Australia and Oceania Travel Forum

Hi there,
We'll be visiting the South Island this December (we'll have a campervan), and after quite a bit of research I've come up with a possible itinerary. There's SO much to see, I want to make sure we don't miss any must-see places! How does the following sound? (I know, I'm packing an awful lot in, but keep in mind we'd probably leave at 6 or 7 am on long-drive days - we're early risers - and that we live in Switzerland, so glaciers are not all that unusual for us. Still, is this do-able?

Day 1: Pick up camper - Christchurch
Day 2: Lyttelton Harbour and / or Akaroa
Day 3: Drive to Mt Cook village via Lake Tekapo
Day 4: morning glacier / mountain flight; afternoon drive to Queenstown
Day 5: Queenstown (cablecar ride + lake cruise)
Day 6: Queenstown to Te Anau
Day 7: Milford Sound
Day 8: Doubtful Sound
Day 9: Te Anau - Wanaka
Day 10: Wanaka - Franz Josef Glacier
Day 11: Franz Josef - Motueka (I know, a LONG day!)
Day 12: Abel Tasman day hike (return with water taxi)
Day 13: Motueka - Picton (scenic Drive) - Kaikoura(late afternoon whale / Dophin cruise?)
Day 14: Kaikoura - Christchurch (drop off camper + flight to N. Island

Would really appreciate your comments? Thanks!

I would like to do this with some companions does anyone know if there are travel buddy websites where u can sort this kind of out cheers

Wife's birthday coming up and she'd like to go whale watching in Hervey Bay. Number of whale watch operators, all of which I'm sure will be quite adequate and professional. However, I was wondering if anyone could advise of personal experiences on any of the following tours and their recommendations:
Tasman Venture, Spirit of Hervey Bay, Quick Cat II, that's Awesome, Mikat, Whalesong, Blue Dolphin, Shayla and Volante III.

Any recommendations on best time of day? Some info I've got says in the morning for calmer seas, others say in the afternoon for increased whale activity.

While the "season" starts mid-July and finishes end-November, when would the best time be?

Appreciate any inputs! Thanks.

Hello,

We're from US visiting Australia. What is the best strategy for calling US from Australia? Should we bring a phone (and which one) with us, or get one in Aus (and which one)?

Is Autralia 220v @ 60~, 220v @ 50~. Is there a travel adapter so I just plug my powersupply into it and run that way?

Thanks in advance!
MR2

Hello everybody,

I will be travelling with a child, age 7, to Auckland 4-12 of August, I should be staying in the North Shore.

Till the 9 of August I will might have 3-4 hours free during the day

And 10-11 full days…

What would you suggest to see? Where to go?

Do I need to rent a car or I can use public transport?

Thank you very much

Hi, I'm planning for my first trip to Perth for 5-7 days in Sept. However, I can't find any accommodation is under US$40/night. As I understand from the forum that transportation system is very good in Perth, think it won't be a big headache if the guest house/motel is not in the down town? Can anybody help?

Many tks.

Arrive Darwin 1pm Saturday 1st August and joining tour Sunday Evening which leave us the remainder of Saturday and all day Sunday to do our own thing pre tour.
The tour includes a morning tour of Darwin Monday.

Any suggestions of special things happening weekend, including markets, possible boat cruise, where to take good photos and a good place for dinner Saturday night, something casual.

What is the best way to get around on weekend, public transport or taxi. We will be ataying at the Vibe hotel, which they say is on the dge of the city centre and close to wharf.

Appreciate all information.

Mike

Does anyone know a good website in Perth to find a room to rent?

thanks

We're travelling to New Zealand for 3 weeks in October (can't wait!)
My boyfriend has recently started surfing and was wondering if there is anywhere to surf on NZ South Island.
We're Brits so really not looking for big Hawaii-style waves, just something big enough to get stood up on.
Is there anywhere to surf?
Also a friend said he thought there were sharks round NZ - is this something we need to be careful of? (not heard of a shark problem there before...?)

Dear all,

Me, my husband and our 5 year old son is visiting New Zealand (south island), for the first time for a very short 6 days visit first week of November.

My questions are:
1. Will there be a place where my son can still play in the snow? He has never seen snow before. Better yet is there any ski resort thats still opened?
2. Our itenary is as below:
D1: Arriving in Christchurch, afternoon.
D2: Drive to Mt Cook, stay overnight there
D3: Drive to Te Anau, stay overnight there
D4: Drive to Milford Sound, and back to Queenstown, overnight Queenstown
D5: Queenstown... possibly play in some snow???
D6: Flight from Queenstown
Do you think that its too heavy for a 5 year old kid?

Thanks sooo much.

Hi
Is there a coach service that would take me from Gold Coast Airport to Brisbane CBD?
Thanks.

I'm looking for a list of shore excursions for the Dawn Princess Around Australia cruise. (28 days around Australia aboard a Princess ship) Apparently, one is not given the list until one has booked the cruise. I would like to know BEFORE we sign up what the excursions are.
Anyone been on this cruise?

We leave in a few days and are looking to charter a boat for the day, no diving just snorkeling, sight seeing, hiking etc.

We got a price of $450 USD for the day. this seem ok in Palau? are these guys good tour company?

Thanks :)

Does anyone know is the Wellington to Auckland overlander worth doing and if it stops at intervals along the way between Wellington and Auckland?

thanks

Arriving in Hobart from Auckland via Melbourne late on 10 Feb. Got 10 nights to see as much as possible of the island. Leaving on early flight on 20 Feb. How far is the airport from downtown Hobart, or should we book an airport hotel? Any recs for a reliable car rental co? Is it easy enough to pick up accomm on the hoof?

Hi all

have the below qns.Will be my first trip to NZ in mid-end july and appreciate if anyone can advise on the below

will it be too cold to do water rafting and jetboating during winter?
Is North Island lake taupo or Queenstown better for such sports?

Does anyone know of a good accommodation for Queenstown/Lake Tekapo/Rotoura/Auckland /Christchurch/Our budget is about 120NZD per day.Is it too short to stay in Tekapo for one night?

Planning to go skiing in Queenstown.Any good recommendation for ski resort?Is there any winter festival during this period?

Thanks in advance!

Ok this may be a silly question but.......Is there a train that runs from North to South island? and vice versa?

Has anyone used Mark Smith from Lets Cruise Limited?

I knew this questions has been asked many times in this forum, but my question is slightly different.

We will be arriving Christchurch on 13Jul2009 at 12:40 afternoon and will be leaving Christchurch on 19Jul2009 at 6:00am in the morning by plane.

We are two adults and two little children of 7year and 4year.

We will be hiring a motorhome for all the time (13Jul to 19Jul).

There are three things we definitely wanted to do:

Tram in Christchuch,
Antarctica in Christchurch
Lake Tekapo

Now our question is:

With two littlies, only six days and myself being a nature photographer, is it possible to go to Queenstown. We are definitely after beautifull scenery and kids activities. We are not looking for advanture like bungy-jump, jet boat or scenic flight.

We love waterfalls, beautifull scenery, snow, lakes and streams.

So please help us how to plan our journey, where to stay, what to see and what routes to take for taking beautiful photos.

Thanks in advance

Well, thanks to help from previous replies we've got a partial itinerary and accomm plus a rental car sorted:

3 nts Christchurch
2 nts Akaroa
2 nts Twizel
3 nts Otago peninsular
1 nt Invercargill (VFR)
3 nts Te Anau.

That takes us from 2 Jan to 16 Jan!

We've also got a ferry on 27 Jan, so what should we do to fill the 9 days in between????

Also, the ferry we've booked departs 10.15 with a 9.15 check-in, so where is it realistic to stay the night before?

Nothing yet booked in NI apart from the last 2 nights in a boutique B&B in Auckland. What's the situation re picking up accomm with parking in Wellington? Should we pre-book and would 2 days be enough, bearing in mind we'll have just 10 days left to see the rest of NI where Napier and Rotaroa are top of the must-see list?

I am taking my Mom to Australia for the first time in August. We land in Sydney at 6 AM on Tuesday, August 11 and we fly home from Sydney at 2 PM on Wednesday, August 26th, so that gives us 16 days in country. I love adventure and nature but I'm going to save the cage diving off the Great Barrier Reef for the next trip since my mom isn't a certified diver. My mom is in her mid-50s and although she is cultured and loves the wine and arts, etc. she also loves hiking and nature. We have taken several road trips together over the years, stopping at every national park and "world's largest ball of twine" along the way. So we'd love to take a road trip in Australia together.

We'd love to see some of the Outback and I hear that the Savannah Way is a must-do drive that passes through several national parks and the outback. So we are thinking about a couple days in Sydney with a day trip (or possibly an overnight) to the Hunter Valley for some wine tasting. Then we would fly to Darwin (or possibly Alice Springs??) and rent a car and drive PART of the Savannah Way, through the Kimberley Region to Broome. From Broome we would fly back to Sydney and spend a final couple days there.

Do we have enough time to do this? Is this a good route? How many days would we need to do this portion of the Savannah Way? Any other recommendations?

Hi ppl, i will be reaching perth this coming sunday 28th jun. will be leaving on the 1st july.
I am planning an overnight farmstay and 3 days city stay.
I plan to rent a car, should i go for the farm stay at swan valley first followed by the city stay? i heard that parking in the city is quite expensive. Should i use public transport while travelling around in city- fremantle, kings park , bell tower etc..

Hope that someone can give me some good advice. thanks in advance.

I am trying to find Scratchley Road in Port Moresby.
Can anyone help tell me where it is?

Also does anyone have a street map with main roads marked on it, I can not find one on the web?

Thanks

Hi all,

I'm arriving into Sydney airport (travelling from Ireland) next monday early in the morning at about 8am. Whats the best way of getting from the airport to Bondi Junction? Is there a direct train/bus I can get? How much would a taxi cost at around 8am?

Thanks

Does anyone know of a website with cheap flights from Melbourne to Lima, Peru. I am considering going over there late October.

The only website (in Australia) that I've ever really used for flights is Flight Centre. Can anyone recommend something for me?

We're thinking of staying in Sumner while visiting Christchurch. We found a very nice apt w/ a view and since we'll have a car, we thought it would be nice to stay in Sumner and drive into town if it strike our fancy. Is the Sumner road to and from the city center easy to drive or is the traffic too much to make it a worthwhile place for lodging? On the map there seems to be but one road in and out. Any suggestions? Thanks

I have booked my first trip to Australia for my 18 year old son & I mid-July this year. I only have one week and want to hit nice Caribbean type waters. Is the only way to do that to go all the way up to Cairns? Do people go to the beach and snorkel around Sydney in July? Thank you so much for your help...am desperate!

traveling to the cook islands in may 2010. we are thinking of staying with a family or in a village so as to get to know the people. is their a place or village.

Hi, I'm looking at taking my wife on a holiday to a nice sunny tropical island for 5 days as a late honey moon and have had Rarotonga reccomended to me.

I'm wondering what the weather is like in July, warm enough during the days? Sea temperature ok for snokelling and diving etc, enough sunny days to geta tan in NZ winter time?

Any advice/info would be most appreciated.

Mike

Hey folks, I have on night to spend in the Coromandel Region travelling from Auckland and wondered if anyone could suggest what I could do in the limited time I have? I have been trying to read through the pages on the region but without travel times I am finding it hard to know what I can fit in. I will have a car to get around.

I will be leaving Auckland at 9am to travel to Coromandal and then leave 5pm the following day to drive to Rotorua.

Thanks in advance!