Irene

Hi,<BR>We are starting to plan a trip to Australia and NZ. Don't have more than 3 weeks available. Any advise on what's better - cruise or tour? Is there any easy way to do it independently without hiring a car? <BR>Waiting for your suggestions...<BR>Thank you all

liz

Don't do a cruise as you see very little of the country that way. You can fly over here and get small cruises in the Great Barrier Reef area and do nice little harbour trips in Sydney. In NZ you can take a bus tour or two because the distances are so small and you are not packed on a bus for so many hours as you would be in Australia

Jane

I agree with last post you will see more if you do a tour rather than a cruise. You could fly into Sydney and use ferries and water system to get around. Lots to do there and then you could fly to Cairns, Ayers Rocks or other places of interest. Once you get there you can take day tours. It is probably cheaper if you buy a package with your air, hotels, and different day tours you might want to go on. When you are in New Zealand you could take a bus tour if you did not want to drive. Highlights to consider in New Zealand include Auckland, Rotorua, Waitomo Caves, Queenstown and Christchurch. It would be a lot to pack in. Maybe 11 days in Australia, 10 in New Zealand?<BR>Contact me if I can assist.

Jill

I haven't taken a cruise in the area so can't really comment on what you see but I'd think you definitely see more of a country from the ground. Both United and Air New Zealand have had some great deals for both countries that are air/hotel packages. (Quantas probably also does but I have United mileage so United and Air New Zealand are my choices since ANZ gives you United miles). Last year I went to Australia for $1599 from LA for 12 nights. This year we did NZ for $1699. In NZ we stayed an extra 4 days at our expense but weren't charged extra for changing the package. Look on the airline websites for their deals. Often, these deals are cheaper than cost of the ticket from LA. The hotels are okay - nothing swanky but I'm not traveling all the way to NZ and Australia to sit in a hotel room or eat from room service. In the places you go to, it is easy to do day tours - believe me there's lots of options there. You can get a good idea of the day tour options by searching on the web - just put in things like "Christchurch day tours" or "Blue Mountain Day Tours"

steve

Having done a cruise that included stops in Bay of Islands, Auckland, and Bay of Plenty, I agree that you only get a superficial view that way. I had a rental car at all three stops, but still only had about 6-8 hours in each area, not nearly enough, so go for a tour that gives you more time in areas.

ginny

Dont do a cruise! We recently traveled to Australia independently and if we can, anyone can! You just have to do alot of research. You can book the airfare and buy a discounted air pass to fly within cities. You then can book<BR>hotels, excursions etc. This is what we did- My husband is very cautious and likes everything planned and payed for in advance. We booked through Quantas vacations and they arranged all hotels, town car transfers, excursions, flights<BR>etc. They have discounted itineries and<BR>I added to it and changed it to suit our needs. When we arrived in austrailia, a car picked us up at each city airport and we received vouchers for all the tours, hotels etc. We did<BR>have to call the tour company etc a few days in advance to confirm. Otherwise all we had to do was show up and present the voucher. The only down side was that it may be costly if you<BR>pay for trip insurance and they charge you 3 percent if you pay by credit card. In our case, it was worth it because everything ran smoothly! I also did research and we did some tours and <BR>sightseeing that was independent. I do not work for Quantas! I just wanted to<BR>share my experience and assure that<BR>Australia is far away but it is not difficult to travel there. If we ever go back= we will do it independently.<BR>My husband was so impressed that our vacation went so smoothly. (We went to 4 different cities) I highly recommend<BR>contacting Quantas, Air New Zealand to<BR>get their brochure. You then use their<BR>brochure to research the location of hotels and excursions etc. Research on the internet and read guide books. You then book airfare and hotels. The touring can be relaxed or structured.<BR>Narrow it down to a few cities. Melbourne and Sydney- you can just wander around and book a few tours in advance or when you get there such as penguin tour,ocean road, blue mtn etc.<BR>For the great barrier reef - you have to do a little more research and decide whether you want to stay on an island, cruise or stay in cairns,port douglas etc. Each offers a different experience. Hope this helps!<BR>

Irene

Thank you all! Your opinions are very important to me as we like to plan everything in advance and to know where we are going to be and what we are going to see. We just came bach from the tour of China and although we liked the places we visited and hotels we stayed, the group size (40 people) was way too much to handle.<BR>Do you think is could be less expensive if we go with another couple and share expenses on a private tour(s)? We actually have enough miles for a round trip to Australia, but I am not sure if it would make sense to use these miles since we need to buy all other flights separately.<BR>Thank you all again. I am really enjoying reading these pages.<BR>