Oceania (Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific) - Aug.-Sept. OZ and NZ Trip - Itinerary Help

My wife and I are taking a trip from 25 August to 20 September to OZ and NZ and we were hoping to get some feedback on our planned itinerary. Here are our current thoughts, but we are quite open to any feedback/suggestions.

Thanks!

25 August: Depart DC
26 August: Travel
27 August: Arrive MEL @ 8:20 AM
Any thoughts on top highlights in Melbourne? I assume that the whole day we arrive is lost to jet lag, but that still gives us Tuesday-Saturday as full days (traveling out on Sunday). Should we stick to just Melbourne or plan some lengthy day trips or a one overnight trip? What about Tasmania?

2 Sept.: Travel to Cairns
We would really like to spend 2-3 days at a resort on an Island in the Great Barrier Reef that is not prohibitively expensive to travel to from Cairns. We are comfortable paying for a somewhat pricey resort, but just did not also want to spend $1,000 to get there (i.e., Lizzard Island). Assuming we check into a resort on Sunday 2 September, we would like to check out on Tuesday (4/9) or Wednesday (5/9) and head up to spend a day in Daintree National Park and spend the night in Port Douglas. Then head back and see Kuranda on the way back in to Cairns. We could then fly down to Sydney from Cairns on either Thursday (6/9) or Friday (7/9). Would it be more beneficial to spend extra time in either Cairns or up by Port Douglas? Any suggestions on which island resort would make the most sense for a married couple with no kids? (We are not scuba people, but would like to see the great barrier reef, snorkeling/glass bottom boat, etc., and would like to do that form whatever resort we end up at)

6 or 7 Sept.: Travel to Sydney
Our plan was to spend three nights in Sydney itself, we have hotel points to stay at the Park Hyatt Sydney right across from the Opera House. We then figured we could take day or one night overnight trips from Sydney? Perhaps a walkabout? Perhaps head to Canberra? Day trip to the Blue Mountains? Any suggestions for what to do in Sydney? What to see near Sydney? Does our proposed way of splitting up the time make any sense?


12, 13, or 14 Sept.: Travel to Wellington, NZ
Depending on what we hear about how long to spend in Sydney, we will decide on when to leave for New Zealand. Because we will leave our bags at the hotel in Sydney, we will be traveling lighter and able to have a bit more of a hectic schedule perhaps in New Zealand. We have looked at the following itinerary...but it seems ambitious and we are hoping to get some insight on it:
13 Sept.: Arrive in Wellington and spend the day and night.
14 Sept.: Take the ferry to Picton and spend Friday and Saturday night in wine country
16 Sept.: Take the first flight to as close as we can get to the Franz Josef Glacier and travel to the Glacier
17 Sept.: Walk the Glacier and travel to Greymouth
18 Sept.: Take the train to Christchurch
19 Sept.: Explore Christchurch in the morning and depart for Sydney

Again, this may be too ambitious, it was our best first effort at piecing together the New Zealand part of our trip. That said, we are quite open to suggestions about any part of the itinerary.

20 Sept.: Return to DC

Any thoughts, suggestions, criticisms, would be very much appreciated. The only thing actually booked are the flights to and from OZ, everything else is wide open currently.

Thank you.

You could do the "Bridge Climb" - climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Haven't done it, and I'm not keen on heights, but it's very popular apparently. When visiting Sydney I love to do the Sydney Explorer bus tours, one "does" the city area, and the Bondi Explorer takes an interesting route down to the famous Bondi Beach.

Thanks MsMercury. Your signautre says you are in Tasmania...do you have any thoughts on a trip there during our week in Melbourne?

Tasmania is well worth visiting, but I'd recommend coming for at least a week. Lots to see here! To suggest just a few things - Port Arthur is an interesting day trip from Hobart, Salamanca Market at Hobart's waterfront is very good (Saturdays), and we have a newish world class art museum called MONA ... created by a wealthy gambler/entrepreneur who lives here ... it's theme is sex and death. It really is amazing.
What else ... hmmm .... the East coast has absolutely beautiful beaches especially the Bay of Fires area, and also Wineglass Bay.
Then there's Cradle Mountain, a wonderful wilderness area with great bushwalking. There are wildlife parks where you can go to see Tasmania devils. I'm sure I'll think of lots more!

We would really like to spend 2-3 days at a resort on an Island in the Great Barrier Reef that is not prohibitively expensive to travel to from Cairns.


Consider Green Island. Transfers from Cairns are included with bookings.

Audrey

Audrey --

Thanks! Green Island looks very nice and as you mentioned free to get to. The online reviews are very positive, except for the amount of day trippers that head out there. If we were willing to spend a bit more to get to an Island is there somewhere you'd recommend that has less day trippers?

Thanks!

In September Lizard Island and Capella (Lord Howe Island) offer free flights in conjunction with a 5 night stay...other resorts may also, as it is low season.
Worth looking into.
PS I love Tasmania: but I think an overnight or 1-2 day trip is not worth it...you'll miss a lot. But maybe skip MEL and just have 4-5 days in Tasmania.

Remember to check weather conditions also as its winter then.

My wife and I are planning a 3/2013 10 day trip to OZ and maybe NZ from DC. Unfortunately we don't have the time you have but we're still ambitious (we try to get at least two countries per trip in).

We were thinking 3 days in AKL, 1 in MEL and 3-4 days driving the Ocean road and making our way back to Sydney by car and spend the remaining couple of days there. But we also thought about skipping NZ and doing 3 nights in Tasmania. What would you do with 3 nights in Tasmania?

I'd be tempted to have an extra couple of days in Melbourne, then fly to Sydney, where you probably wouldn't need a car, rather than drive up.
As far as Tassie goes, you could visit a wildlife park, go to MONA, Port Arthur, drive up Mt Wellington, visit Mt Field National Park, drive to the Huon Valley ...etc. March is a great time to come to Tassie - lovely autumn weather, usually. Just nice.

My wife and I are planning a 3/2013 10 day trip to OZ and maybe NZ from DC. Unfortunately we don't have the time you have but we're still ambitious (we try to get at least two countries per trip in).

We were thinking 3 days in AKL, 1 in MEL and 3-4 days driving the Ocean road and making our way back to Sydney by car and spend the remaining couple of days there. But we also thought about skipping NZ and doing 3 nights in Tasmania. What would you do with 3 nights in Tasmania?

Unless you are very interested in cities, it doesn't seem like the best use of time to have three days in NZ and spend them all in Auckland. It is not the most interesting part of the country (for many people). I would rent a car and drive to explore the Taupo/Rotorua area, or alternatively fly from Auckland to Queenstown and explore that area. Though three days is a very short NZ trip, you could even make it to Milford Sound.

Good luck with your planning :)

Unless you are very interested in cities, it doesn't seem like the best use of time to have three days in NZ and spend them all in Auckland. It is not the most interesting part of the country (for many people). I would rent a car and drive to explore the Taupo/Rotorua area, or alternatively fly from Auckland to Queenstown and explore that area. Though three days is a very short NZ trip, you could even make it to Milford Sound.

Good luck with your planning :)

I'd agree with this advice unless you really like museums and ferry riding to islands. However, if you DO like those things, consider a few nights on Queen street, taking few ferry rides as well as spend a day in the Auckland Museum (which is fantastic). No car needed.

This Nov, after 7 days in Tasmania, I'll be heading to NZ for 10 days and will be spending it somewhere south of CHC even though I've been to that area several times already. If you like hiking/trekking (beginner to hard core) as well as outdoor sight seeing its just a great place to visit. I visited Tasmania for about 3 days in '05 and visited Port Arthur, drove to the top of Mount Wellington, went to the markets, as well as some misc exploring. This time I'll hit some of the parks areas.

2 Sept.: Travel to Cairns
We would really like to spend 2-3 days at a resort on an Island in the Great Barrier Reef that is not prohibitively expensive to travel to from Cairns. We are comfortable paying for a somewhat pricey resort, but just did not also want to spend $1,000 to get there (i.e., Lizzard Island). Assuming we check into a resort on Sunday 2 September, we would like to check out on Tuesday (4/9) or Wednesday (5/9) and head up to spend a day in Daintree National Park and spend the night in Port Douglas. Then head back and see Kuranda on the way back in to Cairns. We could then fly down to Sydney from Cairns on either Thursday (6/9) or Friday (7/9). Would it be more beneficial to spend extra time in either Cairns or up by Port Douglas? Any suggestions on which island resort would make the most sense for a married couple with no kids? (We are not scuba people, but would like to see the great barrier reef, snorkeling/glass bottom boat, etc., and would like to do that form whatever resort we end up at)
...
Can't comment on resorts, but I visited the area in Sept '09 and thought it was a great time to go ... not very crowded, before it got really hot/humid, and prices were not peak/high season. As far as Daintree/Cape Tribulation I think most take a guided/4WD tours of the area. If you'd rather self tour like I did there are small exhibits / walks / river cruises / croc cruises / etc through out the area. I spend 2 nights in Cape Tribulation and several more in Port Douglas and loved both. Port Douglas is not as developed as other popular areas and was not crowded Sept '09. That time of the year is before stinger season so you shouldn't have problems with the beach. From Port Douglas I did a day trip to Kuranda and would reco. Port Douglas also has many GBR snorkeling boat departures to choose from.

25 August: Depart DC
26 August: Travel
27 August: Arrive MEL @ 8:20 AM
Any thoughts on top highlights in Melbourne? I assume that the whole day we arrive is lost to jet lag, but that still gives us Tuesday-Saturday as full days (traveling out on Sunday). Should we stick to just Melbourne or plan some lengthy day trips or a one overnight trip? What about Tasmania?

...
Wow ... a week(5 full days) in MEL in August ? Did you have something specific in mind ?

As of now, five full days in Melbourne without anything specific planned for there yet. We were hoping to get to some wine country from there, if there is anything within a day trip.

@im-headed-west, Do you have any suggestions? Do you think that is too much time to spend in Melbourne?

@MsMercury, I know your comment about a few more days in Melbourne was probably meant for @ejh25, but do you have tips on what to do in Melbourne? Is five full days there too long?

Thanks for all of the comments so far, they have been quite helpful!

IMHO, 5 days in Melbourne will be too long unless you mix in some day or overnight trips to the Great Ocean Road or Philip Island. There is also a springs area a little outside Melbourne, around Daylesford. There are a few health resorts around there, good to spend a night or two.

For Cairns, even if you plan to hop straight off to one of the islands, I'd suggest staying in Port Douglas or even Palm Cove rather than Cairns itself.

As to NZ, your 16/17/18 Sept plan seems a little rushed, do-able, but rushed. Also, there isn't very much in Christchurch to see unfortunately. A lot of the CBD is still rebuilding and part of it is still blocked off. But if your flight back to SYD doesn't leave too late, it should be OK.

...

@im-headed-west, Do you have any suggestions? Do you think that is too much time to spend in Melbourne?
...
Don't really have suggestions ... the city is not my cup of tea. I spent 1 full day there and really don't see a reason to go back.

While in that region, I did a good part of the Great Ocean road to the South and a quicky(3 days) to Tasmania during my 05' trip and liked both though I'm guessing late Aug will not be ideal weather for that part of Australia.

Overall I think your plan is pretty good.

My overall comments on each region would be:
MEL/Victoria
Too much time in Melbourne. Weather may be a bit cool in Victoria.

Cairns/Queensland
May be the best time of year to visit this region, highly reco Port Douglas

Sydney/NSW
Sydney is a glorious city. I'd spend a minimum 2 full days visiting the city seeing the Circular Quay, Opera House, etc

NZ
Have hiked in around the region and to the base of the glaciers. Have driven the west coast and Greymouth to CHC but have done little of the rest of your plans. The general plan seems ok though a bit busy. May be a bit chilly in Sept.

As of now, five full days in Melbourne without anything specific planned for there yet. We were hoping to get to some wine country from there, if there is anything within a day trip.The Yarra Valley (http://www.visityarravalley.com.au/) is an easy day trip from Melbourne. Rent a car, decide who's driving, take your time and have a great day. Start at the Yarra Valley Dairy Company (http://www.yvd.com.au/) for a cup of coffee and a cheese platter. Visit Domaine Chandon (http://www.domainechandon.com.au/) and do the self-guided tour (bearing in mind there is never very much to actually see (in terms of activity) in a winery), then try the tasting flight of their sparkling wines. Visit the art museum at TarraWarra (http://www.tarrawarra.com.au/) and have lunch there, or at Yering Station (http://www.yering.com/index.php) or at De Bortoli (http://www.debortoli.com.au/) or maybe Tokar Estate (http://www.tokarestate.com.au/). If time and interest permits, visit the Healesville Sanctuary (http://www.zoo.org.au/HealesvilleSanctuary).

A trip to Daylesford (http://www.visitvictoria.com/Regions/Daylesford-and-the-Macedon-Ranges.aspx) and surrounding areas would be worthwhile. Perhaps go via Ballarat (http://visitballarat.com.au/) and visit Sovereign Hill (http://www.sovereignhill.com.au/) and then on to Daylesford for the night and then back to Melbourne. You could do it in a day but much nicer if you have the time to stay. In Daylesford, have lunch or dinner at the Farmers Arms (http://farmersarmsdaylesford.com.au/) or the Mercato (http://mercatorestaurant.com.au/). Visit the Convent Gallery (http://conventgallery.com.au/).

Take a day or two and drive part of the Great Ocean Road (http://www.visitgreatoceanroad.org.au/).

Explore the Melbourne (http://www.thatsmelbourne.com.au/PlacesToGo/Pages/placestogo.aspx) CBD (central business district). Spend a lifetime exploring Melbourne's (http://www.visitmelbourne.com/Regions/Melbourne/Activities-and-attractions/Food-and-wine/Cafes.aspx) lanes and alleyways (http://www.thatsmelbourne.com.au/Placestogo/LanewaysandArcades/Pages/LanewaysandArcades.aspx). Find the myriad of hidden bars and restaurants and shops - up a flight of stairs, down an alleyway, hidden behind an unmarked door. Stop for a coffee (http://www.visitmelbourne.com/Regions/Melbourne/Activities-and-attractions/Food-and-wine/Cafes.aspx) (anywhere but Starbucks). Take a tram to St. Kilda (http://www.visitmelbourne.com/Regions/Melbourne/Destinations/City-fringe/St-Kilda.aspx). Go for a walk in the Botanic Gardens (http://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/) and visit the Shrine of Remembrance (http://www.shrine.org.au/Home). Explore some more of Melbourne (http://www.visitmelbourne.com/Videos/Melbourne-videos.aspx). Eat in any number of world-class restaurants. Go to a footy game at the MCG (http://www.visitvictoria.com/Regions/Melbourne/Activities-and-attractions/Entertainment/Spectator-sports.aspx).

As for the question "Would it be more beneficial to spend extra time in either Cairns or up by Port Douglas?", personally I wouldn't spend any time in Cairns and would spend the time in Port Douglas or Palm Cove.

@im-headed-west thanks for the tip, perhaps we will reconfigure and spend less time in MEL and more time in Port Douglas.

For Sydney, we are trying to decide if three full days (plus one day for a day trip somewhere like the Blue Mountains and two partial travel days -- one on each end) is enough time in Sydney? The end date of the trip is set, so really it is a question of an extra day in Sydney -- making four full days just in the city -- versus an extra full day in New Zeland. Do you have any thoughts?

Finally, one main motiviation for hiking the glacier and then heading from Greymouth to ChC was because I hear the train from Greymouth to ChC is really amazing. Do you think the glacier was worthwhile? In order to be less busy we were thinking of just seeing Wellington and then staying on the north part of the south island (wine, Abel Tasman, etc.). Is there something else entirely you'd do with a week in New Zealand that time of year? We would like to see the majestic scenery of NZ and do not mind hiking, but are not too adventerous (i.e., bungee jumping, extreme activities).

@tt7 - thanks! no matter how long we end up spending in Melbourne, those all look great. Also, thanks, I think we will just use Cairns for its airport, but we will spend our time on an island and up in Port Douglas.

@im-headed-west thanks for the tip, perhaps we will reconfigure and spend less time in MEL and more time in Port Douglas. ...
Several on this forum have done guided glacier hikes, some with a helicopter, and I don't recall anyone giving bad reviews. I self hiked to the base of glaciers but didn't do the tour up the face ... though I did observe a group in front of me and it looked fun.

I think you're doing the right thing in asking for opinions, but as everyone has different opinions you may never feel like you'll ever nail down the perfect trip with each new post. The good thing is you have time. Also, Aug/Sept will be shoulder season, so most weather effected attractions will be open but you shouldn't find lots of crowds and prices should be more reasonable.

A few other odds/ends:

For general NZ FAQ make sure you browse KiwiFlyer's NZ Master thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/oceania-australia-new-zealand-south-pacific/401294-new-zealand-master-thread.html)

If you really are interested in some hiking in NZ then this is a good place to start: DOC (http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/)

I found booking/price/flexible flights inside Australia were pretty good with Airpass (http://www.virginblueairpass.com/)

Good place for rental cars in Australia: http://www.vroomvroomvroom.com/

Good place for discounted rooms in Australia: http://www.wotif.com/

As of now, five full days in Melbourne without anything specific planned for there yet. We were hoping to get to some wine country from there, if there is anything within a day trip.

@im-headed-west, Do you have any suggestions? Do you think that is too much time to spend in Melbourne?

@MsMercury, I know your comment about a few more days in Melbourne was probably meant for @ejh25, but do you have tips on what to do in Melbourne? Is five full days there too long?

Thanks for all of the comments so far, they have been quite helpful!

I was really thinking that rather than use up days driving up to Sydney, where you probably wouldn't need a car on arrival there, it might be better to spend more time in and around Melbourne. I haven't done the Great Ocean Road, only the Melbourne CBD area. That's fun for a couple of days, though IMO, 5 days would be too long. You can hop on and off the free city circle tram, visit the old Melbourne jail, (where Ned Kelly was hung) Federation square, St Kilda, Botanical Gardens and Fitzroy Gardens (Captain Cook's cottage) and I agree that the city's laneways and arcades are great to explore.
Regarding Queensland,I have stayed at Palm Cove and enjoyed it. I'd recommend visiting nearby Mossman Gorge. Personally, I really like Townsville and especially Magnetic Island, which is a short ferry ride from Townsville - it's a great place for a holiday - big enough to drive around, and there are about 20 or so beaches. The island is a national park, I believe.