You could catch the tail end of the fine weather in Queensland in October, before moving on to a springtime Sydney. By the time you reach New Zealand in late October to early November, the days will be getting longer and becoming increasingly warmer. You have lots of options for flying between and Australia and New Zealand. When combining Australia and New Zealand, I always try to cut down on empty transit time. This can even make you reconsider how much you want to fit in to your trip: how many days do you really want to spend hanging around airports?
You can also break up your flying. You might fly into Sydney, then swing across to Queenstown to start exploring the South Island, before flying to Melbourne to drive the Great Ocean Road. Nor do you have to use Sydney as your starting point. Fly direct to Cairns from Singapore or Hong Kong. Start by thinking about each country in isolation and having an honest conversation with yourself about what you really want to see in each.
In only a matter of weeks, you can go from shaking the dust off your boots in the Outback to strapping on crampons and walking on a glacier. With Australia, think about its varying ecosystems and which ones particularly appeal to you. The great knuckle-like, rust-red monolith of Uluru exerts a magnetic pull on some; others are less enthralled.
Australia also has much to offer beyond its koalas, kangaroos, and other headline species: the Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia is brimming with sea turtles, reef sharks, and in some places, the rare dugong. It is completely opposite from Australia when it comes to wildlife as well, where many birds naturally evolved into wingless birds because of the absence of predators.
Bathe in the healing waters of natural hot springs, watch geysers exploding several meters in the air in Rotorua, or dig your own hot water Jacuzzi in the sand at Hot Water Beach in Coromandel.
The country also has many dormant and active volcanoes and a volcanic island White Island , with a beautiful green crater lake. Many people are surprised that skiing is even possible in these countries, but the truth is that New Zealand has some amazing glaciers and over a dozen ski fields for you to enjoy.
With much colder water temperatures, New Zealand is not always the best place for water activities, but there are two that truly stand out in all their glory;. Spending so many hours on buses probably sounds horrific to you, but thanks to the bus drivers it was honestly enjoyable. The bus rides with these New Zealand bus drivers felt more like long guide tours with travel guides who loved hearing the sound of their own voice than simply drive from point A to point B.
Not that we wanted them to, they would tell both funny and interesting history of the landscape that was passing by the windows as we toured around the South Island. These men just talked and talked and talked, and without having to say a word they shared their own biography along with the history of New Zealand. Our brains overwhelmed with so much information it was hard to remember it all, but one thing we got straight:.
Every single village, including those so small you had passed it before the bus driver had even finished mentioning it, was world famous for something:. Using New Zealand as a location for filming has spiked in popularity in the last fifteen or so years. Begin your journey through cinematic history, start by looking at what car rental New Zealand has to offer, pick your vehicle and get ready to roll. This movie was released in and centers around the traumatised American Captain Nathan Algren who, in , agrees to train conscripts for the new Japanese Meiji government.
Algren is captured in battle and begins to embrace the culture of the Samurai he was initially hired to destroy. According to Maori legend, the mount once lived with other volcanoes on North Island, but fell in love with a hill called Pihanga.
The hill was the wife of another volcano, Tongariro and, after a fiery battle, Taranaki was exiled from the central region. There are eight tribes that still live in the region, and many experiences combine adventure with traditional Maori practices, such as going for a waka ride and following it up with a quad bike ride through native bush.
While much of the adaptation of this famous and beloved book, the first in a series , was filmed on a stage, several locations around New Zealand were used for outdoor scenes. The movie tells the story of two children who are magically transported into the fantasy land of Aotearoa and become embroiled in a battle between the brave lion Aslan and the frosty White Witch.
South of Dunedin, the castle of Cair Paravel was superimposed on the cliff tops of this beautiful coast. Perhaps the most well-known movie filmed in the area is the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The tales of the hobbit and the Fellowship of the Ring against the vile forces of Sauron and the machinations of the One Ring are well-known to movie and fantasy buffs everywhere. There were many locations used to film the movie. This was the location of the iconic Pillars of the Kings on the Anduin River, though the pillars were computer generated.
Remember the creepy swamp with the floating dead? That was in fact the Kepler Mire wetlands of Te Anau. At a place this high up and no city lights to lighten the sky, you could see so many stars that there is almost no space between them. I woke up to go out for a pee in the middle of the night, and as I looked up I thought I was still dreaming.
First I just stood there for a few minutes looking up, thinking it was my sleepy eyes that was duplicating everything. For some reason I thought it would disappear from me any minute, so I threw myself back into the tent shaking Nathan ferociously, almost in panic, to wake him up and come out to see it.
Start the day with a power-start breakfast at the Lotus-Heart Cafe, a cafe which has a focus on healthy eating and strives to create a global cuisine naturally. You will find it in Cathedral Square, on Colombo Street, where you can also get a close up view of the wonderful Christchurch Cathedral.
After a nice walk in the gardens, make sure you stop by the front gate and have a look inside the Canterbury Museum. Visit the arts center, where you will find a maze of over 40 specialty shops, workshops and galleries. Which are natural, legal and claim to give you a similar feeling to real drugs… interesting! A great lunch option is sushi. Spend the afternoon at the beach, relaxing in the afternoon sun which is the best time to be out at the beach in NZ, without getting too burnt , walk along the beach and enjoy the waves.
Have some curry at the Two Fat Indians Restaurant, which serves up great food for an amazing price. They have great lunch offers as well, so if you like to eat early you can get a great deal before 3 pm. Check out the SOL square the hub of South of Lichfield , an alley full of bars and cafes, decorated with some cool street art.
This is where you can find many locals hanging out in the weekends. Hope you have a great time exploring Christchurch New Zealand! I think its amazing what nature itself can create and share with us in the most random of moments. We were more than eager to leave Sweden for our road trip, so as soon as we thought we had enough money to survive for a while we packed our bags and left.
And pretty soon, it did. We refused to have come all this way escaping a slavery job in Sweden, only to continue to the next in New Zealand. So we were dedicated to find the cheapest way to travel around New Zealand, which for us turned out to be by bus and a 2-man tent. I had never gone camping in my life, and neither of us knew anything about tents or the camp life.
The name and the price tag made it an easy decision, Frank would be our home for the next few months. When we went to buy the tent, the salesman first looked very puzzled, and then he broke out in a laugh.
He said that this tent was so bad they usually gave it away for free when buying another tent and was used for the kids as a playhouse. Not to mention carrying 7 kilos of metal bars and fabric around everywhere, to wake up shaking in the cold, and to evacuate from it whenever it over flooded in the rain.
The most important things we did to be able to survive without killing each other and tearing down the already broken tent, was to look at it all from a perspective.
There we were, in my old car from , driving in the afternoon sun with the windows turned down. During our New Zealand Trip, the weather had been unsteady during the week, but when I woke up that morning the weather was incredible, blue skies and sunny. Akaroa is a French village, close to Christchurch in New Zealand and they had really kept their french culture. All the street names, shops and people had French names and the French flag was proudly flying above every house.
France tried to make New Zealand a French colony, but came slightly too late — they then tried to make the South Island a french colony, but when they finally arrived they were too late for that as well. I guess we were very lucky to see so many, we also saw one tiny baby dolphin swimming with its mother, it was only a week old!
We really wanted to, but it was a lot of money and what would we do with everything once we left a few months later? Luckily, we got over ourselves, bought the boards and fins plus a mega huge board bag..! Only a person without any fear or brains would do that! With my legs shaking and my heart jumping I paddled out. And got wiped out. After having swallowed half the ocean, I finally learned how to get passed the waves, and pretty soon I was even starting to enjoy it. Nathan was like a fish in the water on his board.
You feel the connection with nature, you realize what life is really all about — you feel that freedom of life. Tell us about it! The thought of digging your own pool on the beach, with hot water appearing from the ground as you dig would be something of a fantasy — only this is real… this is in New Zealand. We sat there in the early hours of the morning in our own hand-made spa here at Hot Water Beach which is located in the north island of New Zealand — such a crazy but completely amazing experience.
The reddish color from the sun, brought out by the volcanic rock — added so much more effect to that danger sign. If only we knew we were about to spend another 3 months in that tent… but that is another story. When I heard about this I was amazed, but we were soon to discover over the next 3 months that hot springs are pretty much everywhere in New Zealand.
But this blog is about the happy days before we knew that, and at this magical place in Hamner Springs, these hot springs were the best thing in the world! When gold was discovered in the Arrow River in , people came from across the world just to dig for gold. There is no better place where you can get the combination of adventure, nature and beauty than in Queenstown.
What used to be a small village has now turned into the bustling hub for nature-loving adventures. Most activities here include some type of outdoor adventure, and for the fearless this is pure paradise. Take the gondola or hike up the Queenstown hill it takes about 2 hours to walk the whole way up — yup we tested this!
Start at Rose Bay, following the 1. As the path dips down to a series of coves, there are outstanding water-level views of the yacht-flecked harbour and cityscape. Yet the rocky foreshore is almost quiet and surprisingly bushy, bringing to mind the landscape before colonisation. Refresh at the waterside pub before climbing to begin the three-kilometre Waverley Cliff Walk. Looking back from Dover Heights, there are lofty views of Sydney Harbour.
The walk ends at Bondi Beach! Travel to: Australia. This landmark location offers a little cultural treat for everyone, even the kids! Theatrical masterpieces, stand-up comedy, talks and all sorts of productions are on offer, waiting for you to enjoy. Specifically cool for live music and creative gatherings. Sydney is the best for beachside parties and beach bars, while Byron Bay is the place to head for dancing into the night!
Overflowing with expansive wine farms in separate regions, the choice in local flavour is vast. You can embark on a wine tour or stay on a wine farm to make the most of your time there.
When most travellers take a short-term trip down under they usually choose the more-popular East Coast because of the more famous destinations and beaches but the other side of the country offers more pristine and untouched natural beauty. If you happen to be travelling during certain months of the year you can also take a tour to swim with whalesharks, the biggest fish in the ocean, which is a truly unforgettable Australian experience! New Zealand is a country consisting of the North Island and South Island, both of which are completely surrounded by water.
New Zealand is one of the most amazing places for adventurous travellers that seek that special thrill and need adrenaline like air for breathing! One of our best memories is from Lake Wanaka, not too far from the crowded and popular Queenstown, yet offers a lot of hikes, nature and a beautiful lake! Take a hike to the beautiful Roys Peak, go skydiving over the southern alps or enjoy a picnic at the shore of the beautiful lake!
Swimming with dusky dolphins in Kaikoura, New Zealand was one of the most magical moments of my life.
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