NZ and Australia - here we come!

K & I are currently planning a 2 month trip to New Zealand and Australia.  Have you been to either of these countries before?  If so, what would you want to see again?  What would you skip?  Let us know what you saw, what you did, and what we shouldn't miss.

We plan to arrive in Auckland, New Zealand for a 3 week tour of the land of the Kiwis.  Then it is on to Adelaide where we start a 5 week tour of the Land Down Under.

Here is our current itinerary:

NZ North Island

• 3 days in Auckland (rest from travel and see the city sights)
• 1 day in Rotorua (stop for a hangi - dinner/show at a Maori Village)
• 2 days in Taupo (hike Tongariro Apine Crossing tramp - a.k.a. trail)
• 1 day in Hawkes Bay (wine, Napier art-deco)
• 2 days in Wellington (Te Papa)
• Ferry to the South Island

NZ South Island

• 1 day Nelson/Blenheim
• 2 days west coast and glacier areas (hike the Fox Glacier)
• 2 days in Queenstown (bungee jump at its origins)
• 1 day in Te Anu (cruise the Milford Sound)
• 2 days in Dunedin/Otago Peninsula (penguin and albatross bird watch)
• 1 day in Christchurch

Australia

• 3 days in Adelaide and surrounding hills (Tandanya National Aboriginal Art Gallery, Rundle St. area, Hohndorf)
• 3 days along the southern coast on the way to Melbourne (Gramplans, Twelve Apostles)
• 4 days in Melbourne (food galore, Federation Square, Queen Victoria Market, Yarra Phillips Island, Australian rules football)
• 3 days in Perth (Kings Park, Fremantle)
• 3 days in Alice Springs, Uluru and Kata Tjuta (the rock - what else)
• 3 days in Cairns (Great Barrier Reef, Kuranda, Daintree Rainforest)
• 4 days in Brisbane (Lone Pine Koala Sancturary, City Hall, zoo, Byron Bay)
• 7 days in Sydney (Harbour Bridge, Opera House, Blue Mountains, Sydney neighborhoods and beaches, Rocks district)

Your Feedback Wanted!

If you have been, what were experiences?  What were your favorite tours, hotels, restaurants?  Did you use a tour for any part of your trip and would you recommend it?  Leave us a comment.  Stay tuned to this blog as we provide you details of our planning and results - which we hope will be a trip of a lifetime!