Australia and New Zealand trip report
For our 30th anniversary we cashed in all of our accumulated miles with AA and booked real, positive space tickets for a 2 week trip. Yep, we even paid the phone booking fee, the taxes and the "extra leg room" charges to get comfortable seats. Sadly, we were still in regular economy as business class was full when we booked the tickets a full 10 months ahead of time. It was totally worth it.
It takes a LONG time to get from PHX to CNS. I purposely arranged a long layover in LAX because I was more worried about missing our connection on QF than I was about the layover. It turned out not to be necessary but I always tell folks to give yourself plenty of time. Better to be reading a book at the gate than to be running up sweating while they shut the door. We also had a 7 hour layover in SYD and decided it was completely worth it to book a room at Rydges hotel so we could relax, take a shower and get some breakfast before continuing our journey. The cost was $130 USD. The hotel is very conveniently located across the street from the international terminal so we just had to grab our bags, head through customs (more on that later), recheck the bags for the next flight and walk over. Clean, comfortable and with a great buffet, the Rydges is a hotel I would stay at again. I know that they have showers in the airport - I checked them out and they look great - but we just wanted to be able to take our time and maybe lay down in silence for a little while. I have noticed that a lot of airport hotels around the world are now offering a "day room" rate for this exact purpose.
Two days before we left I got a notice that the customs agents in SYD were staging a strike two hours every morning and two hours every afternoon for the rest of the month. Lo and behold that meant we could be affected not once but twice on this trip. The US has an entry agreement with Australia so we were able to go to a machine and get what amounts to a fast pass to get through customs quicker. Well, it is supposed to work that way. One by one people would approach the machine to put the little card in the reader to allow you to move through customs at lightening speed only to have it . . . do nothing except eat your card. Once the machine ingests your card you must go to a different line and wait for an officer. So the three of us joined approximately 200 of our closest friends in the "fast pass" line to get cleared in the first hurdle before taking our luggage to clear the rest. If you think our line was long, you should have seen the one for the folks coming in from non-waiver countries! As a US citizen you do need a visa to enter Australia but they are electronic and you can get an entry/re-entry visa that is good for a year for only $20 AUD online. It is quick and painless.
The next step was to take our connecting flight on QF to CNS where we arranged for a van to pick us up and take us to our final destination of Port Douglas. We stayed at the Macrossan House Holiday apartments and I would recommend it to everyone. It is right in the center of town so you won't need a car and the owners helped us set up all of our excursions - even billed us when we checked out so we didn't have to do multiple receipts, etc. Clean, comfortable and quiet, it comes with a kitchenette and is right around the corner from the grocery store.
The first thing we did was arrange a tour of the Daintree Rainforest. The company we used was Tony's Daintree tours. Essentially it was a van tour of the overall rainforest, lunch, a river cruise to see the crocodiles, a hike through a portion of the rainforest and a stop for locally made ice cream before heading back. It is an all day tour and we enjoyed it. It wasn't horribly expensive. The next thing, and the main reason we stayed in Port Douglas, was to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. The company we booked with is relatively new and takes smaller boats out. It was called Wavelength and they have marine biologists on the boat to give you information about what you are seeing along with teaching you how to snorkel. There is a talk during lunch about the reef and it's inhabitants. The ride out is to the first snorkel spot is 1.5 hours and, fair warning, it is CHOPPY. I took sea sickness pills and still lost my breakfast 4 times before lunch. I was one of only a couple of people who got sick but if they tell you to take two pills before setting off (I only took one at first), do it. You will not be sorry.
The Reef is one of the most amazing places I have ever been in my life. It was worth every bit of the sickness to see it. We snorkeled in 3 spots and the sights were just amazing. You should see the photos and the video! My son got up close with both a sea turtle and a reef shark. You know how you see these things on TV and it looks like really good photography but not actually real? That is what it looks like in person. If you have the chance to go, take it. The biologist told us that, for various reasons most of which are not human caused, the Great Barrier Reef has shrunk nearly 50% in the last 27 years. Go now before it is gone.
The next portion of the trip had us taking Virgin Australia connecting to Air New Zealand from CNS to AKL (changed planes in BNE which had the most amazing storm while we were there - stopped flights for a while but it was pretty spectacular to see) where we stayed overnight at the Sudima airport hotel because we got in so late. The hotel is nice enough as long as you are a hobbit. If you are taller than 5 feet then the shower is going to hit you in the chest. Seriously. We asked at the front desk if there were rooms with the shower head higher because my son is 6'5" and they kind of laughed and said all of the showers were the same. We stayed there the last night in NZ as well so that was not a good thing. As a US citizen, you do NOT need a visa to enter New Zealand for a vacation.
We rented a car and, for the first time, drove on the other side of the road. We got a good tip from the driver in Australia - the key is to make sure the dividing line between the directions is on the driver's side. It was not as hard as I thought it was going to be. I had been quite nervous before we headed out. The morning following our arrival in NZ, we drove approximately 2 hours to Cambridge which is a beautiful, rural area near all of the activities we wanted to do while in the country. The countryside is absolutely gorgeous. So green and hilly that every corner brought some other lovely view. I would go back in a heartbeat. We stayed at a place called Earthstead Villas which is a little farm that has 3 little cottages for rent. Ours was a 2 bedroom cobb cottage with a private patio and was lovely. Fantastic hosts who came in to "tidy up" every day and left us fresh milk from the cows and gave us fresh eggs from the chickens that wandered through our yard occasionally. You have the option to help them milk the cows should you desire. We didn't.
The first activity was, naturally, to take a tour of the Hobbiton movie set. The farm where the movies were made kept the "shire" after the last set of films and made a deal with the studio that allows them to do walking tours. If you have mobility issues, this might not be a tour for you. You are going up and down hills on unpaved paths. It takes about 2 hours which includes time to have a drink on them at the Green Dragon tavern. It was fun and we got great photos. The tour is $75NZD per person.
The next day we hiked the Maungatautari Mountain sanctuary which is on a mountaintop that has been sealed off and predators eliminated. Cost $16NZD per person. You have to go through this entry that reminded us of Jurassic park. First you go through what amounts to a giant turnstile like in the subway in NYC then you enter a cage type structure with two doors. You can't open the second door until the first is closed so nothing can sneak in I presume. If you have the chance to go there, do it. The birds sang in ways you do not hear in north america. Gorgeous and cool you hike up and down a series of trails just listening to the birds singing.
Our last adventure was to go blackwater rafting with The Legendary Blackwater Rafting company. They have multiple tour options and we chose the Black Labyrinth. This is a 3 hour tour (yes, they made the requisite Gilligan's Island references at the beginning) where you have to don a dry suit and jacket (let me tell you, those suckers are hard to get on) plus a helmet with a light. They give you a black inner tube and take you underground into the Waitomo Glow Worm caves where you walk, ride and jump (backwards!) over small waterfalls 210 feet underground all the while looking up at the glow worms that live in the cave. It was awesome! I'm pretty sure we were the only people over 30 in the group, though. I think this one was $165NZD per person. The guides were great and they provided hot soup and bagels after you got back.
We left New Zealand and spent a day and a half in SYD on the way home. Stayed at the Marriott Sydney Harbor where they graciously upgraded us to a bridge view room. Holy cow was it gorgeous at sunset! We wandered all over the city and saw a beautiful church the likes of which I haven't seen outside of Europe. Of course we did the usual tourist things like cross the Harbor Bridge and go the Opera House.
All in all, we had a wonderful time. Both countries were great food wise since my husband has Celiac and has to eat gluten-free this is always an issue for us. It was easy for us to find restaurants that served food he could eat and all of them asked if he had any other food issues (he doesn't) which was such a relief.
Next stop - London next month. I haven't been to England before so I am excited. That will also be my first time actually nonrevving outside of the US. Cross you fingers!
