Stewart Is. is off the coast of NZ do you mean Phillip Island near Melbourne?

If you stay in Victoria you will need 3-4 day minimum for the grat ocean road. Phillip island and surrounds is an easy day trip.

Melbourne depending on what you like is 2-3 days min.

South Island of NZ you will see all the highlights in two weeks but will be a bit rushed. Three weeks would be better.

Why do people combine Australia and NZ both are huge and full of things to do?

PS - Remember going from Australia to NZ it takes a whole day.
- 1 hr checking out of City hotel and getting to airport.
- 2-3 at Melbourne Airport for International Flights.
- 3 hr Flight.
- NZ time is 2hrs ahead of Eastern Standard Time.
- 1 hr to clear customs and baggage.
- 1 hr or so to collect hire car. Are you used to the left side?
- 1 hr or so to get to hotel/accommodation book in drop luggage.

Total 11-12 hours of the day gone to change countries assuming you do not need to change flights to get to the South Island and that everything goes to schedule. Summer is better than winter for NZ fogs but it doesn't take much to delay a flight.

Likewise at the end of your trip.

Your two weeks is really 12 days.

You can see heaps in those 12 days. But remember NZ is not as small as it looks.It is again the best part of a day to get from Christchurch to Queenstown, for instance.

Not trying to put you off, but I just hope you are aware of the time it takes.

Is there a particular reason for going to NZ? January will be the busiest time of the year so driving times will be slower and you will need more time at each site to get throught and around the crowds. Again, not a problem if you are prepared.

If you want similar scenery to NZ minus the really high mountains and the fiords try the Victorian/NSW high country or catch the over night boat to Tasmania for a week or so (book now). Both will be much quieter than NZ.

Food for thought.

ok all really helpful to answer your questions..
Why do people combine Australia and NZ both are huge and full of things to do? Why in Jan Why New Zealand
Well I live in NY so not such a short trip that we could easily keep coming back.. I will be lucky if I can get 24 days off from my job that will be alot if I can
MY h and I always wanted to see Australia and new Zealand...we do understand and are learning how far away everything is..
We are coming in Jan because we are tennis fans and really want to see the Australian Open which is in Jan
My H is 66 and Point well taken re travel we just did a similar thing in europe and had to factor all that travel in.. Since we have some time since its a year and some away we are just starting to research and get our bearings so all advice is helpful.

Great. I glad you are aware of what is involved. When in Melbourne are you going to the tennis all day every day? There are many things close to the tennis centre that you can see on the way to or from the tennis.

Another pessimistic warning - it can get very hot ie over 40 in the tennis centre if the roof is open on hot days. Also it can pour with rain! Or it can be lovely. Do you have a three sided coin to toss?

I thought it would be the distance that gets people thinking to do both NZ and Aust. I would suggest you make a list of "Must Sees" and then go from there, rather than just wandering around. There is no doubt you will be able to see and do heaps in both countries.

Keep in touch.

Barbara

Owing to your tight time in Aus, I decided to top my trip report for you "A Blitz tour of NZ and Oz in 3 weeks."

We had even less time than you do - only 8 nights in NZ, 9 in Australia. (As my report details, we allotted some to relax in LA coming and going, and I am very glad we did this given how long it takes to get to "ANZ".) As we went knowing the limitations of an express trip, and that in no way could we 'see' the countries, as countries, in such a short time, we enjoyed ourselves.

PeterSale, we combined both because, frankly, we couldn't make up our mind which we wanted to do first! And because of various domestic responsibilities, I wasn't sure when we could make it back.

Barbara,

I live in Melbourne, so may be able to provide some more info.

- Great Ocean Road, assuming you are not driving, you can take a coach tour which will do the trip in a full day. They don't drive the entire length of the road, but the most scenic parts up to Port Campbell (where the 12 Apostles are located off the coast). The return drive will probably be an inland highway. Factor 10-12 hours for the trip.
- Phillip Island for the penguins, again I would suggest take a coach tour which will be a half-day trip. As the penguins only come out after dark (dusk), the coach usually departs Melbourne at 2-3pm, and they make a couple of stops along the way to get you there at dusk (this may be 8pm in January, our summer). An hour there, then about 3 hours back to the city. Some tours make it an all-day trip by taking you through a very nice scenic drive through the Dandenong Mountains in Melbourne's East as an option to consider.
- Australian Open, I hope you can book the tickets and hotel as early as you can, as they do get booked out. My partner is a mad tennis fan and she also works there part-time, and she books months ahead! The Day Passes are best value, as you can wonder through several courts to see the action.

Melbourne is a beautiful city which is very pedestrian friendly, lots of laneways and arcades with unique shops. Lend yourself some time to explore, eat and enjoy the coffees!

Barbara, I am a travel professional in US who specializes in Australia & New Zealand and these locals have given you good advice. Everyone thinks they will not go back again. But you will because you will fall in love with the country and the people. Focus on what is most important. The drive on the Great Ocean Road is for those with time - not you. The day trip is a good alternative.

If you contact a travel agent who specializes in Australia, they may be able to get your tickets to the Australian Open.

Flying instead of driving to places saves a bit of time as well. Finally, Tasmania is a fantastic island to explore - good walking and hiking, wonderful food and wine, and quite similar to New Zealand but smaller. Good luck.

fbeifeld, would that it were as you suggest: that all that is required for travel is a sufficient love of the destination.

Barbara,

Further to my info above, if you do want to slow it down and spend a few days along the Great Ocean Road, there are several small towns such as Torquay, Anglesea, Lorne, Otway etc that has accommodation. However, also note that it is still summer school holidays here in January, so it is considered peak season which means accommodation may be hard to get and expensive.

If you like your wines, there are several wineries that are within day trips out of Melbourne.

Feel free to post if you want specific info.

I agree that the Great Ocean Road can take 3 days or more. But I do think in lieu of missing the sidetrip, one can plan on overnighter and at least make a pretty drive out of it and see what it's most famous for. Making a long day of it would be fairly tiring, but we've gotten an early jump before, leaving from 10k east of Melbourne (mind you, morning traffic on weekdays and tennis days can be a pill) and reached Port Campbell just past nightfall. That was missing lots of good stuff, of course, but having a coffee in Anglesea, having a bit of a look at a couple of lighthouses and pulling out to Cape Otway through the Nat'l park where we saw a couple of koalas in the trees. Then on to the 12 Apostles, the blowhole and a walk down into Loch Ard Gorge, then finally the Port Campbell motel. Of course, we missed the waterfalls and any number of things, but... it wasn't at all a waste of time.

Good point about things being booked, however. Hotels are often booked far, far outside the city when the Melbourne Cup or the Australian Open or the Grand Prix are on. We tried to find a Healesville hotel for after a wedding event we're going to but the horse races 67km away have even small motor inns that far out booked solid.

If you want to shorten your trip to a long day trip or over night try going via Geelong then Colac then dropping down to the coast near Port Campbell. It is faster, but you will miss the Lorne to Apollo Bay section. This section although very pretty, is not that much different to other coastal drives.

The area around Port Campbell is THE truly spectacular part.

PS If you go via Colac you will get to see a wider variety of landscapes such as the volcanic lakes and peaks around Colac. They are extinct erupting as recently as 5 000 yrs ago. Extraordinarily young for Australia.

The area around Port Campbell is THE truly spectacular part.

That's true. The rest is nice, but the bit just south of P.C. is the most unique and dramatic. We actually started out around Box Hill in the morning once, around 7am (a summer weekend, so no cross city traffic) and went via Geelong and Lorne and such and with the Otway and lighthouse bits, still got to the 12 Apostles just a bit before sundown. Made for a pretty memorable sunset. Then got a basic room in P.C. Up the next morn, back down to putter around the rocks at Loch Ard Gorge and so on, then took the inland route past Colac back to eastern suburban Melbourne (around 3.5 hours, or 3 even to the CBD) in time for afternoon tea.

THank you all for your replies and great ideas. I like the idea of doing the bus in one day for great ocean road.. since we don'e have a lot of time and this way my H can see what is passing by instead of having to focus on what is in front of him on the road.. even if we are tired.. we can chill out on the bus but not so if driving.. driving does have its benefits and if we decide to stay over one night but its a lot of driving.. so may just do bus as suggested and then do the day or half day to Phillip island
We are planning this trip for JAN 2014 and the reason I am trying to get the planning done now is so I can make my reservations for everything a year out..
We are looking at apts and I have seen a few for Melbourne we are interested in..
As for the tennis.. we can get the tickets online..we do that for the US open here and did it for the French and it seems fairly easy so no problem .. we do day passes anyway as we like to go around the courts on the early days ... we really want to experience the venue...
alvertsebastian ..if your partner ever comes to NY and wants some help with the US open please contact me.. happy to help we will be there tomorrow! w
Sue thanks i will check out your Blitz tour --we really don't want to go crazy.. and feel like its too much of a wirlwind.. we will do as one suggested pick the top sights we want to see and then figure it from there.. we will have to compromise but I will just be grateful if we can pull this off and we get the opportunity to see this beautiful other side of the world
Will we be back.. well I sure would like to be there is a big world out there and only so much money and time.. we are older.. and so not sure it will happen so want to make the best of our time there.. I will come back to all when we have more specifics of where and what .
thanks again!