Advice on Australia Itinerary

[Dell]

Hey guys. I am going on a 30 day trip through Australia/NZ and am looking for advice. I have done the whole Latin America thing and Europe bit and am looking for something new following a year in middle asia working for uncle sam.

I am flying into Darwin and Flying out of Sydney. Other than that my schedule is completely open. I want to hit NZ and Tasmania at a minimum. I was thinking about cairns and getting padi certified and then doing a whitewater rafting trip. Zorbing and Skydiving in NZ would might be cool.

I will also be checking out the Universities of Auckland, Sydney and Tasmania so that will take out 3 days.

When travel time is factored in I think that I may be running out of time but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

D

[Delaney]

Unless there are things you want to see in between, I would fly from Darwin to Cairns then work your way down the eastern coast. Australia is so big and flights are fairly cheap so if you are short on time, its the way to go. Check out www.jetstar.com.au.

[lauren313]

Do your skydive in NZ as it's cheaper (and far more beautiful) than doing it in Australia! I did mine in Wanaka, and seriously, what a view!!!!! I'd recommend doing it there!

[LiveFreeorDie]

I did whitewater rafting as well as some diving in Cairns and thought it was great. I went diving with a company called Down Under Dive. They do liveaboards on this ship that is permanently out at the GBR and just moves around from dive spot to dive spot. They seemed like a good outfit and offered a full range of instruction as well.

I also did a whitewater raft trip down the Tully river, which is outside of Cairns. It was a lot of fun. I can't remember the name of the company that offered it, but there are several that do the trips. There are travel agents everywhere in Cairns and you can book right before you want to go. Some of the raft companies also offer 3 or 4 day trips where they helicopter you in to remote spots and you raft out all the way to the ocean (avoiding crocs on the lower reaches of the river). It sounded really cool if you have the time and the money.

There are also a lot of different outback safari type trips offered out of Cairns that can involve camping. Good luck with planning your trip and if you have any specific questions on diving or rafting in Cairns, let me know and I will do my best to answer based on my experiences.

[Dell]

THX for the info guys. I also think that I will do the kayak thing in TAZ.

D

[kiwichick]

if ya cumin to nz to look at auckland uni i would suggest not planning on spending to many days there, aucklands big expensive overrated and hard to navigate in comparison to most of nz's other citys

[davidd]

not sure if youve gone or when you go but keep an eye on tiger air for flights as well. New budget line that is just starting here (not sure if it has or not yet) but i presume their flight paths will update abit as they get rolling