We are planning a 3 week trip to New Zealand and Australia in March ’09. What should be on our “must do list”?
by admin on Saturday, January 15th, 2011 | 5 Comments
We will be doing a lot of hiking- probably the Heaphy Track in NZ. Looking for other activities not to miss. Zorbing looks cool. And the Golf Cross in Rotorua. In Australia we’ll go to the Great Barrier Reef, Sydney, etc. What else is not to miss? Also, thinking of renting a camper van. Has anyone had experience with this? We want to go cheap for a majority of the trip, but also spend some nights in nice resorts. Any info is appreciated!
…thanks James! what should we do in Melbourne?
also…is the Australia Zoo worth the trip?
Jemma, can I email you???
Don’t miss Melbourne!
The Australia zoo is DEFINITELY worth the trip! Its great!
I’m not sure if this is your thing, but while I was in Rotorua (and on the Gold Coast too come to think about it) I went Zorbing! Its hard to explain, but it was AWESOME fun! go to http://www.zorb.com.au and check it out, I think it was definitely a must do.
I’m tackling the Sydney Harbour Bridge this weekend, So I’ll let you know how that goes, (I’m terrified, but I think it will be wicked!)
So, If I had have read your question thoroughly I would have seen that zorbing is on your list of things to do. I highly recommend the Hydro Zorb, much cooler than your standard Zorb.
Sure, just changed it so you can email
In Australia I also suggest some of the theme parks such as Dream World,Sea World,Movie World,And White Water World on the Gold Coast.Australia Zoo is quiet expensive these days it can cost up to $52 for an adult ticket.You can see a lot of Australian animals and also a lot of animals that are not from here.There are a number of shows such as the crocodile.Have a look at the website and you can decide whether it is worth for you.I have been there a number of times and enjoyed it a lot.However,since the prices have gone up I do think that it is a little bit expensive but you only live once so go for it.
Travelling in a campervan is a great idea and you meet a lot of people during your trip.
spend some time in the gold coast and sunshine hinterlands there are some great walking tracks and the scenery is fantastic, you’ll also find some really luxurious bed and breakfasts dotted all over the place in these areas and they’re quite cheap. also there is a free alternative to australia zoo at Queens Park in Ipswich, they don’t do shows like the zoo does but you can walk up close to the animals and right into the bird enclosure, there’s also a great Japanese garden there and a budget friendly cafe.the park is currently partway through some upgrades though but its well worth spending a day there.
If your into hiking then i’d recommend you head down to the south of the south island (Queenstown or te Anau) and look at possibly doing the kepler, routeburn or milford track also the Abel Tasman track and Queen charlotte track at the top of south island have some spectacular scenery and beautiful swimming spots. I haven’t had a chance to do the Heaphy track yet as its a hard one to organise given that the two ends of the track are about 250km driving distancee apart but i hear its great too
a very useful website to you would be http://doc.govt.nz/templates/ByRegionLanding.aspx?id=35796
it has all the walking tracks in NZ on it and for the “great walks” (the heaphy is one of them) you’ll need to book tickets in advance.
for the Zorb in Rotorua see http://www.zorb.co.nz/
and for renting a campervan see http://www.escaperentals.co.nz/
http://www.autorentals.co.nz/
http://www.maui.co.nz/
and of course there are many many more companies out there
time constraints would be your biggest issue, theres so much to fit in!!
Good luck
oh and for some magical places to stay see
http://lochmaralodge.co.nz/
http://pungacove.co.nz/
http://awaroalodge.co.nz/