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12-05-06, 08:38 PM
since i'm a major procrastinator (nothing like that hectic high), i've put off the destination details to the last minute- actually 1 week, give or a take a few days. i always knew my itinerary would be new zealand, australia, maybe south africa, maybe morocco, then as much of europe as possible.
so i've finally figured out i'll fly into auckland, go to a nearby AA, get free maps, figure out route to wellington, take ferry to picton on south island, go down west coast and loop up to christchurch. i'll get an outbound ticket for the max stay length of 3 months and i can always change it for a fee. from christchurch i'll fly to australia and do the sydney-melbourne route (with deviations like the great alpine road). i don't want to spend the whole allowable 3 months here because it will start warming up in europe and i want to be in europe for as long as possible. so i'll expect a month-long stay in AU.
i don't have a preference from which city to start, so i was leaving that up to whichever is easiest/cheapest to fly to the european destination. i ruled out south africa because i'd need a month there and can't squeeze it in this time around. and there are no reasonable flights (at least 3 transfers) from AU to morroco. so i'll do an african tour some other lifetime.
so my main question is, what is the best starting point in europe if coming from australia (sydney or melbourne)? i was thinking i'd come over to europe just when it was starting to warm in the south, so start in souther spain, or maybe lisbon and loop down around southern spain to see the rock of gibraltar before heading back up into france and beyond. can anybody offer advice on better starting locations?
[update: i shouldn't have believed the aaa travel agent- not only did she quote prices at least twice as high as online, but i now see there are flights into morocco with only 1 or 2 stopovers. anybody know which city there i could fly into and bike to the ferry (on paved roads) in less than a week? this seems like a viable option now]
so i've finally figured out i'll fly into auckland, go to a nearby AA, get free maps, figure out route to wellington, take ferry to picton on south island, go down west coast and loop up to christchurch. i'll get an outbound ticket for the max stay length of 3 months and i can always change it for a fee. from christchurch i'll fly to australia and do the sydney-melbourne route (with deviations like the great alpine road). i don't want to spend the whole allowable 3 months here because it will start warming up in europe and i want to be in europe for as long as possible. so i'll expect a month-long stay in AU.
i don't have a preference from which city to start, so i was leaving that up to whichever is easiest/cheapest to fly to the european destination. i ruled out south africa because i'd need a month there and can't squeeze it in this time around. and there are no reasonable flights (at least 3 transfers) from AU to morroco. so i'll do an african tour some other lifetime.
so my main question is, what is the best starting point in europe if coming from australia (sydney or melbourne)? i was thinking i'd come over to europe just when it was starting to warm in the south, so start in souther spain, or maybe lisbon and loop down around southern spain to see the rock of gibraltar before heading back up into france and beyond. can anybody offer advice on better starting locations?
[update: i shouldn't have believed the aaa travel agent- not only did she quote prices at least twice as high as online, but i now see there are flights into morocco with only 1 or 2 stopovers. anybody know which city there i could fly into and bike to the ferry (on paved roads) in less than a week? this seems like a viable option now]