First time to AUS and NZ travel advice

Planning for arrival in mid Feb day before cruise of Queensland Coast. Need hotel for 1 night. Don't plan on too much due to time change from Canada. Arrival back Mar 5 for 3 nights in Sydney followed by 13 night NZ cruise. In Sydney would like to do, Opera House, bridge, Taronga Zoo, Blue Mountains. Any advice on where to stay, transportation to and from and arranging tours that pickup from hotel???

Have a look at this thread to get you started

http://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/showthread.php?t=1375767

Then have a look at this thread to get some background to the unique Australia you will not get from travel books

http://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/showthread.php?t=2362723

If you want to stay in sydney close to the cruise terminal there are a number of options. Holiday Inn have a place at the Rocks, Marriott have a hotel just up the street from the dock.

You can easily get to the Opera House and Bridge by the train but within walking distance of hotels around the harbour where the OPT is located.

Blue mountains is either a car hire or day tour, APT is a leading provider of tours. I enjoyed the one I did through them.

Sydney is a very easy city to get around and they have a good public transport system.

As for Queensland, never stayed there but the place that seems very popular on the boards is https://www.kingsfordsmithmotel.com.au/kingsford-smith as they have a free shuttle to the cruise port.

Hope this helps and enjoy your trip.

Planning for arrival in mid Feb day before cruise of Queensland Coast. Need hotel for 1 night. Don't plan on too much due to time change from Canada. Arrival back Mar 5 for 3 nights in Sydney followed by 13 night NZ cruise. In Sydney would like to do, Opera House, bridge, Taronga Zoo, Blue Mountains. Any advice on where to stay, transportation to and from and arranging tours that pickup from hotel???

We spent five nights in Sydney in 2013 and stayed at the Hilton, near the Queen Victoria Building and City Hall. It is over a mile from the Circular Quay. We got a great deal on the hotel, but I see that deal is no longer available.

The Hilton is walking distance from the Rocks and Circular Quay, but it is a considerable distance.

The closer a hotel is to the Rocks and Circular Quay, the more expensive.

We booked The Tank Stream, for about $200 US per night. That hotel is relatively new and about half way between the Hilton and CQ, Most hotels near CQ and the Rocks will run in excess of $300 US per night. If you want budget accommodations check out kayak.com and TripAdvisor. Typical budget hotel is Travelodge.

Sydney is vey walkable. You should visit the Botanical Gardens, Opera House ( we saw La Boheme there in 2013 and it was great), the Rocks and Darling Harbor.

Suggest taking a tour to the Blue Mountains, a tour of the city that includes a harbor cruise, Hunter Valley wine tasting are great things to do.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g255060-Activities-Sydney_New_South_Wales.html

The Bridge Climb is very expensive and you can't take a camera with you. We did the piles climb for less than $20 Aus and took great photos about 2/3 of the height you go on the bridge.

Grey Line Tours is good, and there are others.

Lots of great things you can do around Sydney .I would look at accomadation close to Circular Quay /The Rocks area if you want to be near where the ship docks. You can then easly walk to the Opera House and the Bridge and the ferry to the Zoo. You can catch a train up the Blue Mountains to Katoomba and they have a hop on off bus that goes around to all the main tourist attactions or you can book a bus tour that will pick you up from most motels in the city. http://happycoach.net.au/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMInsmCubqA1QIVF4ePCh38oAllEAAYAiAAEgKoy_D_BwE

http://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/blue-mountains/tours

http://www.explorerbus.com.au

Cheers

For the Blue Mountains, Lurline House in Katoomba is a great place to stay.