HELP- BOOKING SOON!
 

Hello-
I've developed an itinerary for my honeymoon trip and need to book all of my flights this week.

Since I have never been to this part of the world before, I would appreciate some input/suggestions with my itinerary (any changes I should make- lengthen times in places, shorten times, go to different places, etc.)

ALL/ANY HELP WANTED!!

Thank you so much in advance!!!

Dec 29-Jan 1 - Queenstown
Jan 1- drive to Franz Josef Glacier Jan 2- hike in morning then drive to Christchurch
Jan 3- full day in Christchurch
Jan 4- flight to Sydney
Jan 4-7- Sydney (1 day trip to Blue Mountains)
Jan 8- flight to Ayers Rock
Jan 8-9- Ayers Rock
Jan 10- flight to Cairns
Jan 10-14- Cairns/Pt Doug/Daintree
Jan 15- flight to Adelaide
Jan 16- Kangaroo Island
Jan 17- flight to Melbourne
Jan 18-21- Melbourne
Jan 22- back to US

hi there

im sure a lot of people would consider that itinerary too full and would suggest leaving some things out but personally i would much prefer to spend five minutes in 100 places than spend longer seeing less things.



there is a lot to see and do in the south island. what you are interested in, what do you and your husband-to-be like doing?? the only thing i would change on the NZ side of things would be somehow scrap the drive from Franz Joseph to Christchurch. Its long (at least 5 hours) and not very exciting as a driving route. if i knew what you liked doing i might be able to offer an alternative suggestion

kind regards

S

One part of this itinerary that looks really exhausting is from 15th January-17th January. Cairns to Adelaide is a long flight and then the very next day you move again to Kangeroo Island with only an overnight (remember with check-in and check-out times you may not get a full 24 hours in your accommodation).

Do you particularly want to go to Kangaroo Island? Could you drop this leg and lengthen your time in the north.

If you want to go to all these places maybe try a different order as going from Sydney to Alice, back up to Cairns and down to Adelaide is zipping all over the country and unnecessarily adding to your flying times:

NZ
Sydney
Cairns
Alice Springs (ie Ayers Rock/Uluru)
Adelaide
Kangaroo Island
Adelaide (you will have to return to Adelaide to fly to Melbourne)
Melbourne

Or, if possible go from NZ to Cairns and then work your way down to Sydney, Alice Springs etc as per above.

To get to and from Kangaroo Island you can either fly from Adelaide or take a car or tour bus and the ferry, which is longer but cheaper than flying. I have read a few times that some hire car companies don't allow you to take your car to Kangaroo Island.

Thank you so much for the responses so far.

1- In New Zealand we would like to do some of the adventure tours/activities in Queenstown and hike/visit Franz Josef Glacier. Our flight is from ChCh to Sydney so that is why we have to do the drive from Franz Josef to Christchurch.
How is the drive from Queenstown to Franz Josef?

2- Would anyone recommend staying in Adelaide? Or, should I fly from Cairns to Adelaide and then straight to Kangaroo Island (dont need to leave airport) and spend 2 nights on KI.

Thanks!!!

The drive from Queenstown to Franz Joseph is just beautiful. It is reasonably long to do in one day (maybe about 5 hours driving) but lots of places to stop and take photos along the way. Fill up with petrol in Queenstown - it gets progressively more expensive as you travel through the smaller towns.

One more thought. You could drive to Wanaka (approx 1 hr from Queenstown) and spend a night there instead of two nights in Queenstown. Wanaka is as pretty as Queenstown but smaller and a bit less touristy. That would give you an opportunity to see another place and cut an hour off your drive up to Franz as well.

My NZ book of maps gives almost 8 hours driving time from Franz Josef to Christchurch.

We've had many holidays in New Zealand and have always found that driving times are slow due to narrow winding roads, many motorhomes and other factors.

I'd skip Adelaide and Kangaroo Island altogether. They're OK places, and if you were spendng your whole 3 weeks in Australia not out of the question, but in the time you have they're not must-sees by any means. I'd tack the time saved onto NZ. I can't see the point of going there at all if you're going to spend less than a week.

If I were going to keep Adelaide/Kangaroo Island in the itineary... do you recommend flying to Adelaide and then directly to Kangaroo Island? (Staying over night for 2 nights in KI and then flying KI to Adel to Melbourne)??

This would mean not seeing Adelaide at all (only the airport).

Hi amsimon, if the flight times are favourable I would spend the time on Kangaroo Island rather than in Adelaide. Otherwise you'll waste a lot of time checking in and out of a hotel and have little time to sightsee in Adelaide anyway.

A lot of people visit Adelaide as a gateway to places such as Kangaroo Island, Barossa Valley, GOR, Flinders Ranges etc. Melbourne and Sydney should be far more interesting as city destinations than Adelaide.

If you do stay in Adelaide and have the time you could try and do a day tour to the Adelaide Hills and/or Barossa Valley.

Check out the following website. Click on "Regions" for Kangaroo Island.

http://www.southaustralia.com/