Sydney add on?

roz47

Our time is limited, and we chose to do New Zealand rather than Australia and New Zealand. I am hoping that is not a mistake. Do those of you who just went to New Zealand feel any regret for not also doing Australia? Would it be worth flying into Sydney first and staying 2 days in Sydney before flying to New Zealand for the tour?

MurphW

We are doing the same thing with 3 days in Sydney. We will be doing the typical tourist stuff while there, harbor cruise, opera house, etc. I don't want to offend any Aussies out there, but I haven't met one person that has been to both that didn't say New Zealand was ssooo beautiful.

Murph

crackers54

I did both and if you have to make a choice New Zealand would be it. I loved Australia, the tour in New Zealand was fantastic. The charter flights, landing for lunch and flying out to your next destination, and the scenery in New Zealand is sooo green. If you can do both it is great, but if not you have to chose. I do recommend flying into Sydney if you want to get a taste of Australia. It was an amazing city.

jdurkin

Hi Murph,

As an Aussie I'm not at all offended. New Zealand is a wonderful country. We regard each other as part of an extended family. But there any similarity vanishes. New Zealand is nothing like Australia geographically. We are as different as Norway is from the deserts of Arizona. The South Island of NZ has more physical similarities to Norway, actually, while the North Island is similar to Hawaii.

The only reason Tauck pair them is … ??? … geography and air fares, I presume. Either way, each country needs far more time than the very short time allotted by the tour. If you are only doing NZ, you definitely need more time to appreciate what the Land of the Long White Cloud has to offer. Treat the Tauck tour as a taster for your next, real visit Down Under. I mean, you can't see the whole of the States in 9 or 8 days, can you? You just have to see a new bit every visit, like I've been doing for the last 10 years. With the lower 48 fitting inside Australia, you know where I'm coming from!

A day or two in Sydney may well be entertaining, but a snapshot of Australia it does not make. That would be like telling a foreigner that Hollywood is typical of everything the USA has to offer. What a confused view of the States they would go home with, huh? Go to NZ and have a wonderful 8 days, but plan to come back to the region and do each country justice. Because you know you'll have to.

Cheers,

Jan