We were there last winter and there is an awful lot to see. You can get on tours that do a survey of and speedily see a lot. Sort of today is Tuesday, it's Perth! We finally decided to narow it down to several cities and wandered around on our own or took day tours. We started with Sidney - and there is tons to see there! Took a Harber cruise, went on a eco tour into the Blue Mts., did the Bridge climb, saw a performance at the Opera House, etc. From there we went to Tasmania and again, did various tours from there - the old penal colony is well worth a day - and then over to Melbourne, riding about on the trams and doing day tours. From there to Auckland, with the same routine. We then ended up in New Caledonia, but that was for my husband, who spent several years of WW2 in Noumea.

Other than the New Caledonia part - we flew over on NZ Air and I made hotel reservations via the Internet - we did air, hotel and some day tour arrangments through Qantas Vacations. It worked out well for us. We stayed at their cheapest hotels, all of which were quite comfortable and well located. The day trips were fun worked well since we didn't want to rent a car.

We missed a lot, but were able to explore a bit more thoroughaly in particular places in the two plus weeks we had, but didn't get to many top rated spsots: Alice Springs, Perth and the like. Like China and India, you just can't do it in one trip!

Good luck!

jo gilbert Sunnyvale Ca