Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Help planning a trip to NZ and Australia

My apologies in advance for not being better researched...my family (parents and three kids in their early 20s) are headed to 5 nights in NZ and 10 nights in Australia this June. We jumped on the tickets (got QF J frequent flyer awards through Onepass) months ago but haven't really done much planning since. We do know that we are flying into Auckland and then leaving from Christchurch to Sydney 5 days later, 10 nights in Australia and flying home from Sydney.

I've been looking at some of the different places to go, and there is so much information. I'm wondering if anyone has some advice on places to visit in this time period in these two countries. In Australia we are set on going to Sydney, probably Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, and maybe one other place (Melbourne? Outback?).

Things that we like: Outdoors stuff, adventerous (like raftings, caving) but not TOO adventerous (I read NZ has good bungee jumping!), food, things that are distinctly local, things that people might see as strange or exotic. We are comfortable flying around if we have to.

Any recommendations would be appreciated so I can esearch them further!

Left you a PM with our 2002 itinerary.

Auckland is a great city. Walk the harbor area and take a ferry ride to one of the nearby Islands.

With limited New Zealand time, I'd skip Rotorua and go straight to Queenstown on the South Island. I day there rafting, etc and then a day trip to the Milford Sound. Then go to Christchurch. What a beautiful city. If still running, a day trip on the Arthurs Pass/TranzAlpine train is a great adventure.

Sydney is a great city. Walk the Quay, the parks, Ferry to the Zoo and see the aquarium Eat in Chinatown. Do a harbor tour.

Do the reef. It is an adventure that you will not soon forget. For those that do not like to get into the water, the views from the glass bottom boats are nice. BUT there is nothing like a dive.

Now the outback was to us a postcard. Those that have gone and watched the sunrise over the Rock say it was a worthwhile, eeven spititual, experience.

For us, Adelaide was a real winner. It is a great city and the trip to Kangaroo Island was unforgetable. The visit to Seal Bay on a private tour let us go onto the beach and within a few feet of the seals resting there.

If Adelaide is too far, Melbourne is more convenient. It is a grand city. We stayed at the Fountain Terrace, a B&B, in St. Kilda and loved it. Regardless of where you stay, do not miss walking through St. Kilda. Great shops and restaurants. We enjoyed our Fairy Penguin tour including a stop at Phillip Island Wildlife Park.

June is mid-winter (equiv. of December) and cold in the South Island. ZQN is a ski resort at that time of year (not quite true, but you get the idea). CHC is a bit warmer, but dress warmly! Or, head north from AKL for 2-3 days if you want warmer weather -- that part of NZ is equally beautiful, just very different. I love the South Island but wouldn't go there in June unless I wanted to be back in the snow.

Similarly for Australia. SYD is temperate (in the 50s) and June doesn't have storms (those come later), but further south gets to be cold. Even the "tropical" north is not that warm (cooler than Hawaii, maybe comparable to FL in the winter). A visit to the outback would be good, though, in June.

Did not notice the June date. For weather information try www.weatherbase.com.

The South Island is cool. Average Queenstown temperature in June is 40 F with an average range of 47 high to 33 low and an all time low of 21!

There are ski resorts on the South Island if you are into that.

Cairns averages 71 and can get into the 80's. Sydney and Adelaide both are in the 63 to 45 range. June is a rainy period in Sydney with 5.2 inches of rain typical.

The Outback is crisp as well but with daily highs in the upper 60's and evenings in the low 40's.

Milford Sound is about the same temperature as Queenstown and operates all year.

Enjoy winter and the absence of tourists other than in ski areas where the locals congregate.

The advice on the islands north of Auckland is good advice. We just did not have time. The Bay of Islands area is said to be lovely and to have excellent fishing. Rotorua's hot springs also sound better in June as do its glowworm caves. It will average in the mid-50's that time of year.

We trout fished on the lakes near Rotorua and had a great time. Even caught fish!!!

Good traveling. The people of Australia and New Zealand are the friendliest and most helpful we have even encountered traveling. They will see to it that you want to return.

OK, June in Australia, 10 days...

Well, we've been there twice, 4 years apart, both times in June.

To be honest, 5 days Sydney and 5 days Cairns (Great Barrier Reef, Port Douglas, Kuranda) might be enough to soak in the place. But in retrospect, the 5 days in Sydney and 4 in Cairns were not enough for us.

There is really a lot to see. But, if you are like us, I know your inclination is to see as much as possible b/c how often can you get out there, right?!

But if you want a third place to mull over, I'd suggest Brisbane rather than Melbourne. In Brisbane, there is a lovely waterfront area, a great zoo and also you have Dreamworld a short busride away. Dreamworld is like Disney downunder but you get the opportunity to sit with a tiger if you book early. Adventurous I suppose :) I think your family would enjoy that, esp. if they love wildlife.

Or ditch Brisbane as an idea and head out to Alice Springs or Ayers Rock as those are tourist outback options. These are the "canned" outback experience where you get a taste of it. We did this too in 2001. If you book the flights right, 2 days in Ayers Rock will cover all the bases.

When we went in '01, we had 3 weeks and covered Adelaide+Kangaroo Island, Brisbane, Cairns, Ayers Rock and Sydney. Because there are each in different seasons, we had to pack for a cold fall-like weather(think NY late October november wx) and also the summery weather up in Cairns(think Florida in June)= lots to pack.

If you do Sydney, Brisbane, and Cairns, you might be able to get away with jeans and flannels down in SYD and BNE (and Outback) and normal summer clothes up north in CNS. But going to Melbourne, you'll have to pack a bit more "wintry" clothes.

Also for ideas for the active, such as yourselves, you will probably like Sydney's Bridge climb. But look into Abseiling (or is it rapeling?)

And in NX, look into Zorbing. I hear that is the new thing to do!

Or last time there 2 years ago, we did 2 days Sydney, 4 in Darwin, 2 in Kununurra and 4 in Perth and we still felt like much was missed.

And I am scouting out our next trip out there to include Longreach, Perth, and the Northwest coast.


feel free to contact me if you've more specific questions

...And in NX, look into Zorbing. I hear that is the new thing to do!...Not at this time of year! If you do go on any adventure travel in June, be careful of water flow rates and weather forecast!!!! Easy to get into big trouble in some parts of NZ, there is true wilderness there (a big part of it's charm). My glacier guide had a great story of the time he was stranded for 14 days in the mountains (in a hut), unable to leave due to heavy snowfall (was eventually evacuated by helicopter as hiking out was impossible). A storm can close the only road on some routes and make travel impossible for 2 or 3 days. Not a problem, unless you are on a tight schedule tied to making award flights ....

Speaking of which, the OP did not mention how they were getting from AKL to CHC. Presumably their existing tickets are open-jaw and they must make own arrangements to travel to CHC. In which case the 5 days is barely enough to make the drive down and the ferry crossing; or if flying, that will take most of a day esp. with 3 kids. Making a lot of the touring choices moot. If the constraint is having to drive to CHC (and driving is far more economical than any other way), the itin is likely to be day 1 in AKL (recover from jet lag and learn to drive on wrong side of road), day 2 drive to Rotorua and tour geothermal wonders, day 3 drive to Wellington, day 4 ferry crossing and stay in Nelson, day 5 drive to CHC. Barely enough time (and miss most of the good parts of both north and south islands). Splitting the air ticket between AKL and CHC was a mistake in my opinion for this time of year and available dates.

Not at this time of year! If you do go on any adventure travel in June, be careful of water flow rates and weather forecast!!!! Easy to get into big trouble in some parts of NZ, there is true wilderness there (a big part of it's charm). My glacier guide had a great story of the time he was stranded for 14 days in the mountains (in a hut), unable to leave due to heavy snowfall (was eventually evacuated by helicopter as hiking out was impossible). A storm can close the only road on some routes and make travel impossible for 2 or 3 days. Not a problem, unless you are on a tight schedule tied to making award flights ....

Indeed. I've been stuck in a hut for 4 days in April in the mountains (foothills really) caught by an unseasonably early major snowstorm. We did end up walking out fine but didn't get much tramping done that trip.

Not unheard of for the only road on the west coast to be washed out and closed for a day or so, or Milford Sound road closed by avalanches for a day or two.

Having said that, you'd be unlucky to be caught out. In many years of travelling throughout NZ I can only think of a couple of times weather has seriously inconvenienced my plans.

Speaking of which, the OP did not mention how they were getting from AKL to CHC. Presumably their existing tickets are open-jaw and they must make own arrangements to travel to CHC. In which case the 5 days is barely enough to make the drive down and the ferry crossing; or if flying, that will take most of a day esp. with 3 kids. Making a lot of the touring choices moot. If the constraint is having to drive to CHC (and driving is far more economical than any other way)

I think you're overstating things here. AKL-CHC is an 80 minute flight. Driving + ferry can be done in one long day, or comfortably in 2 days. Of course if want to explore along the way it will take longer. Normally (if planned ahead) it is cheaper to fly between the main islands than drive - the ferry adds a lot to costs.

We are all different - personally I would highly recommend Rotorua- the thermal features are well worth seeing. There are lots of adventure activities in Rotorua/Taupo area and you can also get a flavour of the Maori culture in Rotorua. If you want good scenery though - the South Island is the place! The itinerary suggested by Number_6 would seem good to me if you opt for driving. Flights should be pretty cheap for June and would give you more time.

Te Papa museum in Wellington is a great spot.
June is probably a bit early for skiing but if the season starts early you could hit the slopes for a day from Christchurch.

We were there in December 2007/January 2008. Our itinerary was AKL for 3 nights, CHC for 2 nights, SYD for 4 nights, CNS (but we stayed in Port Douglas) for 3 nights.

I liked Auckland and 3 nights for us was ideal. On the first night we really just ate dinner and went to bed early. Over the next couple days we did skydiving, the Antarctic Center, and sailing in the harbor - which I recommend highly.

Christchurch was kind of boring for me (25 yo male). We stayed on a vineyard, which was very nice, but it didn't seem like there was much to do in the actual city. Maybe I missed out, but the only part of CHC that I enjoyed was leaving and driving out to a small town through the mountains. If I had to do it again, I would focus on other regions of NZ.

We really enjoyed Sydney and I think 4 days is enough to get a nice taste of the city. Sure, you could spend weeks there if you wanted to, but this is a vacation and you have limited time. We didn't do any organized/planned activities there, just the normal tourist stuff like hanging out at the harbor, etc.

My favorite place was probably Port Douglas (about an hours drive from CNS). We drove through CNS on the way there and I was VERY glad that we chose not to stay there. It seemed a little run down and boring. Port Douglas, on the other hand, had a major strip of a bunch of restaurants/shops - some of which were pretty good. We did a great GBR trip on a boat called the Calypso, which was smaller than the Quicksilver boats that many go on. We also took a private tour through Daintree and the surrounding areas which was really nice and took up most of a day. As far as places to stay in Port Douglas, we stayed at the Sea Temple which was excellent, but if you do stay there I would make sure to get a room that faces the pool rather than away from it. From discussions we had with others that we met, stay away from the Sheraton there - it is fairly run down and certainly not a bargain.

Feel free to PM me with questions, I know what a PIA planning a trip like this can be.

I think you will undoubtedly enjoy the 5 days in NZ. It is an amazing country with plenty to do, no matter what the season.

I spent several days there in June a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. The North Island feels like San Fran or Portland in early winter - rather pleasant really.

If you do two days in AKL (two nights really) to adjust and see the city, you can then make your way down to CHC. Do try the sail in the America's Cup boat in Auckland harbor if anyone in your group likes sailing/boating. It will be a few bucks for the group, but an excellent way to have an adventure, experience one of the great local interests, and see the city from the water.

You can then dedicate the other three days to driving the North Island in two days to Wellington, then hustling to get to CHC - OR - fly to CHC and spend one each doing:
the Arthur's Pass train, Marlborough to see this gorgeous wine region, skiing at Mt. Hutt if anyone is interested (get gear at mountain or Methven), or seeing Christchurch and the Antarctic Center (no more than one day).

You could also fly to Queenstown direct from AKL and easily hang out in the chillier weather for a few days, ski, take a wine tour of the Otago wines (ridiculously delicious Pinot Noirs), and in general get a good feel for NZ. the drive between Queenstown and CHC is pretty but maybe a little long for the time alloted, so fly up to CHC to catch your flight to SYD. This would require two flights, but hey, you got a bunch of J class tickets you did not pay for on the looong flights.

The ten days will allow you two or three destinations in Australia as long as you are willing to fly around. If you go to see the reef, do make a point of going to Whitehaven beach near Hamilton Island. It is the most gorgeous beach in the world. Really.

Thanks all. Really enjoying the suggestions so far.

gooseman, look into a trip to Darwin and Kakadu National Park, from CNS. ^