Advice/Help for 9 weeks Aus/New Zealand/Asia

[Framework]

looking for advice/opinion on the following please-Basically me and my OH have 9 weeks or so off to travel in Autum next year..

We havent done much research but basically wanted to take in the best parts(obviously this is up for debate) of Australia,New Zealand and Asia.It wuld be great if somebody could advise us on a basic itinerary of must see spots and how long to spend there? eg like Sydney 1 week etc

Once we have decided on our basic itinerary,I heard Trailfinders would be the best way to go,they would do all booking,give good advice etc..I know we will probably pay a bit more to book through them but I cant see myself, doing it all myself..Are there any other websites/companies we could consider for this?

Budget wise -We dont want to be staying in 5stars but also dont want to be staying in crap places either...Somewhere middle of the road, a bit of luxury but nothing excessive...We have absolutely no idea how much this is going to cost in total,any guestimates out there for? 9 weeks- taking in Aus,New Zealand + Asia,Flights + Accomodation(middle of the road quality)?

Preferences would be - Not to spend too much time in airports so we were thinking around 1 week per location - so circa 9 main locations - Dont know if this is the best way to approach this?

Would be really grateful for any feedback/opinions on above,we have never travelled to these places before and so really need advice on how to go about organising this?Thanks,F

 

[Delboy]

went for 5 weeks to Tokyo (4 days)-NZ(4 weeks- 3sth and 1 nth island)-Sydney (4 days) a few years back.
If I could do it all again, I'd have spent all 5 in NZ as had lived in Sydney for a few years before and tokyo while fascinating, is wild expensive and just a really big city. NZ is 1 of the most beautiful places I've been to. Sth Island far more interesting and remote than the North. I'd probably not book accomm in advance this time and just play it by ear as we had to miss a lot of places on the east of the Sth Island as we had accomm booked for each of our first 7 nights.
Car hire is very cheap and the hostels tend to be very good quality and prices. The prices over there are less than half ours so eating out and booze is for nothing.
Doubtful sound is unreal and can be reached from manapouri as your base. Te Anua is a lovely tourist town and is the base for Milford Sound. Otago peninsula outside Dunedin is worth at least 3 days and the beach there where you can sea lions and have to walk across fields to get to is fantastic (no people when we were there, totally deserted). Banks peninsula and the Catlins area on the east of the sth island I'd also rate very highly.
Was'nt mad about nelson etc and while abel tasman park is stunning, the towns around it are very quiet with very little nightlife.
the nth island is more built up but Tauranga and Mt Manganui are great on a sat night/sunday when all the locals from Auckland are in town.Napier is quaint but quiet. Wellington seemed to be the livliest place we were but did'nt stay long. The ferry between islands is stunning. Rotorua has to be seen but would'nt spend much time there.

hope this all helps

 

[rory22]

9 weeks is plenty of time so I would suggest hiring a car or camper van in Aus and Nz. 3-4 days is probably as much time as you will need in any of the cities as by and large they will be pretty similar unless you are using them as a base to explore the surrounding areas. Asia cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok are very interesting but a few days is all you really need in them.(you could fly into Singapore and get a train to Bangkok giving you an opportunity to see the country side of Malaysia and Thailand plus you could also take in Kuala Lumpur en route, it’s a great train journey)

I would set aside 2 weeks to drive up the east coast of Oz and take in the Whitsundays islands (maybe 2-3 days cruise) and visit the great barrier reef from Cairns. Melbourne is pretty cool too and the Great Ocean Road to the west is worth a visit.

I would definitely agree that Trailfinders are great for organizing itineraries as I've used them several times (sometimes using their suggested itinerary but booking independently)

We have absolutely no idea how much this is going to cost in total, any guestimates out there for? 9 weeks

15-20K all in?

Enjoy, i'm very jealous!!!!!

 

[Delboy]

I reckon you could get by easily on less than €100 per day in NZ per person, eating out in pub grub type places, car hire, a few beers,staying in hostels etc

 

[mnowlan]

Spent 10 weeks in New Zealand Jan-Mar 2008, excluding airfares we (2) lived on €550 per week! That was not a budget, it was just what we spent. All food, car hire, petrol, overnight accommodation etc included. We drove 3,500 KM on the trip, staring in Christchurch, down south including Steward Island, up the West Coast, then a mad dash up the North Isalnd for 2 weeks.

We stayed in the huts/cabins in camp sites which are great for meeting people. We did several of the "Great Walks" and so stayed in DOC huts. Food was bought about once a week in big supermarkets. We often ate a lunch on the road and had a light dinner. Not too many opportunities for fancy eating out, but we had a few.

It is a totally outdoor environment, so unless you spend lots of money bungy jumping etc, it is relatively easy to survive on little, which was not our objective, especially seeing the distance travelled to get there.

Our cabins/huts/apartments ranged from €10 per night, for both of us, up to a very expensive €60 for a lovely studio apartment on a South Pacific beach. get hold of the Jasons or AA guides when you arrive or join one of the Camping organisations (Top-10, Kiwi) for lists of places to stay. We relied on the Lonely Planet guide and were only let down once in the quality of the accomodation.

Going back in January 2010 and will probably up the accommodation quality a bit, maybe by €5-10 per night. Will certainly up the quality of the car, 10 year old Nissan Sunny had a hard job on some of the mountains and dirt roads. So another €5 per day for the car next year. Considered a camper van, but the flexibilty of a car and the opportunity of meeting people in kitchens etc in camp sites outweighs the van.

 

[Rois]

When booking your itinerary, consider getting a changeable ticket. While the overall itinerary remains the same, you can change the dates you wish to travel.

I had this option (it didn't cost much extra with Qantas) but meant I was able to shorten my stay in places I didn't like (left Bali early as non-stop rain) and was able to extend my stay in places I loved e.g. Perth and Nth Queensland.

It also covered NZ, both islands north and south. The flexibility was great.