One of the frequent questions I received was about trip duration. On a two week vacation, do you have time to visit both New Zealand and Australia, or Fiji and Australia? My answer is absolutely not. I did not get a chance to go to NZ, but from friends that have been there I know that you need at least a week, if not more, in NZ. So assuming you’re going to focus the entire trip in Oz, here is what I would recommend.
First of all, there’s no way to see the entire country in two weeks. Let me put it in perspective. There are far fewer tourist centers in Australia compared to the US, but imagine trying to see NYC, DC, Miami, New Orleans, LA, San Francisco and Chicago in two weeks. Yes, you could probably do it, but you’re not going to get the full experience.
The three must-sees in Australia are Melbourne, Sydney and the Great Barrier Reef. They’re all on the east coast, so let’s narrow your trip down to that section. You’ll probably fly into Sydney, so we’ll start there.
If you’re not used to international travel, especially flights over 10 hours, you’re going to be majorly jet lagged when you land. You’ll fly out of LAX in the evening and land at SYD in the morning, totally missing one day. Keep that in mind as you plan your flights. I found that the best way to beat jet lag is to sleep as much as possible on the plane (with the help of Ambien if available) and do a lot of walking/sightseeing on the first day. If you sleep during the day after you land, you’re only prolonging your pain. Fight through it and you’ll be better for it.
I’ve broken each area down by how many days I would spend there. Click each link for more detailed information. Note that I only accounted for 12 days – if you’re truly doing a 2 week vacation you will need some buffer time to book flights or spend extra time seeing things you like. Click on each for details.
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