[Cat©]

I cant decide and yet I have to otherwise we will miss booking either!.

Trip is planned for 3-4 weeks in Sept.

Kids would like to see snow (but NO skiing etc). I want to take photos of mountains and cliffs etc.

However Im worried that that short a time will not allow us to see much of NZ, as we want to book accomodation for 1 week at a time in the same place and travel on day trips from there.

However we want to see the MOST spectacular scenery in either place - so Tassie, all of it! lol - in NZ most of it is in the south island, but the North is pretty too ( and I have rellies there ), in fact all of NZ is stunning.

So do we do Tassie since its smaller and can see more, and leave NZ till the kids are older and can handle a long road trip again (last one this year was a disaster!!). Or do we just go NZ and just focus on middle to bottom of the south island for the enitre time.

Suggestions? Please help me solve it

[meggs1]

I think that's a long time for Tasmania unless you want time to do some serious bushwalking etc.

I'd vote for NZ, I think that's plenty of time - to do most of the South Island and maybe ferry to Wellington and a few days there (Te Papa museum is great for kids).

They have direct flights to Queenstown (at least in ski season).

[Peanut]

I don't think that is a long time for Tassie at all! We travelled for 3 weeks around the island counterclockwise from our starting point in Hobart. In that time we drove to the Tasman Peninsula then up the east coast and around to Freycinet Nat Park. Continued up the coast to the Bay of Fires, across to Launceston and along the northern coastline to Stanley. After that we headed down to the Leven River Canyon and Cradle Mountain. From there it was south west to Strahan then east and south to New Norfolk, backtracked to drive to Mt Field National Park and all the way west see the spectacular Gordon River Dam. Then back to Hobart and south to as far as Ida Bay on the southern tip, a little west in to see the Tahune Airwalk, then around the Peninsula on the Channel Highway, back up to Hobart and a little north to Richmond. We spent a couple of days at various points to give us time to relax and see as much as we could. The only thing that we were unable to fit in, but could if we'd had onother week, was a couple of the islands like Bruny and the Midland region (which we'll do next visit).

I can promise you spectacular photo opportunities, plenty of places to stop and smell the roses and delicious food, but I can't promise you snow!

ETA: We were keen for either Tasmania or NZ as well and decided on Tassie because we were concerned about the drive with our kids too. Tasmania turned out perfect for us and we plan to head to NZ in the next year or so now that our kids are older.

This post has been edited by Peanut: 11/02/2013, 11:21 AM

[sparkles30]

Been to both, NZ twice. Hands down NZ wins. Driving to parts of Tassie can be a lot further than anticipated (though the quick trip from Hobart to Launceston is good). So much beautiful scenery in NZ and the drives didn't feel as long.

[Peanut]

I've heard people say that but we didn't find the routes in Tasmania long at all (and this was with 2 kids aged 3 & 5 and in a 6 berth campervan that we'd never had experience driving before...).

ETA: On second thoughts, there was one leg that was quite long but that was because we'd badly planned it. The drive from Strahan to our stopping off point at Tarraleah (on the way to New Norfolk) was longer than we anticipated because we made the mistake of doing the Heritage Cruise in the morning and then leaving for Tarraleah straight away in the afternoon. In hindsight we should have stayed an extra night in Strahan after the cruise. The road is mountainous in parts which meant for slower going (particularly in a camper). Really though, you just need to look at a map, plan your route and note the distances then work out your overnighters.

This post has been edited by Peanut: 11/02/2013, 11:40 AM

[facetious-beast]

I've done road trips in both (pre-kids) and agree that you could probably spend that amount of time in either region. It would definitely allow you to see a good chunk of Tassie or South Island NZ. In my opinion, both places are best seen by keeping on the move rather than base yourselves in one place for a week. Would you consider doing 3-4 nights in one place then moving on? With the amount of time you have, you could still see quite a lot this way.

I really don't think you could guarantee snow in Tassie if this is one of you deciding factors though.

[Swahili]

For a week or two, my vote would be Tasmania. But for a month and wanting definite snow- go to South Island NZ.