Oceania (Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific) - Australia Aug 21 (arr 8/22) to Sep 7 Itinerary: Critique?

[EDIT June 26: Unfortunately, Alice Springs is a no-go from AUG 25-29 due to a trucking convention that has resulted in absolutely ZERO rooms available anywhere. This itinerary is now obsolete--we'll have to plan the whole thing all over for different dates! Thanks for taking a look anyway.]



Hi all! My husband and I are going on our honeymoon soon, and we're this close to buying tickets. I thought I would ask the veterans on Flyertalk what people think of our itinerary so far. The dates are, unfortunately, not very flexible. MEL dates are fixed, some flexibility with SYD and ASP if necessary. Does anyone know of better, more efficient, or cheaper routes?


August 21: Narita (NRT) to Sydney (SYD), Jetstar, 45,310 yen each. Transit Gold Coast (OOL). Prices include 20kg baggage allowance each.

Flight number Depart Arrive Flight Duration
JQ 12 8:25pm fr NRT 6:55am @ OOL 9 hrs 30 mins
JQ 407 10:35am fr OOL 12:05pm @ SYD 1 hr 30 mins
OVERALL 8:25pm fr NRT 12:05pm @ SYD ~ 15 hrs


August 25: Sydney (SYD) to Alice Springs (ASP), Qantas, AUD $339 each (about 26,327 yen), direct. Includes 23kg baggage allowance each.

Flight number Depart Arrive Flight Duration
QF790 9:50am fr SYD 12:45pm @ ASP 2 hr 55 mins


August 31: Alice Springs (ASP) to Melbourne (MEL), Tiger, AUD $98 each (about 7,587 yen), direct. Baggage surcharge: $15 for him (15kg), $45 for me (25kg).

Flight number Depart Arrive Flight Duration
TT 5933 9:40am fr ASP 12:45pm @ MEL 3 hr 05 mins


September 7: Melbourne (MEL) to Narita (NRT), Jetstar, AUD $629.38 each (about 48,770 yen). Transit Cairns (CNS). Includes 20kg baggage allowance.

Flight number Depart Arrive Flight Duration
JQ 944 6:10am fr MEL 9:35am @ CNS 3 hrs 25 mins
JQ 25 1:15pm fr CNS 8:05pm @ NRT 7 hrs 50 mins
OVERALL 6:10am fr MEL 8:05pm @ NRT ~ 15 hrs

The only change I can see that may be cheaper is using Virgin Blue on the Sydney to Alice Springs leg, although you will need to fly into Ayers Rock Airport. It will be roughly $100 cheaper based on cheapest fares and checked baggage criteria.

Sounds like a good idea, but how do we get from Ayers Rock to Alice Springs? I've been Googling but can't find anything more convenient than a one-way bus/shuttle for $145 and which takes 6 hours.

If you are staying in the Alice for your time there then I can see that you would want to fly in and out of ASP. AYQ is closer to Uluru which I presumed is what you were going to see. If you were going to say Uluru first spend some time at the Ayer Rock resort and then head into the Alice and fly out then I would go with DJ. If you have already planned to stay in the Alice and then just do a day tour out to Uluru then I would stick with QF.

All right, thanks for the look-over! I was sort of hoping to cut the cost of SYD - ASP down a bit, but I guess this is about as good as it gets.

Why do you want to go to Alice Springs ?

At first my husband was the only one who wanted to go, but after looking it up on Wikitravel (http://wikitravel.org/en/Alice_Springs) I do too. There's a lot of outdoors activity available (biking, hiking trails etc) and accomodation costs about half that of the cities. It's also beautiful and reminds me a lot of Utah and Arizona (he likes rocks and mountains), but there's more greenery than in Utah (a big plus for me). Is that what you were looking for?

You're spending 6 days in Alice Springs?:confused: There's really not that much going on there, it's more of a base than a destination.

Why do you want to go to Alice Springs ?You're spending 6 days in Alice Springs?:confused: There's really not that much going on there, it's more of a base than a destination.Which is the reason I asked
Most people only go to Alice on the way to Ayers Rock / Uluru or other destination.

We were originally going to spend 3-4 days in Alice Springs, but the cheapest flights worked out this way and we'd originally thought we'd just spend a day or two sort of being idyllic, this being our honeymoon and all that. Unfortunately, it looks like there's a trucking convention there from 25-29 AUG and all the hotels are full. We shall have to reschedule and re-do this entire itinerary again! T_T I'll put a note in the top post to this effect.

I agree, Alice is a base for tours. But I personally would have no problem spending six nights there. From Alice you can go very nicely into the McDonald ranges (East or West) do a lot of outdoor activities and even go to far away places like Uluru or the Devils Marbles.

There are a lot of good accommodation choices in Alice so spending time there is not that crazy. I have certainly spent about as many nights in Alice as I have in the Ayers Rock Resort.

If you cant go to Alice Springs, try Kangaroo Island. We were just there and its great...your dates would be early spring, so lots of wildlife and flowers. Its got lots of scenery, parks, big range of places to stay...we were at Southern Ocean Lodge on the west coast near Hansons Bay

Thanks! We locked the tour in and will make it to Alice Springs after all. 4 days there should be GREAT!