Holiday for 1 month in Aus and 1 month in NZ

GingerTravel said:
I've far too much to add to this thread! But let me give you one tip, if you do South to North in New Zealand and are hiring a car, you can get no one way fees and often several free days. That's because everyone does the opposite so they need the cars back in Auckland.
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That's a cracking bit of advice. Can you fly to the south island from Aus.? If so its a no brainer to do south to north.
 
Johnnyweetabix said:
Howdy folks, so my wife and I have finally booked a two month trip to Australia and New Zealand broadly one month each place.

We are going in October and November with Australia first and then New Zealand. We are proposing to do the right hand side of Australia and of course both islands in New Zealand.

we are also spending three nights in Singapore on the way there.

So I know some of you folks either live or have spent time now or holidayed there. We are going from Cairns down to Melbourne and north to south New Zealand and I’m just looking for any hints, tips or cool places to consider visiting as we start to map out our 60 odd day plus trip.

My wife has already started the agenda, and we will be taking end of course things like the Great Barrier Reef, whitSunday Islands and the major cities.

As always, thanks a lot.
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The right hand side!!! What was wrong with east? Still I guess I should be thankful that you didn't split NZ into top and bottom islands.🙂

Mrs Chickenrunner is presently in the left hand side visiting her sister in Perth along with her other sister who lives in Auckland (Whenuapai).
 
Johnnyweetabix said:
Howdy folks, so my wife and I have finally booked a two month trip to Australia and New Zealand broadly one month each place.

We are going in October and November with Australia first and then New Zealand. We are proposing to do the right hand side of Australia and of course both islands in New Zealand.

we are also spending three nights in Singapore on the way there.

So I know some of you folks either live or have spent time now or holidayed there. We are going from Cairns down to Melbourne and north to south New Zealand and I’m just looking for any hints, tips or cool places to consider visiting as we start to map out our 60 odd day plus trip.

My wife has already started the agenda, and we will be taking end of course things like the Great Barrier Reef, whitSunday Islands and the major cities.

As always, thanks a lot.
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October and Nov is a good time to do it. Queensland should be warm and sunny but without the humidity and storms, although bushfire season up there. It is swimming season around Cairns as the stingers are not out yet. NSW in October can ba anything..high 30's one day and 15c with cloud and rain the next, be prepared for all weather's. It's usually the drier half of the year on the NSW coast though.

Camper van would be great from Cairns. So many world class beaches litter the east coast, all better than Bondi. You will need to snorkel or scuba in many places, especially QLD. But always remember to swim between the flags! The rips here are a killer.

You will need to call in at the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast. The Sunshine Coast is natural beauty, retired people and young families. The Gold Coast is hedonistic and all bling...with a dollop of tacky, but you need to see it.

So many beautiful towns down the NSW cast. Byron Bay is where the cashed up and famous live..meh. Coffs Harbour is a bigger family seaside resort. Port Macquarie is a nice spot. Newcastle is worth a look with Stockton just the other side of the river. I like going to Newcastle and was there just last week. It is built of heavy industry and has a Boro vibe but amazing beaches, some of the best. Stockton beach with its sand dunes is worth a look just for the scale of it. They do camel tours at the northern end.

Sydney is Sydney...you know obviously there is loads to do. It's October and the A League will have started so watch a Western Sydney Wanderers game...keep away from Sydney 'bling' FC, they have the vibe of a London team. You need to detour to the Blue Mountains of course and do a walk.

The south Coast of NSW is much less developed and not so many big places. Wollongong is similar to Newcastle...but I personally prefer Newcastle. Batemans Bay is worth a look near Huskison, hyams beachs has pure white sand and warn sheltered waters. You have a choice from here as directly inland is Canberra...Batemans Bay is Canberra's seaside resort. It's a good couple of hours drive to Canberra but its worth a look. Aussies have a love hate relationship with their capital and it is a very unusual place. I quite like it, where else can you see kangaroos hopping through a city! Parliament house is interesting and you can do a bus tour, other museums also.

From Canberra you could head through the Australian Alps via the ski resorts. The high country up there is stunning. The rural VIC towns north of Melb are packed with history of gold mining and bush rangers. Quaint old 1800's pubs and open fires which in Oct could still be going...big change from Cairns!

If you didn't cut over to Canberra then the places further south from Batemans decrease in size but are beautiful and perfect beaches. The water is colder down here though. There isn't loads between the NSW border and Melbourbe via the coast.

Melbourne is a great place. Tour the MCG take a river cruise, coffee in the lane Watson, great museums...it's all there.

Sounds like a great trip...enjoy!
 
Just one issue. I am not sure if the intention is to drive from Cairns to Melbourne in 4 weeks before going to NZ. Sorry to state the flipping obvious but that is a bloody long way! It's much further from Cairns to Brisbane than it is from Brisbane to Sydney, and that in itself is a long way.

So much to do up around the reef and off shore islands in far north Queensland...you could spend a week just up there. You would want a min of 4 or 5 nights around Sydney...plus you want to look at Brissy....all in all its a long drive and 4 weeks is not much to cover that distance.

Also, when you look at a map and the travel times I reckon it can be misleading. Many stretches of the Pacific highway are shocking and sections of motorway or even dual carriage way can be few and far between. Think like the A1 north of Newcastle after the dual carriageway ends...but for 100's and 100's of k's. Driving at times in Australia away from the main centres is like the 1970's in England. Many people are killed each year heading up and down the coast.

Many who have done it will say it's fine. But just be careful not to overdo it and cram in two holidays into one. If you drive from Cairns to Melbourne I guarantee you will be knackered at the end of it. I have driven Adelaide to Sydney and it was hard.

If you overdo driving in Oz it might not make covering all NZ so good.
 
SydneyRed said:
Just one issue. I am not sure if the intention is to drive from Cairns to Melbourne in 4 weeks before going to NZ. Sorry to state the flipping obvious but that is a bloody long way! It's much further from Cairns to Brisbane than it is from Brisbane to Sydney, and that in itself is a long way.

So much to do up around the reef and off shore islands in far north Queensland...you could spend a week just up there. You would want a min of 4 or 5 nights around Sydney...plus you want to look at Brissy....all in all its a long drive and 4 weeks is not much to cover that distance.

Also, when you look at a map and the travel times I reckon it can be misleading. Many stretches of the Pacific highway are shocking and sections of motorway or even dual carriage way can be few and far between. Think like the A1 north of Newcastle after the dual carriageway ends...but for 100's and 100's of k's. Driving at times in Australia away from the main centres is like the 1970's in England. Many people are killed each year heading up and down the coast.

Many who have done it will say it's fine. But just be careful not to overdo it and cram in two holidays into one. If you drive from Cairns to Melbourne I guarantee you will be knackered at the end of it. I have driven Adelaide to Sydney and it was hard.

If you overdo driving in Oz it might not make covering all NZ so good.
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I’ll second that for NZ too.

Dual carriageways are few and far between especially down here. Our roads are very twisty turns and average speed is around 80km per hour. Lots of drivers cross the centre line and we have quite a few crashes so will need to factor all if this in.
 
Yeah...gotta be honest..driving Cairns -> Melbourne THEN flying to NZ and covering the miles there would be too much for me.

You would be constantly on the move..plus the long flights as well.

It's a long trip even if some short flight hops included tbh.
 
SydneyRed said:
Yeah...gotta be honest..driving Cairns -> Melbourne THEN flying to NZ and covering the miles there would be too much for me.

You would be constantly on the move..plus the long flights as well.

It's a long trip even if some short flight hops included tbh.
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Thanks for the feedback . We’re actually thinking of train to whistinday islands from Caitn, then flight to Brisbane , drive to Sydney then flight to Melbourne ….. that seems to be the broad agenda .

Wierdly I’m finding planning the north to south NZ harder as it’s just so….. different and unknown !

All the tips are so welcome all , gonna jot them all down as we continue the planning
 
We did flights. Cairns -> Brisbane, Brisbane-> Hamilton Island, Ham->Melbourne, then drove to Sydney over a week or so, including 3 nights in the Blue Mountains. Then back to Brisbane and had a week on the Gold Coast (Broadbeach). That was our month, using mainly Jetstar flights, which were very reasonable indeed.
Didn’t get chance to cross to NZ, so very envious.
 
Johnnyweetabix said:
Thanks for the feedback . We’re actually thinking of train to whistinday islands from Caitn, then flight to Brisbane , drive to Sydney then flight to Melbourne ….. that seems to be the broad agenda .

Wierdly I’m finding planning the north to south NZ harder as it’s just so….. different and unknown !

All the tips are so welcome all , gonna jot them all down as we continue the planning
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Sounds sensible. Yeah...so between Brissy and Sydney its beaches obviously but in October the swimming / life guard season won't have fully commenced and the water can be surprisingly cold. I usually go for my first swim in Nov. Sme towns / areas may have a off season vibe still.

Between Bris and Syd you will want to see Gold Coast, Byron Bay, Coff Harbour, Port Macquarie and so many small towns in between. Its all about the morning coffee and smashed avo on toast by the beach. Then grab a body board and catch a few waves.

The beach season might be better in November in Australia...just saying...in case you might want to consider flipping and doing NZ first.
 
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