There is a vague possibility that I might take the smarTours 22 day Australia, New Zealand & Fiji Tour from LAX via Qantas and Air Pacific. I know this is not nearly enough time to cover this wide area; however, it is a possibility for me. I will be coming from New York.
Is there anyone who has taken this tour and would be kind enough to fill me in on its good and bad points.
Thanks.
Judy

Dear JudySue - don't pay any attention to the response you got from Judy in Calgary. Any "traveler" is welcome to ask any question they want on this forum. Many people have only a short amount of time to vacation and enjoy having the planning done for them particularly if they are a first time "traveler" to a foreign country. Sorry I don't have any information about Smartours. I would have been more than happy to answer your question.

Hello JudySue,

The message I previously posted to you has been deleted. Being relatively new to Fodors, I'm mystified as to the reason. Perhaps it didn't pass Fodors' standards for civility. On the other hand, I was teased on the Canada forum without the other poster's message being deleted, so I had the impression this was a discussion board where one could be pretty frank. I thought people were free to ask whatever questions they liked, and others were free to respond with their honest opinions. Well, I guess I've learend something about the forum's rules. I apologise if my previous post offended you (if you saw it before it was deleted).

Anyway, it would be nice if someone who had been on one or more tours offered by smarTours came along and answered your question about them. In the meantime, while you wait and see if anyone does that, I did a Google search for smarTours, and found comments about them at a website called AffordableTours.com . The relevant discussion thread is here (it goes on to a 2nd page):

http://bb.affordabletours.com/Message00727.php

As you will see, most of the comments about smarTours were complimentary.

Actually the Affordable Tours website was a good find, I thought, because there were comments on it about many different touring companies, cruise lines, resorts, etc., and this would give one an opportunity to compare them.

My reservation about the smarTour 22 day itinerary was that it would allow a person only to dip into bits of Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, without experiencing any one region in the kind of depth I like to experience when I'm travelling. I realise this is a personal preference, but I would rather my vacation covered a smaller area and allowed me to see that smaller area more thoroughly than would be the case if I attempted to see a larger area in the same period of time.

Actually I have nothing against the concept of having all the planning done for me, provided the planners into whose hands I put myself plan an itinerary that allows me to see a place in some depth.

Two other things I'd be curious about would be the time of year and the itinerary. Because the southern tip of New Zealand and the northern tip of Australia are separated by so many degrees of latitude, it's difficult to pick a time of year that is good all across Australia and New Zealand (supposing the smarTour itinerary does in fact attempt to cover all of those latitudes).

Invercargill on New Zealand's South Island, for example, is 46 deg S of the equator, whereas Australia's Cape York is about 11 deg S of the equator.

In northern hemisphere terms that's something like the difference in latitudes between Montreal and the Panama Canal.

Even discounting my "less is more" approach to a vacation, for reasons of weather alone, I would prefer to take one vacation in Queensland and the Northern Territory, a separate vacation in the southern half of Australia, and yet another vacation in New Zealand.

JudySue, I hope this explanation of my thinking will offend neither you nor the Fodors moderators. Even if you choose smarTours' Australia - New Zealand - Fiji itinerary just as it is, I hope you'll have a great time.

Dear Judy in Calgary,
I only received one message from you so I don't know what the problem with your other message was or is.
I have a few reasons for being interested in a guided tour:
1. I have never been to either Australia or New Zealand (Fiji just popped in on me)
2. I am going to be 67 and will be traveling alone
3. I have asthma and would like to be in contact with easily accessible health facilities
When I was younger I traveled all over by myself independently. Now, it is getting to be a bit different.
I agree with you and think that the amount of territory that they are attempting to cover is way too much. I, too would much prefer to cover a small space in depth. This would be my primary reason for not taking this tour.
Thanks for your info. I'm going to try the website you gave me.
Judy

JudySue, I found this message that ALF posted to you a couple of weeks ago:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34466166

I do think he gave you good advice.

Anyway, I hope you find something that feels like the right fit for you.