Australia/New Zealand

[gallsman]

Lads, as part of a big celebration for finishing college, myself and a few lads are thinking of heading to Australia and New Zealand for the summer, with potentially ending up in Hawaii or the West Coast of the States for a few weeks. Planning on leaving in early July, and not coming home untiol the last week in September or first week in October. Could anyone recommend a route in which all the best sights and cities could be taken in please? I never did a J1 or anything, so am desperate to get away. All help appreciated!

[JimStynes]

sent a pm gallsman

[irunthev]

Bring some wet weather winter gear to NZ in July....... you'll need it. The South Island of NZ is a must in its entirety although the weather will be shocking that time of year. The North Island isn't a patch on the south and down south you can do all the usual activities bungies, white water rafting, ski-ing etc. If you only have  short schedule then you should focus on the east coast of Oz as the west coast is pretty barren and there's a lot of time consuming traveling between places over there. East coast is a bit more user friendly. Gets chilly in Melbourne and Sydney during July August and September too.

[Jimmy Joe]

Definitely the east east coast is the way to go for a short trip, make sure to get to airlie beach, it's some craic with backpackers travelling through it everyday and everyone just looking to party

[C_Berg_316]

Def recommend spending at least 2/3 days in queenstown in NZ if you can - mad wee town and also sample a ferg-burger if you get there - anyone thats been there should agree with me i reckon 

[Gaoth Dobhair Abu]

Go via Hong Kong, it's an experience no-one should miss out on, if given a chance to see it.

[blewuporstuffed]

would agree def the east coast if your tight for time,you could try someone like peter pan who are great for organizing trips up the coast especially if your not gonna have your own car.would prob save you abit of money that way too.
Def go an see sydney ,but wouldn't spend all my time about it, australia has too much else to offer(and melbourne is a better city IMO)
depends what your after in NZ, but the west coast of the south island is amazing, and queenstown is the spot for adventure activities,(altough taupo is good for that in the north island aswell and cheaper.)def try and get to queenstown ,franz josef or fox glasier and milford sound anyway.Also if you can , i though the trans alpine railway was brilliant.
we spent a month around NZ on the magic bus and it was great,but if theres a few of you a camper van would be great aswell.
F88k it, you should just push the boat out and go for the year

[Santino]

I couldn't recommend the Kiwi Experience bus highly enough. me and a mate spent 4 weeks in NZ on that tour, covered the whole lot with zero hassle like booking accomodation, directions etc. Accomodation comes at a cheaper rate with them as well and u can hop on and off when ya like.
Lots of like-minded irish and british backpackers up for the rip.
Prob best 4 wks craic i've had travelling and i've done quite a bit, and so much to do
I'm jealous as f*ck!

[irunthev]

I couldn't recommend the Kiwi Experience bus highly enough. me and a mate spent 4 weeks in NZ on that tour, covered the whole lot with zero hassle like booking accomodation, directions etc. Accomodation comes at a cheaper rate with them as well and u can hop on and off when ya like.
Lots of like-minded irish and british backpackers up for the rip.
Prob best 4 wks craic i've had travelling and i've done quite a bit, and so much to do
I'm jealous as f*ck!

Never sampled the Kiwi Experience but isn't it referred to as "The Big Green Shagging Machine"? There's a reason to take it if ever there was!!!!!!

As for camper vans....... it's a great way to see the country ......really the best way...... but in July and August in South Island it will be seriously cold and damp and the camper vans aren't the warmest vehicle in the world. Rent-a-dent car hire or similar are very reasonable and then stay in one of the plentiful backpackers is the warmest and most comfortable way of doing it on a budget.

[FermGael]

I couldn't recommend the Kiwi Experience bus highly enough. me and a mate spent 4 weeks in NZ on that tour, covered the whole lot with zero hassle like booking accommodation, directions etc. Accommodation comes at a cheaper rate with them as well and u can hop on and off when ya like.
Lots of like-minded irish and british backpackers up for the rip.
Prob best 4 wks craic i've had travelling and i've done quite a bit, and so much to do
I'm jealous as f*ck!

Never sampled the Kiwi Experience but isn't it referred to as "The Big Green Shagging Machine"? There's a reason to take it if ever there was!!!!!!

As for camper vans....... it's a great way to see the country ......really the best way...... but in July and August in South Island it will be seriously cold and damp and the camper vans aren't the warmest vehicle in the world. Rent-a-dent car hire or similar are very reasonable and then stay in one of the plentiful backpackers is the warmest and most comfortable way of doing it on a budget.

I did New Zealand with a bus company called Stray travel.  Far better than the Kiwi experience.
Stray's itinerary is better.  There bus drivers are some craic and they are not trying to sell you something at every stop.
They throw in alot of freebies and they have good local knowledge.
The kwii experience when i was there was full of ones from england who had just done there A Levels and
were doing a bit of travelling on daddies credit card. 

Queenstown is without doubt one of the maddest towns i have ever visited.
make sure you have a teapot when you get there in the world bar.

If you fancy a skydive, then the one over lake Taupo its brilliant.  You get the mountains covered in snow
and then over the lake, fantastic


Would not advise the CamperVan there in July or August as others have said.
Far too cold.

Stay away from all Base backpacers hostels.  I like a good time as much as anyone but sleep is nice too...............

[JimStynes]

Western Exposure tours from Perth to Darwin in 21 days or you can break it up and stay in  Broome for example for 4 days and then head on again. The best time to go up the west coast is July and August.

I would personally rather go to South America or South East Asia for 3 or 4 months, much cheaper and lots more to see than Australia. Australia is a great place to live though, it has some lifestyle.