Australia/NZ itinerary help

[origami]

We are hoping to go to Australia & NZ over Christmas and New Years. I know we can stay 2w but I'm hoping to push it to 2.5. Just depends on DH's job. (We're flying from korea so it's "just" 11hrs-ish and the time change is NBD so we should only 1 day to recover.) We will have our kids with us who will be 5y then.

Is it possible to do a halfway decent trip to both Australia & NZ in this time frame or not even close? We don't need to see the whole country. Just the highlights. But we don't want to go all the way there and still miss a big thing KWIM? What are the must-see cities/areas? We're not really sure what there is to do in NZ, in particular, because the only people we know who have been there did camping/biking/backpacking and we would be miserable doing that with my kids. We don't want to spend long days in a car driving either, unless that's the easiest way to get from A to B. We are considering a NZ cruise but I hate how cruises rush you through the sites. I don't know how much time you need to see the sites though. Any suggestions are appreciated because we're clueless.

[frlcb]

I loved, loved, loved NZ and think it deserves 2 weeks on its own, but you could definitely do both, if you chose one city in each I think. We loved Melbourne but haven't been anywhere else in Australia. If you went to Melbourne you could do the Great Ocean Road, Phillip Island to see the penguins and Maru Koala and Animal Park, puffing billy railway, and the city itself is great.

We only did the Northern island of NZ and I know the South Island is supposed to be better but seriously the north island was amazing. We did Rotarua, and went to a sheep shearing farm, we did a glowworm cave which your boys would love, did some hot springs, took a speed boat ride, and really liked Auckland.

You will have such a great time, so jealous!

[mdgirl]

We did both for our honeymoon in about 10 days. It's not ideal but we had a limited timeframe, and I think it worked OK for us. We also went back to NZ for our 10 year anniversary. We only went to Queenstown in NZ on our honeymoon, which is gorgeous and a fun little town. We also went back for our anniversary (mostly to hike the Milford Track). I think it would be good with kids. There are a lot of "extreme" sports, but some less extreme but still fun stuff, too. For our anniversary we also went to Auckland (meh) and Waiheke Island, which was great for us because it was beautiful and there were vineyards, but might not be too exciting for kids.

In Australia we did Sydney and Port Douglas. I liked both and I think if we had a couple more days we would have done a trip to Uluru, too.

[origami]

Thank you! That was very helpful!

[Deleted]

I loved Hamilton Island in the Whitsunday Islands! Try to go there if you can

[babsbunny]

We did 6 nights in Sydney and 6 nights NZ south island, three towns. In Sydney, we did not have a car but did a one day guided Blue Mountains tour - Featherdale Park where you can feed and pet kangaroos is a must. In NZ, we did 2 nights Queenstown, 2 Te Anau, 2 Dunedin. With only 6 nights, I designed our itinerary to reduce drive time as much as possible so there are lots of reasons for us to go back.

[dorothyinAus]

I can't say anything about New Zealand. But as a resident of Australia, I would caution against coming at Christmas/New Year's. EVERYTHING is crowded because schools are out mid-December through Australia Day and it's summer. So everything is not only crowded, but HOT. It's not unusual for the major cities to have temps in the upper 30/40's over that time. Also, it's high season so everything will be more expensive than usual, and Australia is already a really expensive place. I really recommend, if possible, you come in Australia's winter. I love being here June-August. There's still plenty going on, but it's not hot and not really crowded. (Just for airport examples, I flew out to the US on Dec. 31 and the airport was crazy busy and the flights were packed! I flew back on Jan. 25, and even in the "quick" e-passport passport control lines the wait was over an hour.)

That said, I would recommend skipping Sydney. I found it just a big city. The really cool bridge/Opera House were not enough for me. I live south of Melbourne and would recommend coming to Melbourne. But my absolute best advice is to go to Adelaide! And from there, spend at least a night, if not 2, on Kangaroo Island and at least a day trip through the Barossa for wine tasting. I've also been to Brisbane and Canberra. Canberra is great if you're a political wonk, but totally skippable if you're not. Brisbane was fun, but I was there for a friend's wedding and had very little time for exploring so my touristy things were limited to the Museums in Southbank and riding the River Cat ferries (my friend is a captain of one of the ferries).

[origami]

Jan 25, 2015 19:53:57 GMT -5 dorothyinAus said:

I can't say anything about New Zealand. But as a resident of Australia, I would caution against coming at Christmas/New Year's. EVERYTHING is crowded because schools are out mid-December through Australia Day and it's summer. So everything is not only crowded, but HOT. It's not unusual for the major cities to have temps in the upper 30/40's over that time. Also, it's high season so everything will be more expensive than usual, and Australia is already a really expensive place. I really recommend, if possible, you come in Australia's winter. I love being here June-August. There's still plenty going on, but it's not hot and not really crowded. (Just for airport examples, I flew out to the US on Dec. 31 and the airport was crazy busy and the flights were packed! I flew back on Jan. 25, and even in the "quick" e-passport passport control lines the wait was over an hour.)

That said, I would recommend skipping Sydney. I found it just a big city. The really cool bridge/Opera House were not enough for me. I live south of Melbourne and would recommend coming to Melbourne. But my absolute best advice is to go to Adelaide! And from there, spend at least a night, if not 2, on Kangaroo Island and at least a day trip through the Barossa for wine tasting. I've also been to Brisbane and Canberra. Canberra is great if you're a political wonk, but totally skippable if you're not. Brisbane was fun, but I was there for a friend's wedding and had very little time for exploring so my touristy things were limited to the Museums in Southbank and riding the River Cat ferries (my friend is a captain of one of the ferries).

thank you for your thoughts. I don't want to go in the high season, per se, but we are limited by school/work. Going in July may be feasible though. How cold is it during the winter though? I kind of hate winter.

[wise_rita]

Jan 25, 2015 20:56:56 GMT -5 origami said:

Jan 25, 2015 19:53:57 GMT -5 dorothyinAus said:

I can't say anything about New Zealand. But as a resident of Australia, I would caution against coming at Christmas/New Year's. EVERYTHING is crowded because schools are out mid-December through Australia Day and it's summer. So everything is not only crowded, but HOT. It's not unusual for the major cities to have temps in the upper 30/40's over that time. Also, it's high season so everything will be more expensive than usual, and Australia is already a really expensive place. I really recommend, if possible, you come in Australia's winter. I love being here June-August. There's still plenty going on, but it's not hot and not really crowded. (Just for airport examples, I flew out to the US on Dec. 31 and the airport was crazy busy and the flights were packed! I flew back on Jan. 25, and even in the "quick" e-passport passport control lines the wait was over an hour.)

That said, I would recommend skipping Sydney. I found it just a big city. The really cool bridge/Opera House were not enough for me. I live south of Melbourne and would recommend coming to Melbourne. But my absolute best advice is to go to Adelaide! And from there, spend at least a night, if not 2, on Kangaroo Island and at least a day trip through the Barossa for wine tasting. I've also been to Brisbane and Canberra. Canberra is great if you're a political wonk, but totally skippable if you're not. Brisbane was fun, but I was there for a friend's wedding and had very little time for exploring so my touristy things were limited to the Museums in Southbank and riding the River Cat ferries (my friend is a captain of one of the ferries).

thank you for your thoughts. I don't want to go in the high season, per se, but we are limited by school/work. Going in July may be feasible though. How cold is it during the winter though? I kind of hate winter.

Not cold at all.  Come on, it's Australia!  It's in the 70's in winter during the day, 50's at night.  No rain.  It's awesome.  

If you can swing it I'd definitely recommend NOT Christmas.  You should see the gnarly sunburn I got this weekend.  I wasn't in the sun for one second.  It's just too hot, and everything is crowded and expensive.  Plus it often rains.  Summer is far and away the least awesome season in Australia.

As for destinations, I think the south island of NZ might be a bit of a snooze for young kids.  It was amazing, and the most scenic place I've ever seen, but I just don't see it entertaining kids.  I haven't been to the north island but I get the impression there's more stuff to do there.  It's expensive to get between the 2 islands with a car, and with your time frame you wouldn't have time for both (plus Australia) anyways.  

As for Oz I think, with the time you've got, a few days in Sydney plus the GBR off of Cairns/Port Douglas.  You don't come to Australia to not see the reef, so it's a must do in my opinion.  I'd even sacrifice Sydney if need be, but it's a major hub to fly into so it's probably unavoidable.  It's a big city, and to me Australia is all about the nature (and wildlife).  Don't come to Australia and park yourself the whole time in a metropolis you could find more or less the exact same thing anywhere in the world.

Happy Australia Day, by the way!

[dorothyinAus]

If I remember correctly, wise_rita is around Brisbane and she's right, it doesn't get too terribly cold there. Melbourne and Adelaide do get downright chilly in the winter, but it's nothing like the freezing winters of the northern US. I'd say it's more like a Houston or New Orleans winter, or possibly San Francisco. To me it's never too cold to be out and about; I'd say the average highs are in the low 20s/upper teens during the day, and can go down in single digits overnight in and around Melbourne or Adelaide (Celsius temperature scale). And avoiding the crowds and heat of summer are worth the trade off.