Blue Mountain tour in Sydney and private guides for extra time in Auckland and Sydney

Joan Sher

We are going to be on the Grand Australia, New Zealand trip starting Dec. 2. Noticed that some people in previous forums said that they did the Blue Mountains on their free day in Sydney that is part of the tour.. I am wondering if those who went to Blue Mountain booked a tour ahead of time or if you were able to do it with help of your tour director once you arrived in Sydney. Did others on the tour join you or was it a private tour? Also, what other options are there to do on that free day and what must be arranged ahead of time before we even arrive in Sydney. We will be returning to Sydney after the tour is over in Auckland as our flights are on UA and from US to Melbourne and Sydney back to US..only way we could use our miles to upgrade. We will stay one extra day in Auckland. Does anyone recommend a private or small group guide there to take us where we have not been on the tour. We would also like recommendations of a private guide or small group guide to take us to places in Sydney that we haven't done during the 4 days the tour is there. We will have approx. 2 more days there to do things we haven't done on the tour..any suggestions will be appreciated. Also if you are on this tour (Dec2-21), do let us know. We live in Portland Oregon where Dec is cold and rainy (sometimes even snow, definitely black ice and often the most rain of the year) so we are looking forward to the warmth of downunder during December.

RLMSLL

We were in Sydney for two days in February and hired a private guide that we shared with one other couple on one of the days. We did a great Sydney overview tour including a trip to Bondi Beach, but the company also provides excellent tours to the Blue Mountains. The tour company is Real Sydney Tours and they receive outstanding reviews on Trip Advisor. I made the arrangements with Suanne, the owner, and she was always very responsive to my emails. Our guide was Nick and he was very knowledgeable. He created an outstanding experience and took us places that the big buses couldn't go. I highly recommend Real Sydney Tours. Here is a link to their website:
http://realsydneytours.com.au/
Here is a link to the reviews on Trip Advisor:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g255060-d1725012-Reviews-Real_Sydney_Tours-Sydney_New_South_Wales.html

We spent four days in Auckland in January and signed up for a small group tour which picked us up at our hotel. We did a half day Auckland and Devonport tour combined with a half day to the beaches on the west side of the island. The tour company was TIME Unlimited. Our Maori guide was very good. Here is a link to their website:
http://www.newzealandtours.travel/
Here is a link to the reviews on Trip Advisor:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g255106-d1489723-Reviews-TIME_Unlimited_Tours-Auckland_Central_North_Island.html

The Sydney private tour was exceptional and the Auckland small group tour, which included two other couples that also booked through the tour company, was very good. I would be pleased to tour with both companies again.

Please let me know if you have any questions.