Australia & New Zealand Trip

Since this is EUROPE site you may not get many responses.

Since I've seen other questions and answers about Australia and New Zealand it seems that non-Europe travelers are exchanging advice for non-European vacations. This is why I posted a question. Thanks for pointing out that it is a Europe site, but I already knew that.

Lots of travelers go all over, not just to Europe. So it makes sense to ask here because someone could know. Australia and New Zealand are on my list, too, so I can't help you with that, but I've driven on the opposite side several times and you do get used to it quickly. Good luck with your planning!

Thanks for posting the question Joanna. It's nice to be able to put a vote in for my country once in a while. I won't go into detail here but with 3 weeks you should be able to see heaps. I would suggest you spend most of your time on the east coast - Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and maybe Tasmainia. As far as driving it can be a bit challenging. Perhaps avoid the major centres and hire a car to get around the country areas where the traffic is less.

Hi, I'd love to help you plan your trip. Can you tell me what you like to do or see? If you can give me an idea of the sorts of things you like I can make some suggestions. Where will you fly into? Travelling along the east coast if easy as it is where the majority of the population is and is well serviced. I would suggest you fly or drive between destinations as our trains are not as good Europe. We really haven't developed the system. There is basically only desert between the eastern states and Western Australia and so very little to see, except Ayres Rock. If this is your only trip down under I would suggest you try to fit that in. There is also a rock formation called the Olgas just near there and it's great too. A lot of people think the rock is just out of Alice Springs (I did) but it's not - it's about 4 hours drive - and you would probably have to stay overnight. So I think you would have to allow at least 2 - 3 days to get there and back. Run out of room.

Thank you for responding to my post. My sister and I are looking for fun things to do and beautiful places to visit. We are not into high seeking thrills (ex. bungee jumping), but we do love visiting rain forests, waterfalls, pretty towns and cities, etc. We don't need luxury and are willing to rough it a little. We heard there are farmstays, and are curious if they are a good way to experience your country. Essentially we just want to know what we should absolutely see to get a real taste of Australia and New Zealand. We don't mind spending several days in a few select places instead of a whirlwind trip that covers everything if this is a better way to make our visit great. We definitely want to see the Great Barrier Reef, and we heard we have to go see Penguin Island (???). Sydney and Melbourne are on the list too (we think we will fly into Sydney). Thanks!

Joanna, I have not been to New Zealand (trying to plan that for next year), but I have visited Australia. This was years ago. I got a "circle fare" on Qantas which flew me from SFO directly to Sydney. Then I flew to Brisbane (enjoyed the Gold Coast from there) then on to Carnes (the Great Barrier Reef is a must see) and then I spent a few days in Hawaii before returning home. I did this in about 2 weeks. It was an outstanding trip. Have fun planning! I am envious.

Joanna,

My wife and I went to Australia and New Zealand last year. WOW what a spectacular trip. You're going to have so much fun!! I definately want to go back...
So we flew into Sydney and stayed there for about 3 days. From there, took a day trip to the blue mountains which was really nice. We then flew up to Airlie Beach and did a 3 night/4 day cruise of the Whitsundays (an absolute must in my opinion) - that was the highlight of my Australia experience. We unfortunately didn't stay much longer in Australia (sure wish we would have), but time wasn't on our side.

From there, we went to New Zealand and again had an amazing time. We flew into Christchurch (South Island) and then flew to Queenstown the next day (driving would have been too long for the amount of time we had).

No room left to write, so to be continued...

Ok, I'm back...
We didn't stay in Queenstown, but continued on to Milford Sound (I personaly loved this place). It rains A LOT, however we lucked out and the only full day we had there was bright and sunny :) SO LUCKY. There are some really nice water falls in Mildford Sound.

For pictures of them and of the rest of our trip visit my website: http://www.higgstudios.com

From mildford sound we went to Mount Cook and then drove through Lake Tekapo and onto Akaroa on the East coast just South of Christchurch. Then back to Christchurch and off to Fiji. I wish we could have stayed longer - I hear that Dunedin is really nice as well as Kaikoura not to mention the North Island that we didn't have time to see. But since we only had 3 weeks, we couldn't stay too long in any one place. We swam with dolphins in Akoroa (awesome but the water was cold - we went in mid-October)Anyhow, you are going to really enjoy yourself - Australia and New Zealand are so beautiful!

Happy Travels!

Hi Steph,

Thank you so much for your advice!!! It helps a lot. I'm so glad to hear that the trip was amazing, and it makes me look forward to my trip even more.