Is it possible to do Sydney and Melbourne plus South Island New Zealand ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it possible? Of course. Is it advisable? Of course not.

We did a month in New Zealand, visited the north and south islands, and still didn't see everything we wanted to see, or do everything we wanted to do.

Pick ONE of those places

+1 We did 14 days in Australia and 14 days in New Zealand on separate trips (20 years apart) and it wasn't long enough for either.

[Anonymous]

You could do a weekend in either Melbourne or Sydney then 10 days in the South Island.

If you have family joining you for 10 days, figure out the 10 days, then plan a separate part of the trip for yourself afterwards.

South Island is beautiful. And easily accessible. You can have great road trips. 10 days will cover a lot of the South Island if you aren't doing walking treks. Australia is vast. And harder to get around without internal flights.

You could do weekend in Melbourne or Sydney, fly to Queenstown, 10 day road trip with your family in region, they depart, you fly from Queenstown to Cairns for the GBR. Fly home from Australia. It can be done as long as you aren't rushing to see everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again. The dream was the barrier reef and the red rocks but I think that age and the time restraint would make that something we forget about. Our last trips have focused on food and wine which everyone enjoyed along with good tours see the world's beautiful landmarks and scenery.

Check the health of the Great Barrier Reef. I was completely underwhelmed due to the bleaching. To be honest, the red rocks in Utah are more spectacular.

If you want food and wine and scenery, head to Queenstown/Wanaka in NZ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My spouse and I can spend as much time as we want on this trip so not concerned about the time traveling to APAC or back. The 10 days is the most family in that region can vacation.

While we could theoritically go for 2 months, we do have medical considerations. One of the meds is injections that have to be refrigerated.
Anyone have any experience with that?

Yes, Repatha. All have different constraints. Repatha is an auto injector so it's pretty easy. It's also stable at room temp for up to (if I recall correctly) three weeks. You can pack it with you as carry on in ice containers or refrigerated packs and show it to TSA. They're used to it.

Check with the manufacturer of your medication. A lot depends on how much you need, etc. You can make sure your hotel(s) have mini fridge to store.

[Anonymous]

Stinger season in the north runs early Nov to May. It means you cannot swim at most beaches (some have stinger nets but not 109% safe) or have to wear a stinger suit. Stingers refer to box jellyfish and the less venomous irukandji. Stings from both can be fatal. In the middle of summer, which is the rainy season, not only is it hot and humid but the average water temperature is 85F.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stinger season in the north runs early Nov to May. It means you cannot swim at most beaches (some have stinger nets but not 109% safe) or have to wear a stinger suit. Stingers refer to box jellyfish and the less venomous irukandji. Stings from both can be fatal. In the middle of summer, which is the rainy season, not only is it hot and humid but the average water temperature is 85F.

*100%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In ten days? And if you had to drop something, what would it be? This would be sometime in late September to late November.
We started with a dream trip idea to Australia but friends recommended we add South Island. We are physiaclly fit elders but would mostly walk everywhere instead of serious hikes or biking. I suppose we could also spend the entire time in New Zealand.

Also, The 10 day restriction would not include any place, before or after. Thinking Singapore or Taiwan before and then at the end a quick 2 days in something like Fiji or similar (if we flew west starting in the USA)

It's unlikely that we'll be back to that part of the world.

Thanks for any guidance. I'm also following the Austalia thread.

No. Sorry. Of those 10 days, a full 3 of them are going to be travel days. I mean with the international date line, you're going to leave the west coast on a Wednesday night (after leaving the east coast on a Wednesday morning) and land in Sydney sometime on Friday. Now you have 8 days left, and on the 8th day, you're flying home all day (but at least you'll arrive on the same date that you left, even though you'll be traveling for about 24 hours- again, international dateline). The first 2 full days you're going to be all groggy from jetlag. So you have what, 6 days now to really enjoy Australia? No.

I studied abroad there and have been waiting to return because I loved it, but I know I need to allocate 3 weeks to make it worth it.

[Anonymous]

^^Just realized you want to hit Oz AND NZ in those 10 days. Even worse idea!!! Extend your trip to 2 weeks and pick one or the other (and if picking Oz, stick to one coast).

If by "family in the region" you mean it's pretty easy for them to get to Oz and NZ (or they live in one or the other) then that's totally different- you can pack some stuff into those 10 days and then once they leave you can spend an additional 3-4 weeks seeing what you want to see.