Australia & New Zealand Travel Review: Queenstown, Sydney, Port Douglas, Milford Sound, Blue Mountains, Jet Boat Ride, Scuba Diving

January 10, 2023

We finally received the entire updated schedule one week before the trip, and of course, did not have time to pour over the details.

Dec 24. Our flight from Auckland was delayed, we spent an hour on the tarmac in the plane. All our information was in our checked bags. We tried to call our travel company, but no one was there. We did not arrive “early” like we had planned. The first driver was there to meet the plane, but we were not on it. Our flight finally arrived in Queenstown an hour late. We had the name of the transportation company, but none of our phones worked. We did find a free phone at the airport and we were picked up in a short time. We arrived at the hotel in Queenstown, the driver could not take us to the entrance, he said the road was too steep. So we had to haul our own luggage, Judy had to fight the hill with her walking stroller and a bad hip which is scheduled to be replaced this month. We had to find someone to check us in, He informed us that we were supposed to be there for early check in on the 23rd. If we paid for lodging the night of the 23rd, we should get a refund for that.

The next thing we had to do was go directly to the jet boat ride. Your instructions told us to walk to the city center and get a bus at 2:00 p.m. We called the boat company, and they told us there was no bus at that time. We then called the transport company that took us there, and they agreed to come get us at the hotel, and take us back after we ate at the Skyline Gondola Restaurant, (part of the scheduled tour). Of course, we had to pay $60.00 NZ each way, and fight with a steep hill. The hotel is very nice, with a stunning view.

Dec 25. “Milford Small Group Day” We called to confirm that day, the confirmed they would pick us up at Pounamu bus stop, about ½ mile from the driveway to the housing. A woman in a van went by a little early, confirmed “Peterson, seven people”, and asked us to walk to a turnaround place, where we boarded her van. She then took us to another bus stop, where they saw our names on a list, and boarded a very large bus to go to Milford Sound. In transit, Katie received a text saying we were on the wrong bus, but the private tour company would meet us later and take us on our private tour. Never heard from them again. The bus we were on did not have leather seats nor did it have panoramic windows like the description of the private tour. If we paid extra for a private tour, we need a refund for that difference.

Dec. 26 Flight to Cairns The driver was there waiting in the baggage claim with a sign. They took us to Port Douglas.

Dec. 27. Staying at The Hotel in Port Douglas. Very good location, walking distance to everything. First Scuba trip was reported to be not very good. The next day was a very good trip. The non-divers went to Skyrail and Scenic Rail Train, very well done.

Dec. 28. Hot Air Balloon ride, well done, exactly as we remember it. Scuba was rated by our divers as the best dive, with the last dive being the best.

Dec. 29. Ngana Kulkinga Dungay private half day. This was the most fantastic tour by far of any country we have been in. Our guide was an indigenous native, who had wealth of knowledge and humor. He held everyone’s interest for the entire time of the tour. Flight to Sydney. We were picked up at the airport late at night. Driver was waiting, with a sign. Taken to the hotel in Sudney. Luxurious, nice, ideal location, close to everything.

Dec 30. Private Sydney City Half day Tour-This was our shock. We had chosen a boat tour of the Harbor early on, and somewhere it got changed into a history of politics in the region. The driver arrived late, he was unskilled and dangerous, having three very close calls. He went past several locations more than once, repeated what he had just spoken about. No one was interested in very much that he said. He said he was running late, he could give us 20 minutes to get something to eat at a very busy beach, and we could not bring any food into the van.

The time was about 3:00 p.m. It took a long time for two of us to get some food, we did not have time to finish. The rest of our group stayed hungry. We did not like that tour, we did not understand the change from a harbor cruise, it was worthless.

Jan. 1. Skytower and buffet. We had to be there at 10:00 a.m. We were 10 minutes early, so we we couldn’t get in the building. One part of the attraction was a highly advertised 4-D movie. It was really bad 3-D. Even free, it would not have been worth seeing. To get our lunch assignment, we had to go down almost to ground level because the restaurant is owned by a different company. Apparently they do not get along with the Skytower operators. Our lunch was scheduled for 12:00 noon. We were there before that time, but couldn’t get in until about 12:20. We felt a bit rushed since we had to have our table cleared by 1:30.

Twilight Sydney Bridge Walk was fantastic, but a bit strenuous. A unique opportunity to do something no one else that we know has ever done. By this time in our tour we were double checking everything. When I called to confirm the climb, they informed me that I had to go online to download our tickets. We had no idea that was required. Luckily, Katie, our daughter-in-law, was able to get them all on her phone when no one else could do it. It took two hours of phone time to get the tickets onto her phone. We should have been told that little piece of information. Judy was denied from climbing the bridge becase of her hip, so we should get a refund for her fee.

Jan. 2. Blue Mountain Day Private Tour. We called to confirm, promised we would be there on time or early. We waited. The driver called me to say he had been waiting at another Hotel. When he called his office, they told him we were waiting at our hotel. When the driver arrived, he was apologetic, but it was not his fault. During our traveling, he gave us lunch menus from a restaurant his company uses regularly. He pre ordered our lunch, and that saved a lot of time, it was a terrific idea, and we had a table reserved when we arrived. He was an excellent guide.

Jan. 3. Leave for home.

In summary, we were never informed about the cost of every item or tour, there was an incredible series of lack of information, there was no way to talk to anyone after hours. Certain things that we knew we wanted to see were ignored and we had to insist those items be included back into the plans. There were procedure that had to be followed, and we were ignorant about many of those things. The only people whose phones worked had never been out of the country, and we had to ask how to dial out from hotel staff.

The procedures for dialing from a U.S. mobile phone to another U.S. mobile phone, both being in some other country, were never written down for us.

Many of the numbers given to us were not actual local contacts. We spent an incredible amount of tweaking things that we had to adjust, or simply fumble through.

Comparing this trip with our previous group trip 20 years ago, we found gaps in information, incorrect information, lack of details on expenses, and we had to a lot work that we had to do in order to have a good time.