loves_to_travel

Here is my trip report. I want to thank so many of you for all of the information and advise on this site. I have told lots of people about the site, and hope they will use it.
We went for 18 days on a Globus independent tour, called Down Under Medley. I know many people do not like the idea of a tour group, but for us it was ideal. It took care of all of our flights, transfers, hotels and breakfasts. There was also some included sightseeing and a ½ day trip to Green Island which we decided not to bother with. Anyway, it worked out great.
We flew into Sydney on a Monday morning. We were very tired after a 14 hour flight and having flown another 6 hours before and waiting in airports. The first day we took it easy, did some included sightseeing and then went to dinner with our friend that lives in Sydney. He had made reservations at Doyles at Circular Quay and we sat right across from the Opera House. That was a great start to our vacation.
Tuesday we started out on a ferry to Taranga Zoo. The zoo was very nice and had a lot of animals that our zoo in Atlanta does not have. Next we took a taxi to the Syndey Fish Market for lunch. That was so different from anything we have ever seen, and the food was great. After that we took a taxi back to Circular Quay and went to Manly Beach for a while. Then we climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Our friend from Sydney made the climb with us and we really enjoyed that. The views from the top were incredible. After the climb, we had trouble finding anywhere to eat that late, but our friend Clive finally did find someplace still serving food. Talk about a full day!
Wednesday we slept in a little later, did the Opera House Tour, Fish Market again (my husband really liked it) and then to the aquarium. We took the ferry back to Circular Quay from the aquarium and after walking back to the hotel, called it a day. We did venture out later for a bite to eat. We stayed at the Menzies, which we thought was fine and was a great location.
Thursday morning we flew to Cairns. We were able to go to Kuranda that afternoon via the skyrail. I was a little disappointed in this. Kuranda seemed to be nothing but stores to buy souvenirs at. I read several posts about it before we went, and did not realize that the butterfly sanctuary, kaola park, etc. each cost extra money to go into. We spent so much money for both ways on the skyrail that I didn’t feel like we should spend more money for that too. Also, the skyrail was fun, but one way would have been plenty. You really can’t see anything but the tops of trees. I had no idea that a taxi could pick you up from Kuranda. Since there were 4 of us, it would have been less money and it would not have taken as long. That night we went to Tjapakai by Night. Again, we started out the evening on a bad note. We had booked this in advance and paid for the transfer. It ended up that the transfer for 4 people was a good bit more than a taxi would have been, and we were on the bus for over an hour while they picked up people all over Cairns. We ended up missing the first 30 minutes of the program, and no one there seemed to care. That was probably our worst day of the trip. The food was good. It was a buffet, but as soon as everyone fixed their plate, the employees immediately started taking the food up. I am not used to that. Every other buffet that I have been to you could go back for food as much as you want to. Not there. O well, live and learn.
The next day, my brother and I went diving with Tusa Dive. He is a certified diver and I did the introductory dive. My husband and sister in law went on a Cape Tribulation trip. Their reservation got lost, so they didn’t get to go on the trip that they scheduled, but they were very happy that the owner of the company came and picked them up and gave them a personal tour for the first hour while he caught up with his bus for the other tour that was offered. They went on the other tour and he gave them a discount. They were both very pleased and not at all upset that they did not get to go on the tour scheduled. That night we ate at a pub, Cock & Bull, that had been recommended by our taxi driver going to Skyrail and the driver of the Tusa Dive boat.
Saturday was Christmas, and I was so glad I had the foresight to book us another GBR tour since nothing much was open. All four of us went with Passions of Paradise. I did the introductory dive in the morning and snorkeled in the afternoon. I never would have believed it, but I think I saw more stuff snorkeling than I did all 3 times diving. Diving was fund though, and I am glad that I did it. That night we ate at another pub, Rattle & Hum. The food was great at both pubs and not terribly expensive.
Sunday we were flying most of the day. First back to Sydney and then on to Melbourne. That night we had prebooked the Colonial Tramcar Dinner. My husband and I were very pleased with this. The only bad note there, was that I got eaten up by the Australian fly (I guess).
Monday we had included sightseeing and then we did the Penguin Parade tour. That was a lot of fun, but very long. We did not get back to the hotel until around midnight. I must stress for anyone planning to do this, it is very, very, very cold. I had 3 shirts and jacket, but still almost froze. The wind blowing off the ocean was terrible. Be sure to bring lots of warm clothes. At the gift shop they sold hats, gloves, blankets, jackets, etc. That right there is an indication of just how cold it gets. And this was summer!! Also, they don’t tell you that you cannot see the seals without binoculars. If I had known that, I would have brought some. Hope this helps anyone planning to go in the future.
Tuesday we were supposed to have a car rental, however, the hotel messed that up. The person who supposedly booked our rental wasn’t working on Monday or Tuesday, nobody could reach him and all of the rental places were sold out. So we instead got a car and driver for the day. It was expensive, but we enjoyed the day thoroughly. We were also glad that my brother was not attempting to drive on the wrong side of the road or do one of the famous “hook” turns. We ended up driving part of the GOR, ate at a seaside village, then went to Torquay where we had booked a flight over the GOR with Tiger Moth World. We did not want another 12+ hour bus ride after the Penguin Parade, and I am so glad that we did it this way. The flight was about an hour and the sights were great. After the flight, we ended up taking the car ferry across the bay and driving back along other coastal roads. The driver dropped us off on Ligon Street and we ate at University. I was able to eat the bay bugs that I missed out on in Cairns.
Wednesday was another long airport day. First back to Sydney and then to Christchurch. We only had a short time there, but I wanted to do a Hangi dinner and Maori concert. I was told that the one in Christchurch was much better than those in Queenstown or Auckland, so we decided to go. I was afraid that we might have a similar experience to Tjapakai, but was greatly surprised. The food was very good and abundant, they had an animal nature park we got to go through and then the Maori concert. After the concert, the Maori leader took us through the park again and pointed out various animals and then to a kiwi house where we saw the kiwi bird.
Thursday we had sightseeing in Christchurch on the way to the airport. That turned out to be an awful travel day. The flight to Queenstown experienced terrible turbulence. Several on board became ill. They had to turn the plane around because the weather was so bad that they were closing the Queenstown airport. The airline ended up flying us to Invercargill, the southern tip of NZ and bussing us back to Queenstown (2 more hours). When we got to our hotel, we were exhausted, it was raining, so we just ordered room service.
Friday we were supposed to fly over Milford Sound. The weather was still not good enough for that, so we had to find something else to do. My brother and sister in law found a brochure on a 4 wheel drive tour through the mountains. The tour was to Skipper’s Canyon. Our driver was great and scared us to death on those tiny roads going around mountains. We panned for gold, saw a bungy jumper and saw a lot of great scenery, including one of the places that Lord of the Rings was filmed. That evening we did the TSS Earnslaw/Walter Peak Evening dinner. The food was very good, but the sheepdog show and sheep shearing after were the highlight of the evening. After we got back to the hotel, we had enough time to toast to the new year and then go watch the fireworks over the lake (New Years Eve).
Saturday the guys went trout fishing with a NZ trout guide. They didn’t catch much, but had a good time. I called Queenstown Flights again that morning and was given the go ahead, so me and my sister in law flew over Milford Sound, did the 2 hour cruise and flew back. That was an awesome experience. That afternoon we flew to Auckland. We ate at a Mexican restaurant because we were craving Mexican food.
Sunday we took another all day tour to Waitomo Glow worm caves and Roturua. It was a long day, but the trip was great. They served you morning tea and snack on the bus, lunch, and afternoon tea with a snack. They had pull down trays on the bus like an airplane and had a restroom on the bus for our convenience. We made quite a few stops, so it wasn’t bad at all. First we went to the Glow worm caves, then to the Maori Institute and Geo Termal area. We had a Maori guide who lead us through the Maori meeting house, showed us carvings and how they made their clothing and then to see boiling mudpools and geysers. Next to Rainbow Farm where we saw lots of trout, many kinds of birds and again the kiwi bird. Then we went to The Agrodome where we hand fed sheep, deer, emu and cows. The animals were so tame that they came right up to you, because they knew you had the food. We saw another sheep shearing demonstration there. That night we ate at a restaurant on the wharf.
Monday morning we went to the Maritime Museum. I am not much on museums, but my husband loves history, so I thought this was a good thing for him. I must say, it was a lot of fun and we didn’t have near enough time there. At 11:00 a.m. we sailed on the Pride of Auckland and then had lunch. We made one last stop before our plane trip back, that was to Kelly Tarleton’s Artarctic Encounter. It was fun seeing the penguins, but I don’t think it was worth the time or cab fare out there. We boarded our plane to fly back to the U.S. late afternoon/early evening.
The flight back to California was only 11 hours and didn’t seem to bother us near as much as the one going over. We spent the night in California and headed back to Atlanta on Tuesday morning. This was definitely one of the best trips I have ever been on and I would highly recommend it to anyone considering it.
I know it was a lot of places to visit in such a short amount of time, and I really jam packed it full, but I was afraid that we might not ever get back there, so I wanted to do everything that we could fit in. Now I just need about 6 weeks rest. Our body clocks still don’t work 1 week after our return. We can’t fall asleep at a decent hour and then we wake up in the middle of the night. The things we go through to travel. I’d do it again in a minute.

MountainGal

loves_to_travel - great report!

I met loves_to_travel on this board prior to the Globus trip and our families both traveled on the same tour of Australia and New Zealand. Loves_to_travel was an extremely pleasant traveling companion (as was her husband, brother, and sister-in-law), and very knowledgeable. I’m a “planner”, but she put me to shame with her knowledge!

We were a family of four (Mom, Dad, Daughter 17 and Son 14). We chose the Down Under Medley tour to give us a good initial “taste” of Australia and New Zealand. The fact that all hotels, airfares, hotel transfers, etc. were included in the tour price made it VERY attractive for first-timers. That being said, I wouldn’t hesitate to put together our own independent vacation in the future. And, I hope there’s a return trip!!

Sydney – What an AWESOME city! Our hotel was ideally situated within walking distance of Circular Quay, so we could get around very easily. We loved walking through the Botanical Gardens and then rounding the corner to take in views of the Opera House and the Bridge. Beautiful!
Things we did – Bridge Climb (loved it), Jet Boat ride through the Harbor, Taronga Zoo, Bondi Beach, Manly Beach (preferred Manly between the two), Victoria Station (great architecture and wonderful clocks to look at), Botanical Gardens, Evening harbor cruise – I highly recommend this because the city is absolutely gorgeous at night! Plus the narrative regarding Sydney’s history was very informative.

Cairns – very pleasant. The public swimming pool is gorgeous! We were most fortunate to meet a local family at the beach on Christmas Eve, and they invited us to Christmas dinner the following evening. We now have new friends to visit! Plus, they’re planning on returning to the U.S. for a visit in a few years so we’re planning on getting together then.
Things we did – Tjapakai Aboriginal Center; we took a taxi and spent an afternoon there. The boomerang and spear stations where you learned to throw them were probably the most interesting, especially for my teenagers. To my son’s delight, he can play a “mean” didgeridoo. Rainforest Ecological 4x4 Tour – very informative and we were fortunate to go places off limits to the other tours. It did run a little long, though. Ocean Spirit Snorkeling on Christmas Day – An extremely well ran organization with a modern, clean boat. They served a high-quality lunch with both hot and cold foods. Our only complaint was that they don’t have sufficient storage for your “stuff” while you’re snorkeling. But the reef was amazing; the coral formations were incredible! We saw turtles, rays, starfish, and many more creatures. Some friends of ours saw reef sharks as well.

Melborne – a nice city, but as far as cities go, Sydney was more pleasant and impressive. We rented a car and drove the Great Ocean Road. The coastline was amazing and the Twelve Apostles were beautiful! It was a long day, but well worth the trip.

Christchurch – It’s nicknamed “The Garden City” and appropriately so. It’s very pretty with a strong English feel. We enjoyed touring the city square (shaped in the form of a cross and climbing the Church’s tall bell tower). There are gondolas that take you down the Avon River, similar to Venice and the canals.

Queenstown – Since we live in Colorado, this reminded me a lot of our mountain ski resort towns like Breckenridge or Vail. It’s a very picturesque city with the Remarkables (mountains) and the Lake. We probably could have spent a great deal longer here exploring and using this as a base camp.
Things we did – We rented a car and drove to Milford Sound. It was absolutely gorgeous! (Make sure you fill up on gas when you’re in Te Anau BEFORE you get to Milford Sound – I wrote about this in another post.) The Sound and it’s waterfalls are amazing. We also drove to Arrowtown and toured the Chinese Immigrant gold camp location. That was very interesting. We spent New Year’s Eve watching the fireworks over Queenstown Harbor – they were very pretty.
Had we had more time, I would have like to have visited Doubtful Sound. After talking to a park ranger, it sounds like it was also very beautiful.

Auckland – a nice city with friendly people. We enjoyed watching the brave souls jump off the Tower on the cabled wires. If the cost hadn’t been $200 per person, we might have tried it!!
Things we did – We rented a car and in one very LONG but productive day, we saw the Waitmo Glowworm Cave, the geothermal formations near Rotorua, our teenagers went zorbing (remember Amazing Race and the big plastic balls with water in them that contestants went rolling down the hill in?) and we finished in Hobbiton, which is the sheep farm near Matamata where the Hobbit homes were built, as well as where the party tree and the lake are located. The glowworms were neat to see, quite frankly the geothermal stuff was unimpressive compared to Yellowstone (but if you’ve never seen Yellowstone, it’s probably a must-see). My kids LOVED zorbing and it was so much fun to watch them. The Hobbiton tour is pricey ($50 for adults, $25 for kids 3-14), but my kids had wanted to do this for the entire trip because they are HUGE Lord of the Rings fans, and since we don’t know when we’re coming back, what the heck?!?! Actually, the tour was very well put together, so I can’t complain too much about the price.

All in all, we had a wonderful time, and would go back to both countries in a heartbeat. We had wonderful traveling companions, and it was nice to make new friends. Please feel free to ask any questions. Renting a car was easy, and for a family, it was the most cost-effective way to see many things. There was minimal confusion in driving on the left side of the road. My husband’s biggest challenge was the steering column and getting the turn signals and windshield wipers mixed up!!

kodi

Great reports by both of you. I'm glad you had such a good time. I, too, will be jamming in as such as possible. I don't want to miss anything in case I never have a chance to get back.
I've been on bus tours in Europe, but we are going to rent a car and go it alond this trip. NO foreign languages to contend with.
Thanks for posting.

djhughes

Hi all -
I'm new to this site and have been reading your posts for the last couple of days. I'm trying to plan a trip to Aus & NZ for my husband, and elderly mother and aunt and am getting a little overwhelmed by all the decisions. We leave Feb 15th and I haven't made any reservations! Perhaps someone can help.

We have four weeks for both countries. I'm thinking 2 1/2 weeks for Australia and 1 1/2 for NZ. I saw katkat's detailed NZ itinerary and will pour through that.

I'd appreciate suggestions on the Australia portion especially.

I'd like to keep hotel prices down to around $100-150USD/room/night average. I've checked out this site for hotels - any tips on how to get the best price?

This is what I'm planning. Please provide any comments or suggestions. Thanks.

Feb 17-19: Sydney, 3 nights
Trying to get into the Russell, but prices are high and the good deals on "Wotif" only go through January.

Feb 20: travel to Melbourne
Train or fly???

Feb 20-22: 3 nights Melbourne
Suggestions on best areas to stay and hotels????
Skip Phillips Island????

Feb 21-23: 3 days, two nights on Great Ocean Road to Adelaide
Suggestions for towns and hotels to stay overnight????

Feb 24-26: Arrive Adelaide, 3 nights
Suggestions for hotels????
Kangaroo Island (overnight?)

Feb 27-Mar 2: Cairns/Port Douglas
Lodging in Cairns or Port Douglas/Palm Cove????

Mar 3-14th - Christchurch, New Zealand

Thanks much in advance for your help!

Judy_in_Calgary

To answer some of your questions, djhughes ......

First of all, is it possible to visit New Zealand first and Australia second? That would be the better order in which to do things, from a weather point of view as summer is maturing in the southern hemisphere.

>>>>>>Feb 20: travel to Melbourne
Train or fly???<<<<<<

This is a no-brainer. On as tight a schedule as you have, there is only one way to go and that is to fly.

This being a Sunday, you might consider catching the tram to St. Kilda, walking along the Esplanade, and browsing through the craft market that is held there every Sunday.

Also catch the free City Circle Tram that does a circuit of the downtown core and explains what you're seeing.

>>>>>>Feb 20-22: 3 nights Melbourne<<<<<<

Consider reducing Melbourne to 2 nights, and re-allocating 1 night to Far North Queensland.

On Feb 21 you might consider catching the regular commuter train from Flinders Street Station to Belgrave (70 minutes), then catching the Puffing Billy steam train to Gembrook, lunching at Gembrook, and then returning to Belgrave and Flinders Street Station. This will take you through part of the Dandenong Ranges to the east of Melbourne. If it is a Total Fire Ban Day (if the temperature is 100 deg F or something like that), they will use a diesel locomotive instead of a steam locomotive on Puffing Billy. The diesel loco is not quite as cute as the steam one, but the trip will be worthwhile nonetheless.

>>>>>>Suggestions on best areas to stay and hotels????<<<<<<

Cannot suggest specific hotels, but the downtown core and Southbank (just across the Yarra River from downtown Melbourne) are the places to aim for.

>>>>>>Skip Phillips Island????<<<<<<

Yes (all the more so because you will be going to Kangaroo Island).

>>>>>>Feb 27-Mar 2: Cairns / Port Douglas<<<<<<

If you add a night (re-allocated from Melbourne), you will give yourself more wiggle room in case weather precludes your going out to the Great Barrier Reef on your preferred day. Schedule your GBR outing for your first full day in the area, to give yourself the maximum opportunity to reschedule if necessary.

Other worthwhile day tours are the tropical rainforest from the Daintree River to Cape Tribulation and a visit to Kuranda, a town on the edge of the Atherton Tableland (recommend SkyRail on the way up and conventional train on the way down).

If you do end up with a spare day in Far North Queensland, i.e., if you don't need to use it for a re-scheduled GBR outing, there are so many things to do in that area that you will be spoiled for choice.

>>>>>>Lodging in Cairns or Port Douglas / Palm Cove????<<<<<<

A place for you to consider is Lilybank B&B in a suburb of Cairns. After consistently receiving bouquets here at Fodors, Lilybank eventually received a brick in this thread:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34549560

Ironically, when I read BBulleit's description of the breakfast that Lilybank puts on, it only increased my desire to stay there.

I have not been to New Zealand, so can comment only on the Australian portion of your trip.

Judy_in_Calgary

>>>>>>Trying to get into the Russell, but prices are high and the good deals on "Wotif" only go through January.<<<<<<

One of the downsides of Wotif is that its offers are valid for only two weeks in advance.

You would need to wait until much closer to the time of your trip. I think it would be worth the risk of waiting. Australian summer school holidays, which take place in December and January, will be over.

I am not aware of events that would draw visitors to Sydney in more than usual numbers during the dates that you'll be there.

Events that draw visitors to Melbourne are the Australian Open (tennis championship) in January and the Formula 1 Grand Prix at the beginning of March. You'll be missing both of them, so I don't imagine that hotels will be fully booked.

A Google search also does not bring up anything unusual in Adelaide during the time that you'll be there.

I have seen folks on travel forums getting incredible deals through Wotif.

djhughes

Thanks so much Judy. We're making progress and will take your advice on flying to Melbourne and cutting our stay to two nights. We booked the Russell in Sydney and are trying the Park Hyatt in Melbourne. We're finding the 2 room suites to be fairly economical. I think we'll go to Wotif closer to our departure and if we get better deals we'll cancel our reservations and rebook.

We're thinking about driving the Great Ocean Road all the way to Adelaide in two days, but I don't see any mention anywhere of anyone who has done that. They always seem to do a loop back to Melbourne. I figured we might as well spend the day we'd have to fly to Adelaide and just finish the drive. Is that unreasonable? Is it too far to drive from Port Fairy to Adelaide in one day? Should we stay on the GOR or cut inland to some faster route?

Thanks for your help. I'm learning so much from you and the rest of the Fodorites. It just takes time, but it's fun too.