Hey People ,
Great to hear you've found some good advice in the forums.
On the Australia leg of your trip, I think it's a pretty well trodden path and figure you'll probably catch all the main things anyway. On the Melbourne side, be sure to first head westward and check out the (and Grampians possibly too). The Great Ocean is the highlight of Victoria - definitely a must-see.
In relaxing on the beach is certainly the order of the day. But you'll have to choose where to do that relaxing There's lots of options available. Either staying on the main island, Viti Levu, or going a bit more rustic on Vanua Levu. Most people seem to end up on the smaller islands off of Viti Levu; either the Mamanucas or Yasawas. The beaches are generally much nicer on these small islands than on Viti Levu. But Viti Levu has other attractions; village treks and so on.
One note on your scheduling is that you've got a fair chunk of that in Australia. That particular route you have planned doesn't really need to take 4 months and considering Australia is pretty expensive at this point, you could save a LOT of money by moving some of that time to South America / South East Asia. I'm not sure the ability to work will actually help offset the extra costs that Australia brings compared to the cheap destinations. Plus using your 12 month working holiday visa for only a 4 month visit could be considered a bit of a wasted opportunity. You could instead spend 3 months in Australia on a tourist visa and then come back later and stay an entire year if you really liked it All entirely up to you though of course
p.s. I highly recommend for fun and good times
Cheers Peter, the advice for Fiji is very helpful, may do a treck then move on to the smaller islands after for the nicer beaches like you suggested. Thats a fair point about Australia, Im in the mindset of going there to live after the RTW trip, so if we used a working visa on our RTW then will I be unable to go back after for a long period of time? Our flights are all flexible so will defiantly be taking your advice into consideration!! Have you any experience in NZ or South America? as I'm curious to see if our overground travel times are feasible
[ 12-Feb-2013, at 00:58 by mattyd212 ]
For Australia, note that you'll be arriving at the start of what up north (Brisbane and further) is the wet season. That's over by March, but if you indeed take Peter's advice to shorten it (which I echo; spend that time in New Zealand instead!) then you will run smack into it when following that route. Also, if you're thinking about spending New Years in Sydney: So is everyone else. Book accommodation by May/June if you want someplace decent.
For New Zealand you'll go into autumn. Might get a bit chilly with a campervan in the mountains on the South Island. Doable, but personally I'd prefer a regular rental car and hostels. 5 weeks is otherwise a good time period to cover both islands and get a decent impression of what they have to offer, even if you won't nearly manage to hit all the highlights.
For reference, this is what I'm currently doing (on my 4th visit) during nearly 5 weeks New Zealand, with a heavy focus on hiking, and some regular "must-sees" not included as I've already seen them and my gf isn't that interested in them:
Auckland: 6 days (most taken up by seeing friends and family)
Whangarei: 3 days
Hobbiton: 1 day
Taranaki: 3 days
Tongariro: 3 days
Picton: 1 day
Kaikoura: 3 days
Nelson: 2 days
Nelson Lakes: 3 days
Franz Josef: 3 days
Lake Tekapo: 5 days
(All including 1 day of travel time (generally ~4-6 hours) to get there.)
Im in the mindset of going there to live after the RTW trip, so if we used a working visa on our RTW then will I be unable to go back after for a long period of time?
There is such a thing as a visa, buuuut.. you need to have done 3 months of work in regional Australia on your first working holiday visa to be eligible for that. So with that in mind, unless you plan on spending 3 of your 4 months working in regional Australia you will not only squander the 8 months of your first working holiday visa, but you will also not be eligible for the second one.
Something to ponder.
Sorry, no experience on either NZ or South America other than what I've read on the forums over the years or hearsay from other travellers
Thanks Sander, 4th time in NZ you must be so excited Would you say we would have better weather conditions in the majority of countries if we went say, 3 months later (Dec 1st) therefore arriving in Australia mid March? obviously we would like to see Aus and NZ in all their possibly glory bathed in sunshine We haven't got down the the nitty gritty on NZ yet but sure will be doing some research on the places you've mentioned there, also great to know our timeframe is plausible. in regards to your recommendation about getting a hire car rather than camper for NZ I see your point about it getting chilly. We were hoping the camper would be ok just to give us more freedom and comfort while traveling NZ and will probably be ok with a little chill (we were students that couldn't afford heating for three cold winters ) In your opinion are there any other major pros and cons for Camper vs Car for NZ?
Ok no worries. Cheers Peter, that's defiantly something major to think about!!
On temperature - if you're starting your Australia leg in Melbourne in March, I reckon that's actually a really nice time to be here. The weather is milder. There are still usually plenty of nice days, but not the hot annoying ones that we have in Jan/Feb. My favourite times of the year in Melbourne are spring and autumn. As you go up the coast, you will be following the warm weather, so it should work out nicely. Reaching Cairns in May should be a good as it's the start of the dry season up there by then.
Ok awesome! cheers for the heads up. This is great advice as who want to travel 'The Sunshine Coast' in the rain right
I just did that SE Asia circuit. Flew into Bangkok, went straight for full moon. Ended up down south (koh Tao, koh phangan, Krabi, koh lanta for a almost a month) koh Tao was my favorite. Then back up to Chiang mai and pai both really nice and the popular spots in north Thailand. Then head into Laos on the slow boat journey (good way to meet loads of people traveling Laos who you will run into off and on as long as your there). From pakse (laos) to Vietnam (hue) down to Saigon. Into Cambodia and back through to Bangkok. (have fun at the poipet border, don't fall for scams and be ready to wait for about 4 hours possibly)
Was my route. Loved it, worked out well
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