Hi, I am traveling with my wife and 2 kids (18 and 13) to australia in the middle of June, we are visiting my oldest son who is a semester in Melbourne, we would like to start in Australia and finish a week in New Zealand. I am clueless on options, what do you recomend, starting 3 weeks in Australia then a week in NZ, can be extended to a total of 5 weeks. Thank you for all the help.

Australia and New Zealand both have a huge ammount that can occupy anyone travelling.
Other than visiting your son [for how long?][how long remaining?][any other particular interests?]
Do try to get in a game of www.afl.com.au while in Melbourne, night game at Telstra Dome or MCG quite a night out.

Australian winters are relatively mild affairs to northern hemisphere and June can still even see 20C daytime with cooling to about 5-10C overnight and great time of year to see northern features like Uluru, the NT and Great Barrier Reef - but it all costs a bit.

Just as three weeks in Australia will only allow you to see few areas a week in NZ is barely enough to see just one island, the north island being a bit more of the undulating green lush countryside with far greater development whereas south island is more renowned for its alpine topography, lakes and fjords.

Plenty of info on the net for both countries and you ought to do some research to focus the families interests.

I'd go for five weeks so you can spend two of them in New Zealand.

You can read my trip report (click on my name) to see how we spent 10 days on the North Island in 2004. I also have pictures at
community.webshots.com/user/ElendilPickle

Lee Ann

A lot depends on how much time you wish to spend in NZ and that tends to boil down to whether you want to visit both major islands or just either North or South.

Of course it will be early winter here though still sunny and warm in Sydney (Melbourne will be colder), and still sort of swimmable up in Queensland if you fancy a trip up to the Great Barrier Reef. It's also a fine time to visit the centre of Australia.

So .. what are your interests?

And (forgive me if I take my courage in both hands here) but have you not thought of getting a guidebook and familiarising yourself with the basics - like climate, geography, distance. It would put you in a much better position to come here and ask specific questions to help you narrow down any short list you might draw up based on that initial research. Otherwise you are relying on the whims, hobbyhorses and travel preferences of a bunch of strangers - when all's said and done (smile!!).

Loads of info on the net, of course, but you need to come up with good search arguments. You could start with each of the states, and then some of the better-known destinations:

Uluru
Great Barrier Reef
Kakadu
Tasmania
Sydney
Whitsundays
etc etc etc.

Cheers

afterall hi, I do have two books, but it seems that all if worth a visit, so I prefer firts hand tails from people who have gone before. Books tell you waht to see anyplace, by nom means is the best place to go.
thanks
Paul

It would still help us to give further insight phariton if we had a little idea of interests, budget and time frame aside from visiting son.

For instance, is the family more interested in cities, getting outback, maybe hiring a campervan and touring, national parks visits etc.

www.travelmate.com.au is a site that'll allow you to plan travelling times if looking to do some touring and www.webjet.com.au will give you an idea of flight costs between locations though if you firm up on a plan there's the possibility of specials.

But, Phariton, the point is, there is no "best place to go".

Is Kakadu "better" than Tasmania? Is Sydney "better" than the Whitsundays? It all depends on what interests YOU. Like are you city people up for shopping, museums and food; or wine buffs; or outdoor types; or wildlife freaks? Are you interested in the history, in Aboriginal culture?

You can't do it all. And two of the states don't feature in my list at all, even though I have spent some of the best times there (eg. WA).

Would love to contribute ideas, but need more info first.

On second thoughts, maybe I am assuming you want to do something a little different. Perhaps you don't. So, as itineraries are such fun ... you could consider something totally bog standard, and it goes approximately like this:

Spend 5 days in Melbourne.

Fly to Alice Springs and hire a car (families tend to do this though personally I think there is a lot to be said for taking a camping safari). Spend 5 days touring being sure to visit the West Macdonnells and the AS Desert Park as well as the famous Rock.

Fly to Cairns and do the FNQ thing - snorkel the reef; see the tropical rainforest. Spend 5 days.

Fly to Auckland (Virgin Blue offer this route). Hire Car. Visit Bay Of Islands and Rotorua. (4 days). Fly (Air New Zealand) to Queenstown. Hire a car and drive over to West Coast and up to Greymouth, stopping at one of the glaciers and over to Christchurch. Q'town to Christchurch allow 6 days.

Fly Christchurch to Sydney (Virgin Blue). Spend 4-5 days and fly home.

You would spend a lot on airfares, and it would be smart to book an open-jaw ticket into MLB and out of SYD. Else you can fly back to MLB on one of the budget carriers.

How does that sound?

Cheers.

Or you could substitute a road trip in there somewhere to get an idea of how big the landscape is and how sparsely populated some areas are. And the kids might enjoy it. Have you done any camping?

I would love to point you in the direction of the Desert Venturer travelling Alice to Cairns and taking three days but sadly it stopped running last year. Still, you could fly to Adelaide and hop on the Wayward Bus and do their Face the Outback Tour. Then spend a day in Alice and hire a car for the West Macs, and continue on to Cairns as above. You'd need an extra weeks, or a few days if you shave off time elsewhere.

http://www.waywardbus.com.au/adelaid...-springs-tour/

This is lots of fun! Hope it helps.

Marie30, your post reads very much like a sales pitch for the companies you mention. I note that you've posted twice before, each time with the apparent sole purpose of promoting Qantas Vacations. Please note that advertising is prohibited on these forums and offending posts will be deleted and the poster barred from future access.

thank ypu after all; I am looking at your suggestions, I will let you know my inclintioons, thanks for the help very usefull.