I have some exciting news to reveal…we’re honeymooning in Australia and New Zealand!!! The day after our wedding, Mr. Wallaby and I will embark on a 16-day adventure to the land down under!
Australia’s Great Ocean Road / Photo via Victoria Visitors Bureau
My mom was the one who recommended that we head to the Southern Hemisphere for our late November honeymoon. Like many couples, we want to escape to a sunny place where we can lie on the beach and sunbathe. We would have wanted to spend our honeymoon in the Mediterranean (Mr. W has never been to Greece or Italy and I am begging him to go), but it will be drizzly and a little chilly in November. My parents’ next-door neighbors are a really sweet newlywed couple in their sixties, and they spent their honeymoon in New Zealand and had a blast. My mom remembered some of their stories and suggested we follow their lead.
As soon as Mr. W and I started researching places to go and things to do in Australia and New Zealand, we knew it was the perfect honeymoon destination for us. We both love spending time outdoors, and there is endless kayaking, hiking, swimming, etc. in both countries. We also realized that we can accomplish one of our major bucket-list items: scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef!
Great Barrier Reef diver / Image via the-great-barrier-reef-experience.com
We browsed travel message boards, asked coworkers and friends who have traveled there, and briefly contacted a travel agent to assemble our itinerary. We’ll end up spending a lot of time traveling on planes, but we want to make the most out of our time down there since I’m not sure when we’ll have an opportunity to return!
Here’s what our itinerary looks like:
Day 1: Fly from Houston to Nelson, New Zealand. Hopefully catch some ZZZs on the plane!
Day 2: Travel day.
Day 3: Arrive in Nelson in late evening. Conk out at a hotel near the airport.
Days 4–6: Rent a car and drive to Golden Bay. Relax at our honeymoon cottage on the beach.
Day 7: Fly to Queenstown, New Zealand. Explore the city in the afternoon.
Days 8–9: Do some adventure sports in Queenstown. (Mr. W is excited to go zip-lining and white-water rafting!)
Day 10: Day trip from Queenstown to Milford Sound, New Zealand.
Days 11–13: Fly to Sydney. Do the Sydney Bridge Climb, catch up with old friends, and explore the city.
Days 14–16: Fly to Port Douglas, on the Great Barrier Reef. Go scuba diving. Spend more time being unproductive on the beach. Maybe make a day trip to the Daintree Rainforest to hug some koalas.
Day 17: Fly home.
We booked our flights directly through Qantas Airline, and we booked our hotels through Expedia Australia. We got a lot of great deals on accommodations—I’ll share our experiences after the honeymoon! We will book our rental cars directly through my auto insurance company, since I get a pretty big discount for renting through them. The last item on our honeymoon checklist is to apply for traveler’s visas to enter Australia.
We initially talked to a travel agent about our itinerary, but I plugged some numbers and found that we would save a significant amount of money by booking the trip ourselves. That also allowed us some flexibility to choose all of our accommodations—we had a lot of fun comparing the perks and amenities of lots of hotels before booking each one. If you are too busy to put some time into researching your honeymoon, or if you’re nervous about lining up all of the details, I would recommend hiring a travel agent, especially for trips to Australia and New Zealand. However, if you feel comfortable booking your travel online, go for it!
Where are you traveling for your honeymoon? Did you book the trip yourself or leave the booking up to a travel agent?
Did you already book your accommodations in Port Douglas? If not, I HIGHLY recommend this place: http://www.bnbnq.com.au/paradise/. Doesn’t look fancy on the website, but it’s like a little slice of heaven. My husband and I were staying there when he proposed. 
If you are up for snorkeling instead of scuba diving (the colors are brighter towards the surface), Wavelength is a small, intimate, and eco-friendly company — also highly recommend! http://www.wavelength.com.au/
Oh, you guys are going to have so much fun! I went to Australia and New Zealand for 18 days this past September. My friend and I booked all the tours and flights ourselves as well. Flew from LAX to Sydney and back with Qantas, LOVED their plane/service/food. We took 3 other flights throughout Australia and New Zealand with Jetstar, they were the cheapest option, and while not comfortable, the planes were acceptable. One thing I do suggest is going to the Bay of Islands in NZ if you can, seriously SO beautiful! We stayed on the one island in the Bay that you can spend the night on, and it was so quiet and serene. It’ll probably be more crowded when you go though.
This sounds amazing, I can’t wait to see all your adventures!
@FutureMrsJohnson_: Thanks for the tips! Your trip sounds really similar to ours! We’re flying the same airlines, we’ve heard really good things about the Qantas A380 planes. Can’t wait!!
I may be biased, but australia is awesome
FH and I went scuba diving on the GBR 3 days before he proposed (he took me on a holiday to hamilton island) and it was amazing. It was a little hard to get the hang of (i kept trying to breathe out my nose and forgot about how heavy the oxygen tanks are out of water lol), but i’m so glad we did it. In November you might even get to see some sea turtles and dolphins (we didn’t, because it was may and they only appear in the warmer months apparently), plus the weather will be great!
Hope you have fun!
Wow, your honeymoon sounds absolutely incredible! I can’t WAIT for recaps of this awesome adventure (especially the scuba diving and other excursions!!)
We’ve been living in Australia since March (here on a 1 year working holiday visa) and actually got engaged in Melbourne in July! If you want any aussie tips let me know! Happy planning
I am definitely bias but Australia is pretty awesome! (I am Australian) I live in Victoria which is where that beautiful picture of the great ocean road is, but its not as warm and tropical as the north like in Queensland so it sounds like you’ve made good choices on where to go! Theres this crazy big giant swing thing in Queenstown in NZ that my brother went on which looks crazy fun, so you guys HAVE to do it!
Hope you see some Wallabys while you are there!! How perfect of a moniker.
Oh that sounds so lovely! It seems like you have the perfect mix of relaxation and adventure planned. I hope you enjoy your time down here, in the most beautiful part of the world (in my opinion anyway haha).
This sounds amazing! We also booked our European honeymoon ourselves. It was a lot of work but totally worth it!
This sounds so lovely! Australia and NZ are definitely on my “must travel” list. Too bad you’re not flying Air New Zealand though…hahaha…
http://www.buzzfeed.com/donnad/new-zealand-flight-safety-presented-by-the-hobbit
oh I am so insanely jealous. that sounds like an amazing trip you guys have planned
Jacofblues- i’m from vic too (although a very remote part lol)! I didn’t think any other bees were from vic, most aussies on here seem to be in qld.
Ah you will have an awesome time on that trip! We live in Christchurch, so we know a bit about the area 
We went scuba diving on Great Barrier Reef last year and it was pretty good, we went on an overnight boat from Cairns so 7 dives in 2 days! Nelson area and all the way to Golden Bay is gorgeous, love Abel Tasman national park – you can get kayaks and go out to the seal reserve which is quite cool. Views in Queenstown, lakes, mountains so beautiful, and make sure you enjoy the New Zealand wine while you are here too!!!!!
We’re headed to New Zealand on our honeymoon next week! Really looking forward to two weeks away in such a beautiful country. We actually booked our trip through a travel agent, who helped us find this awesome package that included a suggested itinerary of cities, rental car(s), and hotels in each city. It worked out perfectly. There’s no forced activities but it was helpful to have a route put together for us. All we had to do was fill in the details of what we want to see in each city and any of the surrounding areas, which we’re planning to do at a very leisurely place. We really just want to relax and explore each place we visit. Visiting wineries is definitely on the list, and we want to check out the hot springs in Rotorua for a little spa therapy Enjoy your trip!
I lived in Australia for 5 months during college and it’s absolutely amazing. One of my favorite things I did near Port Douglas/Daintree was horseback ride on the beach. I went with Wonga Beach Horseback Tours and loved every minute.
You’re going to have an amazing time. Australia is lovely (biased Aussie, here) but New Zealand is also amazing!!
Mrs. Wallaby, Houston Age and Occupation: 24, Environmental Engineer Engagement Date: January 1, 2012 Wedding Date: November 2012 Venue: Oak Tree Manor About Me: I'm a free-spirited, adventurous girl who loves anything active, reading, traveling, cooking up new dishes for my fiancé, and working on my budding garden. My fiancé is an athletic, intellectual, animal-loving guy with an obsession with basketball and who treats me with the deepest compassion and respect. We are both engineers, and we met at our workplace. Together we complement one another and make a great team, and we are excitedly counting down the days until our outdoor wedding in Houston in November. We're planning a green wedding with lots of Persian cultural touches, and I can't wait to share all of the before-and-after details of our special day
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