Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand.
 

I apologize for all my questions, but my life's passion and dream is to travel and this is a travel site is it not? I am in the beginning stages of planning my parent's and my trip to the Down Under. We plan about 3 1/2 weeks doing these 3 countries. I plan on doing 10 days in Austrlia, 5 in Tasmania and a week on New Zealand's South Island. So far I have Australia down pretty well; I have us flying in America's Spring, Australia's Fall. How is the weather in Cairns and Sydney this time of year? I plan on flying into Sydney for 4 days. Doing Syndey itself for one day, The Blue Mountains for one day, Queensland for one day and perhaps one more place. Then flying to Alice Springs and doing Uluru and Kata Tjuta for one day. King's Canyon and Seqioua National Park for 2 days. Then flying to Cairns and staying in town to rest for the night. Then doing the Great Barrier Reef. Next day doing Daintree Rainf Forest. Question though: If I am going to New Zealand's South Island, is Tasmania wortg the extra time? I would like to see Tasmania if it is worth it. We are not really into big towns so we won't spend much time in Hobart or Launcenton besides just for hotel purposes. We would like to see the Bay of Fires, Mt. Wellington. Anything else worth seeing? Then we will fly from Hobart to Christchurch and drive arounf the South Island for a week. Also see Queenstown, Milford and Doubtful sound. Does this sound somewhat reasonable or no? Thanks! Any other sites to see will be greatly obliged.

Way too many places for such a short time!! Australia is enormous...I would cut out the centre,a long way to go and not enough time. Spend more time in Queensland and the wonderful Sunshine coast....Tassy is gorgeous, but perhaps too much to fit in on this trip...suggest you fly into Melbourne, check out the Yarra Valley, Great Ocean Road, then hour flight to Sydney for that leg, then to Queenland and the far north, then to New Zealand and home...the 'fall' in Queensland is probably the next best time to our Spring, Queensland is great in September...

Ok Brendan, you need to look at your profile and read your own travel trip. My head is spinning reading your proposed itinerary.

Maybe if you come back with a better format it will make some sense. Just list the places you want to go to and now many NIGHTS you want to spend in each one. You can't fly into Brisbane and 'do' Queensland in one day, it's a vast space. It's similar to suggesting that you fly into Honolulu and 'do' Hawaii in one day.

Have another crack at it, include some paragraphs so that it is a little clearer and you'll probably get good suggestions.

For what it's worth, I'd skip Tasmania on this trip. The south island of NZ will have some similar areas. Or skip NZ and stay in Australia.

<<I plan on doing 10 days in Austrlia, 5 in Tasmania and a week on New Zealand's South Island.>>

Tasmania is part of Australia:)

Your eyes are way bigger than your stomach Brendan, there's just no way you can do all of this in 3.5 weeks. I've spent more than that just on the SI of NZ.

Australia is similar in size to the US, and NZ, while close, is still a ~three hour flight from the eastern states of OZ. The SI is looong...with limited airports and highways.

I suggest you take a deep breath and a long hard look at a map, then come back here to pick our collective brains once you've narrowed your wish list.

The only Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks I know of are located in California and not in Australia.

For the things you want to do in New Zealand, it would be better to fly directly into Queenstown.

I'm impressed you can do Queensland in a day - it's roughly 3 times the size of Texas

King Canyon is in the Northern Territory; Sequoia National Park isn't.

I agree you need to take a good hard look at the map. Your planning is all over the place.

Tasmania is not a country, it's part of Australia. It's also the size of Arkansas, skip it this time.

Yeah, you're probably bouncing around too much here. The way it reads you are going to do Sydney and surrounds, then "do Queensland" for 1 day then the centre then back to Queensland (Cairns) - you're like a ping pong ball.

So, re-iterating what some others have said, cut something out and you will have a better time. Either cut out the Cairns/Barrier reef thing or cut out the centre (uluru).

Also, cut Tasmania, you will encounter wild greenery and plenty of walking/hiking opportunities in NZ SI but also another culture in NZ. Despite many similarities, there are differences in culture between Aus and NZ, spend a bit more time there and you will start to feel it.

What you have proposed is not impossible but will
A) cost a fortune
B) need you to be VERY organised
C) Wear you out and you will need a week off when you get home.

I hope what you're reading on this thread is helping you

Cheers

The Wine-O

just agreeing with everything else said above. we spent 5 weeks in Aus and NZ last year, including 5 nights in Northern Queensland, and 5 in/near Brisbane, then 5 in Sydney, with the rest of the time in NZ. None of those stays were too short.

There is loads to see but you won't see more of it by bouncing around so much - you'll see less because your main experiences will be the inside of airports and buses. BTW - you have no idea how big Queensland is - we didn't really think about it before we went, but it takes 2 1/2 hours to fly between cairns and Brisbane, and Cairns is not the furthest north you can go in the state. it is vast.

Regarding NZ, it too takes time to see - the 2 1/2 weeks we had wasn't anything like long enough. Getting between places there takes time and patience, but there are many things to see while you are travelling. In 3 1/2 weeks you could have a nice trip to NZ and see quite a lot of the country with both North and South islands, or you could see a reasonable amount of the eastern coast of Aus. But IMO you don't have time to do both.

I would suggest the following ideas to give you the "reef, rock and city" combo that is popular. At this point I would leave Tasmania for a return visit.

Sydney - minimum 5 days
- take the Hop On Hop Odd bus around the city, and the bus that goes to Bondi to give you an idea of places you might like to further explore
- Darling Harbour, Maritime Museum, Sydney Wildlife World, Aquarium
- Taronga Zoo not only for the native animals but the views
- the beaches which are often linked by walkways of varying difficulty
- The Rocks, full of history
- The Blue Mountains
- Sydney Opera House
- Bridge Walk
- The Botanic Gardens
- Cockatoo Island, interesting history, no cockatoos there now
- many other ideas too

Cairns - minimum 5 days
- The Reef
- Mossman Gorge
- Cape Tribulation
- The Daintree Rain Forest
- The Atherton Tablelands
- The Undara Lava Tubes
plus many other ideas

Alice Springs - minimum 5 days
- Uluru and Kata Tjuta (need at least an overnight stay)
- Kings Canyon
- Palm Valley
- Chambers Pillar and Rainbow Valley
- trip to Glen Helen Gorge, stopping at various points of interest - e.g. Standley Chasm, Simpsons Gap
plus many other ideas

New Zealand
Would suggest the South Island for this trip as you don't have enough time to do justice to both islands. There are plenty of walks and trips to keep you busy.

Just remember you will need to fly between destinations which is going to take at least half a day with checking in, flying, collecting luggage, etc. Also bear in mind that many of the above suggestions take a full day and require either you hiring a car or booking with tour operators.

Have fun putting together a coherent plan for your trip. Come back to this site for further help when you need it. There are many experienced and helpful people here.