Visiting Sydney (Australia) and North of New Zealand (Willington/Auckland)

blueredface

Hi there,

I'm travelling to Visit Sydney (Australia) and North of New Zealand (Willington/Auckland) for 5 days each city (Sydney / Willington).

I'm just wondering if you can suggest what to visit in both cities when I'm travelling from 30th October to 11th of November.
I know, it will be summer starting there, would weather be o.k to have some t-shirts / shorts without any warm jumper etc.?

Air line / Travelling from Dublin to Sydney
Could you please share your experience to travel low cost travelling from Dublin to Sydney having less stress / or long waiting during stop over?
Would you suggest to stop over for a night or two in the middle of journey from Dublin to Sydney? Any tip to avoid while booking flight?


Re : Where would Shopping be cheaper in Sydney or Wallington/Auckland
Is it cheaper to do shopping for branded products (clothes, shoes, electronics (Mobile phone, tablets) etc.) especially in Sydney than Ireland?
Please share your recent experience for above?

Immigration Requirements
Being Irish Citizen, do I need to apply pre-entry to Australian / New Zealand Immigration? If yes, please share any weblink you might have to apply?

Thanks in advance.

Anne_cordelia

Can only help on the shopping in Sydney and it's so much more expensive than Ireland. In fact lots of people I know who have emigrated do their shopping when home in Ireland on holidays.

duffman13

blueredface wrote: »

Hi there,

I'm travelling to Visit Sydney (Australia) and North of New Zealand (Willington/Auckland) for 5 days each city (Sydney / Willington).

I'm just wondering if you can suggest what to visit in both cities when I'm travelling from 30th October to 11th of November.
I know, it will be summer starting there, would weather be o.k to have some t-shirts / shorts without any warm jumper etc.?

Air line / Travelling from Dublin to Sydney
Could you please share your experience to travel low cost travelling from Dublin to Sydney having less stress / or long waiting during stop over?
Would you suggest to stop over for a night or two in the middle of journey from Dublin to Sydney? Any tip to avoid while booking flight?


Re : Where would Shopping be cheaper in Sydney or Wallington/Auckland
Is it cheaper to do shopping for branded products (clothes, shoes, electronics (Mobile phone, tablets) etc.) especially in Sydney than Ireland?
Please share your recent experience for above?

Immigration Requirements
Being Irish Citizen, do I need to apply pre-entry to Australian / New Zealand Immigration? If yes, please share any weblink you might have to apply?

Thanks in advance.

NZ is visa on arrival however in Australia you need to apply for a tourist visa which you can do online.

Weather wise it will be warming up and it can be mid 20s in Australia, NZ can be a little cooler but yeah definitely pack the shorts and tshirt but also jeans and a hoody. Wellington in particular is a very windy city with some temperamental weather.

As for things to do in Sydney you've got Bondi/Coogee Beaches, Darling Harbour/Opera House and the blue Mountains are a day trip from Sydney. Auckland - there is a few viewpoints like the sky tower, volcano climb but not tonnes to do really, you could do a trip up to the bay of islands which is really nice. Wellington I found horrendously boring, I dunno what your looking for but you could possibly look at Rotorua for a couple of days on the North Island where there is a lot of geothermal activity and some adrenaline stuff you can do there.

As for shopping Australia is very similar price wise for electronics and possibly more expensive for branded clothes than Ireland. I wouldn't be anticipating huge savings in that regard. It may be a little cheaper in NZ but it's still on a par with Ireland. Cost of living in both countries is high.

As for your flights id be looking at Etihad or preferably Emirates, you can usually get flights with one 2 hour stopover which is best if prices aren't crazy (your leaving it late to book) Also bear in mind it's 4 hours from Oz to NZ but you can usually get reasonably cheap flights midweek with Jetstar! Your going to be jetlagged for a few days on either side of the trip so be prepared to write off a day or two at the start.

blueredface

duffman13 wrote: »

NZ is visa on arrival however in Australia you need to apply for a tourist visa which you can do online.

Weather wise it will be warming up and it can be mid 20s in Australia, NZ can be a little cooler but yeah definitely pack the shorts and tshirt but also jeans and a hoody. Wellington in particular is a very windy city with some temperamental weather.

As for things to do in Sydney you've got Bondi/Coogee Beaches, Darling Harbour/Opera House and the blue Mountains are a day trip from Sydney. Auckland - there is a few viewpoints like the sky tower, volcano climb but not tonnes to do really, you could do a trip up to the bay of islands which is really nice. Wellington I found horrendously boring, I dunno what your looking for but you could possibly look at Rotorua for a couple of days on the North Island where there is a lot of geothermal activity and some adrenaline stuff you can do there.

As for shopping Australia is very similar price wise for electronics and possibly more expensive for branded clothes than Ireland. I wouldn't be anticipating huge savings in that regard. It may be a little cheaper in NZ but it's still on a par with Ireland. Cost of living in both countries is high.

As for your flights id be looking at Etihad or preferably Emirates, you can usually get flights with one 2 hour stopover which is best if prices aren't crazy (your leaving it late to book) Also bear in mind it's 4 hours from Oz to NZ but you can usually get reasonably cheap flights midweek with Jetstar! Your going to be jetlagged for a few days on either side of the trip so be prepared to write off a day or two at the start.

Hi Duffman13,

Thanks for the update.
Do you know how long would that take to get approval / authentication to travel to Australia once Online Application is submitted as I submitted it this morning but application status is still showing Received? Do I have to wait for few days or?

Currently, Emirates is showing €1040/- from Dublin to Sydney return but if I check more than 1 stop over Dublin - London - Kuala Lumpur - Sydney (Malaysian Air) is showing €825/- Which one would you suggest?

Thanks.

duffman13

blueredface wrote: »

Hi Duffman13,

Thanks for the update.
Do you know how long would that take to get approval / authentication to travel to Australia once Online Application is submitted as I submitted it this morning but application status is still showing Received? Do I have to wait for few days or?

Currently, Emirates is showing €1040/- from Dublin to Sydney return but if I check more than 1 stop over Dublin - London - Kuala Lumpur - Sydney (Malaysian Air) is showing €825/- Which one would you suggest?

Thanks.

I got my evisa approved within 24 hours if I remember correctly! Shouldn't be too long waiting anyway. Personally Emirates are my favourite long haul carrier, havent flown Malaysian but a friend did last year and said they were great. He had a couple of free seats too, if it's a few hours less in flight time go for Emirates, if it's similar go Malaysian. Try get something to help you sleep on the flight, helps the jet lag no end.