Advice for 4 days in AUS & NZ
 

I will be traveling via a Oneworld RWA ticket and will have only four days total (1st week of October 03) to spend in both Australia and New Zealand (flying in from HK on this leg of the trip before returning to Houston).

Given the destinations available (that will fit my itinerary), I have the choice between; Sydney and/or Melbourne in Aus and Aukland, Wellington, and or Christchurch in NZ. I would like to experience as much as possible and fully realize that I will be running myself ragged, but given this rare opportunity, I want to maximize my experience to the fullest (probably not so much museums as outdoor sights). Any suggestions on combinations and best day trips would be very appreciated!

Srike me roan! This has to be a classic. Oz and NZ in 4 days!

Sydney 3 days, Auckland one.

Can you afford local flights?

Ppl here will jam pack an itinerary in those two places.I just hope you come out of it alive.

Thanks for the response (srike me roan?)I am hoping to avoid any local airfare costs, but would be open to any suggestions...so you suggest skipping Melbourne and dedicate all days to Sydney?

Should be "strike me roan"...just an old fashioned aussie exclamation...

I take it you know the distances involved etc and have said "damm it" I'm going for it.

I would think you will be coming off the red eye from hk and will be prepared to just go, go, go regardless of weather or jet lag.

Forget Melbourne...Sydney is it.

The south island of NZ is best but you have just not got enough time to get down there.

In any case your nz/us flight will go from auckland.

Hey John,

I am still sorting out the travel plans...I wonder if I could do 2 days in Sydney, one day in cairns, and then one day NZ? I really do not want to just hang out in Auckland for the day and was curious if there is any way to either-

a) fly into Christchurch and something adventurous in a day
b) I was reading about a short trip of Auckaland to some islands (can't remember the name)

Much obliged for any additional thoughts!

Hey John (or anyone),

I am still sorting out the travel plans...I wonder if I could do 2 days in Sydney, one day in cairns, and then one day NZ? I really do not want to just hang out in Auckland for the day and was curious if there is any way to either-

a) fly into Christchurch and something adventurous in a day
b) I was reading about a short trip of Auckland to some islands (can't remember the name)

Much obliged for any additional thoughts!

Most of your time will be spent in airports.
Presume you fly Sydney-Auckland.
You need to get to the airport = minimum 30 minutes.
You need to be at the airport 2-3 hours before flying (unless you have hand luggage only - and Qantas can be quite strict about this)
Flight = 3 hours
Collecting your luggage and getting out of the airport = 1 hour
Factor in 2 hour time difference

One World means you'll be flying qith Qantas. First flight from Sydney leaves 7am on Saturday, 8am on weekdays.
7am departure means 12.05 pm earliest possible arrival, Auckland - plus time to collect baggage and get out of airport.

Time to get to Bay of Islands = couple of hours.
Sunset = say 6pm.

You may do better to fly Sydney-Cairns, as it's at least the same time zone, and see if you can fly on to US from Cairns.

Looks too hard!

Margo,

Thanks for the feedback. I suppose I need two day for New Zealand minimum to do anything outside of the city I fly into (Christchurch or Auckland). If I spend three days total in Sydney do you think it is feasible to take one day and trek to the GBR using Qantas?

PM...you are really pushing this..and some will think we are crazy for encouraging you...but

you sound a bit younger..get yourself to the thorn tree nessage board for australia and nz at
www.lonelyplanet.com
and ask similar questions.

Here we go for my Sydney/ausralia in 3 days

day 1
arrive very early ex hk.
leave baggage at airport and travel from a backpack for next 3 days.
get train to circular quay
walk around quay to opera house
do opera house tour
walk thru botanic gardens to mrs macquaries chair
walk up to art gallery
spend 20 minutes looking at aussie impressionists and modern aboriginal works
catch explorer bus to aussie nuseum
spend twenty minutes checking their exhibit on australian fauna etc
take explorer bus on full circuit back to quay.

catch ferry to watsons bay
eat at pub,doyles or fish and chips in the park
walk around south head
catch bondi explorer to bondi walk on beach have a coffee on campbell pde
catch bondi explorer back to quay

catch ferry to taronga zoo
go to aussie marsupial exhibits at zoo
pat koala etc
ferry back to quay
eat pub food in rocks..maybe hokey aussie outback show

get to central railway and catch a train to Katoomba
collapse at your accomodation.

Day 2
Up early
walk to 3 sisters
walk to valley floor etc past 3 sisters..get the train thing up the gorge.
catch the train back to sydney
get off at strathfield
get a cab through the olympic precinct to the homebush rivercat terminal
catch the rivercat down parramatta river
get off at MIlsons point
walk around the foreshore and walk over the bridge
climb up the south east pylon
do a pub crawl back thru the rocks (hero of waterloo,pallisades,lord nelson,glenmore,mercantile)

see a show at the opera house

stay at an airport hotel.
Day 3
get the first qantus flight to brissy
catch the seair flight to Lady elliot island
snorkel dive etc on the reef
fly back to brissy check out fraser island and the whales in hervey bay.
fly brissy-sydney
pick up luggage and catch the last flight sydney - auckland.

Good luck-you will need it..
talk about Phineas Fogg

Hey John,

Thanks for the "barn-burner" schedule ( thought you might enjoy a little US slang). I am not that young (35), just a bit ambitious (crazy?) and going it solo - I also expect it may be some time before I get the chance to get to this part of the world.

Really appreciate the time you have taken to spell out the itinerary!

where r u from?
r u going at this pace RTW?
How many days..how many countries?

I always reckoned that you can do the tourist spots of any city in the world in 3 days...after that you may as well stay 6 months to get the feel of the place.

Currently living in Houston...yes this is a round the world fare that ended up being the most economical given that I need to be in London for a workshop for four days the first week of september. Then my plan is to take some vacation time (spending 2 days in Moscow, two days in Athens, and then 3 days in isttanbul is the plan after much agonizing) befor heading to Sri Lanka for two weeks - also work related.

Then, more vacation time while I take a whack at some highlights in the Far East (BK, HK) and you know the rest.

The BA round the world fare is a great deal and I plan to take full advantage of the unlimited miles (although there are restrictions on the number of stops per region). My plan is to take some sleeping pills and head into a coma on my way back to Houston.

If I may comment....

Istanbul is great....visited by accident and really liked the place.

Athens is a concrete jungle..see the acropolis and get out of there.

HK is ordinary...if you skipped it you could maybe get to the south island of nz...queenstown,sounds etc

Hmmm...I will have to give this some thought although I failed to mention day trip to Bali in the mix. If I skipped the day (actually a day and a half )to Bali & stop[in hong Kong I would most likely free up 3 full days. Certainly worth considering although I heard HK is easy to get around and might make a nice day.

Forgot one more thing...what is the cost if I decide to go for it for the local flight from Brisbane to Lady Elliot island?

If you do decide to do 1 day in Auckland, consider doing a day trip on the water.

There are various options for you to choose from ...

Swim with dolphins

Simple Harbour Cruise

Spend the day exploring one of the many islands in the Hauraki Gulf..

Waiheke Island for wineries and arts and craft

Rangitoto for hiking and great views of Auckland

Tiri Matangi bird santuary for getting in touch with nature

Check out a few websites for more options.
A good place to start is www.purenz.com

Perfect Christa...thanks for the information!

If you are desperate to do the Barrier Reef, consider taking the last flight out of Sydney for Cairns, stay in Cairns overnight, and do Quiksilver or similar, 1 day trip to the Reef, and fly back to Sydney that night. Check the Qantas website for possibilities. There's a flight SYD-CNS departing 6.45, arriving 9.50pm.
Coming back may be more difficult - last flight is around 5.40pm, and you may not be able to get back from Reef tour by then. But there is a 6am flight CNS-SYD

Further on New Zealand. There are flights for both Auckland and Christchurch from Sydney around 6.30pm, that arrive in NZ around midnight NZ time. Might be more do-able.

Thenadvjce to dump your luggage and just use hand-luggage is pretty sensible. Perhaps you can send your main luggage home after the business part of the trip and live out of a light bag - although, with such a tight schedule, laundry time is not existent.

Having just done the one-city a day thing in Europe (for a short period only), I don't think it's worthwhile. I just saw a lot of airports and trains, and had brief meetings with the friends I wanted to see. And airports, let me assure you, are not all that fascinating. The requirement to be there long before you flight leeaves, for security reasons, is understandable, but such a waste of time

Margot,

Thanks for checking in...you suggest flying into Cairns and going that route instead of doing the one day Brisbane -> Lady elliot Island-> Brisbane itinerary as the previous thread suggested (John)?

I think qantus runs
hk-cairns flights and
sg-cairns flights

If you could get on one of those you could do the reef/rainforest at cairns.

Then go cairns-sydney-auckland-