Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Mr. BlackCat]

Hello,

I'm planning on visiting the east coast of Australia in January/February. I'm looking to start in Melbourne, rent a car and drive up through Sydney, Brisbane up to the Great Barrier Reef. If possible I'd also like to go over to NZ for a week or so. Basically I hope to do Mel-Great Barrier-NZ-Toronto.

I am very flexible with time, but I'm on a very small budget. My job will be flying me down there for my year end airfare, but from there on its all me. Here are my questions:

-What airlines have cheap flights to NZ from any point in Oz?

-What area of NZ is best to visit if one only has about a week-10 days. I'd like to see a city or two, but I want nature to dazzle me. I also hope to have my scuba cetification at this point.

-Can anyone recommend a good travel agent in Australia who can set everything up for me. Because I'm so flexible on dates I really just want to tell someone to find me the cheapest whatever and go with that.

Thanks in advance!

[oni]

Freedom Air has cheaper flights btw Australia and New Zealand. Sometimes Air New Zealand has a sale.

You could fly to Christchurch and do some multi day hiking like the Milford track, go to Queenstown for some extreme activities bungy jumping etc...

Or fly into Auckland and go up to the Bay of Islands and Coromandel. Both areas have some of the best beaches in NZ.

It'd probably be easier to have ur own transport to get around.

[renzobenzo1]

Oni has some great suggestions for NZ and I second Freedom Air-no hot meal but very hot prices

in 7-12 days you will be pushing to see the North and South Island of NZ.
IMO you need at least 10 days in each to see it all.

If you like skiing-go to the South Island now.....

You can also ski in the North Island-but it will just be whiting up now.....

In the North Island be sure to visit the Coromandel, Taupo, Rotorua, Wellington, Auckland (ofcourse) and be sure to venture north of Auckland also.

As for the South Island-an outdoorers playground...be sure to visit Queenstown, Wanaka, Christchurch and all the mountains, national parks and small towns in between. There are some real gems to be found.

[Mr. BlackCat]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm looking for more of a laid back natural experience in NZ. Camping would be cool, though. I'll have a gal with me, although she's tougher than me in a lot of ways. We'll likely get our own transport.

Which island, North or South, would be better for hiking/campling/beaching in Jan/Feb? We'll probably fly into Aukland.

Also, what airlines are good within Australia?

I really appreciate all the advice I can get. If you're from NZ or Oz, please throw everything out there. I'm open to lots.

[renzobenzo1]

Flip a coin for north or south......
North=summer weather and more crowded beaches
South=amazing summer vegetation and growth-still mild crisp weather.
Just do one island this time and 1 another time

Get a camper van and a roadmap and charge it.

Spaceships are good vehicles to get-self-contained even with tvs etc. if you book more than 5 days you get a few days free. But book early.

[blackjack]

regarding NZ.

If you are flying into auckland your best bet would be get a camper (spaceships are fine) and as soon as possible get out of auckland. Then head south east check out the east coast Coromandel way.

Spend say three days at Coromandel (not the township) it has has amazing beaches good tramps (hikes) as well.

A couple of days in Rotorua, it has cool thermal areas (smells god damn awful but you don't notice it after a couple of hours, it's all the sulphur).

Taupo is a nice place to chill out for a few days by the lake. Or you can skip that, and come back to auckland and if you want, check out the islands in the hauraki gulf (rangitoto and/or waiheke (the later has nice vineyards and beaches)

If you don't have at least two-three weeks I would skip the south island, you don't want to spend your holiday travelling. You are probably going to be lucky and skip the school holidays (i think they end at the end of Jan), so things shouldn't be too busy but the weather should still be excellent.

You should be able to organise a lot of things ahead of time via internet (e.g. campervan you get big discounts).

If you need anything else like travel times then pm me i have travelled a lot in NZ, through both island and am currently living in auckland.

here are some links (I have not checked them all out so some may be useless)

www.rotoruanz.com/
www.waiheke.co.nz/
http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/auckland/introduction/hauraki/default.asp
http://www.doc.govt.nz/templates/PlaceProfile.aspx?id=34262
www.fullers.co.nz/
www.whitianga.co.nz/hwbeach.html
www.tourism.net.nz/new-zealand/about-new-zealand/ attractions/coastal-highlights/hot-water-beach.html
www.laketauponz.com/
http://www.backpackercampervans.co.nz/cheap-campervans/395/New+Zealand+Home.aspx
http://www.campervanhirenz.co.nz/?gclid=CJS2zonVtY8CFQ0_agod1Bu8dA
www.spaceships.tv/

[renzobenzo1]

Windy Wellington could be worth a look as well, but that is optional....
It has more of a towny feeling to it for a big place.
Only go to Auckland if you want to do major touristy things, or even head to the West Coast or North and beyond is nice, otherwise yes, skip it.

[darkcity]

auckland was the most dreary and depressing vacation i've ever taken in my life. i found it to be an extremely boring and overpriced city with no character. rotorua was worthwhile though, or maybe i only enjoyed it because i got to leave auckland for a few hours. i'm not big on all the nature part of traveling though.

i'm from san francisco but i've been living in brisbane for the past three years. as a tourist, it's hard not to like brisbane...it's smaller compared to most major cities, but it's very easy to get around and hard to get lost. obviously you're into the nature stuff, so moreton island/stradbroke island are just a ferry ride away. noosa has a small but pleasant national park with a nude beach (less exciting than it sounds). i heard Whitsunday Islands are extremely beautiful, but it's a bit pricey. oh, but queensland is hot in the summer and has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, so wear your sun screen -- seriously.

sydney's not so special, but there are a lot of photo ops (opera house, bridge, blablabla), and there are many koreans there. chinese food is decent, but overall the city is too big for me and the public transport is not up to par.

melbourne...CBD is not so great, outlying suburbs are nice (st. kilda, prahran). melbourne has the best bars too, and good food but expensive.

as for my flying around, i usually just go through virgin blue; they have lots of flights available and are somewhat reliable (compared to the slightly cheaper JetStar). i often use air new zealand for flying back to the states because their student discounts are decent, but the seats are a bit cramped.

hope this helped a little bit...

[darkcity]

oh, i forgot to mention..........for a "hippy" experience, you must drop by Nimbin (on the way up from sydney to brisbane, i think near Byron Bay).

lots of relatively cheap uh.....herbs and things there. technically it's not legal, but the cops don't care and the entire town's economy is based around the sale of such things. even if you don't buy anything, it's worth just visiting for the experience because it's unbelievable how out in the open everything is.

[Bibbitybop]

Aside from checking some Korean sites like whypaymore.co.kr and Hanatour, what airlines, websites or travel agents give good rates for tickets to New Zealand. I'd consider flying into Australia, too, then to New Zealand, if it's considerably cheaper.

[Mr. BlackCat]

Thanks again for all the replies. You guys know your stuff.

We've decided to not go to NZ simply based on time and cost . Life isn't fair, but that's the way it is. Jetstar airline has really helped me in my planning, especially home (hint: they fly Syd-Hon, and Westjet flies Hon-Tor/Van/Cal, for anyone looking for reasonable rates to Canada).

I'm having trouble getting prices/sched. with Virgin Blue at the moment, so I don't know what to say about that. But I've heard good things about Virgins. I mean Virgin. I'm sorry about that lame joke.

darkcity, thanks for the name of that place with the herbs. I had heard about it, but forgot the name. We're on a strictly academic endeaver to find such places. And thanks for the info about Brisbane. We'll be staying with a friend there so we'll probably be hanging out as long as his couch can support us.

Again, thanks so much.