New Zealand or Australia

I did both in 3 weeks. In fact, I did Dubai, Sydney, Christchurch and Auckland in about 3 weeks. Christmas/New Year 2009 it was!

I think Sydney was maybe 5 days and Christchurch / Aucklans were I think 2 days each? Something like that. It was a one off trip but I masged to fit in a lot of activities and stuff. Feel free to ask and I will go into detail about what I did!

NZ! And everything Flora said! If it was me, I'd miss Aus and commit to NZ! It's the most beautiful country I saw on my round the world trip. We did it on a back packer bus, so much fun (there are two main bus companies who offer hop on hop off buses, one was very young and one catered for the older (late twenties and upwards) crowd. I'll try and remember the names of them if you need me to. Very sociable way to do it, I made some friends for life on that bus. There's also the camper van option - more privacy, less sociable.

It would be New Zealand for me every time. I spent 3 weeks there in 2012 and I'd go back in a second. I visited a friend who lives in Queenstown so we did a giant road trip around the South Island which was fab. We also flew to Wellington for a few days too so I kind of saw a bit of the North Island!

It is the most beautiful place that I have ever visited and there is so much to see. We spent a few days in and around Queenstown when I first arrived then drove up to Mount Cook to see the Tasman Glacier. We then headed to Hanmer Springs to the thermal pools and then on to Kaikoura for whale watching (which unfortunately was cancelled as the sea was too rough).

We then headed north to Blenheim and did the Malborough wine tours (hammered by lunchtime), we did a boat trip to walk a bit of the Queen Charlotte Track in Picton and then drove on to Nelson to Abel Tasman. On our way back to Queenstown we stopped off at Punakaiki to see the rock formations and then we took a helicopter up to the glacier at Franz Josef. We did a day trip out to the Doubtful Sound when we got back to Queenstown.

There are tonnes of places to stay out there and we didn't book much in advance. We stayed in some great hostels, including one with a hot tub so there are lots of options for accommodation.

I am envious! If you choose NZ can I come?!

I would say it depends on what type of holiday you would like? I went to Australia at the end of 2009 and had a great time. We flew into Sydney, spent New Year there then drove a camper van down the west coast, we saw Melbourne then flew up to the Whitsundays then back to Sydney and home. My Dad is one of the few people l know who has been to both. He said he preferred New Zealand as it was more unspoilt and cheaper. He was more into outdoor activity like hiking and swimming then sun and shopping holidays. I am sure you will have an amazing time whichever one you go to!

I've not been to Australia but it would be NZ for me everytime - we spent 3 weeks travelling both islands for our honeymoon in 2012 and had the best time ever! We did a little blog of our trip which you can have a look at here, if you like: http://ournzhoneymoon.blogspot.co.uk/

If it's variety you're after, you'll definitely get that in NZ, it really packs a lot in given the relatively small size of the place - gorgeous beaches, mountain ranges, woodlands, fjords, volcanoes, glaciers!