Planning Trip to New Zealand and Australia (condo, hotel)
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Been wanting to plan a trip somewhere and couldn't decide. My husband and I have not taken a trip to another country for a very long time (we're from the U.S.) and thought it would be nice to get out of our comfort zone and go somewhere new. I have family in Auckland,New Zealand and friends in Gold Coast Queensland, Australia, so we would like to visit both places. One thing I would like to know is, we will only have about 2-3 weeks for our visit. Is this enough time to get a taste of each place? Also, how would we split that time up between the two. Australia is so much larger than New Zealand, so thought we'd need to spend a little more time there.
My husband and I love the beach, exploring,hiking,mountain biking,hunting,fishing,sailing,snorkeling etc. This should help with knowing what out interests are.Also, we would like to know where the best places are to stay? condo? hotel? bed and breakfast and which areas of each place. Any info on the must do and see places would be greatly appreciated too.
Been wanting to plan a trip somewhere and couldn't decide. My husband and I have not taken a trip to another country for a very long time (we're from the U.S.) and thought it would be nice to get out of our comfort zone and go somewhere new. I have family in Auckland,New Zealand and friends in Gold Coast Queensland, Australia, so we would like to visit both places. One thing I would like to know is, we will only have about 2-3 weeks for our visit. Is this enough time to get a taste of each place? Also, how would we split that time up between the two. Australia is so much larger than New Zealand, so thought we'd need to spend a little more time there.
My husband and I love the beach, exploring,hiking,mountain biking,hunting,fishing,sailing,snorkeling etc. This should help with knowing what out interests are.Also, we would like to know where the best places are to stay? condo? hotel? bed and breakfast and which areas of each place. Any info on the must do and see places would be greatly appreciated too.
Many thanks!
I visited both New Zealand and Australia about six years ago, and while I thought that both places were very worthwhile, I do have to say that NZ was where I would have liked to have spent more time. Our stay in New Zealand was, as I recall, a bit cheaper than it was in Australia overall (though the financial differences were by no mean profound). New Zealand, being such a small island nation with such a small population, has, at least I thought, a sort of serenity that I've never experienced anywhere else.
And though 2-3 weeks isn't an incredible length of time spend between the two countries, it would be a decent amount of time to experience Auckland and Gold Coast, along with, perhaps, their respective surrounding areas. As far as NZ goes, the drive from Auckland to Rotorua is amazing, especially if you happen to have a couple days to spend hanging around Rotorua (and while we tended to kind of avoid the touristy stuff, the Waitomo caves are pretty awesome).
As for Australia, we spent just about all of our time visiting Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney and everything else we could possibly squeeze in between the three (I would have to say that Frazier Island is a must). Gold Coast, where you mention that you'd be visiting anyway, is an awesome city where you could easily spend at least a week exploring on foot. Aside from that, if your interests are hiking, fishing, snorkeling, etc., Australia and NZ are both pretty ideal for you, and I would imagine that such activities would be very easy to set up.
Personally, though, I prefer to avoid the tourist-traps while traveling. If it's a genuine taste of a given place that you're looking for, it's best, I think, to simply explore whatever you can through your own initiative--no schedules, no tour groups, etc. Sleeping arrangements, however, aren't always cheap when it comes to traveling abroad, and I don't recall such arrangements in NZ and Australia as having been really any more or less reasonable than those one can find while traveling within the U.S. (and I'm sure we both know how expensive that can be).
And lastly, I'm sure you're aware that political discussion in at least some capacity could be expected of you in many interactions while abroad (I visited Aus and NZ during the Bush Jr. years, so, well, you can imagine...), but for me that occurred much, much more often in Australia (actually, New Zealanders didn't seem to determine their respect for us based on their assumptions of our ideologies).
Thank you for all your ideas and suggestions. They're much appreciated. Hopefully we can get more time to fit all these wonderful places into our itinerary. I have decided, with a little research that it may be best to have at least a 24 hour layover in Honolulu to split the trip up. What is your take on that?
With some airlines, if the stop over is on the leg of the trip, is it at no extra cost? If this is true, then the only cost for that stop over would be accommodations, is this correct? I was thinking it might be kind of nice to have a stop over in Fiji for a few days before heading into Sydney and then on to New Zealand. Any thoughts would be awesome!
With some airlines, if the stop over is on the leg of the trip, is it at no extra cost? If this is true, then the only cost for that stop over would be accommodations, is this correct? I was thinking it might be kind of nice to have a stop over in Fiji for a few days before heading into Sydney and then on to New Zealand. Any thoughts would be awesome!
If you fly Air Tahiti Nui you can hop off in Papeet'e in either direction. I've done that..
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