My trip to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji?

Question

In the middle of December of this year my family and I will be heading to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji for a month.

I was wondering if anyone could give me any suggestions of what to possibly do in these places. When we're in Australia, we will be staying in Brisbane with maybe a couple days in Sydney, so anything around there to do? New Zealand we will be going all around both islands, and Fiji we will be going to lots of the island.

So far in Australia i want to:

Surf

Tour the Great Barrier Reef

and lay on the beach

New Zealand: Nothing planned so far

Fiji: Scuba diving and surfing

Anything else in these places that are a must see and must do? Any really good bars in some of these places?

What i would really love to do is catch a Rugby game (All Blacks or Wallabies), but I dont know when the Rugby season ends and i've looked for tickets and cant find anything. I'd also go see a Cricket game or Aussie Rules Football.

So any suggestions everyone?

Answer 1

We went to Australia and New Zealand about 2 years ago and loved the vacation!  While in Sydney, I'd say a must see is a day trip to the Blue Mountains.  They are absolutely gorgeous and that was really our favority part of Sydney.  We went surfing at Manly Beach.  We also went scubadiving in the Great Barrier out of Cairns but didn't find much to do in the city itself.  You may have better luck in Brisbane.

On the South Island in New Zealand, Arthur's Pass is a must see...very beautiful and quiet, great hiking.  We also went glacier hiking in Franz Josef which I highly recommend.  On the North Island, I would recommend white water rafting (tallest commercially raftable falls in the world) outside Rotorua and caving in the Waitomo Caves. That was extremely thrilling and so much fun...an all day exploration.  As you can see, we're more adventurous so I'm not sure what you'd be looking for.

Answer 2

Australian football and rugby will be finished but the cricket season will have started.  Brisbane is at the southern tip of the GBR (better diving further north).  A day trip to Fraser Island is strongly recommended from Brisbane.  Get a ticket on the red buses to see all the major sights of Sydney (all day ticket/buses do a round trip/get on/off anywhere that takes your fancy/another bus in 20 minutes).  Fiji has good diving but not surf beaches.  There are lots of good bars in Brisbane and Sydney.  Have a great holiday.

Answer 3

You won't be doing any surfing or Great Barrier Reef touring if you stay in Brisbane. The nearest surf beaches to Brisbane are at least an hour away to the north (Sunshine Coast) and south (Gold Coast). The closest part of the Great Barrier Reef is off Bundaberg (Heron, Lady Elliot and Lady Musgrave Islands) which are roughly 2 1/2 hours drive (plus a boat trip of course) and 168 km north of Brisbane and most of the reef is hundreds of kms further than that.

There's really only enough to do in Brisbane for a day or so as it's our capital city and commercial centre, not a tourist area. Go to Southbank; see the river on the Citycat; go to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary: visit Mt Coot-tha lookout and that's about it.

You should spend the rest of your time elsewhere. For surf and lying on the beach, spend a few days at either the Gold or Sunshine Coast (or both). The Gold Coast is very touristy and glitzy with great beaches and surf, theme parks, shopping, great bars and busy nightlife while the Sunshine Coast has great beaches, surf, good bars and restaurants with good nightlife but fewer tourist attractions and is more relaxed (and IMO nicer) than the GC.

North of the Sunshine Coast, there's no surf (though there are dozens of beautiful beaches) as the coast is protected either by Fraser Island or the Great Barrier Reef which stretches for over 2000 km. If you want to visit the reef and the rainforests, Cairns (1600 km north of Brisbane) is the place to go. For breathtaking tropical islands, the Whitsunday Islands and Whitsunday Passage off Airlie Beach (fly to Proserpine) is where you should head. If you have time and plenty of money, a few days on a yacht there will be unforgettable.

You will have missed the rugby and Aussie Rules seasons, but should be able to catch some cricket. Test cricket is pretty boring unless you're a cricket fan, but there are some Twenty20 Big Bashes on in Brisbane around the time you'll be here and they're very entertaining.

http://www.ticketmaster.com.au/venue/155...