Australia and New Zealand

[smurfchops]

Flying to Sydney in January for two weeks, don't want to travel too far from Sydney as we have two large suitcases and not to keen on living out of them ... but where else would you suggest I mustn't miss? Thinking of staying in Sydney for around four days and then moving on ... I don''t mind one more flight somewhere from Sydney for a week or so, and then flying from there to Auckland to relatives for two more weeks. I don't want to go anywhere in Australia unless it has the Wow factor ... and worth the trip Thanks all.

[adrenochrome]

Rather than spending time in Sydney, which is a pretty good city, but if you are under 50 or enjoy sport, entertainment and fun, fly immediately to Melbourne. When I visited Australia, Melbourne had everything, and was the most exciting and invigorating city in OZ.

[oldmegan]

If you are flying all the way to Oz, smurfchops, then you need to open your mind! Cairns is fab and different, as is the west coast of Australia, Perth etc. Living out of a suitcase for a couple of weeks to see such wonderful places is no sacrifice, believe me!

[coccinelle]

I agree with oldmegan, if you're going all that way get to see as much as you can. I didn't like Melbourne as it was just a modern international city in my eyes, nothing more. However, as oldmegan says Cairns is a great base to visit Great Barrier Reef and Tropical rainforest. You can fly over to Ayers Rock for one night stop to see the sunset and sunrise over the rock. maybe your hotel would keep your luggage for you overnight.
Tasmania is lovely at that time of year and cooler than say Cairns and Ayers Rock. Plenty to see there.