packing for the australian new zealand tour january 2018

cathy o

For those that have gone on this trip what do you recommend to pack? I tend to be an overpacker so an advise would help. 24 days is alot of clothes

British

There is opportunity to do your own laundry in several locations so that will help. It's going to be very hot and humid in Cairns, a little cooler elsewhere in Australia apart from Uluru and then the highest, ( Thanks for spotting my mistake sweenpc!) average in NZ is 72 degrees, so you are not going to have to pack bulky winter clothing. The Aussie's and New Zelanders are very casual, no need to bring more than a couple of dressy things. A great tour.

sweenpc

Cathy, agree w British - wonderful trip and very casual but it's a bigger challenge for us ladies. Did this trip last April so you may experience different weather. Ours was very mild. Cold bothers me more than heat. I took a hooded Gore-Tex jacket, fleece jacket and a dressy polyester quilted jacket. Limit your shoes as they are bulky and heavy. I packed 1 pair of dressy flats for nice dinners, sandals for Cairns and GBR, and 2 pair of good walking shoes, neither the heavy tennis shoe type. Jeans are fine and you can spot clean them. One pair of dressy pants, 2 pair of capris, and 1 light blue and 5 dark jeans were plenty for me. Took lots of tops - cotton, cashmere and 1 heavy wool. Casual and dressy scarves are great for changing the look of your tops and also warmth. Our TD, Christine, was a master at using scarves. Best places for laundry according to our group were Silky Oaks and Wellington. You have a free day at SO but I would recommend foregoing laundry and taking the hotel shuttle into Fort Douglas. It's a quaint little town and there's a very nice opal store there. I found the prices cheaper than in Sydney. We found good prices for NZ goods on Queen Charlotte Sound cruise and the NZ store in Te Anau. Wellington is the half way point and you have free time there for laundry. Flying ANZ business class to and from meant no concern if we were a few pounds overweight, but the Quantas economy flight from Sydney to Wellington was another matter. Several of us had problems. I was 2 pounds overweight on my carry on and 3 pounds underweight for my checked bag but the unforgiving agent I had couldn't allow it even if my total weight was acceptable, so be aware of luggage weight. If you tend to motion sickness, be sure you have medication. Our trip to/from the GBR was very rough. Either bring it or get it in Melbourne. We were told it's not available in FD. Sorry this is so long but hope it helps. Have a safe trip.

BTW, I think British meant NZ HIGHEST average temp is 72, not lowest.

AshvEd

We were on this trip in February. Think layers as we went from highs of over 100 F at Uluru to mid 40’s in NZ. Dress is quite casual and several opportunities to wash clothes. The Welcome and Farewell dinners tend to be a bit more dressy. It’s a wonderful trip.

British

This tour varies incredibly in the temperatures depending on when you go. Check out the Before You Go on the page for the tour and find Weather, it gives a breakdown of temperatures for the locations. This is why we did not take the entire tour at once, first, it was too long when my husband was working and second we did not want to visit Australia in their summer, it would have been too hot for our comfort. So we did Australia first and then NZ a few years later but in the NZ summer. We added days to the end and beginning of each tour to give us more time to complete the site seeing at those four destinations. For us, the duplication of two long flights there both time and money were worth it.