Grand Australia/NZ Feb. 2015

Sue M

We are booked on the Australia/NZ tour which begins on Feb. 16, 2015 and are wondering about a few things.
We are planning to arrive in Melbourne a few days early. How many extra nights would you suggest we stay in Melbourne prior to the trip? While touring on our own, we don't want to duplicate the sights that are included in the Tauck tour.
As far as our flight plans, we can fly from NY to LA on our own and then take Tauck's flight from LA to Melbourne, or we can have Tauck do the complete booking for us. Right now we are leaning towards Tauck doing the complete booking
Any advice or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. We are looking forward to a great trip. The itinerary just came out…can't wait!! Anyone else booked on this tour?

British

I am sur you will be hearing from Jan who I believe lives in Melbourne. We took the Australia part of the tour a couple of years ago and had two extra days in Melbourne because it was all the time we were able to take. So we could not or chose not to do things outside of the city like wine tours or penguin viewing that others have mentioned. We took our time or recover from the jet lag ( I have jet lag right now, I am typing this at 4-30 am in Delhi!) plenty to see around the hotel, very easy to walk around etc. we were able to see a lot without going crazy and still be fit to start the tour. If you want to see more I suggest 4 days. The Australia part of the tour is wonderful, we stayed two extra days in Sydney at the end. We hope to goto NZ in the future, please post your tips from there when you get back

jdurkin

Hi Sue,

I have always suffered from jet lag. Thirty years ago I could get by on less sleep and still function while I got into the swing of an opposite time zone. These days, I try to be kinder to myself. So my advice is predicated on own jet lagged experiences. I give myself 5 clear days before I have to have my head on straight. I also consider spending the best part of the first week asleep at all the wrong times, is not the best use of the cost of the trip! JMHO. If you come in 3-4 days early, you can ease yourself in to tomorrow (because we a day ahead of you) and take in some great local and nearby sights. Tauck will still collect you at the airport, provided you let them know the details well in advance, so that's something you don't need to worry about. Plus, you might enquire with Tauck if they have special rates available for pre-stays. In all, the Australian portion of your trip is only 11 days. Take away day 1 & day 11, and you have barely a week to see a very small part of a country and continent approximately the same size as the lower 48. Obviously, you can't see very much … just some of our best-known icons. So if you can, come early. Be kind to yourselves. See a little bit extra, in detail. And if you can stay longer at the other end, either in Sydney or particularly in Auckland, all the better.

Others may counter my view. That's fine. But I want to experience my travels. Personally. The photos are a great memento and memory jogger, but I don't want to just count off another location, another day. I have moved on from If it's Tuesday, this Must be Belgium*.

Happy to help with any things to do suggestions.

Cheers,

Jan

*Great 1969 movie. Worth digging out. )

PS: Consider Air New Zealand. They fly daily from LAX to Melbourne via Auckland. I've seen quite a few posts here from people who have used this route. Plus, you might look into companion fares.

walt and joan

Sue,

My wife Joan and I are arriving on Saturday so we can have a little time to recover. If you are staying at the Langham let us know and perhaps we can meet each other before the tour begins. We anticipate that s
Saturday we will spend recovering from the trip. Joan and Walt Eccard

CFun

My husband and I are also booked on the Feb. 16, 2015 Australia/NZ trip. We will be arriving in Melbourne 3-4 days early per Jan's suggestion. Jan, do you have any recommendations of Yarra Valley wine tours that are good ones? We are very interested in seeing this area and would also like to visit Phillip Island to see the penguins. Any other suggestions of things we should definitely try to do before the tour begins? We have loved every Tauck trip we've taken but do like to spend a little time on our own as well pre and post tour. We're still trying to decide whether to spend any extra days in Aukland after the tour ends.

Thanks,
Cathy & Ralph
Raleigh, NC

jdurkin

Hi Cathy & Ralph,

Just did a little research on the net. If you search Yarra Valley wine tours you will find lots of suggestions. It seems that the going rate for a full day tour is A$110. There is another one for A$150. Have a look at these sites:



http://www.viator.com/tours/Melbourne/Yarra-Valley-Wine-and-Winery-Tour-from-Melbourne/d384-3243WINE
http://www.winetours.com.au/wine-tours-yarra-valley

The first one has a collection point quite close to your hotel … an easy to find location … which is a great plus for a visitor! The last one collects from the hotel … but honestly, I can't see that the extra cost makes up for a short walk to the collection/drop off point. The tour content might make up for that, though. Have a look and see what you think. As for the penguins, a recent recommendation from the Grand Hyatt, Melbourne concierge was for GrayLine:

http://www.grayline.com.au/australia-sightseeing/melbourne-day-tours

They also do wine tours, but when I looked, I reckon the specialist wine tour operator is a better bet. Let me know if you have any special interests, and I'll try and make some suggestions. If you have time at the end of the tour, I would certainly urge you to spend more time in Auckland. It's a wonderful city and the gateway to stunning sights …. and incidentally, wonderful wine growing areas. And I do have a recommendation for wine tours from Auckland if you're interested.

Cheers,

Jan

Sue M

Thank you to everyone who replied to my post.
We appreciate all the advice that you have given us.
My husband's name is Marty and we look forward to meeting all of our fellow travelers on the Feb. 16, 2015 tour.
For those of you who are arriving in Melbourne a few days early, are you staying at the Langham Hotel?
I know that as the months go on, more questions will arise and I look forward to getting everyone's input.
(From time to time, I have not been able to get into the Travel Forum to make a post or reply…wondering if anyone else has had difficulty)

Sue M

I see I am classified as a "traveler" in the posts.
Who are the "experts" and "ambassadors"?

jdurkin

Sue M wrote:

(From time to time, I have not been able to get into the Travel Forum to make a post or reply…wondering if anyone else has had difficulty)

Hi Sue,

I know the clever boffins at Tauck have been having trouble recently with the Forums, but I am assured that all is hunky dory now. Although, I have had issues with the Very Slow loading of the site … but that could be down to me and my vodafone non-wireless!

Cheers,

Jan

jdurkin

Sue M wrote:

I see I am classified as a "traveler" in the posts.
Who are the "experts" and "ambassadors"?

I don't really know the definitions of the categories, except that the number of posts and travel experience, with and without Tauck, have a bearing. My exalted/worthless gong just appeared one day. Could be I just talk a lot!

Cheers,

Jan

British

It seems to be that when you reach a certain number of posts that you automatically get upgraded. So Jan, that's why you are an expert, but Rightly so!

jdurkin

Aw, shucks. I really do think it's just 'cos I talk too much!

Apropos of the Yarra Valley, today is an horrendous fire risk day, particularly for the Yarra Ranges and other areas close to Melbourne. Other parts of Victoria and South Australia are similarly effected. There are many fires burning and are out of control as I type. Our fire fighters need all the good luck in the world. PLus their skill, of course.

If positive thoughts count for anything, please send any and all you can spare.

Thanks.

Sue M

Hi Walt and Joan-
As of now, we are planning to stay at the Langham. I think we will fly from NY on Feb 12th, and after a few hour layover in LA, continue on to Melbourne. I believe that we will arrive in Melbourne on Sat., Feb. 14th. That will give us time to rest up and do a little sightseeing before the tour begins on Monday the 16th.
(We had considered staying overnight in LA, but some folks have said that once we begin the flights, we might as well keep on going). From where will you be traveling?
We look forward to meeting you.
Sue

Sue M

I see that Tauck opened up new dates for the Grand Australia/NZ trip for 2015.
We wound up changing our date to the tour that begins on Feb. 9th. This date works better for us.
Joan and Walt….sorry we won't be seeing you.
Question….We may fly to LA and stay overnight before continuing on to Australia. Would anyone recommend a hotel that is near LAX?
We may even arrive in LA two nights before….if it would be easy to do sightseeing from our hotel. We won't have a car.
We will probably fly Jet Blue to LAX and then use Tauck for the international flights.
Any suggestions or advice?

rabo

Sue,

Try the Embassy Suites LA Airport South. Just a few minutes from the airport, nice rooms, free breakfast, etc. They also have a free shuttle to and from the airport.

Jerry

Sue M

Thanks Jerry. The Embassy Suites sounds perfect for what we are looking for.
We were planning to book the air completely with Tauck , taking the( American Airlines) flight to LAX and then the Qantas flight to Melbourne, all in the same day. But with the terrible weather we are having in NY this winter, flight cancelations are the norm. So we are now thinking that we should fly to Los Angeles a day or two before the international flight.
If we do that, we will book the international flight with Tauck, but fly on our own to LA. If we booked the whole trip with Tauck, there is a surcharge if you want to stay overnight in LA.
Getting back to the Embassy Suites….are there restaurants in the area? Would we be able to book a tour from the hotel? If we are there for a day or so, we will want to fill in our free time.
Thanks again!
Sue

rogfam

Just booked this tour today and looking forward to the warmth of Australia after countless snowstorms here in NY. We are taking a cruise from Tahiti to Syd arriving on Feb 12. Planning to stay in Sydney a few days before flying on to Melbourne. Any suggestions on sights to see etc that won't be covered on the Tauck trip.