Australia/New Zealand
 

Help! My husband and I are arrive in Sydney on the Nov 24 and fly back on Dec 13 from Aukland. Our first week is split between Sydney and Melbourne and then we're very open with the 2 weeks in New Zealand. We don't have ONE hotel reservation and time has just been flying by. Can anyone help?

It's our honeymoon and we're both mid-30s, love the outdoors, want a small amount of time exploring the city life and overall, we're looking to escape our busy lives for 3 weeks!

Are we really late for booking hotels? Based on some of the comments, I think so. Any suggestions on where to stay, where to explore, how to get around from Sydney to Melbourne and then New Zealand!

Thanks in advance!

A place I would loved to stayed at for my honeymoon is Tumbling Waters Retreat south of Sydney. I keep begging my husband for a romantic interlude there but he is against spending a huge amount of money to stay just down the road!

It is by National park and beaches and not much else. It is near the train line to Sydney but is not in Sydney. Maybe 1.5 hours from downtown. It is I reckon a great spot to escape with an option still to be able to go to either the City of Wollongong or Sydney!

There is a drop dead gorgeous walking trail alnong the coastal cliffs in the park and fun to watch the hangliders soar from the hilltops over the ocean.

Mind you I do not know if they have a vacany but uou may wish to make enquiry. priced a bit high but I am not sure of your budget.

Also we have websites that offer discounted rates for accomodation. Todays paper said vibes has a special for November only

www.vibehotels.com.au

also last munite reservation sites, cheaper the later you are booking !

www.flightcentre.com.au (click on hotel tab, no airfare purchase required)

www.quickbeds.com

www.needitnow.com.au

You will find accomodation. Good luck for your wedding and congratualtions.

Sorry did not give link for tumbling waters.

www.tumblingwatersretreat.com

Also www.wotif.com for last-minute Australian reservations. That's last-minute in the sense of the next two weeks. With two weeks' notice I would think you should be pretty right, but someone closer to the scene may correct me on that.

BTW, if you're searching the Net, it's spelt "Auckland", with a "c". (The city was named after the British naval commander Lord Auckland, not the Great Auk, an extinct bird.)

As you have only a week to cover both Sydney and Melbourne, fly between them. Check for spot-special air fares on the websites of Qantas, Virgin Blue and JetStar and be prepared to buy online at the time, as they sell out quickly. I'm not current on the MEL-AKL fare situation - check Air New Zealand and Qantas (and am I right in thinking that Virgin also now flies Oz-NZ?)

Within NZ, if you have 2 weeks you can rent a car and make your way to Wellington, then to the South Island by ferry, then pick up another car, ensuring you get as far south as Milford Sound. NZ is an excellent destination for outdoorsy types. I found beer gardens, with an occasional excursion to a winery, particularly good ways of getting back to nature. More sporty types may wish to mix this with white-water rafting or something else designed to build up a thirst for Monteith's black ale.

Searches of this forum will give you a lot of ideas about what to do in both countries. Also check the national tourism websites (sorry, can't remember them offhand, but a web search will turn them up).

Thanks for the input. We're trying to pull information together and the biggest problem seems to be information overload (or too many possibilities), causing lack of decisions. We're actually thinking we should supplement the 3 weeks with a couple of tours.

Does anyone have any suggestions on a 1, 2 or 3 day tour for Sydney or Auckland?

ally: Not so sure flying between Sydney and Melbourne is the best option. Depends on your interests. Do you like cities or are you more interested in seeing some of the Australian bush and natural scenery? If it is the latter, and other commitments do not interfere, I'd suggest driving the coast to Melbourne over 3 nights. Some lovely places, like Jervis Bay and Wilson's Promontory, just to name a couple. You can most likely find a fabulous beach somewhere and have it all to yourself.

Ralph, if ally01 had more time I'd agree with your suggestion, but a week to "do" both Sydney and Melbourne, minus a 3-day drive, strikes me as being pretty rushed, even for people who aren't much into cities. But at least you've tossed in the option.

Neil: With just a week, one has to make choices. In this case, I'd say "do" Sydney (3 nights), drive to Melbourne (3 nights), stay in Melbourne (1 night), and fly from there. Doesn't seem too rushed to me, even if you did 2 nights en route. Sure, Melbourne gets the short end of the stick. It's a great city, but for a first time visitor to Australia, I wouldn't miss out on a chance to see wild places instead.

In Auckland, you could take the Explorer Bus around the city; you can get on and off at various stops that interest you. Or you could take a ferry over to Devonport or Waiheke Island. Our time in Auckland was limited, so we went to Devonport and took the historic walk, then spent a short time at the Auckland Museum the next morning before we had to turn in our rental car.

Lee Ann