mcbg1

I have a 12 night trip planned to NZ in November. My itinerary is 2 nights in Christchurch, 3 nights in Queenstown and then 7 nights in Auckland. After, I need to head to Melbourne to catch my flight back to Canada.

With that said, I can now extend my trip by another 9 nights. I've been to Australia many times before but have only spent a few cold and rainy days in Melbourne before. Should I use the extra time to enjoy Melbourne assuming the weather will be decent in November?

I've also never been to the west coast of Australia so I'm thinking of heading to Perth for a few days. The only downside is that flying 4 hours from Auckland to Melbourne and then another 4 hours to Perth seems like a long journey. Is it worth the long trek?

I'm a big city kinda person but I also enjoy nature and beaches.

tripplanner001

My suggestion would be to spend all of your time in NZ. How are you travelling between Christchurch and Queenstown? There are stops you could make along the way. Three nights in Queenstown seems short to me, especially if you plan on visiting Milford Sound. And 7 nights seem long for Auckland unless you have other reasons to be there for so long.

mcbg1

I don't drive so I am limited to public transportation and organized tours, which I am fine with.

tripplanner001

I don't drive either, and neither does anyone else in my travel party, so that makes both of us. To give you a sense of how I am planning 15 nights in NZ, I am concentrating on the South Island only and going from Christchurch (3 nights) to Mount Cook (2 nights), Queenstown (4 nights), Te Anau (3 nights), and Dunedin (3 nights). Seven nights between Queenstown and Te Anau may be a lot, but I intend to do a fair bit of hiking.

Auckland is awesome too. I visited in 2013, and stayed for 5 nights, which I found to be on the upper limit of what we wanted. Four would have been fine. If you have time, and you will if you stick with 7 nights, go out to Waiheke Island, as it is different and more relaxed than the big city. You can get to and fro by ferry and once you are on the island you could use the public bus or hike.

If you haven't already, look at the InterCity website, which offers bus transportation options throughout the country (https://www.intercity.co.nz/). It has been very helpful in my own planning. If you are travelling around a lot, then you can purchase one of the passes available, which may be more economical.

How many are you? If you have a large group, perhaps consider a private driver for some of the longer and more interesting legs. It may come out to a similar price.

Melbourne is fabulous too, and there is plenty to keep you busy in the city and the surrounding area. Have you been to Sydney? I would choose Sydney over Perth, or even Brisbane for that matter. Just more to do IMO.

Melnq8

I'd add that time to NZ too. But just visiting the cities? NZ is not about cities - it's about beautiful countryside, mountains, glaciers, rain forest, beaches, etc.

Curious what you plan to do in Auckland for seven nights?

There are direct flights from Auckland to Perth on Air NZ - I've made that trek many times. While its a relatively short flight, it's often a brutally timed overnighter with a four hour time difference, so it's more tiring than one might think.

I used to live in Perth, and while it's easy enough to get around the CBD by train and bus, it can be an ordeal to get further out to the beaches and near impossible to get to the wine regions without a car or tour (assuming that's even an interest, which it may not be).

mcbg1

I will see all of that by doing day trips.

Melnq8

I will see all of that by doing day trips.

As in tours? That might be a bit more difficult (and expensive) than you expect in WA.

And day trips from city bases in NZ will be pretty limited too. Sure you can see the immediate vicinity, but the base city concept doesn't work very well in NZ because of the huge amount of time it takes to get to some of the best bits, the distances involved and the limited roads.

New Zealand looks small on a map, but it takes a lot of time to get from Point A to Point B; it's best seen on the move. For instance, the glaciers and West Coast on the South Island aren't day trips from anywhere. Either is Mount Cook, which is a 3.5 hour one way drive from Queenstown, four hours from Christchurch.

You can certainly visit Milford Sound from Queenstown by bus but it's a helluva long day - some 13 hours - eight of it butt in seat. And with only three nights in QT, there's not much time for anything else.

Maybe if you give us an idea of specifically what you're interested in, we could be of more help.

KayF

Melbourne's weather in November could be anything which does make it hard to plan. Weather there is very changeable - hour to hour and day to day. It could be hot and sunny, cold and rainy or anywhere in between.

If you do decide to fly to Perth and only have a few days, you could see Fremantle, Rottnest Island, the city area and Kings Park.

Kay

northie

margo_oz

Too much time in Auckland.

New Zealand is about going outside the cities. But not on day trips.