Help with Australia/ New Zealand plan!
 

I will be studying abroad in China and got a great deal on a flight. So now i have 2 weeks to spend! Should I do both countries or just Australia. It will be in June so not the best time, but ill make it work. I fly into Sydney and have not booked my outbound flight yet. Can you offer any suggestions? I like an adventure and seeing the main sights as well as nature. I know this is vague, but i could use some help!
Thanks

My suggestion - with only two weeks, pick one country and then either one island of NZ, or two states within Australia.

Definitely choose either Australia or New Zealand as 2 weeks is not enough to see them both. Since it will be winter, I would recommend Australia as there are places in the north of Australia that will be warm in June. With two weeks, you could do the iconic City, Rock, Reef tour (Sydney, Uluru and Cairns/Port Douglas) or spend half your time in Sydney and half your time in Cairns/Port Douglas. The Top End (Darwin, Litchfield, Kakadu and Katherine) is also a great place to visit in June, but it's harder to get around without a car, I think, so that probably would not work too well for you.

Just don't try to do more than 3 destinations in Australia within 2 weeks unless you want to spend more time in Australian airports than sightseeing.

Okay! Sounds like I'm sticking to Australia!

yes, I agree, stick to OZ. you should be able to find somewhere warm, even in June!

I need help narrowing down what to do! I think I want to do Sydney and Cairns as it seems Uluru is expensive to get to and not much to do. Here go the questions:
In Sydney:
Where is a cheap place in a good location to stay?
Can you recommend a day trip or two?
Cairns:
Cheap place to stay?
Again on the day trip?
Overall how much should I budget excluding airfare? I am 19 so I can sleep wherever, will only eat twice a day. etc
Thanks!

I can't help with budget accommodations in either Sydney or Cairns, but I'd look to Hostelworld.com for reviews of hostels in those places. My young adult children have used that website with great success.

A good day trip from Sydney is the Blue Mountains. You can either do this as part of an organized tour or you can do a self-tour by taking the train from Sydney to Katoomba.

The best day trip out of Cairns is to the Great Barrier Reef. It's a bit pricey (AUD 200 - 250) but WELL worth the money! Other possible day trips are to Daintree National Park or the train/Skyrail combo to Kuranda.

Bookmarking :-)

If you like nature, scenery and hiking I'd suggest spending at least one or two nights in the Blue Mountains and definitely taking a bus tour to Jenolan Caves. I'd previously done the Blue Mtns as a one-day bus tour and didn't realize there were so many beautiful things to see -- not only the iconic "Three Sisters." Jenolan Caves were INCREDIBLE.

There are lots of hostels in both Sydney & Cairns.