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Australia / New Zealand for Dummies!


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In terms of your earlier query about doing both the GBR and the hobbit tour, if you want to include a cruise in there then I would suggest flying to Cairns in Australia and spending a few days there at the start of the holiday to see the GBR and rainforest area, then fly down to Sydney and get a cruise around NZ. There are some That will do 1 way and end in Auckland where you could fly home, or they do a round trip back to Australia and you depart at Sydney. The Hobbiton film set is closest to the Tauranga port stop, we hired a car from a local hire place and drove their ourselves, took about an hour. There are also usually ship tours that will do it as well. You can get to it from Auckland as well, but it’s a further drive than from Tauranga.

 

You might not be realizing the distances involved here. NZ isn’t just a quick puddle jump away, it’s more than a 3 hour flight and with a 2 hour time difference, flying there takes half the day away. It won’t be a quick side trip from Sydney.

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In terms of your earlier query about doing both the GBR and the hobbit tour, if you want to include a cruise in there then I would suggest flying to Cairns in Australia and spending a few days there at the start of the holiday to see the GBR and rainforest area, then fly down to Sydney and get a cruise around NZ. There are some That will do 1 way and end in Auckland where you could fly home, or they do a round trip back to Australia and you depart at Sydney. The Hobbiton film set is closest to the Tauranga port stop, we hired a car from a local hire place and drove their ourselves, took about an hour. There are also usually ship tours that will do it as well. You can get to it from Auckland as well, but it’s a further drive than from Tauranga.

 

You might not be realizing the distances involved here. NZ isn’t just a quick puddle jump away, it’s more than a 3 hour flight and with a 2 hour time difference, flying there takes half the day away. It won’t be a quick side trip from Sydney.

 

 

Thank you JAC. Yes I am learning the distaces are not what I thought they were.. when I look at cruises they have so many that start in Australia and end in NZ that I thought they were a lot closer.. I guess I have to make 2 trips to see both GBR and the Hobbit..

 

If I skip the hobbit and just do Austraila what cruise do you recomend?

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That's a bit like going on an Alaska cruise and popping over to NYC to catch a broadway musical

 

 

You are right.. I did not realize the distances in that part of the world.. So I should do a Austrailan cruise and spend a few day so Sydney and do NZ another tiime correct?

 

Any reccoemndatios of what the best cruise for Aussie would be? I can see if I do a NZ crusie there are more ports to see, but I think I want to see as much of Aussie as I can first. ..

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  • 2 weeks later...
You are right.. I did not realize the distances in that part of the world.. So I should do a Austrailan cruise and spend a few day so Sydney and do NZ another tiime correct?

 

Any reccoemndatios of what the best cruise for Aussie would be? I can see if I do a NZ crusie there are more ports to see, but I think I want to see as much of Aussie as I can first. ..

Look at it this way Aus is about the same size as US 48 states.

 

One suggestion

 

Fly to Syd spend time, cruise to NZ, if you can do one that includes Melbourne and Hobart, timein NZ fly home.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We have booked the Celebrity Solstice for a B2B cruise of NZ starting in Auckland going down the coast and through the Sounds then over to Australia with a stop in Melbourne and ending in Sydney. The second leg starts in Sydney and goes through the Pacific Islands to Hawaii. We will have a few days to tour Auckland after our flight from St. Louis, Missouri and would like tips on what to do in Auckland before our cruise starts and also the port cities down the coast of New Zealand.

We will only have a few hours between cruises in Sydney which is unfortunate. What can we do in that time, besides the Opera House?

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We will only have a few hours between cruises in Sydney which is unfortunate. What can we do in that time, besides the Opera House?

 

It would depend on how many hours you have in Sydney.

 

Catch the ferry to Manly at Circular Quay and walk up the Corso to Manly Beach.

Quick ferry trip to Taronga Park Zoo.

Visit the Royal Botanic Gardens.

A walk around the Rocks area, Observatory Hill and Barangaroo.

Ferry to Luna Park.

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Thanks for your reply, SinbadThePorter. We dock at 6:30AM and leave at 5:00PM. During that time the ship has to clear customs, I must attend a meeting for B2Bers to get my new sail card, then I must clear customs and be back at the cruise terminal by about 3PM for the 2nd leg of the cruise. That only leaves about 4 hours tops in Sydney. In a perfect world we could fly to Sydney first for a few days then fly to Auckland, but we just don’t have the extra money. Are any of your suggestions able to be done in 4 hours?

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Thanks for your reply, SinbadThePorter. We dock at 6:30AM and leave at 5:00PM. During that time the ship has to clear customs, I must attend a meeting for B2Bers to get my new sail card, then I must clear customs and be back at the cruise terminal by about 3PM for the 2nd leg of the cruise. That only leaves about 4 hours tops in Sydney. In a perfect world we could fly to Sydney first for a few days then fly to Auckland, but we just don’t have the extra money. Are any of your suggestions able to be done in 4 hours?

 

 

SinbadThePorter has given you some good ideas, but with only four hours I’d just have a walk around the Rocks (historic area where you dock) maybe lunch somewhere there, circular quay, (the ferry warves) the Opera House, and maybe the botanic Gardens.

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We have booked the Celebrity Solstice for a B2B cruise of NZ starting in Auckland going down the coast and through the Sounds then over to Australia with a stop in Melbourne and ending in Sydney. The second leg starts in Sydney and goes through the Pacific Islands to Hawaii. We will have a few days to tour Auckland after our flight from St. Louis, Missouri and would like tips on what to do in Auckland before our cruise starts and also the port cities down the coast of New Zealand.

We will only have a few hours between cruises in Sydney which is unfortunate. What can we do in that time, besides the Opera House?

 

We loved the Botanical gardens, walking distance from the pier. The Anzac memorial is amazing, a cab ride and worth it.

 

Are you going next year? We will be joining you for this BtoB!

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Thanks for your replies Gut 2407 and ccotting. We won’t be cruising there until April-May 2020. We will be in Sydney on April 25, 2020.

 

 

25 April is ANZAC Day, and the city will have a number of closed streets, which could give issues with transport.

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Thanks for your replies Gut 2407 and ccotting. We won’t be cruising there until April-May 2020. We will be in Sydney on April 25, 2020.

 

As Mr GUT says, the 25th of April is ANZAC Day. This is a holiday for veterans and the fallen, similar to your Memorial Day.

 

There will be a veterans march through Sydney on that day. You could do far worse than to go have a look. Be warned that there will be big crowds. Most shops will either be closed or only open in the afternoon.

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Oh great! We love our vets here in the states, too but this will make it much harder to see Sydney if the shops and restaurants are closed, all the crowds with the parade, and the streets are closed. What a bummer! We really wanted to see Sydney! Oh well, maybe we will just stay on the ship. Can’t risk being caught in traffic and miss our ship’s departure. Darn.

We have a stop in Melbourne on April 23rd from 8AM to 8 PM. I guess we will have to make do with that.

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Oh great! We love our vets here in the states, too but this will make it much harder to see Sydney if the shops and restaurants are closed, all the crowds with the parade, and the streets are closed. What a bummer! We really wanted to see Sydney! Oh well, maybe we will just stay on the ship. Can’t risk being caught in traffic and miss our ship’s departure. Darn.

We have a stop in Melbourne on April 23rd from 8AM to 8 PM. I guess we will have to make do with that.

No need to stay on the ship, plenty to see and do, just allow time to get back to the ship. ANZAC events will be over by noon.

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No need to stay on the ship, plenty to see and do, just allow time to get back to the ship. ANZAC events will be over by noon.

 

Also Solstice docks at Circular Quay and I don't think the ANZAC events affect that area, although most of the shops in the Rocks will probably be closed until noon. It's very pleasant strolling around Circular Quay, past the Opera House and round to the Botanical Gardens. The ferries will probably be running as well so a ferry trip to Manly would also be an option.

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First off, I didn’t mean to dis Melbourne in my previous post. I know nothing about Melbourne yet! We will have to check with Sydney’s Tourism Center to see what is going on that day.

Dis Melbournecall you want I’m from NSW (there’s a bit of friendly??? Rivalry)

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You are right.. I did not realize the distances in that part of the world.. So I should do a Austrailan cruise and spend a few day so Sydney and do NZ another tiime correct?

 

Any reccoemndatios of what the best cruise for Aussie would be? I can see if I do a NZ crusie there are more ports to see, but I think I want to see as much of Aussie as I can first. ..

 

We are doing a cruise March 2, 2019 that starts in Auckland (flying in a few days early) goes to Tauranga, Wellington, Akaroa, Dunedin, cruises the fiordland, Hobart, 4 sea days and ends in Sydney and staying over there.

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We are doing a cruise March 2, 2019 that starts in Auckland (flying in a few days early) goes to Tauranga, Wellington, Akaroa, Dunedin, cruises the fiordland, Hobart, 4 sea days and ends in Sydney and staying over there.

 

 

In my opinion that’s probably the better option.

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Dis Melbournecall you want I’m from NSW (there’s a bit of friendly??? Rivalry)

 

 

I would call it a lot and not always so friendly! :):)

 

Carole,

 

There is plenty to do in Melbourne and you can easily fill in your day here. On ANZAC Day in Sydney, I would suggest if you are interested to attend one of the commemoration ceremonies or the March of returned and current service personnel and descendants of those who have served through the CBD which I think commences around 9am.

 

Leigh

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Oh great! We love our vets here in the states, too but this will make it much harder to see Sydney if the shops and restaurants are closed, all the crowds with the parade, and the streets are closed. What a bummer! We really wanted to see Sydney! Oh well, maybe we will just stay on the ship. Can’t risk being caught in traffic and miss our ship’s departure. Darn.

We have a stop in Melbourne on April 23rd from 8AM to 8 PM. I guess we will have to make do with that.

Don’t stay on the ship. The ANZAC day celebrations only affect parts of the CBD, which are commercial areas not of Greta interest to tourists anyway.

Get in a taxi and go to Bondi Beach or go strolling through the Rocks, the Botanic Gardens and around the Opera House. There are lots of things to do on ANZAC Day that won’t be affected by the parade. It is a public holiday, so lots of things will be going on.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Australian here. Happy to answer any questions

 

I don’t think you mentioned where the cruise is going, or how long you plan to spend in Australia before or after - it would help to know that to give general advice.

 

One thing I will say, Australia is really really big. Lots of visitors overestimate how much they can see, so depending on how much time you have you might be able to see 2 or 3 places.

 

What are your thoughts on going in October? I'm planning on using Collette's "Complete South Pacific" tour - begins in Cairns and ends in Auckland - 27 days - covers aLOT of places in a bit under 4 weeks and so is hectic, but, like many from the US, I think that for me it's a one-time journey, and so contrary to much advice I've been given about choosing fewer places and spending more time there, I'm opting to see alot of places with a relatively short time at each. Probably not the best way, but for one thing I feel more comfortable going with an escorted tour. I've traveled with Collette several times and know they are a good company. Any advice appreciated!

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