Help! My husband and I will be flying into Auckland on 7/11 and leaving 7/19. We realize that it's winter and would like to know where would the best places to go given the time of year. Is the south island completely out of the question? We'd also like to go over to Eastern Australia. How is the greater Brisbane area?
Thanks, Anita

It depends on what you would like to do for both countries actually. Of course skiing and snow sports would be the main item in NZ along with a trip to the hot spring area but I will leave the suggestions for NZ to those who live there and can be more specific for you.
As for Australia, I live near Brisbane and there most certainly are many things you could do and see but again that depends on what you want to do and see. At the moment the day temps are about 22 deg C to 24 deg Celcius but cold at night. If you like swimming then this areas is not for you but if you wanted to see the GBR then going to Cairns would be the best option and the weather would be beautiful with temps of about 28 deg C and warm water. If on the other hand you are a nature buff then around the Border Ranges of Queensland and Northern New South Wales could be a really great place to be, with perhaps a bit of other interesting things thrown in for good measure. So let us know what you like and perhaps where you are from so that we can best help you.

Anita, I take it that you only have 8 days to spare, whilst trying to visit NZ and Australia. If that is the case, then concentrate on NZ.
What do you hope to see in Australia. It just seems that your time frame is so short, that it would make hard to see certain places properly.

I also think you should stick to New Zealand with only 7 days to visit. Australia is a huge country like the USA and it would be impossible to see much of it with your time. This is especially true as you are already flying into New Zealand. I would plan a day in Auckland than fly to Queenstown, do one of the fiords by tour bus than drive via Wanaka through Haast pass, up the west coast past the glaciers to Greymouth.
Take the train or drive via Arthur's pass to Christchurch. Fly back to Auckland for your plane home. You may also consider Mt Cook National park instead of the coast or skip the South island and just concentrate on the North Island. It is winter in July but you can do the South island during this time unless you are really unlucky with weather in Queenstown. I should note that 7 days is not near enough time to see New Zealand either but you can at least get a taste of this beautiful country with your time.

Thanks for offering to help. Our main concern about NZ is that it will be raining the entire time we're there because it's winter. If that is the case, should we stay briefly and go to Australia? If that isn't the case about the rain and there's plenty to do in the north island, is the snow overwhelming in the south island. We are mainly interested in bush walking (as you call it) and seeing beautiful and different (for us, we're from the Washington, D.C., area) scenery. We don't do downhill skiing, but do cross country. Are there cross country trails in the south and can you rent equipment?
Thanks again, Anita

May I suggest you purchase Fodor's "World Weather guide"? You can get weather info off the web but I do find this book very helpful when I am planning a trip somewhere. I am afraid your trip plans and your desires are alittle disjointed. If you wish to see Eastern Australia
you should be flying into Sydney not Auckland. Getting to Eastern Australia from Auckland will cut out at least a half day to perhaps a full day off of your vacation time each way from Auckland depending on whether there are direct flights from Auckland to Brisbane when you are traveling. This means that you will be spending much of your vacation flying.
Getting back to the weather. My NZ friends tell me that winter tends not to be very harsh on most of the South Island. We found this to be true last July when we spent almost two weeks in NZ and had one half day of rain our entire visit. (lucky) Did rain/snow abit at night. The Weather guide tends to suggest that there tends not to be great variation in precepitation in most of NZ. For example Christchurch monthly average rain runs from 1.7 inches in Feb to a high of 2.7 inches in July with days of rain running from 8 days/ month in Feb to 13 days in July. Obviously there is more precipitation in the winter but not a huge difference in weather that you might find elsewhere in the world. You do have less daylight time in the winter.
If you wish to do alot of outdoor activity the summer/fall/spring time obviously is better for most of these activities except for skiing. The problem with these activities is that you will not be able to see much of NZ in 7 days if your desires are to go hiking etc. You will be able to handle winter weather in the south Island as you live in DC.

We spent last July 2003 and July 2002 in the Brisbane area. The temperatures were very moderated during the day. You hardly needed a sweater, but at night the thermometer dropped 20 degrees and a coat was necessary. The weather along the Sunset Coast is great and so is the Sunset Coast. Particularly liked Maleny and Noosa. Only 1 1/2 to 2 hours away. Beautiful scenery, relatively uncrowded and lovely walks to take. Highly recommended. We had no rain on either trip.

annetti - thank you for pointing out those extreme variations in temperature in SE Qld in winter - today's minimum in bayside Brisbane is 6C with a maximum of 23C - that's a lower minimum than Sydney which is far south of Brisbane and a bit less than even Melbourne's minimum. According to a friend it got down to 3C on the Gold Coast the other night. Far balmier weather on east coast Queensland in July is in Far North - with a forecast minimum tonight of 18C and max. 26C