BeckersW8

My fiance and I are planning a honeymoon to New Zealand and Australia this coming December-January, and we have no idea which areas to visit! We will have 19 days on the ground.

What are the "must see" places? In New Zealand, our priority is to see all of the most beautiful, natural areas. We enjoy hiking, boat rides, kayaking, etc., but we are not into high-risk activities. In Australia, we want to spend a few concentrated days at a beautiful beach resort on the Great Barrier Reef -- any suggestions?

Thanks! We are very appreciative of any suggestions you have!

swagman

BeckersW8

Congrats to start with!

You might want to split the 19 days into say, 9 days in NZ and 10 in Oz.

In 9 days, you will see most of the natural sites in New Zealand's South Island, some of these sites are featured in the Lord of the Rings series of movies.

The major sites in the South Island are, just to name a few, the Marlborough Sounds in the north and the wine region, towns include Nelson and Blenheim. The whale watching town of Kaikoura. The historical cities of Christchurch and Dunedin. Further inland are Lake Tekapo, Queenstown, Lake Wanaka and surrounding areas. Te Anau, Milford and Doubtful Sounds are also must see places.

I highly recommend that you hire a car, it's a lot easier to explore.

The remaining 10 days, I guess you can spend in the east coast of Australia starting in Sydney then move north to the Gold Coast and then further north to Cairns, gateway to the Great Barrier Reef.

Try these websites for your research,

http://www.tourism.australia.com/
http://www.newzealand.com/Australia/

Do note that Dec/Jan are summer holidays season downunder, so be sure to book your accommodation in advance.

Good luck!

s

BeckersW8

Swagman,

Thanks so much! We really appreciate the advice, and we will look into all of those places. We just picked up some maps and guidebooks to help us get oriented.

Are you familiar with the town of Taupo on the North Island? My fiance had heard good things about it, and someone just told us that there is a beautiful day-hike in the area.

Thanks again!

Susan7

For the Great Barrier Reef, maybe consider staying on one of the islands on the reef, they combine beautiful beaches with proximity to coral and marine life. If you can afford it, Lizard Island would be a great place to honeymoon.

December/January are summer school and university holidays in Australia so it's peak season.

ElendilPickle

You might be thinking of the Tongariro Crossing in Tongariro National Park, which will be a full day hike. Check http://www.doc.govt.nz for more information.

Lee Ann

heathy

In answer to your question on another posting re; Taupo. Here is an excellent website
tp://www.tourism.net.nz/region/taupo/
I personally enjoy the Taupo region and given your interests, I believe you will too.

Huka Lodge was one of NZs first luxury lodges and as a consequence has a reputation in NZ for being The Place to stay. HOWEVER there is now a plethora of luxury accommodation available - really the difficulty is deciding " which one? " Take a gander at this website and you'll see what I mean !
http://www.friars.co.nz/index.php

Please consider Northland / Bay of Islands. In summer this region is quite stunning - and once again, given your interests , would be perfect. www.kauricliffs.com - this is my choice ! Looks like an ideal honeymoon destination ! Happy planning.

Melissa5

If it were me, I would choose either New Zealand or Australia, and spent the whole 19 days in one country. We had a similar decision to make for our February 2007 25th anniversary trip. We decided to spend our 2 weeks all in the south island of New Zealand.

We found that 2 weeks was only enough time to see half of the south island. We chose the southern half of the south island. 2 weeks was enough time to visit Dunedin & Otago Peninsula; to run by Invercargill and see Henry the Tuatara...to zip over to stay in Te Anau and do the overnight Doubtful Sound cruise (amazing); to have 3 nights in Queenstown where there is so much to do...to have 1 night on Mt. Cook, and 3 nights on the beautiful and wild west coast...then that was it, time to fly home.

With 19 days you could see more of the south island than we did.

Haven't been to Australia but it's on our list.

If you do 2 countries, you do lose some time in travel time.

Enjoy your trip!

bbkwong

The South Island of NZ seems to fit your criteria. We just came back from NZ in May and I left my heart there!
Place to see and do:
1. Mt. Cook - the most scenic mountain you can even encounter
2. Milford Sound - we enjoy the scenary of the fjord.
3. Fox/Franz Josef Glacier (Glacier hiking is fantastic)
4. Te Anau - go for the glow worm tour, very romantic - particularly for honeymoon.
5. Oamaru - see the blue penguin colony and the bushy beach's yellow eyes penguin!
6. Queenstown and Lake Wanaka, the most breath-taking scenic drive I ever had! Q-town has tons of water/land activity you can choose from.

7. You can also swim with Dolphin (Hector Dolphin, which is rare)near Akaroa (near Christchurch) or you can go for whale watching in Kaikoura.
So, have fun (I'm sure you will) in NZ!

BillJ

I've been holding back 'cause I didn't want to spoil the party, but Melissa5 broke the ice, and I agree. I know your heart may be set on both, but we spent 3 weeks in Australia in '04 and 3 weeks in NZ in '06, and I can guarantee you we KNEW we had not seen enough.
You can read plenty of trip reports to both, including mine posted here, to decide which to see.
And, it would give you a goal for the next big trip to see which ever one you didn't this time.
Whatever you do, you will have fun, and congratulations.

Melissa5

BeckersW8, when there are so many beautiful and exciting places to visit, there is one practical way to narrow down your list. Research which season is best for particular areas. For example, if you choose to visit the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, there is one season that is best...another season is not good for this area. This type of research can help you to visit the places which are best in December and January.

Likewise, there is a certain season when it is best to view penguins in New Zealand...depending on what type of penguin you want to see.

If you do decide to choose just one of these great countries for your honeymoon, I would choose the one which is best suited to visit in December and January, for the areas you plan to visit. (Consider weather, the life cycle of wildlife, conditions of the ocean, etc.)

wlzmatilida

Hi Becker!

Congratulations!

I agree with both Melissa and Bill about limiting your time to one destination. Granted you can "do" both, but it would be tight and do neither justice.

I work with honeymooners all the time, and the other thing to consider is that if you're planning a wedding of any size, it can be very stressful, expensive, (more than most people realize apparently when they start the planning process) and emotional!

Sort of like the holidays - all the planning, the wrapping, the anticipation, and then it's over with in an hour!

Perhaps planning some "downtime" before sightseeing might appeal to you? If going to New Zealand, how about a few days in Fiji? (that would factor in your "beautiful beach" requirement)!

Or, if you like wine, and decide to go to Australia, maybe out to the Hunter Valley.

As far as Taupo's concerned, yes, hiking is a possibility; but that's pretty much ALL over NZ! Taupo's biggest claim to fame is the lake and fishing, some of the best trout fishing in New Zealand.

Hope this is helpful!

Regards,

Melodie
Certified Kiwi Specialist

freeman0819

I just returned from Australia and New Zealand two weeks ago and it was amazing!! If you go to NZ, I would suggest going to Rotorua (natural thermal baths).

In Australia, I stayed at the kingfisher bay resort on Fraser Island (www.kingfisherbay.com) It was quiet and charming.

BeckersW8

I just wanted to say thank you to all for your advice! We will write again with more specific questions as our itinerary begins to come together. Thanks again -- we have enjoyed reading all of your posts and truly appreciate your help!