Australia & New Zealand Part 1

December 8 -23, 2018

Australia and New Zealand are the kinds of places you dream of visiting, but in reality, don't know if you'll ever actually make it. At least for us. We do love traveling, but a 24 hour travel day of nonstop flights is nothing short of daunting. The opportunity presented itself during the summer of 2018 when my Aunt and Uncle were planning some trips overseas near the holidays. My aunt had mentioned that we should fly out and meet them somewhere. To which I agreed, entertaining the idea in my head, not actually believing it would happen. I often build up an idea or travel destination in my head, and Chad has to be the voice of reason. We had already gotten to go on several big vacations with our families this year, so this surely would be one of those times he would have to talk me down to reality. However, we decided it was the chance of a lifetime that we couldn’t pass up.

Shortly after deciding to go to Australia and New Zealand, we knew we had to ask my parents if they wanted to go. My dad is a big Lord of the Rings fan, and I knew I would not feel right going without extending an invite. We never thought they would say yes, they are not big travelers, but they too came to the same conclusion as us. My aunt and I spent the next few months planning out this trip, and before we knew it, it was time to go!

We flew out around lunchtime Saturday, December 8th, from RDU with layovers in Atlanta and Los Angeles before the final leg to Sydney. In Los Angles, we met up with my cousins who coincidently were on the same flight to Sydney with us! We knew they were going, but we hadn’t coordinated our flights when booking since they had to work around their exam schedules. We got lucky on our flight to Australia and had an empty seat between us. Extra space is always a bonus, especially for me, as I was able to lay down across the seats to sleep for a bit. Being short has its advantages!

We arrived in Sydney, Australia, early the morning of December 10th and checked in to our Airbnb in Glebe while we awaited the arrival of my aunt and uncle. Shortly after their arrival, we headed out for lunch at Criniti’s Darling Harbour, where we all split a 2-meter pizza. From there, we decided to walk around and sightsee, which led us to the Botanical Gardens with a view of the Sydney Opera House. We called it an early night since we had now been up for almost 48 hours, with maybe a few hours of light sleep on the plane.

Photo Credit: Thomas

Photo Credit: Thomas

Photo Credit: Katy

The next morning we headed to Featherdale Wildlife Park. We decided to include getting our picture taken with a koala bear, thinking this may be our best chance at getting up close to any animal. To our surprise, though, we got to walk right up to the wallabies the second we entered the gate. They were hopping around freely in the wildlife park. And shortly after getting to pet a koala and get a picture with one, we got to walk right up to kangaroos and pet them as well! The kangaroos were by far the highlight of our time there, and I was ready to take one home with me! Featherdale has a large array of other animals as well and is worth a visit! After a fun-filled morning, we enjoyed lunch at the Rocks Cafe, where some of the guys tried kangaroo and crocodile burgers. The rest of the day included walking around the Sydney Opera House, a ferry ride to Manly, walking part of the Manly to Spit Bridge walk, a sunset dinner at 4 Pines, and a ferry ride back to Sydney.

Our third and last full day in Australia, we traveled about two hours North West of Sydney to Blue Mountains National Park. We saw the iconic Three Sisters and did part of the Giant Stairway from Echo Point to Scenic World walk. We also hiked to a waterfall before stopping for lunch at the Gingerbread House, which had the best sandwiches, soups, and desserts! Refueled from lunch, we headed to Australia’s famous Bondi beach to walk part of the Bondi to Coogee Walk.

Thursday morning, December 13th, the eight of us were headed to the airport to fly to New Zealand! New Zealand is a lot more strict about what you bring in than most countries. You go through a more thorough screening to make sure you aren’t bringing in something that could introduce harmful pests or is in violation of the endangered species act. (For example, you have to note if you have hiking boots and if they are not clean they clean them before you are allowed to leave the airport. There are also restrictions on food, such as crocodile jerky. And yes, we know all of this from experience.) We would spend the next three nights in Auckland, with two days to explore what we could of the north island. Chad got to experience driving on the left side of the road for the first time here, which he excelled at except for ending up on the right side of the road once or twice.

Photo Credit: Katy

Photo credit: Katy and Thomas provided some of the pictures in this post.

Australia & New Zealand Itinerary:

Day 1 & 2 -Flew RDU - Atlanta - Los Angeles - Sydney

Day 3 - Arrived in Sydney / Criniti's Darling Harbour / Walked around and saw the Sydney Opera House from the Botanical Gardens

Day 4 - Featherdale Wildlife Park / The Rocks Cafe / Sydney Opera House / Ferry to Manly / Manly to Spit Bridge coastal walk / 4 Pines / Ferry back

Day 5 - Blue Mountains National Park / The Gingerbread House / Bondi Beach to Coogee Walk / Wishbone

Day 6 - Flight to New Zealand

Day 7 - McDonalds / Cathedral Cove Hahei Explorer Boat Tour / Cathedral Cove Classic Kayak Tour / The Pour House / Hot Water Beach

Day 8 - Spellbound Glowworm and Cave Tour / Shires Rest Cafe / Hobbit Tour

Day 9 - Flight to Christchurch / Lake Tekapo / Church of the Good Shepard

Day 10 - The Greedy Cow / Mount Cook Hooker Valley Hike / Tasman Glacier / Drive to Wanaka

Day 11 - Roys Peak Hike / Kai Whakapai / The lone willow tree of Wanaka / Patagonia

Day 12 - Relishes / Drive to Queenstown / Fergburger

Day 13 - Over the Top Helicopter & Cruise Milford Sound / Taco Medic / Cookie Bar / Queenstown Gondola / Madam Woo

Day 14 - Vudu Cafe / Drive to Glenorchy / Fergburger

Day 15 - Vudu Cafe / Fly Back to Sydney / The Pie Tin / Walk the Sydney Harbor Bridge / Bondi Beach

Day 16 - Local Mbassy / Flight Home

Food Recommendations:

Criniti's Darling Harbour (Sydney, AUS)

The Rocks Cafe (Sydney, AUS)

4 Pines (Manly, AUS)

The Gingerbread House* (Katoomba, AUS)

Wishbone (Newtown, AUS)

The Pour House (Hahei, NZ)

Shires Rest Cafe (Matamata, NZ)

The Greedy Cow (Lake Tekapo, NZ)

Kai Whakapa​ (Wanaka, NZ)

Patagonia (Wanaka, NZ)

Relishes (Wanaka, NZ)

Fergburger* (Queenstown, NZ)

Taco Medic (Queenstown, NZ)

Cookie Bar (Queenstown, NZ)

Madam Woo (Queenstown, NZ)

Vudu Cafe* (Queenstown, NZ)

The Pie Tin (Newtown, AUS)

Local Mbassy (Sydney, AUS)

Accommodations:

Glebe Airbnb (AUS) 

Auckland Airbnb (NZ) - no longer available

Peppers Bluewater Resort Lake Tekapo (NZ)

Wanaka Airbnb (NZ)

Queenstown Airbnb (NZ)

Rydges Sydney Airport Hotel (AUS)

Things to Know:

- A visa is required to go to Australia.

- Wear sunscreen if you are going to be in the sun for any length of time.

- Early into our planning, we learned that Australia is as big as the US and that we needed to be selective in choosing destinations, so we didn't use all of our days traveling. For this reason, we were unable to make it to the Great Barrier Reef on this trip.   

- New Zealand is very strict about what comes into the country.

- A lot of Airbnbs in New Zealand do not have air conditioning. The evenings were cool, but we still found it too warm even with the windows open at Airbnbs without AC.