Recap of Australia / New Zealand trip – Nov. 2025

Written by Kim

I like to recap our big trips so I can remember the details all in one place (and to share some of our tips and stats). This trip had 4 legs: 1) few days in Sydney, 2) a cruise around New Zealand and 3) our drive from Sydney to Melbourne and 4) Melbourne. We do love Australia & New Zealand and wish it wasn’t such a long trip to the other side of the world or we would visit more. We have been fortunate enough to visit twice and after this trip have seen most of the east half of the country. This trip focused on New South Wales and Victoria and our trip in 2019 too us to Queensland and NSW.

Leg 1 – Sydney – Since we had already been to Sydney we didn’t visit some of the tourist sites like the Opera House. We took a day tour to Blue Mountains which was fantastic, biked around Sydney and over the Sydney Harbour Bridge which was fun and spent some time at restaurants and bars in The Rocks and Circular Quay which shouldn’t be missed because they are a lot of fun. We also saw an excellent show, Back to The Future, at Sydney Lyric Theatre. Our days were filled with lots of walking, ferries and train travel getting around using the efficient public transport in Sydney. We stayed in Neutral Bay across the harbor which reduced our lodging costs but added the complexity of the ferry and hiking the hill to our 3rd story apartment but no regrets there. It was a very nice quiet neighborhood so a good choice.

Leg 2 – Cruise around New Zealand on Anthem – We boarded Anthem for a 10 day cruise around New Zealand with stops in Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington & Picton / Marlborough.

Cruises with Australians are a very different vibe to Caribbean cruises out of NJ or Florida. The passengers are super friendly (this is the 2nd time someone I met invited me to their home to do laundry after 5 minutes of chatting as an example), there is no smoking in the casino, there’s no tipping (although we still tip), most passengers have the drink package and love to party, and trivia is quite different with lots of Australian questions. We met a great Australian newlywed couple, Courtney & Benn, who we enjoyed trivia and hanging out with. It’s so bittersweet because we hope to see them again but our travel plans need to connect since we live so far from each other. The ports were amazingly beautiful – we would love to drive around New Zealand to see more of this beautiful country. Our weather was cool since it was late Spring for them so it reminded me a bit of an Alaskan cruise. We did get one pool day but it was windy and cool and began to rain so back inside we went. The Tasman Sea wasa bit choppy but we didn’t get sick!

Leg 3 – Drive from Sydney to Melbourne – we rented a car and took about 2 weeks to drive down the Sapphire Coast. Alex did a great job driving on the wrong (left) side of the road. We stopped in Jervis Bay, Merimbula, Mallacoota, and Phillip Island on our way to Melbourne. We saw beautiful landscape and lots of wildlife (watch out for the roo!). The Penguin Parade in Phillip Island was a highlight,

Leg 4 – Melbourne. Melbourne is the capital of Victoria and the second most populous city in Australia but it is much different than Sydney. It felt busier and more crowded than Sydney as we walked around the city but it probably wasn’t. The tram system in the central business district where we stayed is free which is really convenient. Our hotel was right next to Victoria Market which is quite the place (see our Melbourne posts for more details). The city has a very high Asian population so there are lots of Asian grocers and restaurants. We enjoyed the wineries in Yarra Valley but I think Marlborough wines in NZ are better. It was great to catch-up with my friend Uday after many years. We loved our Carlton beer and I loved my flat whites.

Some stats….As many of you know, I love my spreadsheets so always track a lot of things as we travel like this. Here’s some of my favorite highlights. I’m always happy to share more if you are planning a similar trip or what ideas based on our experience. Just reach out.

• Number of miles traveled – by air on the way there – JFK-Singapore-Sydney – 14,433 air miles; Cruise – 3,549 nautical miles; by air home – Melbourne-Seoul-JFK – 12,,207; by car in Australia 1,156 miles (1,861 km)
• Average lodging cost per night – $158 USD
• Average cost per gallon of gas $4.99 USD (convert from liters per km)
• Average MPG in our MG3 – 30.4
• Average cost per beer $13 AUD – $8.62 USD (but that’s all in including tip)

Every time we travel I buy a few new things to try. Here’s a few things that really worked well!

My Dansko Josey sneakers were expensive but well worth it. We walked a bunch of miles and they never hurt and look almost new still after hiking and walking in the city in the rain.

This charging cord was awesome because it was one cord for my phone, iPad and watch. Well it was good until I left it on our first flight home but I’ve already bought another.

My medication pens for my diabetes needed to stay cold and I wasn’t sure how to deal with it. This cooler keeps medication cold for 44 hours after freezing the special ice pack. This worked well for the flights and transporting meds during travel, it only held 3 of my pens so it depends on the actual pen but it can hold up to 6 pens of some meds or insulin. A great investment of $25. Another brand was nearly $70 but this one worked great

Lastly, my 32 degree lightweight jacket I bought at Costco for $12 was perfect. Check out other pics in the blog to see it. They don’t sell it anymore but get one next year if you see one.

Thanks for joining us on this journey. I record our trips in our blog largely so we can remember but many of you have shared you like to see our pictures and read about our antics so glad you enjoy it too. Now we will spend a few weeks with family for the holidays but we’re off again in January for a few cruises and some golf in Florida. I don’t blog our family activities (you can find that on Facebook) but will begin posting in early January. Until then…..