My wife and I will be taking our honeymoon to Australia and NZ in April/May. Having never been to either place, I would greatly appreciate any suggestions, especially concerning our tentative itinerary, which is:

Day 1 and 2: Queenstown
Day 3 and 4: Te Anau (including Milford Sound)
Day 5: either Mt Cook or Franz Josef Glacier
Day 6: either Mt Cook and then go to Christchurch, or if at Franz Josef, take Tranz Alpine to Christchurch
Day 7: fly to Sydney
Day 8 and 9: Sydney
Day 10: fly to Cairns, go to Cape Tribulation
Day 11 and 12: Cape Tribulation
Day 13: Great Barrier Reef Cruise
Day 14: Skyrail /Karunda
Day 15: Atherton Tableland
Day 16: Fly to Auckland
Day 17: Fly to US

Is this itinerary too optimistic? If anyone has accomodation suggestions that are reasonably priced, I would also appreciate that.

Thank you in advance.

Heelo Kace101,

Personally I think you're crazy to visit both countries on such a short trip. I think it would be better to visit one or the other. However, if that's what you really want to do, so be it.

Sorry, can't help you with New Zealand.

As far as Oz is concerned, I would switch the timing of your visit to the GBR. I suggest doing it on your first full day in the area. If weather doesn't permit boats to go out to sea, you can switch to a land based activity (exploring rain forest, etc.) and reschedule your trip to the GBR for another day. If you schedule the GBR near the end of your trip, you may run out of wiggle room.

I don't know which place you were planning on using as your launching point for visiting the GBR. Many visitors to Far North Queensland set out for the GBR from Cairns or Port Douglas. However, in the thread below Cairns resident Pat Woolford mentioned a good company called Rum Runner that does GBR trips out of Cape Tribulation:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34540966

As far as Days 14 & 15 are concerned, suggest you spend those 2 days on an overnight drive to and from the Undara Lava Tubes. It would accomplish your goal of visiting the Atherton Tableland and more.

Hope that helps.

I'd have to agree about trying to do both. The time differences then the 4 hour flights are more tiring than you think.

But as regarding your NZ part the itinerary is certainly do-able.

For my honeymoon I did something similar. We road tripped it from Chch (husbby loves driving) stayed in Twizel one night then four in Queenstown with a side trip to Milford. It was really relaxing and not hectic. Are you driving yourself or coach trips? I would recommend driving as you get to stop whenever you want to. BUT the roads down there are not exactly dual carriage way highways and for some of those roads there will only be a services tation every 200-300Km. So only if you are good at windy roads etc.

Even if you do both countries you'll have a ball!

L

I agree with your other respondants, we travel a lot and one thing we have often done is try to fit too much into too little time. It is ok if you intend to return, otherwise, you are wasting your opportunities. Go to one place or the other. Both countries offer splendid holiday options, but I realise that when you are travelling so far you think you will do as much as possible in one go. I'd say go with your current itinerary, but only if you intend to return, otherwise you will miss too much.

I have to go with everyone else, for that time frame give it to south Island NZ, and maybe a few days in Sydney. Or skip NZ and do Sydney and Far North Queensland. Don't know where you're staying in Sydney but you have to allow travel time to airport, waiting time at airport, the flight to Cairns is 3 hours and it's a good 2 hours by road to Cape Trib and that's if you can get an immediate connection from Cairns airport. Judy's advice about "wiggle time" for GBR is right, its unrealistic to expect right conditions for reef when you narrow the option down to only one day. Cape Tribulation is some distance from Skyrail/Kuranda - you'd be better off staying in Palm Cove or Cairns, ditto Atherton Tableland.

I agree with the sentiments above. Trying to "do" both Australia and NZ in just a little more than two weeks seems crazy to me and will give you only the most superficial of experiences in both places. You could easily spend all your time on the South Island of NZ or Northern Queensland and still not have exhausted all the possibilities.

Hi Kace,

I guess by now you've gotten the impression from the other posters that you're trying to do waaayyy too much in a short period of time!

I plan trips for honeymooners all the time, and another factor to consider (assuming that you're leaving for the honeymoon directly after the wedding); is that the stress of planning & excuting a wedding can really take its toll -- add a long flight to that and a very ambitious itinerary, and you can have a receipe for disaster! You really don't want to start out your honeymoon "hitting the ground running".

This is very common, as everyone feels they are travelling a long distance and want to see everything they can and make the most of their time. Unfortunately, it doesn't turn out that way -- it becomes a blur and isn't relaxing or fun at all. Trust me...you WILL be back - 85% of my clients return and either visit the same country again, (sometimes more than once) or if they've been to Australia they next go to New Zealand or vice versa. (what a nice way to celebrate an anniversary in the future)!

As with the other posters, I would suggest that you concentrate on either Australia OR New Zealand, not both. Which one really depends on what you two are interested in -- is it beach type activties; eco-tourism; wine tasting, animal viewing...etc? We start from there and then tailor the itinerary to what YOU like; not what you can "fit in". Remember, it's quality over quantity!

Hope this is helpful!

Regards,

Melodie
Certified Aussie, Kiwi and Tasmania Specialist