Hi guys, thanks for all the suggestions on our trip to AU-NZ - we leave on Jan. 12 for 22 days (8 in NZ). I am already wishing we had more time!<BR>We will be in Melbourne, Cairns, Palm Cove, Sydney, Christchurch, Queenstown, and Auckland.<BR>Everyone says to pack lightly. My husband always thinks he needs a jacket and tie. Does he? Are dressy shorts okay for evening dinner wear?<BR>What can we leave out and what should we not forget. I have the carry-on only list but we will check our luggage, just want to keep it light.<BR>I am truly lost without my digital camera and usually carry it everywhere with me. I plan to bring it with me. What will happen to it while I am on the bridge walk, as I understand I can't take it with me.<BR>Our hotels are the Hotel Lindrum in Melbourne, Reef House in Palm Cove, Four Seasons in Sydney, we' ll be there for Australia day - a day of leisure and we plan just to take in the total atmosphere , The George in Christchurch, The Dairy Guest House in Queenstown, with a trip to Milford Sound, and we end up at the Stamford Plaza in Auckland. Any comments appreciated. <BR>Thanks Alan, Liz and Dimple! I am sure your nice and thorough commentary have already helped many others including me.<BR>I am really getting excited.

Dee,<BR><BR>We are leaving March 9th for almost the same itineary as your's. We wil also be staying at Seibel Reef House, Four Seasons and the George. I also posted on this board wanted to know about dress for the fancier restaurants and got a couple of replies. Please post a report when you come back as I can't wait to hear about your experiences with the hotels. Also, give some restaurant recommendations, too. We are booked so far at Bennelong for dinner before the opera and I'm trying to narrow down our choices for other nights in Sydney.<BR><BR>Have a great time.

Dee,<BR><BR>Although we didn't go to any really fancy restaurants (too tired from touring all day), the places we did eat at we could wear khakis pants/shorts and be in good shape. I wouldn't carry a suit..just more stuff to lug around. FYI jeans are heavy too! With your itenerary you will be on the move a lot...less is better. Plus you need to remember you will probably bring back LOTS of souveners. We had to buy another suitcase. Also..just don't check anything you don't want lost or stolen (especially the cameras &amp; film).<BR><BR>Have Fun!

Certainly no tie required - but you might be wise to pack some sort of jacket and you'll need a pair of long pants for cooler nights anyway particularly in Queenstown. Smart casual is fine in all but the most upmarket restaurants. You'll be in Melbourne during the Aust Open tennis - so you might like to spend some time there. There are still some tickets available for the main court and ground passes are readily available and get you into all but the 2 show courts. Have a great trip!

Joan, I will give you a report when we return regarding the hotels. We have a number of tours booked but plan to spend our evenings in nicer restaurants, most likely, in the hotels or some of those listed on the forum.<BR>Also, we are doing the Colonial Tram Car dinner in Melbourne and Doyles in Sydney at this point.<BR>Christina, thanks for the info regarding the tie...did not plan on jeans - just shorts, khakis, slacks and tops. <BR>Mary, thanks for the info on the Aust. Open...We had checked it out but we may or may not have time as we are to meet up with some friends from another trip on our leisure days in Melbourne.<BR>Does anyone have a good suggestion for gifts from America for our friends in Oz? A memento or something useful?<BR>I am having trouble pairing down my wardrobe!

We just got back from NZ - and went to one nice restaurant. The big deal there was men needed to wear long pants. Jacket wasn't necessary. I would definitely recommend taking some kind of jacket, however, since it's sometimes quite cool at night. I wore a black short sleeve sweater and black slacks with a sweater - and felt very comfortable. My husband took 2 pairs of long pants (we went to 3 different places) and that was more than enough. Shorts were always fine during the day and at most places we ate in the evening. I've never been to AU - but New Zealand was GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You'll take lots of pictures - we went through about 30 rolls (NZ, Fiji and Hawaii).

Hi Dee,<BR>I am so Jealous !!!!<BR>When in Palm Cove, make sure you call in the lifeguard club its half way down the main road opposite the beach, you cant miss it.<BR>Its the best value drink and food in Palm Cove, delicious food and they don't care too much about what you wear either, tidy casual is ok.<BR>There are some good restaurants and a Jacket and tie may be ok but I wouldn't bother, chill out; your on holiday !!<BR>We stayed at the Oasis in Palm Cove and that was fantastic.<BR>Only problem we found was at the pub across the road from Oasis, (forget its name now) but they were very unwelcoming and we didn't bother going there again after the first visit, but eveywhere else was fantastic and the rest of the people were so friendly.<BR>When you are on the Bridge climb,you get to put all your stuff in a locker.<BR>I was quite comfortable putting my watch and wallet in there.Just make sure you lock it and keep the key !<BR>And make sure you have not had a drink as you get breath tested ! even my 13 year old son was breath tested..lol. Fortunately he passed and we enjoyed the climb.<BR><BR>Have a fantastic time<BR><BR>Rich<BR>Wales UK

You will probably feel more appropriately dressed in long pants and a smartish shirt for the Colonial tram restaurant as it is quite &quot;formal&quot;. Again NO tie required - even though they take up little room in a suitcase!! One thing not to miss in Melbourne is the new federation Square and the gallery of Aust art there that has just opened. it's very near your hotel.

We stayed at both the Sebel Reef House and the Four Seasons in October/November and they are both absolutely fabulous! <BR><BR>At the Sebel Reef House, Barry (who is in charge of tours) was wonderful. We emailed back and forth with him before the trip and he helped us pick out tours. He can book things ahead of time for you and then charge it to your room when you get there. Also, eat at the Reef House restauarnt. It was our best meal in Australia.<BR><BR>As for clothes, at the nice restaurant we went to for dinner in Sydney (Quay), I wore a black cocktail dress and my husband wore a suit...and we felt we were dressed appropriately. Most of the men were in a suit, but you could get away with just a jacket. At the more casual restaurants, we just wore whatever we had been wearing during the day sightseeing. People tended to dress up quite a bit in the bar at the Four Seasons as well. In Palm Cove, dressy shorts are fine for men, but I'd say to make sure he wears a collared shirt. <BR><BR>On the bridge climb, they provide lockers, but we left our valuables in the safe at our hotel. Your climb leader takes about 5 pictures of you along the way that are available for purchase at the end.

Rich, Mary, Patrice...thanks for your help. We just found out our hotel in Melbourne will be the Le Meridian rather than the Lindrum and the Intercontinental in Sydney rather than the Four Seasons...there was a snaffu somewhere. Does anyone know anything about these hotels?<BR>Packing...we plan to do manage with two suitcases(one is just a carryon size) and a carryon (smallish)bag for essentials.<BR>Wish us luck.<BR>

Hi: I read your commentary with interes. I am leaving for au/nz on march 30th for 6 wks.solo. I would appreciate how you decided on your hotel and how you obtained opera tickets. So far, all I haveis my round trip air line ticket and tentative dates to fly. Is it hard to get intra au/nz flights? Is it better to have all hotels booked from the states or just one in Sydney? Any help regarding packing, reservations , local guides will be appreciated. Thanks, I am getting excited too.

Dee,<BR>You will be very happy with both Hotels.<BR><BR>They are both 5 star &amp; have a charm about them. (not your usual straight up &amp; down high rise)<BR><BR>I have stayed in both &amp; would not be able to have any negatives about them.<BR><BR>The buffet dinner in Sydney Intercontinental is wonderful.<BR><BR>Enjoy your wonderful holiday look forward to your trip report when you return.<BR>

I don't worry too much about what to wear when I travel. If you have smart casual then just about anywhere is OK - if it isn't then its not worth going to in my book. <BR>My husband was not admitted to a Casino in Germany because he didn't have a tie - fancy expecting anyone who was wishing to part with their money to have a tie????? He was also not admitted to a night club in Katherine ( in the Northern Territory in an outback town with absolutely no class ) because he was wearing a non-collared YSL shirt!!! Can't think that not getting in an either place did us any harm. As International travel packing is difficult at the best of times and room is so limited I would not be adding a formal jacket to it and as you are coming in summer you should be ok except to say that I would have a wind/shower jacket in there. <BR>Most places are happy with people wearing collars on their shirts ( why I don't know) and the ladies in either slacks or perhaps that little black dress with costume jewellery or something of that nature will suffice. There are some absolutely wonderful casual dining places in Australia that you could go to anyway and the Colonial Tram car dinner, although nice in as much as you can sit and watch Melbourne go by, has pretty ordinery food and if missed you would not be too upset. <BR>Have fun<BR>

A friend tipped us off on &quot;Space Bags.&quot; They are a heavy duty plastic bag with a vacuum seal. You put your clothes in it, close the seal and then roll the bag up to squeeze all the air out. The one-way valve lets the air out but not back in. <BR><BR>The bags compacted our clothes to about 1/2 the size. I wouldn't put a suit or nice dress in them (tends to wrinkle things a bit) but for casual or seperating dirty/wet clothes from clean, these things were a lifesaver!<BR><BR>John in Miami

I've never been to AU and will not be in NZ until this fall, but I have learned a few pack-light tips over my various trips:<BR><BR>- Ship things home. If you're buying lots of things while traveling and you don't need to see them for awhile, ship them home to save on packing space. This works with clothing as well. If you're moving through different climates or find you've bought some nice clothes to replace the travel worn items in your pack, send what you don't need home.<BR><BR>- Rubber bands, zip lock bags (small and large), safety pins, sunglasses, laundry detergent: all essential and they pack light. Powdered detergent packs light (use small ziplock bag, then store in another ziplock bag) but if you prefer liquid, you can get ten packets of Woolite for around $5 USD. Keep in seperate ziplock bag. Doing your laundry as you go is another trick to keeping your pack light. A universal sink stopper is a good thing to have to, as you can avoid laundromat costs by doing your laundry in your room &amp; letting it dry while you're out and about. <BR><BR>- For nearly all restaurants, smart casual is accepted. A nice shirt and khaki pants work nearly everywhere. Not sure about shorts, but many nicer restaurants I've been to do not allow them. I would suggest a cream or colored button-down shirt as opposed to a white shirt so that you can wear the shirt for other things. The wear of travel is also less obvious on colors other than white.<BR><BR>- I'm not sure if all internet cafes offer this, but some will allow you to hook up your digital camera and upload photos to a file storage account you sign up for before leaving. This would give me more space to take additional photos. I don't see this often and have not been where you're going, so don't count on being able to do this. An extra memory card is a worthy investment.<BR><BR>- Nearly all hotels, motels, hostels, B&amp;Bs, etc. have a safe for your valuables. Ask at the front desk.<BR><BR>Hope these helped! Take care and have a lovely trip!<BR><BR>Samantha

Liz, thanks for the info...you always help everyone.<BR>JoAnna, our trip is not a tour, we individualed our stops and what we wanted to do along the way - we will be up and down in the air a lot but it is the fastest way to see more. My husband insisted on having hotels and flights before we left. Our agent handled this for us.<BR>John, we use regular large zip lock bags<BR>especially for the lighter, non-wrinkling items and it helps.<BR>Samatha, your packing tips will help... I bought an extra 128MB card today - Thanks to everyone, now if you can tell me how to get thru the long flight the easiest way, I will go with those final notes and report back after I get home.

Dee, yes, yes, anyone have any idea how to make our very long 14 1/2 hour flight go by quickly. Sleeping usually does the trick but for some reason, I can't fall asleep on those bloody planes. Anyone have a secret potion to put me to sleep, I would be forever grateful. Thanks Deb

You can get Opera tickets at sydneyoperahouse.com.<BR>Terry