Hello....

We leave tomorrow and have the following itenerary:
1. Sydney 3 nights
2. Fly to Palm Cove for 2 nights, 3 days
3. Fly to Auckland for 1 night
4. Fly to Nelson and spend the rest of the time in the South Island.

Any suggestions on reasonable eats and fun things to do? We are going on the Milford Sound cruise and have purposely left the trip open;however, we thought to pole the Fodors friends for one last bit of input.

Thanks.in advance.

Hi Ally01,
Hope you enjoy your trip. The weather in Sydney looks like it is going to be great by the end of the week. Where are you staying in Sydney? Some affordable/casual places to dine in the city area are in the area around Haymarket (Chinatown) which has some great Asian restaurants (not just Chinese, but Thai, Vietnamese etc). There's some reasonable places at Darling Harbour as well. If you can get out of town and to suburbs like Balmain (short ferry ride from Circular Quay) you will find some great restaurants that aren't expensive. Let me know what sort of price range you're looking for ($A) and I can give you some suggestions.
Are you going on the Milford Mariner? My husband and I spent a night on this boat about 3 years ago - it was very new then - and we found the standard of accommodation very good, it was the highlight of our trip. The crew were great too.

When we were in Auckland, we took the ferry over to Devonport and had a late lunch in a restaurant called the Cod Piece. It was inexpensive, and I had a really nice piece of grilled fish and kumara fritters. Dh had a burger, which looked yummy. Our hotel room had a full kitchen, so we bought groceries in Devonport and cooked our own dinner that night.

Lee Ann

In Sydney, King Street, Newtown is a long stretch of affordable eateries of many ethnic persuasions. It's quite close to the city centre, a reasonable cab fare. Nearby Glebe is also a good choice - both are close to Sydney University. I second Daneille's reco of Chinatown too - head for Dixon Street - everything from cheap roast places to top-notch Cantonese.

Ah Neil, I totally forgot about Newtown. I love Newtown for cheap food and it has nearly every different cuisine from African to Turkish, Spanish to Vietnamese and everything in between. Plus it's a really great place to walk around, interesting shops and colourful people.

thanks so much!

Ditto Newtown for great affordable food which is NOT anywhere near the price of food in the USA for table service and good value, great tasting food.

Hi Ally

Lee Ann has mentioned Devonport which is a good choice of location for a restaurant whilst you are in Auckland. If you do not mind a slightly longer ferry trip you could go to Waiheke Island and eat at a place called the Mudbrick - link below.

http://www.mudbrick.co.nz/

Great location and good food.

There is also a restaurant district down by the waterfront that has many restaurants in it. It is called the Viaduct (All cab drivers know how to get there). The restaurants range from Fusion to Asian, Italian and beyond. A very lively place at night as well.

Here is a guide to some of Nelson's restaurants. http://www.harlequin.co.nz/menu/

It is not all inclusive but has several choices there. One it does miss is my favorite restaurant for a good lunch in Nelson, the Boatshed. http://www.nelsonwaterfront.co.nz/boatshed/index.html

Great location and good fresh food.

Hope these provide some ideas for you.

Cheers

Steve