We plan on spending about 3 weeks (Nov 11 - Dec 3) in Australia and New Zealand for our honeymoon. We are fairly adventurous and enjoy active vacations. One of our hobbies is geocaching (http://www.geocaching.com).

Below is an itinerary we are considering. We'd love to get your feedback. We are still figuring out what to see in New Zealand. We also have not determined any specific accommodations. We will probably aim for a mix of bed and breakfasts, regular (2-3 star) hotels, and a couple nights in a higher-end resort (4-star). We are also considering some stays with family friends (Sydney) and Global Freeloaders (http://www.globalfreeloaders.com) or Hospitality Club (http://www.hospitalityclub.org). Any feedback on our proposed trip is most welcome and appreciated!

(times in parentheses are estimated flight durations)

Thu-Sat November 11-13
Depart LAX (night)
Flying (19:35)
Landing in Cairns (morning)

Sun-Thu November 14-18
Full days in Cairns area
* Kuranda Skyrail
* Hot Air Balloon?
* Australian Butterfly Sanctuary
* Great Barrier Reef - snorkel and/or scuba
* Island hopping with 2 nights on an island?
* Helicopter over reef?
* Whitsundays?

Fri November 19
Cairns to Sydney (4:00)

Sat-Tue November 20-23
Full days in Sydney area
* Sydney Harbour Bridge
* Opera house
* Harbour cruise?
* Blue Mountains / Canyoning
* Hunter Valley?

Wed November 24
Sydney to Christchurch (2:55)

Thu-Sun November 25-28
Full days on S. Island
Driving and/or TranzAlpine from Christchurch to Queenstown

Mon November 29
Queenstown to Auckland (1:50)

Tues-Thu November 30- December 2
Full days on N. Island

Fri December 3
Fly to LAX (evening) (9:50)
Arrive LAX (morning)

Hello Hitsman,

You seem to have done your research well. You're doing many of the right things, such as starting in the north and working southwards, which is the best direction for that time of year, IMO.

It is music to my ears to hear that someone who will be including Cairns in their itinerary will actually fly to Cairns first.

I cannot comment on your NZ itinerary, only your Australian one.

The only entry that looks unrealistic to me is the Whitsundays tucked under the heading of Cairns. Gorgeous as the Whitsundays group of islands is, it's 700 km (435 miles) from Cairns. It's just not realistic to expect to fit it in. The Cairns area is so overflowing with things to do and places to see, just immerse yourself in it all for the few days that you're there.

Glad to see you've pencilled in a helicopter ride over the GBR. Seeing the GBR from a helicopter or small plane is indeed a magnificent experience.

A place that is not to be missed, IMO, is the tropical rainforest from the Daintree River to Cape Tribulation. The rainforest ecosystem is all the more fascinating if it is well explained. While you can do it as a self-drive exercise, this is one of those occasions on which a guided day tour really comes into its own. There are several good rainforest tour companies that operate in Far North Queensland. Actually, a comparison of the various companies is a popular topic of discussion here at Fodors. If you search for "rainforest tour," I'm sure you'll come up with many previous discussion threads.

When my husband and I go on vacation, we like to save our "splurge" accommodation till the very end. It's tough to START a vacation in a 4 star property, and then move from there to a Super 8 Motel, if you get my point.

Since you've expressed interest in B&Bs, regular Fodors poster Pat Woolford owns a B&B in Cairns that has received high praise from several Fodorites. The beauty of Pat's B&B operation, from what I've been able to tell here at Fodors, is that she not only accommodates her guests in her B&B but also arranges every imaginable FNQ tour they might want to go on, if they wish to avail themselves of her booking services.

Hey, speaking of Pat's inspirational ideas, it was from her and one of her guests that I heard about the opportunity to "Play Postie For A Day." Apparently this involves accompanying the mail to Outback communities in a small plane. I can't think of a better way to see places that few tourists get to. It sounds like a great deal of fun to me.

Oh, after all that, I nearly forgot to give you the URL of Pat's B&B, which is called Lilybank.

http://www.lilybank.com.au/

Given your preferences I would spend all your time in NZ in the south island.Do the classic loop ex chch.Do the overnight on doubtful sound.

Hi Hitsman

By the looks of your itinery I would suggest that you are trying to see too much of New Zealand in too short a time. I would suggest that you concentrate one island alone.

Whilst I live on the North Island I would suggest the South Island is more rewarding scenery wise to a traveller who has not been here before.

John in Australia suggested doing the circle tour of the South Island. Christchurch through to Milford/Doubtful Sound via Queenstown and back up the West Coast via Wanaka and then through to Christchurch.

This would give you somne great sights to see in the South Island and would take you through varied climates from mountainous in the Southern Alps to temperate rain forest and glaciers on Westland.

BTW I did a search on Geocachers and New Zealand and there appear to be quite a few people here who are into you hobby as well. A hobby that I did not know existed until I did the search, well there you go then.

Steve

Hello,

Just wanted to make a recommendation regarding the lovely Whitsundays. My husband and I took a helicopter flight with HeliReef Tours to a small private island where they dropped us off for two hours with a champagne lunch and snorkeling gear--we were all alone! It was amazing! Check out http://www.whitsundays.com.au/heli_reef/. Not sure if they still offer that package since it was six years ago.

Re: The Whitsundays, we sailed for 3 lovely days on the beautiful Solway Lass in April. A good time was had by all.
A/D

Hi Hitsman: I agree with Kiwi_acct - you have too short a time to do justice to NZ as a whole so being realistic, as the South Island of NZ is the more divergently picturesque I would go with that. Suggest you take the TranzAlpine across to Greymouth then catch a bus / hire a car to travel down to Queenstown through the Haast Pass. This is a wonderful route in which to see the magnificent forest areas, turbulent glacial rivers and glaciers. You would probably need to do this stage in 2 days. From Queenstown there are several interesting areas to explore. Do visit Milford Sound and at least have a trip if not an overnight stay on the Sound. Awesome! Don't forget to take insect repellent, though!
Travel back to Christchurch via the East Coast, if possible detouring through Dunedin for a night. If you do manage this, as you come up the coast to Christchurch it is worth stopping at Moeraki to see the boulders - fascinating.
For reasonable accommodation I use www.qualmark.co.nz and have not yet been disappointed with accommodation booked through them.
Pleased to see you are visiting Cairns -one of my favourite places for another diverse range of activities. We are heading back there in September.

i think you are getting good advice here. Your itinerary also shows that you have done some work in your planning. I have only a few comments. I did not realize you could fly directly to Cairns from LAX. If you do not have to go through someplace else like Sydney to get to Cairns it should make for a much more pleasant albeit still long journey downunder. Secondly I agree with the proposed South Island routes. I just do not think you have enough time to do the South island with three days so would recommend you drop one day from Auckland and perhaps one day from Cairns to give yourself alittle more time in the South Island. I would probably not drop both nights from Auckland as I assume you will be flying home from Auckland. Am not sure how your geocaching hobby will impact your itinerary.