Originally Posted by Mwenenzi

1. No. By the time you get through immigration, customs, bio security and time for check in for AKL-BNE you do not have much useful time. AKL skybus https://www.skybus.co.nz/auckland-city-express
2. Is ~OK. Touristy. And on the Sunshine Coast (north of BNE) better for the kids:- http://www.australiazoo.com.au/
3. Gold Coast is very touristy. It has theme parts
4. Terrible. A lot of large trucks. Do not drive BNE SYD: fly
5. Take your time to see places and not rush from place to place.
6. Good. A good time to visit.

Note public holidays about this time (and school holidays)
30 Mar 2018 Good Friday
2 Apr 2018 Easter Monday

Originally Posted by bensyd

Is there any particular reason that you want to fly into Brisbane? I would go for the direct flight to SYD. Auckland is pretty boring compared to the rest of NZ, and even if your girls are great travellers, I'd budget on a lazy first day to get used to the time difference, not a big day of sightseeing and then another flight.



I'd personally just pick Sydney and stick with that. You can overnight in the Blue Mountains, the weather should still be warm enough that you can swim, take a trip down the Royal National Park, which has some excellent beaches (avoid the nude ones ). Taronga Zoo has everything you need in terms of native wildlife, although state law dictates that you cannot hold a koala in NSW. There are even some pretty easily accessible campsites near Sydney where you will be surrounded by kangaroos and wallabies in the morning (or you can just do a day trip). You can head to Bondi and get fish and chips and eat it in the park next to the beach.

Originally Posted by tom911

When we had OzFest in Surfer's Paradise last May, we visited the Carrumbin Wildlife Sanctuary a few miles outside town. Take a look at the photos I took there and see what they offer. The place is big enough that they have a small train you can ride around on. Plenty of beach right there in Surfer's for the kids, too, without having to drive off somewhere. Yes, it is touristy, and you'd probably want to avoid the place during school holidays, but might be perfect for the kids.

Originally Posted by MSPeconomist

The Steve Irwin zoo is a couple hours from Brisbane. Fly. It's either Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast but I can never remember which is which.

Otherwise, if this isn't a high priority, I'd suggest the following to maximize Australian animals:

Skip NZ as you don't have enough time.

In Brisbane, take the boat trip (combined ticket) on the river to see the koalas. Be sure to walk over the bridge from downtown where you look down and see sharks in the water. There's an interesting tourist place to see different types of Australian sheep (with dog herding demo shows) and a variety of other animals, IIRC accessible easily by light rail and then a walk. It's a good place to feed (friendly hand raised) kangaroos and hold koalas too. The botanical gardens near the river sometimes have wildlife.

In Sydney, be sure to take the boat to the zoo (and ride the cable car to the top when you arrive, then work your way down the hill and back to the ferry--look for big birds such as pelicans and ostriches/emus walking around loose), take the (different) boat to Manley and see its small and somewhat quaint aquarium, ideally at a time when there are divers in with the sharks. Also go to the big Sydney aquarium; the place there where you walk through a glass "tunnel" surrounded by lots and lots of sharks (that followed me) is impressive. Sometimes you see wildlife in the botanical gardens.

In Melbourne, go the the zoo (my favorite), ideally at a quiet time so you can get close to the kangaroos in the walk through exhibit. There's also an aquarium and an interesting historical prison and market. Take the streetcar to the old beach resort town on the sea in a suburb of Melbourne. I also liked the penguin parade, but it's only practical to do it as a tour. I found one that left Melbourne in the afternoon and first stopped at a small private zoo or wildlife place where you could handle some Aussie animals. Then we went to a place with lots of birds nesting (this may be seasonal) and finally to the penguin parade. It was somewhat of a "hippie" tour run out of a backpacker hotel almost across from Victoria Market, so the guide and group were casual and fun, with an interesting mix of people (but nothing that would be inappropriate for children). Other tours to penguin parade do different schedules and itineraries, but penguin parade is after sunset, so expect to return to your hotel very late. If there's time, try to do at least part of the Great Ocean Road.