Help with tricky NZ and Australia trip itinerary
July 25, 2015 6:51 AM Subscribe
I need to be in Auckland one weekend and Melbourne the next, and I need help figuring out what to do with limited time before, after, and in between!
I’m trying to nail down an upcoming trip to New Zealand and Australia with some particular annoying constraints.
- I have to be in Auckland Fri-Sun one weekend and then Melbourne Fri-Sun the next for specific events.
- I have about 3 days to spare before the Auckland weekend and up to 1.5 weeks to spare after the Melbourne weekend. I’ll also be able to go anywhere for the Mon-Fri between the two weekends.
- This will be in October of this year.
- No transport booked yet, so still very open to ideas.
Given all that, can you help me begin to narrow down an itinerary strategy? I understand that given only 2-3 weeks the customary advice is to pick either NZ or Australia and stick to one country, but having to be in Auckland and Melbourne on consecutive weekends sort of throws a wrench in the travel flow.
So far the things I was thinking are: 1) Treat the trip like a NZ trip with a short Melbourne visit in the middle —- perhaps spend a few days outside of Auckland on the North Islad that first week, do the weekend in Auckland, then fly to Melbourne for a week, then come back and try to see the South Island or 2) Just focus on the North Island on the NZ portion of the trip, then go to Melbourne and maybe pick 1-2 other places in Australia to see. Which strategy would you adopt, or would you take an entirely different approach?
I fully understand that both countries have a lot to see, so I’m feeling a little overwhelmed in figuring out how to cull the list into some highlights that make logistical sense.
I’m trying to nail down an upcoming trip to New Zealand and Australia with some particular annoying constraints.
- I have to be in Auckland Fri-Sun one weekend and then Melbourne Fri-Sun the next for specific events.
- I have about 3 days to spare before the Auckland weekend and up to 1.5 weeks to spare after the Melbourne weekend. I’ll also be able to go anywhere for the Mon-Fri between the two weekends.
- This will be in October of this year.
- No transport booked yet, so still very open to ideas.
Given all that, can you help me begin to narrow down an itinerary strategy? I understand that given only 2-3 weeks the customary advice is to pick either NZ or Australia and stick to one country, but having to be in Auckland and Melbourne on consecutive weekends sort of throws a wrench in the travel flow.
So far the things I was thinking are: 1) Treat the trip like a NZ trip with a short Melbourne visit in the middle —- perhaps spend a few days outside of Auckland on the North Islad that first week, do the weekend in Auckland, then fly to Melbourne for a week, then come back and try to see the South Island or 2) Just focus on the North Island on the NZ portion of the trip, then go to Melbourne and maybe pick 1-2 other places in Australia to see. Which strategy would you adopt, or would you take an entirely different approach?
I fully understand that both countries have a lot to see, so I’m feeling a little overwhelmed in figuring out how to cull the list into some highlights that make logistical sense.
Let's assume you're American, given that you don't say. If this is the case, you'd do better to end the hols in NZ, flight-wise. Additionally the weather near Melbourne will likely be shitful in October, so a lot of the usual Victorian recommendations (Great Ocean Road and so on) will be miserable.
Were it me, I'd call it a NZ trip with a Melbourne stop (your option 1). It would help to know what things you like to do when travelling (like jumping off things? Don't miss Queenstown.), and whether you'll be driving or not.
posted by pompomtom at 8:00 AM on July 25, 2015
Were it me, I'd call it a NZ trip with a Melbourne stop (your option 1). It would help to know what things you like to do when travelling (like jumping off things? Don't miss Queenstown.), and whether you'll be driving or not.
posted by pompomtom at 8:00 AM on July 25, 2015
Response by poster: Thank you all so much! Some clarifications/answers:
I'm coming from the US.
I'm not generally a big adrenaline/adventure-sports person, so sadly no jumping off things. In general, my traveling style is to spend time in bigger cities and then sprinkle in some side trips, but from what I gather most people recommend spending very little time in NZ's larger cities. On this trip, I'm just hoping to see at least some of the famed natural beauty of the area.
I would prefer to take the buses in NZ rather than drive, even though I understand I may be giving up some flexibility that way.
posted by lettersoflead at 12:50 PM on July 25, 2015
I'm coming from the US.
I'm not generally a big adrenaline/adventure-sports person, so sadly no jumping off things. In general, my traveling style is to spend time in bigger cities and then sprinkle in some side trips, but from what I gather most people recommend spending very little time in NZ's larger cities. On this trip, I'm just hoping to see at least some of the famed natural beauty of the area.
I would prefer to take the buses in NZ rather than drive, even though I understand I may be giving up some flexibility that way.
posted by lettersoflead at 12:50 PM on July 25, 2015
If you're a city person, you might be better served staying in Australia after Melbourne and going to Sydney (and/or other cities in the country). Sydney is a great and beautiful city and there is a lot to see and do there (and I say that as a Melburnian who doesn't generally care for Sydney).
[It also seems like a massive pain in the arse to fly all the way back to NZ when you've already come from there. It's only a 3-hour flight, but it's still an international flight, so you'll have to deal with immigration at both ends (Australia makes you jump through more hoops to leave than other countries). But that could just be me and my hatred of standing in queues]
posted by retrograde at 10:51 PM on July 25, 2015
[It also seems like a massive pain in the arse to fly all the way back to NZ when you've already come from there. It's only a 3-hour flight, but it's still an international flight, so you'll have to deal with immigration at both ends (Australia makes you jump through more hoops to leave than other countries). But that could just be me and my hatred of standing in queues]
posted by retrograde at 10:51 PM on July 25, 2015
In general, my traveling style is to spend time in bigger cities and then sprinkle in some side trips, but from what I gather most people recommend spending very little time in NZ's larger cities.
Auckland is perfect for this, screw what 'most people' say. It's a vibrant interesting city and there are so many lovely places within the city or up to 3 hours drive away. You can also do a side trip of a night or two to somewhere like Tauranga or Rotorua easily enough. As an example, AKL airport is at the south of the city near Manukau, so when we were in NZ in March we went traveling down south of Auckland for a few days (visiting family in our case), stayed the last night in Hamilton near the Gardens, then drove up to the airport for our flight to Melbourne. It took as long as driving down to the airport from Auckland city and was much nicer than staying in Manukau or an Airport hotel.
But you're way better off hiring a car, buses will eat up so much time besides the loss of flexibility. It will probably cost about the same, buses in Auckland are expensive and the system is a mess, and long distance public transport in NZ is cheaper but so slow. You could always do package day trips instead if that's your thing, at least they will take you to the nice beach etc rather than leave you somewhere nearby. You can look stuff up online or every NZ town center has an information center denoted by an italic i on the sign which will help you out booking stuff at short notice.
Flying between NZ and Australia is surprisingly expensive. I wouldn't do it more times than is strictly necessary. You also lose at least half a day each time you do it, more depending on where you're flying to/from. Flying within NZ is also surprisingly expensive - although less so of course - and the place is bigger than you might think. It takes a full day to drive between Wellington and Auckland, for example, and is a very long and painful bus or train ride too. So for the time you have you're probably better off focussing on the top half of the North Island.
So yeah, I'd spend the first part in Auckland and include a few days somewhere nearby. Then fly to Melbourne. Spend some time there (I spent 6 days in Melbourne last March and we didn't get bored for a second - it's a great city). Then probably drive across to Sydney taking a couple of days along the coast road. Then spend time in Sydney - also an interesting city. Then you're pretty much done anyway but, if not, you can always go up to Brisbane or the Gold Coast to hang on the beach. You'll never see everything anyway, that's never possible, so personally I just make peace with that and narrow my options to something doable quite fast, then worry about the details from there.
posted by shelleycat at 12:54 AM on July 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
Auckland is perfect for this, screw what 'most people' say. It's a vibrant interesting city and there are so many lovely places within the city or up to 3 hours drive away. You can also do a side trip of a night or two to somewhere like Tauranga or Rotorua easily enough. As an example, AKL airport is at the south of the city near Manukau, so when we were in NZ in March we went traveling down south of Auckland for a few days (visiting family in our case), stayed the last night in Hamilton near the Gardens, then drove up to the airport for our flight to Melbourne. It took as long as driving down to the airport from Auckland city and was much nicer than staying in Manukau or an Airport hotel.
But you're way better off hiring a car, buses will eat up so much time besides the loss of flexibility. It will probably cost about the same, buses in Auckland are expensive and the system is a mess, and long distance public transport in NZ is cheaper but so slow. You could always do package day trips instead if that's your thing, at least they will take you to the nice beach etc rather than leave you somewhere nearby. You can look stuff up online or every NZ town center has an information center denoted by an italic i on the sign which will help you out booking stuff at short notice.
Flying between NZ and Australia is surprisingly expensive. I wouldn't do it more times than is strictly necessary. You also lose at least half a day each time you do it, more depending on where you're flying to/from. Flying within NZ is also surprisingly expensive - although less so of course - and the place is bigger than you might think. It takes a full day to drive between Wellington and Auckland, for example, and is a very long and painful bus or train ride too. So for the time you have you're probably better off focussing on the top half of the North Island.
So yeah, I'd spend the first part in Auckland and include a few days somewhere nearby. Then fly to Melbourne. Spend some time there (I spent 6 days in Melbourne last March and we didn't get bored for a second - it's a great city). Then probably drive across to Sydney taking a couple of days along the coast road. Then spend time in Sydney - also an interesting city. Then you're pretty much done anyway but, if not, you can always go up to Brisbane or the Gold Coast to hang on the beach. You'll never see everything anyway, that's never possible, so personally I just make peace with that and narrow my options to something doable quite fast, then worry about the details from there.
posted by shelleycat at 12:54 AM on July 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
Auckland is awesome. You'll have plenty of time to mooch around Viaduct harbour, look at the scenery, grab a ferry over to Devonport for lunch and have a quick jaunt up to the Northland and Bay of Islands.
Melbourne rocks. It's an amazing city with excellent transport. It's fascinating in its own right, and is surrounded by an easily-accessible countryside that is utterly wonderful.
Don't go back to NZ. It takes a full day to get from the eastern Australian capitals to Auckland. Like, leave home at 0900 and get to your hotel at 1800. Three hour flight + three hour time difference in summer + airport faffery. I flew between Brisbane and Auckland over 20 times in a single year. It sucked. Well, actually it was amazingly awesome, but the travel sucked. A whole day evaporates. I know of what I speak.
So: Total focus on NZ, then total focus on either Melbourne (the weather will suck. Wait ten minutes and it will suck in a whole new exciting way!) Or, Auckland ->Melbourne->Sydney. I'd do the Sydney thing if I could make flights work. Grab tickets to the opera - everyone should do the Opera House at least once. Grab a ferry to Manly and make a fool of yourself on a surfboard. Get a cheapo snorkel and look at the fish at Shelly Beach. Spend some time exploring on the ferries.
But don't waste a day going back to NZ. Sleep through that on the flight home.
posted by Combat Wombat at 1:05 AM on July 26, 2015
Melbourne rocks. It's an amazing city with excellent transport. It's fascinating in its own right, and is surrounded by an easily-accessible countryside that is utterly wonderful.
Don't go back to NZ. It takes a full day to get from the eastern Australian capitals to Auckland. Like, leave home at 0900 and get to your hotel at 1800. Three hour flight + three hour time difference in summer + airport faffery. I flew between Brisbane and Auckland over 20 times in a single year. It sucked. Well, actually it was amazingly awesome, but the travel sucked. A whole day evaporates. I know of what I speak.
So: Total focus on NZ, then total focus on either Melbourne (the weather will suck. Wait ten minutes and it will suck in a whole new exciting way!) Or, Auckland ->Melbourne->Sydney. I'd do the Sydney thing if I could make flights work. Grab tickets to the opera - everyone should do the Opera House at least once. Grab a ferry to Manly and make a fool of yourself on a surfboard. Get a cheapo snorkel and look at the fish at Shelly Beach. Spend some time exploring on the ferries.
But don't waste a day going back to NZ. Sleep through that on the flight home.
posted by Combat Wombat at 1:05 AM on July 26, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
Here is what I think I would do:
- Auckland - beginning of trip through first Sunday
- Wellington (or Christchurch) - Monday through Thursday
- Melbourne - Friday through Wednesday
- Sydney - Thursday through end of trip
I'm always torn on trips like this - is it better to cram a lot of cities in, or to focus on one or two? I live in the US so getting to this part of the world is very, very expensive for me, and for that reason I like to see at least 3 cities when I go. You'll be in each city for long enough to both hit some of the biggest tourist spots and to wander around in random neighborhoods and get a feel for the city.
If you decide to visit Wellington and/or Sydney, I can suggest some things to do.
Have fun!
posted by schroedingersgirl at 7:02 AM on July 25, 2015