RosieKat
Drama Llama
PeaJect #12
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Post by RosieKat on Nov 15, 2024 19:37:10 GMT
Our family is looking at a vacation in June 2025. (ETA the June timeframe is non-negotiable as school finishes late May and DD starts her grownup job in July.) We are a bit overwhelmed with the planning and were hoping maybe someone can give us some ideas of things to consider. We are well aware of the size/travel distances and we don't mind incorporating some time that is just plain journeying, but since we're probably looking at about 10 days, we can't go crazy with that, either. (We fully understand that we're not having breakfast in Sydney and dinner in Perth, lol.) We do have one person who just HAS to go to Australia, and another who just HAS to go to New Zealand, so we are probably going to bite that travel bullet already.
It's 2 adults and 2 older teens (will be 16 and 19). I guess we like a sampler of lots of kinds of things. We like nature of all sorts (though we're a bit leery of the legendary deadliness of apparently everything). 3 of us are interested in history with the other one willing to go along somewhat. Half of us are pretty fit and the other half are capable. And we like lots of other things in small doses, from refined culture to getting dirty. We would not want to go camping on this trip as we know there is a lot to know specific to the location that we wouldn't know. We enjoy getting to see what a place has that's unique to it.
We've got the travel guides, etc. but we were hoping to see if anyone had any suggestions for us. We've found in the past that we tend to like the things that are special to the locals - not the big worldwide known stuff so much, but things that you might do for a special day out yourself.
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Post by AussieMeg on Nov 15, 2024 23:38:19 GMT
June is winter here, and it will be cool / cold in the southern part of the country where I am. If you want to enjoy warm weather and beaches, I recommend going up north, in Queensland. Anywhere from the Sunshine Coast and up. Up north they don't really have four seasons, they have wet season and dry season. June is perfect in North Queensland. There are some great nature opportunities in QLD. If you don't mind cooler weather, go to Sydney as well. The harbour is just beautiful. Looking at this year's weather data for June, the temperature ranged from 13C to 22C in Sydney (55F to 71F), and the average is probably around 17C / 62F. Or if you want to see me, come to Melbourne!  I can offer more suggestions if you have specific things you want to do/see. |
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Post by ntsf on Nov 15, 2024 23:59:57 GMT
june will be cold in new zealand too. I went there in july once.. saw all the tourist spots and they were empty. since you are doing both countries, I would either pick stuff around aukland and north island. or go skiing in queensland, south island. mostly, I would pick aukland. the volcanic sights are near by.. there are the glow worm caves, or you could go up to the bay of islands. if you are driving around.. except for a few miles in aukland, the roads are two lane hiways, 60 mph, and then you stop every once in a while to go on a one way bridge. the signs tell you who has the right of way. so it takes much longer to get places than you are used to in the usa. there is plenty to do around aukland.. the temps were in the 40's-50's and rainy off and on. I'll let the kiwi chime in.
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RosieKat
Drama Llama
PeaJect #12
Posts: 5,561
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Post by RosieKat on Nov 16, 2024 0:17:41 GMT
This trip planning will be the death of me. For some reason, I can't keep the mental map straight, and unlike a lot of travel planning, getting two landmarks flipflopped will make the difference between doable and not! I mean, I fully anticipate plenty of in-country travel time, which is fine when it's someplace new to us. But there's a difference between 8 hours driving and 16! (Or bus, or train, or whatever.) I really need to be doing this with the map right in front of me. Maybe it's my age, this has never been a problem before.  |
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Post by Linda on Nov 16, 2024 0:37:31 GMT
I haven't been to either place RosieKat but my suggestion is to pick a home base in each country and then look for things to do there or within day trip distance. Two hotels (or whatever you're booking) - one in Australia and one in New Zealand. I think you'll find there's plenty to do in and around wherever you choose to stay. |
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Post by ntsf on Nov 16, 2024 1:50:33 GMT
other think to realize.. sydney is a big city, but most things you may want to see are around the central bay.. and you can take ferries, etc. aukland has the biggest land mass of any city in the world.. it sprawls.. so even if something is in aukland, it may be quite a distance.
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camcas
Pearl Clutcher
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Post by camcas on Nov 16, 2024 2:05:19 GMT
I am in rural South Australia but have travelled quite a bit in Oz and NZ
I agree with @ Aussie Meg- stick to the east coast and go to Queensland,great barrier reef and Sydney.
Sydney harbour is beautiful and I can VERY highly recommend doing the harbour bridge climb.
I did it in winter and saw a magnificent rain squall come in through the heads and across the top of me travelling inland. Yes I got drenched but it was a FABULOUS experience.
Alternatively if you are a desert/ancient nature kind of person start in Adelaide, and travel to the red centre- perfect time in June
You can then see Uluru[Ayers Rock] and do the magnificent base walk 10k but all flat and Kata Tjuṯa [the Olgas] and do the valley of the winds walk.The stars in the magnificent southern night sky at Uluru are something else .
If you’re keen you could stop in Coober Pedy on the way between Adelaide and Uluru and see the opal mines.
In NZ probably only really enough time to see some things on one island or the other.
I think Auckland and day trip to Rotorua for the hot springs and overnight then visit Mata Mata for Hobbiton on the way back to Auckland .
What ever you choose you’ll have a fabby time .
Oz and NZ have mild winter. Bring a rain coat and you’ll be fine
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Post by AussieMeg on Nov 16, 2024 2:09:25 GMT
or go skiing in queensland, south island. Just so we don't add to Rosiekat's planning dilemma, I will point out that you meant Queenstown in NZ, not Queensland in Australia, where it has never snowed. RosieKat if you give me an idea of what places are on your wish list or must-see list, I will see if I can offer some itinerary ideas. 10 days is not a long time, so you're going to need to limit your trip to one or two places in Australia, and one in NZ. If you ended up wanting to see Sydney and the Sunshine Coast in QLD, for example, you would need to fly. You would waste way too much precious time driving. |
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RosieKat
Drama Llama
PeaJect #12
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Post by RosieKat on Nov 16, 2024 2:37:29 GMT
Updates for AussieMeg and all you helpers: In addition to the casual research I've been doing along with pretty intense stuff this afternoon and your feedback, I think we concluded that trying to "do" Australia and NZ just wasn't worth it, and given the time of year, we were probably better off without NZ. We also think we could probably spend up to 2 weeks actually there. (We had been thinking 2 weeks including travel time, but we decided we can just add on those extra 3 days.) We also accept that we may need to do some flying in-country, though we're comfortable driving or with other transport where that's a reasonable option. (We're in Texas, day trips of 4 hours each way are never ideal, but happen.) DD feels like the world will end if she doesn't get to say she stepped foot on Bondi, even though we all know we'd basically be going just to say we did. I would love the Adelaide/Red Centre trip camcas described, but I don't think the rest of the family would be on board with that being the entire trip. We'd love to explore things that make Australia special rather than spending significant time touring an otherwise pretty cool city, for example. People have expressed possible interest in Adelaide/Kangaroo Island area, Uluru-Kata Tjuta, Blue Mountains, Great Barrier Reef, Bondi, and a beach visit of some sort that probably isn't Bondi, lol. I've been looking at guided tours to get general ideas of what might be doable time-wise. (We are very unlikely to want to do a full tour, it was just for reference.) I saw one that was Sydney area (so you could hit the city, beach, and maybe even Blue Mountains), flying to Uluru, then flying to Cairns for snorkeling, beach, rainforest. Any thoughts on that as a general framework? I know it leaves out Adelaide (as well as 10,000 places we'd love to see), but I suspect that would just be too much. I really appreciate everyone's help. I want to see as much as I can because this is likely my only chance to get to that part of the world, but I'd rather see just a few places and truly enjoy them in the end. What's the max length of travel visa I can get?  |
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Post by Linda on Nov 16, 2024 2:56:11 GMT
What's the max length of travel visa I can get? assuming you're a US Passport holder - tourist visa is typically 90 days |
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Post by bunnyhug on Nov 16, 2024 3:34:31 GMT
I wouldn't completely discount a tour--there's a lot to be said for someone else dealing with all of the details (and someone who knows where the good spots are and likely can get good seats/prices/parking at airports and attractions!) while you just get to appreciate all of the cool things along the way. I think tours are especially helpful when you have a short time frame and want to see lots of stuff--and even two weeks is a very short time frame in a place as big as Australia! I spent a year just outside of Melbourne as an exchange student in 1989-90 and only saw about a quarter of the country (Adelaide, Alice Springs, Sydney, a good chunk of Victoria, Tasmania). One of my favourite places was Tasmania--I was there in May and it was cool but happily not especially rainy--and it was so beautiful! My other favourite experience was going with my class on a two week bus trip to central Australia. We did the 'student' version, so slept in tents/caves and spent half our time trying to escape our teacher's watchful gaze, but had so much fun. If I were going to do it again, I'd book nice hotels but still go the same places  |
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Post by AussieMeg on Nov 16, 2024 4:16:49 GMT
If I had to choose one place to go, it would either be somewhere in Queensland - around the Great Barrier Reef / Whitsundays - or Sydney. Going to both would be great, if you have the time! The Sunshine Coast would be lovely, but not quite warm enough (for me) in June. I would head further north. Some places to consider: Cairns, Port Douglas, The Daintree Rainforest, Cape Tribulation. Or an island such as Magnetic Island (my aunty lived there and I love it!), Great Keppel Island, Hamilton Island. The good thing about being there in June is that it isn't stinger season, so you can swim without having to wear a stinger suit! Snorkelling or scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef would be another awesome thing to do. QLD has some great wildlife parks too. I'm going to Sydney in February, just for five days. (I've been several times, but not for years.) Our itinerary so far: Two nights in the Blue Mountains, staying at The Hydro Majestic. We will buy the Unlimited Discovery Pass for Scenic World at The Blue Mountains. This gives us unlimited access to the following: Scenic Railway - train travels down the mountain through a cliff tunnel and emerges in the Jamison Valley Scenic Skyway - cable car trip across the top of the Blue Mountains Scenic Cableway - cabin travels down into the Jamison Valley and back to the top of the escarpment Scenic Walkway - elevated boardwalk in the Jamison Valley I'm excited about this, because even though I've been to Sydney before, I've never been to the Blue Mountains. I wouldn't have chosen to stay there for two nights, but the others were keen (we're going with another couple). You can do a day trip there. It's about 2 hours from Sydney, and you can get the train out there. We will be there in summer, so of course I will be heading to Bondi Beach and some of the other gorgeous beaches such as Tamarama, Manly, Cronulla, Bronte. You can explore a lot of the beaches if you do the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk. DSO and I are doing the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb that camcas mentioned. It's quite expensive, but DSO and I are gifting it to each other for Christmas. A harbour cruise is a must, of course. There should hopefully be some wildlife parks where you can get up close and personal to kangaroos and other native wildlife. I know where they are in my state, but not NSW / Sydney. |
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Post by Neisey on Nov 16, 2024 5:09:39 GMT
My daughter did a university exchange to Melbourne so I took my bucket list trip to visit her and then we traveled together to various spots in Australiia, New Zealand and Fiji. One thing we did so that we could see more of Australia was to book flights that had really long layovers. I can’t remember what order we did the cities in as we did this a few times but for example, we may have flown from Melbourne to Brisbane with an overnight layover in Sydney. We’d land in Sydney in the afternoon, hit the high spots (Opera House, Harbour Bridge, etc) spend the night in an Airbnb and be off to the airport again the next morning for the second part of the trip. So in essence we paid for one flight and visited 2 cities. Loved the Whitsundies, snorkeling the reef, Philips Island Bus trip (kangaroos and koalas in the morning, penguins in the evening and visiting AussieMeg in Melbourne. We did some bus tours (couple of day trips and a multi day and they make it so easy to see so much, especially when you don’t have much time. I was petrified of poisonous things and gigantic spiders - worst thing I saw was a cockroach! I hope you have a wonderful trip! |
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Post by ntsf on Nov 16, 2024 6:05:50 GMT
sorry about queenstown vs queensland.. i'm on vacation and apparently so is my brain. and I've been to both places!! recently!!!
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anniebeth24
Pearl Clutcher
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Post by anniebeth24 on Nov 16, 2024 15:26:24 GMT
We went on the Discover Australia tour with G Adventures (affiliated with National Geographic) in May. It was 14 days - Melbourne, Yulara (Uluru), Sydney, Cairns with lots of included activities like a private Sydney Harbor cruise and Great Barrier Reef snorkeling. They offer small group tours of 16 max. Our family was 9 of the 16. Great mix of scheduled things and free time to explore.
I'd never done a group tour before, but loved being taken care of in that manner. No thinking involved, especially with transportation and in-country flights.
I would have loved at least one more day in each place and of course, there's so much more to see. But, it was a fabulous introduction to the country. Their itinerary might be a good starting point for inspiration planning your own route.
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RosieKat
Drama Llama
PeaJect #12
Posts: 5,561
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Post by RosieKat on Nov 16, 2024 21:56:34 GMT
We went on the Discover Australia tour with G Adventures (affiliated with National Geographic) in May. Oooh, time to look into that! You are all giving me so many great ideas! I think I may take a map of the eastern half and just start figuring out exactly where all these intriguing things are. I'm guessing, AussieMeg, that I am not going to end up near Melbourne.  It's also a challenge because I know what I would do if it were entirely up to me (I saw a great looking wine and wildlife tour!), or if I were just traveling with DH (we have always made great travel buddies!) - but this is a combo "time for a cool family trip" mixed with a graduation gift for DD, and DS is pretty much scared to go outside in Australia, lol. He'll get over at least some of that, but I want to be sure to include things that make everyone happy. And I want to be sure to include some simple downtime, too, hard though it is to incorporate that into the planning when you know there's something you're missing out on! I truly appreciate each one of you who has contributed. I'm happy to hear any other input as well, but I do think I'm in a good place for the moment. Don't worry, I'll be sure to keep you all updated. This planning is also helping inspire me to stick with my fitness plan! (The weight loss part just isn't happening, but that's a whole other thread, lol.) |
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Post by ntsf on Nov 17, 2024 2:27:59 GMT
I will say that my new words for doing family travel with adult children.."whatever".. you want to change where to go, where to eat? whatever. you want to take a lazy afternoon off? whatever.
worked well this year on a 3 week trip.
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It's also a challenge because I know what I would do if it were entirely up to me (I saw a great looking wine and wildlife tour!), or if I were just traveling with DH (we have always made great travel buddies!) - but this is a combo "time for a cool family trip" mixed with a graduation gift for DD, and DS is pretty much scared to go outside in Australia, lol. He'll get over at least some of that, but I want to be sure to include things that make everyone happy. And I want to be sure to include some simple downtime, too, hard though it is to incorporate that into the planning when you know there's something you're missing out on!