Awesome Itinerary For a 3 Weeks Trip in New Zealand and Australia
I really miss long trips and now that places are re-opening here in Toronto, Canada, soon country borders hopefully will open for non-essential travels. My travel is essential too you know for my mental health 100%. I have free miles I need to use so I’m actually thinking of going back to South Korea as my first travel destination after the pandemic. I was in the middle of finishing up my Maritimes travels and the next one is Prince Edward Island. Looking forward to write about the island but it’s going to be on hold because I ended up deleting my library of photo resources in my laptop!!! I’m so angry at myself!!! I can’t get to my backups right now because I’m not at home instead I found my New Zealand and Australia photos.
I spent three weeks in New Zealand and Australia back in 2017 summer. It was the perfect professional break and leave the states after my 3 year work permit ends in Virginia, U.S.A. What a great timing because my friend who lives in the Netherlands decided to do a working holiday there and we have our friend who lives in Brisbane to hangout with and show us around Australia.
These group of friends are the people I met when I went on an exchange program in Leeds, England. It was one of the most unforgettable experiences I had. The bond I shared with the people I met from all over the world and connections that I took with me after the program even if we’re apart. I still talk to them and try to meet up by updating each other of their travel plans which is our so called ‘reunion’. It happens quite a lot through out the years that a couple of us meet up somewhere around the world. It happened this time three of us met up down under the Southern Hemisphere for a travel of a lifetime.
Exploring the World Down Under
Coming from the Northern hemisphere in the east coast, going to this part of the world takes a lot of time. Technically a 19 days trip and the 2 days were spent to get to the Southern Hemisphere. 1 day to go there and 1 day to get back. Flights were long because you have to cross the Pacific Ocean granted that I already made stopovers in the west in LAX in Los Angeles and at AUK in Auckland, New Zealand. This trip was one of my most unforgettable trip and I honestly couldn’t believe I ended up here because it’s just so far. New Zealand and Australia are on the other side of the world in the South Hemisphere.
This would have been a super expensive trip with the plane tickets alone as well. I didn’t pay a single cent for the flight because of my reward miles which I’m going to write as travel tip later.
I got to fly with Air New Zealand for the long flight and it was an amazing experience! They’re one of the airlines I’ve been wanting to ride and it didn’t disappoint. I was served New Zealand wine with great customer service. I remember the flight was pretty empty so I took the whole row and slept with a flat back.
Also, in this trip, I had to pack for all different kinds of weather and season. It was the height of summer in the states and I had to prepare myself for the cold when I arrived in New Zealand. Going there from mid-August to early September is the transition from winter to spring. Australia weather was no different. I went to the beach, the cold city and even saw hail and snow. I’m actually super excited to write about my New Zealand and Australia trip. In fact I told the two friends I went with that I’ll be writing about our trip and we wouldn’t stop talking about it now. Haha.
New Zealand
New Zealand has two main islands called the North Island and the South Island. The North Island has the most populous city Auckland, where I had my layover after a 12 hour flight and the capital Wellington. The South Island is the larger of the two and a very popular destination for nature and adventure travellers. We chose to explore the South Island because our friend who we were gonna visit in Australia also went here and absolutely loved it! Plus, we wanted to do adventure travel and see the fjords.
Queenstown – 3 Days
The ‘Adventure Capital of the World’ is jam packed with so many activities! The place for adventure travel and the main entry point to see the fjords. There are all sorts of activities here from air e.g. bungee jumping, para-gliding, zipline, land e.g. dirt bike to water e.g. river rafting and cruise. Pick your ultimate adventture and do it here. New Zealand is also famous for wines so there are many wineries and vineyards you can go tour in the country.
Christchurch – 2 Days
The other famous city destination in the South Island. You’ve most likely heard of the earthquake that happened here back in 2011 that went on the world news. It was very interesting to see the city after the earthquake. When I visited, I didn’t see any high rise and there were construction and road works everywhere. This is also one of the entry points, along with Queenstown to go to famous New Zealand nationals parks like the Arthur’s Pass and Aoraki/Mount Cook.
Australia
The rest of the days were in Australia. I explored this massive country flying back and forth the eastern side. Started from Melbourne and ended in Brisbane where my friend lives where I spent more time.
Melbourne – 3 Days
The vibrant colourful city of Melbourne where most of the Asian population of Australia lives. So what did I do here? I ate, drank coffee and explored the street art scene. It is a very big city with lots of things to do. It was my kind of city hip scene so I did lots of city stuff like walk around and see pretty Victorian architecture. Starting from the bottom, you can make your way up north to the next state of New South Wales.
Sydney – 3 Days
Australia’s most populous city of Sydney in the state of New South Wales could be your next destination after Melbourne. A super busy city with lots of things to do. Explore the Central Business District (CBD), do coastal walks, eat, and take that signature photo with the Sydney Opera House.
Brisbane – 6 Days
Where I spent most of my time because this is where my friend lives which means she was our local tour guide and free accommodation! Haha! Brisbane is located in state Queensland and there’s so many beautiful places to see along the coast and the area. We drove everywhere exploring even Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast.
I’ve done so many Australia things here and finally did one of my bucket list activity where I jumped out of a plane (more on that later). I’m very fortunate to meet these people in my life with the same interests and they’re crazy enough to say yes to the activities I recommended we do.
Cairns (Great Barrier Reef) – 2 Days
It is absolute must to go here and see the reef. Cairns is where you would land to get to the Great Barrier Reef. I highly recommend to go on a tour and see Whitsunday Island. One of the most picturesque places I’ve ever seen. It’s literally postcard from the world scene. If you’re pressed with time I still think you should go here and see the reef like what I did. You will leave Australia with no regrets. I’ve been to many beaches around the world and I’m also from the Philippines which boasts itself for having many beautiful beaches. I will tell you this is at the top of the greatest beaches in the world.
What Actually Happened Was…
Ideally, for Australia, you can go from southeast to north and vice versa so Melbourne > Sydney > Brisbane > Cairns. This wasn’t my case because I went up and down the country. My itinerary for the Australia leg was actually not the most intuitive route because my friend and I were waiting for our Brisbane friend to arrive from her India trip. You can choose between North Island and South Island for New Zealand and there was no problem flying to Melbourne, Australia from Christchurch, New Zealand as there were many daily flights.
U.S.A. > Layover in Los Angeles (LAX) > Layover in Auckland (AUK) > Sydney Airport (SYD) to meet up with my friend and start of the trip! > Queenstown > Christchurch > Melbourne > Cairns > Sydney to meet another friend > Brisbane > Sydney to catch the flight back to the states.
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