Shianne

I am starting to plan my itinerary for my trip to Australia and New Zealand in mid Nov-mid Dec. I am wondering if I have enough time planned for each place.

Arrive in Melbourne on 11/17 through 11/21
Ayers Rock 11/21-11/23
Carins 11/23-11/27
Sydney 11/27-11/30
Auckland 11/30-12/2
Rotorua 12/2-12/4
Christchurch 12/4-12/6
Queenstown 12/6-12/10
then back to Melbourne on 12/10 and spend the night to fly back to the US on 12/11

I am planning on flying between each destination except for Auckland to Rotorua. Do you think I should plan for a day in Alice Springs or just go straight to Ayers Rock? Thanks for your input.

AlanJG

Have a look at this thread to decide on Alice Springs.
http://www.fodors.com/community/aust...omment-6896898

Three days in and around Cairns is not nearly enough in my opinion but if you give a bit more information on your interests we can make more relevant comments.

Susan7

Personally, I'd cut out either Sydney or Melbourne and add that time to Cairns or the Red Centre. I think the unique parts of Australia are outside the cities, don't get me wrong, our cities are great but the reef, the animals and the bush are the things that are really extraordinary.

Just so you know, we format dates like the Europeans, with the day, then the month; that might be important when booking things here!

Melnq8

That's alot of moving around. Don't underestimate the time wasted getting to and from airports, waiting for flights, picking up and returning rental cars, changing hotels, etc.

The best of NZ is outside the cities, yet you seem to be visiting mostly cities???

jhnrbrts

I think it's a pretty good itinerary. but you must consider saving time

Shianne

I do realize that it is a lot of moving around. I am doing this trip solo and wanted to try and see as much as I could of the big places to see, since I don't think I will ever get back there. As far as just listing the cities they are where I am planning on staying and then doing day tours around there. Would it be easier/best to rent a car in Christchurch and then drive to Queenstown to do the sightseeing around those areas and then back to Christchurch to fly back to Melbourne??

Melnq8

Christchurch 12/4-12/6
Queenstown 12/6-12/10

I see six full days, taking the flights from Rotorua and Melbourne into account.

The shortest drive from Christchurch to QT is down the east coast, which isn't very pretty until you cut across to Fairlie and Lake Tekapo. The West Coast route is gorgeous, but you'd need to break up the drive, as it's longer, so you're looking at one day to drive to QT via the inland route, and two days to drive to QT via the West Coast.

Driving is the best way to see the SI, but it will eat into your time. If you do decide to drive, I'd suggest you drive one way only, then fly from QT back to Christchurch for your departing flight. Otherwise, you're looking at 3-4 days of driving, and that's alot with only six full days to work with.

Shianne

Thanks for the input. I think that I have decided to wait on New Zealand and just do Australia this time around and then hopefully in a couple of years I can go to New Zealand and devote more time to see everything that should be seen.