We spent the month of November in Australia and New Zealand. Our journey includes 3 pieces: Fly into Sydney for a few nights, cruise around New Zealand, rent a car and drive to Melbourne before flying home. We’ve already been to Sydney so have done some of the major attractions like the Opera House and climbing the bridge. This time we took a day trip to the Blue Mountains and biked the bridge on another day.
We took a 10 night cruise from Sydney around New Zealand on Anthem of the Seas. We know that ship well – this was our 4th cruise on her – as it was based in Bayonne for a while. This is the first time Anthem is in Australia – she spends summers (Sep-Mar) in Australia and will go back to Alaska in (April) for their cruise season. This cruise took us to 2 new ports, Christchurch and Dunedin, and 2 ones we’ve already seen, Wellington and Marlborough / Picton as well as a few sounds.
After we get off the cruise, we will rent / hire a car in Sydney and drive down the coast to Melbourne – with stops of 1-2 nights in Jervis Bay, Tilba, Merimbula, and Philip’s Island. We’ve heard the coast is beautiful similar to the Pacific Coast Highway, Last time we were in Australia we flew up to Carnes in the Northeast and drove down that coast (the Sunshine & Gold Coast) back to Sydney.
Recap of this trip click https://grebelsonthego.com/recap-of-australia-new-zealand-trip-nov-2025/
Link to first day if you’d like to see the details in chronological order