could only pick 2 cities in Australia, wouldyou pick Cairns and Sydney (I am flying into Sydney so that is probably a requirement)?

I am still just investigating options so please keep sending ideas/suggestions.

If you could only pick 2 cities in Australia, wouldyou pick Cairns and Sydney (I am flying into Sydney so that is probably a requirement)?>>

we are probably going to be picking Cairns and Brisbane - the first for the diving, the second for the cricket. We have been warned that it can get +++hot in Cairns in summer [Jan & Feb] but are hoping that when we arrive in November, it wouldn't be too hot.

I forgot to ask but does anyone have suggestions on which where in NZ to go, NI or SI?

<I forgot to ask but does anyone have suggestions on which where in NZ to go, NI or SI?>

The SI is my personal favorite, but you won't see much of it in 5-6 days.

With only 2.5 weeks and small kids in tow, I strongly recommend that you choose either Australia or NZ, not both.

Hi MTLUBIN,
I'm going to be watching your topic, because I'll have similar questions, sorry to hop in here.

We have November 14 to the 30th, need to visit a friend for a couple of days who lives 3 hours south of Sydney, and want to see the reef and Uluru. We are NOT city people, and although people will think we are horrible, we can skip Sydney. I have found a good possible fare on Air New Zealand, into Sydney from LA and then to Auckland and then home. I am amazed that it's only a 3 hour flight from Sydney to Auckland!
We don't mind hopping around, as long as we don't blow TOO much time in airports or on the road.

So, visiting the North Island for about 6-7 days will be it. Our interests are hiking, nature and fishing, hope your little kids will have a good time, and hope you get some good suggestions here.

My advice is based on traveling to Australia and New Zealand (at separate times) when our children were a bit younger than yours and then living in Australia (and re-visiting NZ a couple times) when our children we a bit older than yours. I would urge you to choose either Australia or New Zealand, but not both. With your time frame, you'd have to rush around too much if you tried to visit both countries.

First of all, it's going to be quite hot pretty much everywhere in Australia during the time you traveling. Due to that fact and due to ages of your children, I would totally skip two places that are often visited by overseas tourists--Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef. Uluru will be much too hot, especially for the children. The GBR area (Cairns, Port Douglas, etc.) will also be hot and humid and since your children are too young for snorkel tours on the Reef, I don't see much point in going there. There's plenty of other places in Australia that you could all enjoy together.

I actually think you could have an excellent driving trip from Sydney to Adelaide/Kangaroo Island with your children. There would be lots of family friendly attractions and sights in such places as Sydney, Canberra, Thredbo, Ballarat, Melbourne, along the Great Ocean Road, Naracoorte, Adelaide and Kangaroo Island. (Don't miss the chance to climb on top of a real submarine in the middle of Holbrook and check out adventure playgrounds in all of the Australian towns.) This would easily take 2.5 weeks.

If you prefer to go to New Zealand, you could also do a great driving trip as well. Note: Since NZ is further south than Australia, the weather should be a little cooler than you'll find in Australia. I'd spend a week driving around the North Island and then 1.5 weeks driving around the South Island. You could either fly between the islands or take the ferry. We loved the great scenery and found plenty to do everywhere with our kids. (Puzzling World in Wanaka was a big hit!)

The guidebooks that I found the most useful when we lived in Australia were Lonely Planet guides which were specific to each state. So, for the driving trip I recommended, you'd want to read Lonely Planet New South Wales, Lonely Planet Victoria and Lonely Planet South Australia. They will have information about small towns and "hidden gems" that you won't find in the large Lonely Planet Australia book.

Longhorn - that's very useful for me too.

we'll have about 2 1/2 weeks in NZ, so the suggestion of 1 week for NI and 1 1/2 for SI is perfect.

any suggestions as to where we might base our selves on each island? we'll be there at the end of Nov/beg of December.

[MTL - sorry to hijack your thread!]

annhig, Cairns will not be hotter than Brisbane. It will be humid more of the time but Brisbane will get just as humid some of the time and could well be hotter. Sydney and Adelaide get even hotter but usually not for long and it is then fairly dry.

Thanks, alan.

just more elements to take into account!

<although people will think we are horrible, we can skip Sydney.>

I don't think you're horrible. I don't like cities either.

I am originally from Melbourne and I have never driven in Sydney City as it is always so busy and the streets are a nightmare. So many one way streets where you have to go miles out of your way to get to your destination. My hubby is a native Sydneysider but there have been times when even he is stumped. I've driven in LA.. but I hate Sydney traffic.

Several years ago, we did a two week driving trip of NZ with one of our children - it was her college graduation present, though so not the same. Anyway, we had a great time, saw a lot, and the NZ driving distances were not bad and there were plenty of stops for sightseeing each day. So why not spend a couple days in Sydney, then do NZ? This was our itinerary. The hotels, rental cars, ferry, and train tickets were arranged by Holiday New Zealand as a package:
Day 1 - fly into Auckland, arrived very early in the AM, toured city.
2 - Picked up rental car and drove to Rotorua, stopping at Waitomo to do a blackwater rafting tour. Toured Rotorua
3 - Rotorua
4 - drive to Mt. Ruapehu via Lake Tupo and Turangi and Tonariro NP
5 - drive to Wellington via Bruce Road, Ohakune, Waioru, Bulls, Otaki
6 - return rental car. Take the ferry to the South Island. Take train from Picton to Christchurch.
7 - pick up new rental car and drive to Mt. Cook village via Geraldine, Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki
8 - drive Mt. Cook to Dunedin via Omarama, Oamaru, Blue Skin Bay
9 - drive from Dunedin to Otago Peninsula to Te Anau
10 - Drive Te Anau to Milford Sound (do the cruise) then to Queenstown
11 - Queenstown
12 - drive Queenstown to Franz Josef Glacier via Kawarau Gorge, Cromwell, Lake Wanaka, Haast
13 - drive Franz Josef to Greymouth. Turn in rental car, take the trans-alpine train to Christchurch
14 - fly back to Aukland (or in your case, Sydney)

thanks very much, fb for posting that.

I'll have a look at Holiday New Zealand.

would you recommend them? any down sides? any places you really loved/hated?

fb - I tried to google Holiday New Zealand but drew a blank.

could you post a link please?

thanks

For 2.5 weeks in Dec/Jan I would do Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart in Tasmania. It would be much easier to fly between these cities.

annhig - We did that trip in 2003 and the web address I have for "Holiday New Zealand" is no longer working, so I guess they are out of business. However, I found this company which offered a nearly identical trip: http://www.newzealand.com.au/selfdri...iday-packages/

MTLUBIN - As a resident Aussie I'll say upfront I have biases!

First, I don't think you'll get to see enough of either place if you try to do Australia and New Zealand in one short trip.

What are you interested in? Sports? Wildlife? Scenery? Beaches? Convict history?

This upsets some people but I'm not a big fan of Cairns, though the surrounds are beautiful and you can do some good trips to rainforest etc from there. If you are dead set on that part of the world I'd go to Port Douglas. Having said that it is the wet season up there so very hot and humid with lots of rain usually. You cannot swim in the ocean at that time of the year because of the poisonous jellyfish.

If you want to see the reef, fly from Sydney to Heron Island, at the very southern end of the reef, where there is less of a problem with the jellyfish. It's a fantastic eco resort type island, right on the reef (no boat trips out to get to it) and with plenty for kids to do.

It's too hot to go inland so forget the centre.

There is lots to do in Sydney and along the coast. I recently organised a visit for US friends who did the following:

Day 1 Rocks, Opera House, Botanic Gardens, NSW Art Gallery (Aboriginal art)
Day 2 Darling Harbour and aquarium
Day 3 Taronga Zoo
Day 4 Manly ferry trip
Day 5 Bridgeclimb
Day 6 City museums - MCA and City of Sydney
Day 7 Day trip Blue Mountains
Day 8 fly to Melbourne
Day 9 explore Melbourne city
Day 10 - 12 hire car and drive the Great Ocean Road
Day 13 day trip to the Dandenong mountains

If you are beach people, there is a whole coastline north and south of Sydney with beautiful beaches and plenty of holiday accommodation.

If you are in Sydney on New Year's Eve, you must not miss the fireworks.

Tasmania is another fabulous place to visit and if you want to drive around there's plenty to see and do. It's a shortish flight from either Melbourne or Sydney. You'd need a week there to do it justice. A lot of international tourists never get there, possibly because it's not on the mainland, but it has fantastic wildlife, food and convict history, not to mention gorgeous wild scenery and walking.

It's good you are thinking about this now because as others have said, it will be school holidays and you'll need to book up accommodation soon.

I just realised I said there were no boat trips to get to the reef. I meant that from the mainland you always need to take a boat trip of sometimes several hours to get out to the reef for the day, which I think is an expensive waste of time since it limits the amount of time you actually are on the reef swimming etc. But of course getting to Heron Island itself requires a boat trip or a helicopter flight from Gladstone in Queensland. However if the reef is your thing, this is a wonderful way to do it - you get up in the morning and wade out into the lagoon or take one of the snorkel/dive boats out to the edge of the reek fro some deeper water experiences.

fb - thank you for the link. it's got some great ideas for routes to take and things to see even if we do it ourselves.

thanks!

hi, I am an Aussie living near Melbourne and at the time of the year you are coming to Australia, it will be very hot & humid in Cairns and very very hot and dry at Uluru. For me, the weather would just be too unpleasant to enjoy either place.

Decide what you are coming to Australia to see or experience, think about the type of weather you and your children like to travel in, and go from there.

Austalia has many beautiful beaches other than those in far North Queensland that you may prefer at that time of year.

Just got back from a 30 day solo trip in Feb/Mar to both NZ and AU. If you land in Sydney would spend a few days there and then the bulk of your time in NZ. Au was very hot in Melbourne Sydney and Port Douglas about 90 degrees every day and I had waited till their summer was over. AU was also about 50% more expensive then NZ
Sydney:
Day 1 Manly ferry trip (kids can swim/ snorkel here too)
Day 2 Rocks, Opera House, Botanic Gardens,
Day 3 Taronga Zoo
Day 4 Darling Harbour and aquarium
Day 5 /6 Two Day trip Blue Mountains (like the Grand Canyon with rain forests)

Fly over to NZ with a focus on the South Island. Rent your car from Apex keep it the whole time and drive all the way around the island on your own to ensure flexibility and save on transalpine train cost for four people.

Everyone is right in telling you to limit your focus based on your interests.

I hate cities too and Sydney is much like New York City but attractions are great, you will not need a car if you stay as close to the Rocks/Circular Quay as possible and will be in walking distance to everything or the trains/boats that take you directly to all the places listed above
They are also right in that Port Douglas (don’t go to Cairns) is too hot in Jan and you or your kids cannot go in/near the water because of jellyfish and crocodiles. Unless you are going to dive the GBR I totally agree with the earlier comments:
The northern GBR area (Cairns, Port Douglas, etc.) will also be hot and humid and since your children are too young for snorkel tours on the Reef, no point in going there. Uluru will be way, way too hot.
NZ and AU was a great experience for me, hope you have a great trip. No matter where you are from in the Sates, after this you will be glad to be home and want to see even more of the USA.
John

Hi MTLUBIN,

I'm an aussie, but have also lived in New Zealand.

For my money, I would do the following given your limited time:

- NZ is about the South Island. Rotorua in the north might be worth a peak and is pretty child friendly, but given your time frames, I'd focus on the south.

Perhaps something like the below would be a good bet:

- Fly into Christchurch and head to bed!

- In the morning, take the Tranzalpine scenic railway to Greymouth. (half a day)

- Drive from Greymouth to either Franz Josef/ Fox Glacier. You'll arrive later that same day

Spend 2 days here - doing some mini walks, including walks around(and even on them with a guide). Try speaking to a glacier tour operator to get their opinion about the kids.

- Drive to Wanaka/Queenstown and spend a day/night poking around there.

- Get to Milford Sound.
This could be done by taking a scenic flight to from wanaka/queenstown to milford sound for a half-day trip. This is expensive, yes - but the flight was absolutely stunning, and usually includes a cruise through the sounds (a couple of hundred on its own). You might be able to swing a deal given you've got two kids in tow. It will also save you a good 7-10 hours of driving, allowing you to do more with your limited time in this part of the world. Not to mention the petrol savings!
I think the company we used was http://www.flightseeing.co.nz/ but there are other operators too. This is doable in half a day with the flights, otherwise will cost you a long long day!

- Drive from Wanaka/Queenstown through to Christchurch. Make sure you stop around Lake Tekapo for a break to visit the church of the good shepard. Amazing glacial blue lakes, and mountain vistas.

Not the most relaxing trip, but gives you a good flavour of the South Island in a very quick time (the glaciers and milford sound arguably being the premiere tourist attractions in the country). We did something similar, but without the kids and absolutely loved it.

As for Aus, I agree that Port Douglas, Uluru, the Devil's Marbles and Sydney are probably your best bets...perhaps even Kakadu if that is your type of thing. It depends what you like to see!

Good luck.

H Kesh,

thanks for the link to the milford Sound trip - it might just be our birthday and Christmas presents to ourselves!

Hi guys.I am a retired English male,lived in aussie for 15 years [all over the place],married & settled in nz to a kiwi.there is no way you will do any justice to the 2 countries in under 3 weeks.At the time you want to travel with young ones I would say aussie is out as it is usually to hot to enjoy.So if I was you I would save aussie for when the kids are a bit older & come straight to Auckland,spend a day or two to get over the travel [which can be quite tiring],visit Kelly tarltons [where you get up close to penguins from antartica],maybe visit the museum[its free] & check out the waterfront which is quite pleasant.Then in your rental,proceed to rotorua [because that's where all the tourists go & there is plenty of different things to do [the skyline for lunch is great,as well as rainbow springs & the agradome].From there you would make your way through some spectacular scenery down to wellington [where again a huge free entry museum worth visiting].Get the ferry across to the South Island,where the world is your oyster,there is just so much to do & see,that without knowing what you like to do,its pointless advising].You can drive around the Island ending up in Christchurch,where you can get an international flight out.Even your time frame would not do justice to the trip,but if the gods are with you & you get good weather,you will most probably plan a return trip to see what you missed.Having lived in England,Canada,Australia & New Zealand,I would have to say New Zealand would be the best [in my mind],purely because it has just about everything all the others have got,but in a more confined space.Sorry to be so one sided,I still like regular visits to Aussie,but only in small doses..I hope you have a wonderful trip wherever you decide to go..Happy travels

As someone who has previously lived in the Cairns area for many years, I would be very wary of going there in summer. Hot, of so hot, humid, heavy rain. The areas around are beautiful but the heat...

New Zealand sounds good at that time and is very beautiful and interesting.

Am now in Sydney which is not nearly as hot as Cairns.