North or South First?
 

Hello All,

My husband and I are thrilled to be planning our vacation to Oz and NZ and have enjoyed all the good info in the forum. Truly apprecaite the time people take to answer questions.

We will be flying into Sydney Oct. 19 and leaving Nov. 16th. With four weeks to spend we are trying to plan for the best weather in each area. Our goal is to spend time in the following areas:

Sydney 3/4 days
Melborne 3/4 days
NZ 7/8 days
GB Reef blanace of time

Originally we though we would fly to Sydney, explore drive to Melborne, then fly to NZ (Churchchrist) explore and travel our way up to Auckland (perhaps in campervan), fly from Auk to Cairnes. Spend the blanance of our trip diving at the reef and perhaps driving in a campervan back to Sydney. I'm temped to just fly back to Sydney.

Given the time of the year should we start with the reef and would backwards from our plan as the weather gets warmer in the the south?

What would your suggestions be for travel between cities in Oz and to NZ? Blue Virgin and Quantas, I know about. Should we book these in advance? We would like the flexiblilty to stay somewhere an extra day if we are enjoying it.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

HappyGirl,

Weatherwise, you'd be best off starting with the GBR, then heading south to Sydney and then NZ. I would not suggest a GBR-Sydney drive with the time you have. Nonetheless, a Cairns-Mackay or Cairns-Townsville trip would be very doable and would not only let you see the GBR but also some gorgeous county, waterfalls, rainforest, islands, etc (with the odd diversion inland). You could easily spend a week in North Queensland - there is a lot to see and do, especially if you get out and about. Then fly from Townsville or Mackay to Sydney.

As for NZ, my very strong suggestion would be to not attempt both North and South Islands in just 7-8 days. Stick to the South Island. I just returned from a one week trip to the South Island. We had originally planned to see both islands and now I am really happy we changed our mind to visit only the SI. It is awesome - spending anything less than a week there would be a shame.

Where are you flying from? The reason I ask, is that I would leave NZ for last, then fly home from there, if that's at all possible. This would allow you to have "better weather" in NZ for the latter part of your holiday.
Do you like swimming? Again water temperatures in these different locations you mention will change dramatically, eg. October is the start of the swimming season in Sydney, but I can tell you the water is still quite chilly, better in November. As for Cairns....well the water temps are quite okay in October or November. As for Melbourne, forget it, until at least January/February.
My suggestion would be to arrive in Sydney...have 3 full days there (sufficient to see major attractions), then rent a vehicle & drive down along the South Coast to Melbourne (not the Hume Highway, its boring). Then have 3-4 full days in Melbourne. Hang onto your rental car for Melbourne, so you can drive the Great Ocean Road, with an overnight stopover along the way (don't rush this wonderful drive, and instead backtracking, you can drive back to Melbourne, via the inland route).
Drop off the rental, and fly from Melbourne to Shute Harbour (2 days - and visit the Whitsunday Islands), then rent another vehicle & drive north to Cairns. Then base yourself in Palm Cove, Ellis Beach, or Port Douglas,(again hang onto your rental car, to drive to places like Atherton Tablelands, etc).
From Cairns you could fly to Sydney, then across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand. (not sure if you can fly from Cairns to NZ, I must look into that one)
As for NZ, yes campervan is a wonderful way to travel around this beautiful country. Try to spend more time in the South Island, than the North Island. Most of Lakes, Mountains, glaciers, & great scenery is in the south. Also it is less populated, which means less traffic on the road.
This suggested Australian itinerary would allow you to see some of the beautiful countryside,eg
* South Coast of NSW
* Great Ocean Road
* Areas between Shute Harbour & Cairns, like Ingham, Cardwell, Hinchinbrook Island, Townsville & Magnetic Island, Tully & Dunk Island, Tully Falls, etc.

Hope this helps, Leigh.

Yes, you can fly Cairns-Auckland, usually via Sydney or Brisbane, or as was the case when I last went to NZ from Cairns it was via Melbourne. 7-8 days is nowhere near enough for both islands, and as Ralph suggests stick to the south - north island is lovely but south is spectacular. Agree you should start in North Queensland and work your way south as weather will be better at both ends - October is the best month of year in North Qld - I was in south island of NZ in November and it was still pretty cold in some parts - it was snowing on the road to Doubtful Sound.

Hi There

Just to add to the thread. You can fly direct from Cairns to Auckland three times weekly with Air New Zealand. Other times it is with Qantas via Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne.

If however you start your trip in Cairns and work your way down to Melbourne you will find that there are more flights from there to NZ. For instance there are usually two flights a day to Christchurch from Melbourne on Air NZ. Don't know about Qantas but I suppose a similar schedule is applicable.

As with the previous advice I would suggest only one island to visit as both would be too much in the time you have.

BTW, if you are flying to the US or via North America to destinations beyond you can fly direct from Christchurch to the West Coast of the USA three times weekly. Saves you the hop up to Auckland to connect with your flight (Not that that is much of a hassle its only a 1:40 flight).

Hope you have a great time

Steve

Thanks for the feedback...we are flying in from the US, San Fran to Sydney. I cannot change that to NZ, but will make that the later part of the trip.

Having fun reconfiguring the trip to make the most of it. Hubby would really like to see both islands of NZ. So, I'm not sure how much time we will spend there, but I do know our feet will land in the North island at least for a while. Sounds like we will need warm clothing for NZ!

We will no longer be planning to drive up the coast in Oz. We are thinking of flying from Sydney to perhaps Mackay and starting a drive trip as Ralph suggested and find our way up to Cairns. Was thinking of including a stay at the Silky Oaks I think it is called just past Cairns. We would like to scuba dive twice, and also snorkle wherever possible via walking in of the beach and enjoy the reef. This, along with sightseeing in the area, and the drive...how much time do you think would do the area justice?