Sydney-Queensland-New Zealand
 

I will be traveling to Australia for the first time in September. We know we want to be in Sydney, see the Great Barrier Reef (maybe Port Douglas) and Bay of the Islands in New Zealand. Should we start in Sydney? How many days to see the sites 5 nights? Then go up north? How many nights? Appreciate any suggestions. All will be traveling from US California. Thank you.

Uh, what's the total amount of time you have? That would help with overall planning.

Thinking we will be there 10-12 days. We want to see the major sites in Sydney, such as the Blue Mtns, the outback, a rainforest, opera house, etc. I realize some of these are day trips. Appreciate the help.

Hi Raidermom. I don't want to put a damper on your plans but , if you mean a maximum of 12 days to see Sydney, GBR, the outback AND Bay of Islands in New Zealand, I think you are taking on too much. You would have to fly to Cairns and say Uluru ( if that's what you mean by outback ) and then to New Zealand and they are all a LONG way apart. Can you maybe restrict it to Sydney and Blue Mountains eg with perhaps a side trip to GBR as I don't see you having time to cover those huge distances in the time available ( unless you can extend the time ? ). Good luck with your plans and come back if you have further questions.

Given that Australia is roughly the size of the USA, a cursory glance at a map will show you that 10-12 days is barely enough to see Sydney, possibly the Blue Mountains,The GBR & Uluru.

If you could fly into / out of Cairns & Sydney, it would give you a little wriggle room.

If not, perhaps 4 days Sydney ( 1 for Blue Mountains)
Sydney - Uluru (Ayers Rock on airline schedules) 2 nights

Uluru - Cairns - 3 or 4 nights ( depending on your available time)
Cairns - Sydney ( 1 night)

Or ... Use the Cairns hinterland & Atherton tablelands to see something of "the outback" instead of going to Uluru. Completely different experience but "outback" & unique landscapes, wildlife & contrast with the other destinations, nevertheless.

You could easily add a day to Sydney & make the Blue Mountains a 1 or 2 night trip. Equally, 5 or 6 days in FNQ ( far North Queensland ) will go in a blink - there is so much variety to see & do up there. If you're keen divers, a live-aboard for a night is fabulous.

Adding another country just isn't on, lovely though New Zealand is, IMO.

Does your 10-12 days include arrival & departure days?

Suggest you have a look at the destination tags here and on their own websites to give you an idea of what's available & help refine your Itinerary.

We did a 5 week trip to Oz and NZ a couple of years ago, and absolutely agree that you don't have time to do more than 2 places in that time.

Given the fact that to get to the Bay of Islands you have to fly to Auckland losing 3 hours with the time difference] and then hire a car to get there, I think that you would be better off sticking to OZ.

You could have a great trip seeing Sydney and Northern Q'land - if you could fly into Cairns [or even Brisbane] and out of Sydney that would be the best idea. PD is a terrific place to stay with all the tours out to the GBR that you could want plus lots of other things to see and do too. and I agree that if you could fit in a day or two in the Atherton Tablelands, that would be the icing on the cake.

Thanks everyone for your advice. We will stay in Australia and see NZ another time. I will post a draft of an itinerary soon for your input.

Now you're talking :)
We love this stuff ... saves the Southerners of us from our winter chills when we can fantasise about someone else's holiday here!

Some great advice here. Look forward to reading your revised itinerary to see if any other ideas would be helpful :)