New Zealand Luxury Vacation Review: Queensland, Great Barrier Reef, Kayaking, 22-Day Trip

In Australia, I'd skip Ayers Rock. It was a personal goal for me, a long-time bucket-list item, but for my husband it was missable. More days in Port Arthur resort would have been great.

In New Zealand, I would not drive from Queenstown to Nelson. It's a long car ride. We unfortunately had rain and fog those two days, so didn't see much, so maybe I'd skip Franz Josef. I also wouldn't bother with Coromandel. It was a long car ride too. I'd have spent more time in Queenstown and Rotorua, then flown to Auckland.