Journeys
Australia and New Zealand in one trip, and whether it is worth the extra fortnight
Having flown halfway round the world to Australia, it is tempting to add New Zealand, a few hours further on. The two countries are neighbours but very different, and whether to combine them depends on time, energy and what you want from the trip.
By Walter Pellow20 October 20264 min read
From Britain, Australia and New Zealand are about as far away as it is possible to go. The flight takes the best part of a day, and the jet lag can take days to shake off. For many people it is a trip they will make only once, and the argument for seeing both countries while you are there is a strong one. They are neighbours, a flight of around three hours apart across the Tasman Sea, and their seasons run together, both in the southern hemisphere.
But neighbours is not the same as similar. Seeing both properly takes time, and the question of whether an extra two weeks is worth it deserves an honest answer.
How different they are
Australia is a continent, vast, ancient and mostly flat, with a dry red interior and a long coast where most of its people live. Its great sights are spread across enormous distances. They include the harbour of Sydney, the red rock of Uluru, the tropical wetlands of Kakadu and the Great Barrier Reef, and they are linked by flights of several hours. Its Aboriginal cultures are among the oldest continuous cultures on earth.
New Zealand is a pair of long, narrow, mountainous islands, young in geological terms and still being shaped by volcanoes and earthquakes. Its landscapes change quickly, from volcanoes and geysers to fjords and glaciers, and they are close together, which makes it a country for a road trip. It was the last major land mass on earth to be settled by people, by the Polynesian ancestors of the Māori, only around seven or eight centuries ago, and Māori culture is a strong and visible part of national life.
Neighbours is not the same as similar.
What the extra time buys
The New Zealand places listed for the add-ons below are in the North Island. Auckland, the largest city, is built on a narrow isthmus between two harbours and on a field of dozens of small volcanoes. Paihia is in the Bay of Islands, a beautiful drowned coastline of islands and inlets, and the home of the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, where the founding treaty between the British Crown and Māori chiefs was signed in 1840. Rotorua is a geothermal town of geysers, boiling mud and hot springs, and a centre of Māori culture, where visitors can see traditional carving and weaving and attend a cultural performance.
That is a good introduction to New Zealand, but it is only a part of it. The South Island, with the Southern Alps, the glaciers, Queenstown, Milford Sound and the fjords, is a trip in its own right. If New Zealand is your main interest, it deserves a trip of its own of two or three weeks.
The order matters too. Combined trips usually put Australia first and New Zealand second, which has a practical logic: Australia's long distances and heat are better tackled while you are fresh, and New Zealand's shorter journeys and green landscapes make a gentler end. Either way, a day or two of rest at the point where you cross the Tasman is worth building in.
The honest answer
Combining the two is worth it if you have the time, enjoy long trips and are unlikely to make the journey again. The extra fortnight adds a very different country, with green hills, volcanoes and Māori culture, to the deserts, reefs and cities of Australia. It is less worth it if the trip is already long and tiring, or if you would rather see one country well than two quickly. A five- or six-week trip is a long time to be travelling, and fatigue is real.
Just You's Australian Highlights with New Zealand Add-on, thirty-six nights for solo travellers, combines Sydney, the coast north to Brisbane, Cairns, Uluru, Alice Springs, Adelaide, Warrnambool and Melbourne with Auckland and Rotorua in New Zealand.
Travelsphere's Highlights of Australia with New Zealand Add-on, thirty-nine nights, adds Auckland, Paihia and Rotorua to an Australian route through Melbourne, Sydney, Uluru, Alice Springs, the Top End, Cairns and Brisbane. Travelsphere's The Wonders of Australia with New Zealand Add-on, forty-seven nights, adds New Zealand to its longer Australian route, which includes Perth, Adelaide and Kangaroo Island.
Whatever you decide, plan rest days into a long trip. The best journeys leave time to sit still.
By Walter Pellow, the name Atlas & Passage’s editorial team writes under. Prices and dates in the trips below come from the operators and can change.
