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Trip to Australia or New Zealand in beginning of Nov. Need advices? |
Travel Info Hi, my friends and I are two gals from Singapore. Intend to go to Australia in beginning of Nov. We aren't seasoned travellers but do not wish to join tour package with its standard routines and long hours on the road. We would like to try things like hot air balloon, hang gliding, helicopter, visits to fruit farms and vineyards, shopping, seeing beautiful scenery etc. Thought of Tasmania and another destination. I have also heard that Tasmania is expensive. Considering New Zealand too. Would appreciate any advices or recommedations. tks Travel Tips I liked New Zealand better than Australia, but they both have things to recommend them. You can see more of New Zealand in a short period of time than you can of Australia. I planned my own tour, going by myself, from the US, on Travelocity's site. They provided me with an itinerary. I used frequent flyer miles from an airline that partnered with Qantas. I went in August of 2000. It was wintertime. I spent about 2 1/2 weeks in NZ and 2 1/2 weeks in Oz (Australia). For the NZ portion of the trip, I entered the country at Auckland and had arranged in advance for a very reasonably priced rental car. I managed to use a company that would allow me to drive it from Auckland to Christchurch and leave it there. Many of the companies make you leave the car in Wellington, remove all your luggage, then cart it over to the South Island by ferry, then rent another car on the South Island. I used a local guy in Christchurch for this. I spent 2 days in Auckland, sailing a boat in the harbor, seeing the zoo and I took a local sightseeing tour of the downtown area. Then I drove on to Rotarura to see the Maori way of life. I did the bus trip out to a Maori village for a Hangi Dinner. 2 days there, then I drove from there to Napier, a wine growing area. The town was destroyed by a horrible Earthquake in the 20s and rebuilt in the Art Deco style, great for photos. One the way I saw some beautiful waterfalls. Most of the motels have kitchenette facilities, so I ate in the car and fixed sandwiches daily to save $$$$ I would eat one meal out daily, usually. They have wonderful hiking pathways with sleeping facilities a day's hike apart. That is a great activity to do in the Milford Sound area. Anyway, one night in Napier then on to Wellington. I spent one night there, saw the museum the next morning. It was great. Then I took an afternoon ferry (actually a ship with a restaurant and movie theater on it) to the South Island. I stayed in a log cabin motel on the way to the West Coast. I saw the Pancake rocks; as I left them and rounded a curve in the road I saw the majestic NZ Alps stretching all the way to the horizon, snow capped, with green tropical trees stretching out below them in a carpet of green. Then I headed South to Franz Josef where I took a chopper ride up onto the glacier the next day and we did a glacier climb (I fell into a crevasse, but was able to extract myself with an injury that only took a year to heal). Next I visited the Fox glacier where I saw the green trees up close and found that the branches are like giant palm fronds. The it was over to Wanaka. I stayed one night there. On a couple of subsequent trips I returned there to spend more time and to ski there. It is the most beautiful village on Earth. Then I pressed on to Queenstown where I spent a few days skiing and visited Arrowtown. I also took a day tour to Milford Sound. I did not want the aggravation of driving all that way, as it is a very long trip. I got onto the bus in the dark and slept until daylight. The scenery was magnificant. You go through a long tunnel, then come out with almost vertical mountains rising above you. You board a boat that takes you through the Fjord system out to the Tasman Sea. Waterfalls 1500 feet high all around. After returning to Queenstown, I drove East through an orchard area where they have fruit stands in the Spring and Summer. I went on to Dunedin where I stayed in a haunted castle and also saw Royal Albatross chicks and adult birds, a walrus, a sea lion, and yellow eyed penguins. Then on to Christchurch. I did not visit it on this trip as I knew I would be back, and I was back. Then I flew to Australia where I visited Sydney, Adelaide, Alice Springs, Ayers Rock, Cannes (good hot air ballooning there), and Sydney. Source(s): My own experience and research on the Internet. Other Travel Tips Of the things you've mentioned, you can do hot air ballooning in most places. Melbourne and Canberra have trips over the city at sunrise. I recommend doing it in Alice Springs though - you go over the desert and can occassionally see herds of camel and what-not. It's pretty good... even with the 3am start! Hanggliding - most places do that out of the major cities, try along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, I've heard a few places do it along there. Helicopter - anywhere, just check with your hotel Fruit Farms - berry farms, southern states have heaps but you'd be better off visiting ones around northern Queensland, you'd have more variety of tropical fruits. Vineyards - Barrossa Valley in South Australia, Margaret River in Western Australia, Mornington Penninsula in Victoria. There are so many it's not funny! Shopping - depends what you're after. General shopping I'd recommend Melbourne city (Bourke St Mall, Brunswick St) or Bondi Junction and Oxford St in Sydney. Salamanca Markets in Hobart is apparently good too. More cultural stuff like Aboriginal artifacts, you'd want to go to Darwin, Alice Springs, Cairns, etc. Scenery - go anywhere out of a city and you'll see something. You've got beaches, mountains, forest (bushland and rainforests), reefs, take your pick. I'd recommend looking at the bus companies if you're not going to do a tour, it's cheaper and you can go to more cities and see a bit of the scenery on the way. Greyhound is one of the better known companies. (try and compare prices to the smaller companies though) Have fun! i think you'd enjoy the gold coast. don't bother with greyhound bus travel - the distances are too long between interesting places. you can get cheap flights with jetstar or virgin blue - see their websites. tasmania is expensive and a bit like stepping back in time to the 1960's - if that's what you want. new zealand in nov may still be cool and rainy on the south island. airlie beach is great as is cairns in qld. Hey, Im australian, and from sydney so this might seem a little bias.. Sydney has many opportunities to do all this. There is not only the city with your typical shopping and sight seeing. There is the hunter valley which is a huge winegrowning district just 3 hours by car from sydney or you could catch the train. Also there is the blue mountains which offer different kinds of activities from bush walks, adventure sports and fruit fields. Also the famous three sisters are there (rocks). This is also accessable by train. May i recomend however looking on www.contiki.com although it is a tour package, it is designed for 18-35 year olds. Just take a look and prehaps you will get some ideas where to go and things to do! hope this helped.. enjoy australia |
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