Our family vacation to New Zealand in July 2011 included a side trip to Sydney. From the Christchurch International Airport to Sydney, it’s just a 3.5 hour flight. I had been saving up all my flight points from work trips to the Middle East and Asia, and had enough to fly the whole family to NZ, Sydney and home (it required 750,000 miles … which were earned the old fashioned way before credit cards helped with points). Despite my brother living in Australia for many years, I had never been to Sydney before, so we added it to our vacation. The kids enjoyed this trip too, even although it was short. We visited Bondi Beach (the most famous of them all), the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Harbour, and the Featherdale Wildlife Park.

I enjoyed driving around and taking the family somewhere new! The kids loved the visit to the Featherdale Wildlife Park and feeding the kangaroo’s and seeing the Koala’s up close was a highlight for sure! This wildlife park isn’t the biggest one, but it’s a great place to see ‘everything’ up close and personal … without too many other people around.

Dad’s Recommendation: Most tourists make the mistake of spending more time in Australia than NZ – but I always advise to spend most of your time in NZ and save a few days for Sydney on your way home. Also, the kids loved getting another stamp in their passport and visiting the wildlife park.

Travel Tip: Driving on the left side of the road is a bit more challenging in Sydney than it is in New Zealand. If your renting a car be prepared for a lot of extra toll charges along the way.