I will be in Sydney from 4 Aug - 13 Aug, and am looking to swing up to somewhere in the South Pacific for a brief (36-48 hour) trip. I don't really know anything about any of the islands, so I'm hoping for some input from people who have been to some of the islands.
I am a 24 year old male from the US, traveling on my own, mainly looking to enjoy nice beaches, scenic adventures, and hopefully with a decent town as well. Cairns comes to mind as a place that is similar to what I'm possibly looking for --> a laid-back beach town, but still has some bars/nightlife. I'm not necessarily a big backpacker/hiker, but open to some physical adventures.
I have 2 options for booking the side-trip:
(a) Redeem UA miles, so flying on NZ, which does have a fair number of options (i.e. NAN, RAR, TBU, PPT, etc) but like I said, I don't really know anything about those islands.
(b) Find a relatively low cost (<$250 roundtrip) paid fare. The only option I've found for this is Jetstar, which does have convenient SYD-NAN nonstops but it prices out to around $350 roundtrip, so a little above my preferred price range.
Primarily, I'm looking for advice about the islands and what might be the best options for me, but any input on flight options (other low-cost carriers that I don't know about) would be greatly appreciated. ^