[Honeymoon On!] Calling all Aussies/Kiwis/Fijans?

saint2e

Hey all,

My wedding/Honeymoon are fast approaching, and the wife-to-be and I will be going on this guided/excorted tour of Eastern/Central Australia, New Zealand, with a stopover in Fiji afterwards:

http://www.goaheadtours.ca/tours/AUN/australia-new-zealand-tour.aspx

First question is we'll be going in July/August, which I understand is their winter. What temperatures should we expect?

Second, since most of the tour is already decided for us, we have a few days where we have kind of a day to explore the city we're staying in:

Australia
Cairns
Alice Springs
Melbourne
Sydney

New Zealand
Christchurch
Queenstown
Auckland

Fiji, in general.

I guess I'm just looking for recommendations in the above cities for things that the tour obviously isn't including. For example, in Sydney we're looking at doing the tour of the Bridge on our "off day".

I know literally next to nothing about Fiji, and it seems that we'll be staying at a resort there. I've heard things about "unrest" in Fiji, but nothing concrete.

Recommendations would be much appreciated.

Fallingman

Right, So:

Auckland you can expect to be about the 10 degree mark (real units, not Imperial) - Winters in NZ, can be quite changeable with quite a bit of wind rain. Christchurch will be colder, Queenstown moreso - you will probably get frosts and maybe snow.

As for what to do: Queenstown is a destination in itself... Skiing, bars/clubs etc all geared towards tourists. You'll have no problems. Auckland is definitely better in summer, but if you're feeling vigorous, you can still go round some of the islands, or check out things like Museums etc - Auckland has great restaurants too. Christchurch I don't know so well... I haven't enjoyed my times there so much - but I think rather than slag it off, I'll leave it for someone more enthusiastic to recommend places ;-)

Fiji WIll be more tropical however. I don't know when the rainy season is...

soxbox

Melbourne weather in July/August tends to be low to mid-teens (Celsius... you do the math to your crazy temp system), probably a few showers, but usually not heavy rain. Occasionally the weather might go as high as mid-20's. Sydney a couple of degrees warmer than that. Cairns is tropical, so expect tropical weather - Fiji more so.

In Sydney, the bridge climb is a pretty great touristy thing to do - it's fairly expensive though, and I'm pretty sure they don't run it in bad weather, so if you're only there a day or two, you may not be able to get that in.

Can't think of much touristy in Melbourne (happens when you live there... pretty much every 'touristy' area seems horrible to me). Melbourne is a pretty great place for reasonably priced fine dining (sydney has some great fine dining, but you'll usually pay through the nose). July/August we have the Melbourne International Film Festival, but that's not very honeymoon-y.

UK Friends have enjoyed penguins ( http://stkildapenguins.com.au/ ), also a day trip out to the Yarra Valley wineries (do it on a weekday, weekends are crazy out there).

Edit: Just saw both of those are part of your tour anyway (well, they take you to philip island rather than st kilda). Going with the penguins and winery recommendations should treat you fairly well. Otherwise, venturing out through the inner north and grabbing brunch at a little cafe and just generally wandering about would be a decent way to spend a fair-weather day.

saint2e

Thanks for the recommendations so far... Here in Canuckistan we do Celsius, so what you've told me makes sense.

Sounds like NZ is a little colder for the time frame we're going, so we'll be sure to pack a couple hoodies, and we were counting on packing a jacket for rainy weather. If the temperatures do dip down below freezing, I'm sure a couple Canadians can handle that.

Fallingman

Oh yeah, it will be cold, and there is a really common misconception here, so I'll be clear for other readers:

NZ is not tropical.

It's sub-tropical, which basically means that we get great summers, but cold winters, it's just that unless we're up high or down south, we wont see snow. So yeah, it's a shame that you wont be here in the summer - but if you want to do some snowboarding/skiing etc, then you'll adore queenstown.

But assuming Aussie/Fiji are nice and warm, don't forget to bring a few warm Jackets ;-)

soxbox

Oh, if you do the penguin thing, you're likely to be doing it into near-freezing weather - overnight lows in melbourne rarely drop below 4-5 Celsius, but down at philip island you may be bearing the brunt of antarctic winds.

The Cat

Cairns and Alice will be fairly balmy during the day (20-25C), you may only need a light jacket. Alice will be cold at night, though. Sydney and Melbourne will be about ten degrees colder, and maybe rainy. The Sydney bridge climb is cool, but if the weather's bad they'll cancel, so you might want a backup plan. The Zoo/aquarium is super awesome.

Kalkino

NZ will be Winter cold, but it will not be say Canadian winter cold, or even UK level cold, although it seems to be getting closer to that kind. If you bring a warm jacket and some light gloves for the NZ arm of the trip you probably will be ok.

Christchurch is a nice enough place - but it is very flat and sprawling. There is a clearly defined tourist trail which your tour seems to have covered.

Other things - you could consider taking a bus to Akaroa on Bank's Peninsula - it is a cute little sea side village, originally settled by the French. Go up to the Port Hills (hill range above Christchurch to the south) - it has a cable car and an amazing view.

Generally in Christchurch I'd advise you try and find some good cafes and bars - there is a "Strip" alongside the Avon which is the focus of the town but I would not recommend it as it can get a little rough on Thursday-Saturday nights. The new Lichfield Street area is probably better for you guys. If you really want to go somewhere nice for dinner, I can ask some friends for specific restaurant recommendations. Say the word

In Queenstown - well I'd say just take as much opportunity to explore the lake/natural side of things. Perhaps also do a winery tour?

Dhalphir

Pretty much all the advice about Australia is spot on. Sydney is usually a slight bit warmer than Melbourne.

You can probably expect at least one or two days of sunshine minimum if you're in each place for a week or so.

Days upon days of rain is very rare in Australian winters.

romanqwerty

+1 to the zoo and aquarium in Sydney as they're both excellent.

Also, if you get a nice warm day (which happen every now and again in winter) i'd suggest visiting one of the beaches.

The Cat

romanqwerty wrote: »

+1 to the zoo and aquarium in Sydney as they're both excellent.

Also, if you get a nice warm day (which happen every now and again in winter) i'd suggest visiting one of the beaches.

Just maybe not the touristy ones like Bondi, unless you like giant crowds. Dee Why's nice. Its been like a decade since I was last there, but I hear it got trendy after I left :P

If you're adventurous enough to try driving, hiring a car and heading further from there up towards Barrenjoey Head is good times. Nice views, fancy houses.

tynic

Bondi won't be crowded in July/August - it stays pretty accessible right up through October, unless the weather is particularly warm. That said, a coast drive is probably a nicer thing to do in winter.