My husband and I turn 70 this year and are planning our one and only trip to Australia and New Zealand. We have decided to take a 2 week Trafalgar tour of Australia so we don’t have to deal with flights and transportation, but would like to do a 3 week self-driving tour of New Zealand, spending most of our time on the South Island. We would start in Queenstown, ferry to Wellington and then fly to Rotorua so we can visit geothermal and Maori culture areas, and end in Auckland. My first question is whether to book an Oct. 21 or March 10 tour of Australia? Second, should we visit Australia or New Zealand first? And last, we would like to go to Fiji for 5 nights. Would you suggest going before or after the trip to Australia/New Zealand? Not sure if we should take time to relax before or after the trip!

It depends a bit where you are going in Australia. Our country is huge with different climates in the north and south. A bit like comparing Florida weather to New York.

As far as tacking on a Fiji stay for relaxing, I'd do that last. When you first leave home it's likely you'll be excited about the trip and ready to do things. At the end, you'll find probably have slowed down quite a bit. Of course Fiji might be somewhere you've always dreamed of visiting.

There are lots of fabulous beach area in Australia. If you did Australia last, you could skip extra flights to Fiji and have a week at the end at the coast in Australia . There are loads of places but if any interest, look online at the Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast. Both are within 1-2 hours drive of Brisbane. Both have airports. Plenty close to Sydney too. Weather will be much warmer in the north.

In New Zealand, March is usually lovely, with a high likelihood of settled weather. In April, we'll start to get more rain and cooler weather, daylight savings also ends in early April, when we'll set the clocks back one hour and suddenly the days will have grown shorter. In 2026, school holidays will be from Friday 3 April to Sunday 19 April. Popular destinations, such as Queenstown and Wanaka, can get busy at this time. On the plus side, April is the best time of year for observing fall colors, especially on the South island.

October in New Zealand is spring, so the weather can be unsettled, with a mixture of rain and sun. We can get the occasional snowfall on high mountain passes, which can cause travel disruptions.For instance, in late October 2024, we got snow on both islands. I live in Dunedin on the South Island and in early October the lower elevations of our city flooded (i was on vacation in California, where for part of the time we had a historic heat wave.) At the same time, this October was NZ's 16th warmest October since NIWA (the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research) began recording the weather in 1909. in 2026, school holidays will be from Saturday 26 September to Sunday 11 October..October is also a time of beautiful spring flowers. It's not a busy month.

Please be aware that the ferry trip between Picton and Wellington can be rough at times. The ferries can also be cancelled due to bad weather, as they were this past week. The ferries can sometimes break down. This said, in ideal weather, this ferry crossing can be spectacular, especially when sailing through Marlborough Sounds.

I've not been to Fiji, but I would probably go during the dry season, from May/June to September. But it also gets busy at that time. My husband and I tried to book a vacation to Fiji once during this "high season" and all the places we wanted to stay at were fully booked months in advance. I would go after your trip to Australia and New Zealand.

Ending in Australia to relax is a great idea! Thanks

Great information. Thanks!

Good idea. You need some cold-weather clothing for New Zealand, and by deciding to just stick to Australia and NZ, you won't have to take along this potentially bulky clothing to Fiji. Also, with your simplified itinerary, you need to worry less about missed connections, cancelled flights, etc., which is more of a concern during South Pacific cyclone season (Novermber through April).

Once you've booked your trip, you'll need electronic visas from NZ and Australia.
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...sas/visa/nzeta
https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visa...-authority-601

With three weeks for your NZ driving trip, I would suggest a minimum of two weeks on the South Island. You mentioned Wellington, Rotorua and Auckland as the places you'd like to visit on the North Island. You can comfortably do this in a week, maybe less, depending on your Auckland plans. Two days for Wellington would be ample. My picks would be The Papa Museum (the national museum and a must if visiting Wellington), a walk along the waterfront, cable car to the Botanic Garden, and-- if you'd like to see NZ's best example of a wildlife sanctuary in an urban environment, Zealandia.

Apart from Queenstown, what other places would you like to visit on the South Island? Because you will be self-driving and will only have around two weeks for the South Island trip, it's important to understand the travel distances and times. You can check these on google or look at New Zealand Transport Agency's travel planner.
This site will also advise you of any road delays or closures.

I am assuming that you would like to visit Milford or Doubtful Sound. It sounds like you've done some research, but I'd like to make you aware of your Milford Sound options if you've not yet figured this out because it will determine how much time you'll have left fot the rest of your driving trip. Furthermore, you'd need at least two full days to explore Queenstown itself--and I say this without knowing your interests. In my opinion, the best way to visit MIlford (or Doubtful) Sound is by driving from Queenstown to Te Anau (about two hours more or less), then spending two nights in Te Anau, from which you more leisurely visit Milford Sound. You'd drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound along stunning Milford Road, which takes about two hours without stops (but I can't imagine anyone doing this drive without scenic stops and a short walk or more). You'll catch a scenic cruise (takes about two hours) from the Milford Sound dock. Alternatively, from Te Anau you can take a Milford Sound coach tour, which will include scenic stops along Milford Road and the scenic cruise. The advantage to this over an all-day tour from Queenstown, is less time on the bus and a chance to relax a little in Te Anau, a pretty little town on a lake with its own attractions (bird sanctuary, glowworms, lakeside walks). The Dept. of Conserrvation website is also useful and a great site for walk recommendations.

If you decide to visit Doubtful Sound instead (some do, as this fiord is much larger ), you'd catch the boat-to-bus to the Doubtful Sound cruise from the dock at Manapouri, which is close Te Anau.

But if if you are short on time, you'd have the option of doing an all-day tour Milford Sound tour from Queenstown by coach and/or small plane. Overnight cruises on Milford and Doubtful Sounds are also available.

I hope you'll get some relax time during the NZ portion of your trip, too!

Thanks for the info! We will be spending the majority of time on the South Island. Neither of us are that interested in seeing cities, so we're going to skip Christchurch and Wellington. We're much more happy hiking and out in nature. Our plan is to fly into Queenstown and stay for a couple of days and then go to Te Anau. Already booked Milford Sound Tour with coach from Te Anau and it includes a few stops along the way. My husband also wants to go to Doubtful Sound, but I haven't booked that yet. Is it crazy to do both? From Te Anau we want to drive to the Mount Cook area and stay in Twizel for 3 nights. Then our plan is to head to the west coast to drive for a few days to get to Abel Tasman National Park (stopping at Haast and Hokitiki/Greymouth to spend the nights). I know these will be long days and have read about the roads on the west coast. Next we want to go to Nelson and then fly to Rotorua (thought this might be better than taking the ferry to Wellington and flying from there). Only plan on spending 2 nights in Rotorua and then driving along the east coast to Auckland. Not sure if we need to spend a night along that stretch or not. We only want to stay in Auckland a couple days.

You wrote, "Next we want to go to Nelson and then fly to Rotorua (thought this might be better than taking the ferry to Wellington and flying from there)" Good idea.

If you're going from Twizel to the West Coast, consider spending a night in Wanaka, not only to break uo the journey but because of the many hiking (walking/tramping) tracks. I would say this is a must.

No, it is not too much to go to Doubtful Sound, too, especially if you think this would be your ony trip to NZ and if you have time for both trips. I've only done the overnight trip. For me, the same day trip would be too rushed, less relaxing (but I live here so I had the time). If the weather turns out to be miserable, you might regret having gone on both, unless you don't mind cloudy or grey weather. I will send you a more detailed PM later about DS.

Tourists generally don't opt to stay in Greymouth. Stay in FJ, Hokitika, or Punakaiki.

This tourist has stayed in Greymouth a few times. It makes an okay overnight, but definitely isn't a tourist hotspot. I've also stayed in Franz Josef, Hokitika and Punakaiki on several visits, and you'll definitely find more to see and do in these areas, so do give yourself more than a night if at all possible.

I would not stay overnight in Greymouth, either. We did stop there for lunch, but it is not one of the prettier places on the West Coast. We did spend one night in Franz Josef and one night in Punakaiki. I would choose either one of those places (or both of them if you have the time) instead of Greymouth.

Greymouth has attractions but they are modest. It's also a good last-stop for groceries or petrol if you plan to continue on to Punakaiki. It's a full-service town. I spent two nights in Greymouth many years ago, mosty out of curiousity. I walked on a pleasant wetlands track to the sea, to a viewing platfrom. The nearby beach there was covered with boulders, logs and debris that I guess had washed in from the ocean after a storm, but there were plenty of surfers in the water, who I spoke with and who raved about the waves. i also walked on a nice forested track above the town. I also visited Monteith's Brewery. It was almost empty, save for a small group of young locals at the bar, who seemed to be good friends of the staff. Staff ignored me, so I left without trying any of the beers or ciders. Nice building, though. I walked a lot around the town. Two nights in a row I ate the local Indian restaurant. On another occasion, my husband and i drove out to Shantytown Heritage Park, just to have a look. I think families with young children might enjoy this attraction. We also checked out some local beaches, they were rocky.

I stayed in a B&B, where there was only one other guest, a woman who was staying there before setting out on a well-known West Coast cycling ride. It could have been this one.

March is a great time to come to Australia. Just in case you havent decided to ditch Fiji -som e of my friends go to and from US via Fiji -Fiji Air. Its a good price.