Yes, I do live in Denver Colorado, and yes I do believe it is gorgeous out here. I haven't traveled outside of the U.S. other than Mexico and Canada so I can't wait to explore part of the southern hemisphere. To see the southern cross and stars I have never seen before will be amazing to me. I like the great outdoors. I am 33 years old and fairly active to be up for anything. Suggestions around Melbourne would greatly be appreciated. I am obsiously going to check out the coast line and wine country. Any other suggestions for the great outdoors in the Melbourne area?

Melbourne is where I grew up.

The city circletram is free and willgive you an overview of the city and its history.
http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/route/view/1112

There are plenty of watersports on the bay and the Bay itself is quite diverse. You can go swimming with doplhins and seals. This boat operator is small and arguably the best.
http://www.polperro.com.au/

The Immigration Museum is very good. There are lots of parks and gardens. The golden mile heritage walk is alsovery good.
http://www.visitvictoria.com/display...0318/vvt.vhtml

The Planetarium will give you a good guide to our stars.
http://museumvictoria.com.au/planetarium/

The Dandenong ranges and puffing billy (a train) are good day trips.
http://www.puffingbilly.com.au/
http://www.dandenongrangestourism.co...p1024x768.html
http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/1park_display.cfm?park=49
There is also ballooning here and wineries,art/craft food.

Let me know if you want more.

Geelong and the west coast are good for surfing and lessons.

Phillip island is good for penguins and seals.
http://www.penguins.org.au/
http://www.visitphillipisland.com/

You will easily be able to see the Southern Cross from Melbourne as its stars are bright enough to get through the lights. If you want to see the southern sky in all its glory you will need to get into the countryside. Orion, Canis Major, Taurus and Gemini will be in reasonble view.

I have a good little star guide for the southern skies. It is out of print so if you want me to copy bits from it and post it to your friends. Let me know. I have gmail account under a false name and can post the guide to an address without knowing their names to maintain privacy of all concerned if you wish.

DenverDooner as your friends are in Melbourne I am sure that they will have a full list of things for you to do and if there is anything missing then Peter above has listed lots of ideas and links to keep you busy for ever and a day.
I am sorry your post got highjacked somewhat but if people took some time to read your original question then some answers would appear more clear to them.
If you live in Colorado and you wish to see something of NZ then try and get a flight that will give you a stopover in NZ enroute which will take out the component of having to fly into Australia and back to NZ then returning to Aus which all means time and expense.
I would do a stopover in NZ enroute to Melbourne, stay with friends there and then fly from Melbourne to Cairns - Cairns to Sydney - Sydney to Melbourne and back home, unless of course you can fly either out of Cairns back home or Sydney.
There are many different carriers which do the US -Australia run and by choosing one that will give you most of what you want would be the best idea. If you chose Qantas for instance you can code share that with AA, United with NZ and so on but only Qantas will give you a "see Australia Fare" - or whatever its called. However having said that, there are fares on SALE right now at www.jetstar.com.au ( Qantas low cost airline) which has some really good flights going through into Feb/March next year so perhaps some cost comparisons would be a good idea, these include Australia to NZ fares as well. The price from Melbourne - Cairns for instance is very cheap considering the distance.
I personally would also check out the costs on www.priceline.com for a Denver - Honolulu return and a Honolulu Australia or NZ return which sometimes can drop an Australia - USA flight price right down lower than any other advertised price.
Good luck and I hope that you can get in every bit that you can in your trip and with carefull planning I am sure that you will. Enjoy!