After much indecisiveness, I'm going back to the US.

[WanderlustNZ]

Firstly, a big thanks to everyone whose tips and experiences helped with the trip my family and I just did to the US. It was an absolutely perfect trip, with countless wonderful memories made, and I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to do it. A detailed TR is definitely coming, but probably not until closer to the end of the year when I've got some pressing work commitments out of the way.

In the meantime, I have been starting to think about where my family and I should go next. We all know that the only way to cope with post-holiday blues is to start planning another one.

There's no way a big Northern hemisphere holiday like the one we just did will be on the cards again until about 3 or 4 years from now at the earliest. I have promised my husband we will focus on a few non-travel related commitments for a while, so money will be much tighter. But my lovely husband knows that there is no way I could cope with no overseas travel whatsoever and has suggested we go away for Xmas 2014.

I'm excited because we went to Fiji for Xmas 2011 and it was the most relaxing and enjoyable Xmas we've ever had.

Now I just need to decide where we should go next year.

Going back to Navini Island in Fiji is a high contender, and if we do decide to go there again, I would need to book asap. During busy times they book out around a year in advance. Hence the reason I'm starting to think about this trip now. But as much as I love Navini, I also hate being a creature of habit and am battling my conscience over whether we should try a new destination.

So at present I am a bit of an open book. I am considering places as far away as Bali, perhaps a cruise, a different Sth Pacific Is, or perhaps exploring Australia a bit more?

Has any got any suggestions of nice places in and around Australia that would be a great place to spend 10-14 days over Xmas and New Year?

Top of my wish list is somewhere that will be hassle free on Xmas day (pre-paid meals, no cleaning, little to no driving etc), and we'd also prefer to avoid large crowds (e.g. Gold Coast Theme parks are off the cards). Also, while we don't need 5 star luxury, we would like to be staying somewhere with nice views.

So sorry this is so long winded, but any suggestions welcome.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Welcome back! And way to go for planning the next trip.


Do you prefer to be by a beach or is there a certain type of view you're looking for?


Australia is a great place to visit ; but it is a little expensive. You might find your holiday dollar goes further overseas.

Bali, Singapore, Malaysia, Borneo, Phillipines all come to mind.

 

[gogo65]

I agree about being a creature of habit, we try to somewhere new each year, in saying that we went to daydream island four times when the kids were small because it suited us, but now we try to see different places.
My kids loved Phuket, plenty to do or just relax on the beach, we did elephant riding, white water rafting, private sailing to secluded islands, shopping and just laying on the beach. We also loved Samoa, which is like Fiji was 30 years ago, not as much to do though.
Heaps to do in far North Queensland.
We really enjoyed cruising as well, some great deals out at the moment as there is heaps of ships visiting Oz hence lots of competition.
Just a few ideas!

 

[zanzibar138]

Couldn't agree more about planning the next trip being the best way to get over the post-holiday blues And good on you for considering somewhere different too - there's so much world to explore!

I agree with PIO - anywhere you go in Australia will be expensive around Christmas time. Also, if you're looking at the tropics, I believe it is cyclone season that time of year, so you may not get the best weather.

I am personally not a big fan of Bali, and Phuket doesn't interest me in the slightest. However, I do seem to be in the minority there, so don't let my opinion put you off. In fact, my boss just got back from 3 weeks in Bali and had an absolute ball! And just about everyone else at work is either in Phuket now, has just come back, or is planning a trip there

I'd love to go to Samoa or the Cook Islands, and I hear Vanuatu is very nice as well. Other than that, I don't really know a lot about the Pacific Islands. I'd be very happy to go back to Vietnam at Christmas time, and Malaysia could be nice too - may be too far for you though.

Cruising is definitely the way to go for convenience But I really don't know anything about it, so not much help there!

 

[aussie shaz]

We've done Fiji, Phuket and are planning for Bali for July 2014.
Do you have kids, and if so, how old are they.
I agree that Australia is too expensive. I always look into doing an Aus holiday, but always come back to overseas.
Phuket and Bali have a lot of activities, if that's what you enjoy. We need to be entertained. We love the pool, but need other activities too. Both Phuket and Bali have similar activities.....beach, zoos, waterparks, elephant rides, water sports, shopping etc.
Also, the hotels/resorts are such good value for gorgeous places. Lots are set up for families. We usually get a family suite or similar. It's just so much nicer than all being in one room.
Also, I'm not sure about Phuket, but most hotels in Bali have Christmas lunches, and New Years Eve parties, so you can stick around the resort and not have to travel on Christmas Day.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Welcome back! And way to go for planning the next trip. Do you prefer to be by a beach or is there a certain type of view you're looking for? Australia is a great place to visit ; but it is a little expensive. You might find your holiday dollar goes further overseas. Bali, Singapore, Malaysia, Borneo, Phillipines all come to mind.

Thanks PIO.

A beach view is wonderful, but anywhere of natural beauty (mountains, lakes, forests etc) would be considered. I'm imagining that there are many places in Australia of natural beauty, I just haven't done enough research yet to know where they are.

I am very keen to go to Sth East Asia as the only places I've visited so far are Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. My only worry is with the cost of airfares. Jet Star usually have cheap airfares, but other than that, it's almost as expensive to go from NZ to Thailand as it is to go to LA. I will definitely look into it, but I think that Bali may be as far as the budget will stretch.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I agree about being a creature of habit, we try to somewhere new each year, in saying that we went to daydream island four times when the kids were small because it suited us, but now we try to see different places. My kids loved Phuket, plenty to do or just relax on the beach, we did elephant riding, white water rafting, private sailing to secluded islands, shopping and just laying on the beach. We also loved Samoa, which is like Fiji was 30 years ago, not as much to do though. Heaps to do in far North Queensland. We really enjoyed cruising as well, some great deals out at the moment as there is heaps of ships visiting Oz hence lots of competition. Just a few ideas!

Great, thanks, I will check out Daydream Is.

Samoa is certainly an option, the airfares there are pretty cheap. Can I ask where you stayed when you went there?

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Couldn't agree more about planning the next trip being the best way to get over the post-holiday blues And good on you for considering somewhere different too - there's so much world to explore! I agree with PIO - anywhere you go in Australia will be expensive around Christmas time. Also, if you're looking at the tropics, I believe it is cyclone season that time of year, so you may not get the best weather. I am personally not a big fan of Bali, and Phuket doesn't interest me in the slightest. However, I do seem to be in the minority there, so don't let my opinion put you off. In fact, my boss just got back from 3 weeks in Bali and had an absolute ball! And just about everyone else at work is either in Phuket now, has just come back, or is planning a trip there I'd love to go to Samoa or the Cook Islands, and I hear Vanuatu is very nice as well. Other than that, I don't really know a lot about the Pacific Islands. I'd be very happy to go back to Vietnam at Christmas time, and Malaysia could be nice too - may be too far for you though. Cruising is definitely the way to go for convenience But I really don't know anything about it, so not much help there!

Thanks heaps for your input.

I love to cruise and am looking closely at the Royal Caribbean and Celebrity cruises available at that time. They are pretty price inflated over the days of Xmas and New Years, but they are such a hassle free way to travel, it's pretty tempting. Have cruised with P&O once before and aren't in any rush to cruise with them again - my son hated the poorly run kids club.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

We've done Fiji, Phuket and are planning for Bali for July 2014. Do you have kids, and if so, how old are they. I agree that Australia is too expensive. I always look into doing an Aus holiday, but always come back to overseas. Phuket and Bali have a lot of activities, if that's what you enjoy. We need to be entertained. We love the pool, but need other activities too. Both Phuket and Bali have similar activities.....beach, zoos, waterparks, elephant rides, water sports, shopping etc. Also, the hotels/resorts are such good value for gorgeous places. Lots are set up for families. We usually get a family suite or similar. It's just so much nicer than all being in one room. Also, I'm not sure about Phuket, but most hotels in Bali have Christmas lunches, and New Years Eve parties, so you can stick around the resort and not have to travel on Christmas Day.

Thanks so much for your advice. If you can recommend any specific Bali resorts, I'd love to hear about them.

I have a son who will be 7 at the time. Plus, I'm pretty sure that my mother in law will want to join us. So we will be looking into bigger family suites. Part of the appeal with Bali is the resorts where you get your own swimming pool.

I don't mind if there isn't much to do in the areas where we stay, as long as what we can do, we can do them well. For example, the place we stay in Fiji is a tiny island that doesn't even have a pool. But the ocean is stunningly beautiful and teeming with sea life of all colours, shapes and sizes. We are happy to spend the whole day snorkeling, kayaking and reading a book. I don't really understand some of the big budget resorts on the mainland of Fiji. The pools might be lovely, but the beaches aren't. You could be anywhere in the world.

 

[aussie shaz]

There are just so many different areas in Bali, and they all offer something different. We are staying in 3 different hotels over our 9 night stay.
Now normally, I would be horrified to have to pack up so many times, but I'm hoping it will give us a couple of different places to see.
We will have our first night at the Mara River Resort which is inside the Bali Safari and Marine park. It is an African themed resort where you can throw carrots from your room window out to the elephants, giraffe etc. I'm sure your son would love this.
Then we are headed to Kuta for 4 nights in a 2 bedroom apartment. It is smack bang in the middle of everything, but the apartments are cheap and apparently great for families. We will do some shopping, swimming with the dolphins, waterbom park and surfing lessons from here.
We will then go to stay at the Novotel Tanjung Benoa in a family suite, beachside. Apparently this area is much more laid back, and has lots of water sports available. We'll do lots of watersports (my sons can't wait to parasail!), take the Bali Hai cruise out to Nusa Lembongan and snorkel and see the island, and just lay back and enjoy the resort.
The beaches in Bali apparently aren't anything compared to Fiji, so if you want beach then maybe another Pacific Island. If you like views of beaches and lovely sunsets, I think Bali would be great.
Accommodation, food and activities are just so cheap in Bali, so you can really enjoy some luxuries without the huge price tag.
Our airfare is horrendous because we are going during July (Aus school holidays and its also high season). We are paying about the same to get to Bali as it cost us to go to LA this year!!
Hopefully we'll work out a way to go outside school holidays for our next trip.
Good luck with your planning. It's some of my favourite part of every holiday.

 

[ky71]

We love Bali for a relaxing vacation. We have visited three times for Australia Day staying at The Bali Dynasty in Kuta. We have also spent Easter at the Hard Rock Hotel in Bali last year.

Our fav, and by far the cheaper option is the Bali Dynasty. We have taken the grandparents, gone with just our family and lastly travelled with another family and still all of us agree it is a fantastic place with something for all ages.

My DH always says "we are just doing one O/S vacation this year" and then we get to October and he relents and we head off to Bali again. For us, even with relatives in Brisbane where we could make our home base, it's cheaper and way more relaxing than going to the Gold Coast theme parks or staying at Fraser Island. As October is nearly over, DH has again suggested Bali...I thought we were going to Singapore again...who knows?

Bali overall is cheap to get to, stay, eat and play. What more can you need?
Have fun whatever you choose. Planning is half the fun!

 

[afnaechiquita]

Thanks PIO.

A beach view is wonderful, but anywhere of natural beauty (mountains, lakes, forests etc) would be considered. I'm imagining that there are many places in Australia of natural beauty, I just haven't done enough research yet to know where they are.

I am very keen to go to Sth East Asia as the only places I've visited so far are Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. My only worry is with the cost of airfares. Jet Star usually have cheap airfares, but other than that, it's almost as expensive to go from NZ to Thailand as it is to go to LA. I will definitely look into it, but I think that Bali may be as far as the budget will stretch.

is it possible to fly over to aus and then take another low-cost airline up to your destination?

i'm not from aus, so pardon me answering here, but i am living in KL and so have been around the area. most islands in malaysia wouldn't be recommended because it's right in the middle of the rainy season. one note about phuket is that almost all of the excursions you'd want to do (elephants, islands, etc.), the tour companies almost always include picking you up from your hotel/resort in the price (and returning you afterwards). that made it so extremely convenient up there.

i haven't been to bali, but everyone i know who has been loves it. i think you can pretty much get the all-inclusive resort experience anywhere, so you should really look at what other activities you can do in the area you choose.

 

[gogo65]

Great, thanks, I will check out Daydream Is.

Samoa is certainly an option, the airfares there are pretty cheap. Can I ask where you stayed when you went there?

When we went to Samoa we stayed 5nights at aggie greys in town, we hired a car for that time, and drove around the island and did lots of sightseeing, after that we stayed at aggie greys lagoon beach resort for 6nights just to sit and relax. We liked it but it is very quite and laid back.

We loved daydream island but like Zanzibar it is cyclone season, although that doesn't tend stop people. Also look at Hamilton island, a bit more to do there.

Talking about cruises, if you look at specials for this year there are heaps over the Christmas/new year period, if book in advance you can sometimes get a good price as well.

We are off to ayers rock in two weeks, three nights and airfare from Sydney $2500 in off peak season!!!! It certainly makes travel overseas so much easier with prices like that?

 

[aussietravellers]

We go to Hamilton Island a couple of times a year. Love it up there. We often go in December for a couple of weeks and rarely have a drop of rain (aside from an afternoon storm). We find around Easter can be a bit wet.

But heaps for the kids to do there, relaxing island lifestyle, other islands to explore.

 

[Kristin5]

We're in much the same boat - just back from a DL holiday, and planning next year's already.

Have you considered Port Douglas in North Queensland? We went last year and stayed in a gorgeous resort which had a bus which regularly went into the main town (only a few km away). The resort had 3 pools, good on site restaurant, tennis courts, and 2 storey apartment style living (so you could eat in if you wanted). We did a day trip to the Great Barrier Reef for snorkelling and another day trip for a Daintree River Cruise (where we saw crocodiles) and to visit Mossman Gorge. It was a lovely, relaxing holiday after the "busyness" of a DL trip the year before.

We are thinking of either going back to Port Douglas, or maybe a cruise, or perhaps even Hawaii (if we could get a really good deal).

 

[PrincessInOz]

If you are considering Australia, check out Port Stephens, Hunter Valley and Newcastle.

Dolphins and sand dunes.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

When we went to Samoa we stayed 5nights at aggie greys in town, we hired a car for that time, and drove around the island and did lots of sightseeing, after that we stayed at aggie greys lagoon beach resort for 6nights just to sit and relax. We liked it but it is very quite and laid back. We loved daydream island but like Zanzibar it is cyclone season, although that doesn't tend stop people. Also look at Hamilton island, a bit more to do there. Talking about cruises, if you look at specials for this year there are heaps over the Christmas/new year period, if book in advance you can sometimes get a good price as well. We are off to ayers rock in two weeks, three nights and airfare from Sydney $2500 in off peak season!!!! It certainly makes travel overseas so much easier with prices like that?

That's a great idea to check out cruises for this year. I'm not a last minute booking kind of girl, but waiting until later next year (or at least until specials are announced) may work in my favour.

Wow, that is expensive to go to Ayers Rock. It's an area I would love to visit one day, but it sounds like it will need to wait.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

We go to Hamilton Island a couple of times a year. Love it up there. We often go in December for a couple of weeks and rarely have a drop of rain (aside from an afternoon storm). We find around Easter can be a bit wet. But heaps for the kids to do there, relaxing island lifestyle, other islands to explore.

Thanks. It sounds like there are a few islands in Australia that I will need to check out.

We took a gamble with the cyclone season when we went to Fiji for Xmas. Plus the Disney cruise we just did was during hurricane season. Both times the weather couldn't have been better. When we went back to Fiji it was Sep/Oct and this time the weather was windy, the ocean was much rougher, and it was a bit on the cold side.

It's a definite gamble traveling at these risky times of year, but because there's no guarantee of good weather whatever time of the year you travel, it's a gamble I'm okay taking.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

We're in much the same boat - just back from a DL holiday, and planning next year's already. Have you considered Port Douglas in North Queensland? We went last year and stayed in a gorgeous resort which had a bus which regularly went into the main town (only a few km away). The resort had 3 pools, good on site restaurant, tennis courts, and 2 storey apartment style living (so you could eat in if you wanted). We did a day trip to the Great Barrier Reef for snorkelling and another day trip for a Daintree River Cruise (where we saw crocodiles) and to visit Mossman Gorge. It was a lovely, relaxing holiday after the "busyness" of a DL trip the year before. We are thinking of either going back to Port Douglas, or maybe a cruise, or perhaps even Hawaii (if we could get a really good deal).

That place in Port Douglas sounds great. Being within reach of both the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree has really grabbed my attention.
Do you mind telling me where you stayed and what the name of the river cruise you did is - I'm very interested.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

If you are considering Australia, check out Port Stephens, Hunter Valley and Newcastle. Dolphins and sand dunes.

Thanks PIO. I know nothing about any of those places, so will check them out.