Hey guys - just letting my fellow collectors know I’ll be in AUS and NZ for the next few weeks (25 days). I’ll be hitting most of NZ and the southeast of AUS (Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane). I know I’ve seen a lot of collectors in here from these parts and figured maybe you guys could shoot me your “must do” , “must see” , and card shop/Pokémon related things. I don’t know if I’ll ever get a chance to be there again so it’d be cool to hear from you guys! Much love and maybe I’ll see a fellow e4 member while I’m there 
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How are you getting around in Australia?
If you are going to Brisbane, you might as well go to the beach there or travel a bit down the highway to check out the Gold Coast.
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Have you ever heard of a “zinger box”?
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No I have not.
We have a rental I believe.
Melbourne is really hip - It reminds me a lot like New York City. There is a lot of older buildings there, with a cool artsy vibe. I unfortunately went there to visit a friend and then fly home, so I wasn’t there longer than a day 
There was a cool burger joint I went to called Bettys Burgers & Concrete Co. You need to get a Concrete - The best ice-cream I swear!
Sydney - I suggest doing the tourist things like seeing the harbour, with the bridge and opera house. After doing something like that, they have a few parks in the surrounding areas where you can go to see the cute cuddly koala and kangaroos! (iirc they have a lot more greys than reds there, but the greys you can feed!). Just note that in NSW you can’t hold a koala. You can still pet them there, just not hold. If you desparately want to hold either in Brisbane (or anywhere in Queensland). Just note they are very dangerous and can really cut you!
Brisbane - I didn’t check out Brisbane, but instead did Gold Coast as highlighted above. I went to the beach for one of the days there and just hung out. Careful for washed up jellyfish though. Their tentacles for some species are quite long! I went to the beach and then took a few photos of “Snapper Rocks”. Very neat.
Where in NZD are you heading? North or South island and for how long?
Thanks for the info! We are doing all of NZ!
I only did the North Island when I went…
Auckland - Very nice big city! If you go there, there is a place called Giapo Ice-Cream that does fancy gourmet ice-creams. Perfect for your instas! As well I would check out the Sky Tower - It gives you a nice view of the entire city. Beside the Sky Tower is this weird bungee jump thing? It looks terrifying but if you are into thrills I’d check it out. If history is more your thing go to North Head, very fascinating there as well.
Rotorua - It is a smaller city. There isn’t much here, but when we went we used it as a base camp for when we went to Hobbiton (there is a pick up place there) and then another day in Rotorua we travelled to the Buried Village and Rainbow Springs Nature Park - If you do the park I highly suggest the boat tour. If you only have time for one, kind of look at both in depth. The Buried Village is the history behind a volcanic eruption that caused one of the wonders of the world to be covered by water, the park on the other hand is a self-guided tour to look at a lot of thermal ponds, springs etc, with the boat tour going over that wonder of the world (you can’t see it sorry). I also think this is where we went to do a Redwood Tree Walk…
Waitomo - I went here for the Glow worm caves. Very neat - Some you are allowed to take photos, others no. Please research ahead of time. By Waitomo there was a black sand beach about 1 h drive from the main town.
—> If you aren’t used to driving on the left hand side of the road, I would suggest watching videos or tutorials. I drove in NZD but thankfully in Australia I was always meeting up with relatives or friends so I never had to drive there. It is a little intimidating at first and we don’t have roundabouts around here, so doing those for the first time was sketchy… (I inherently turned right but should’ve turned left so almost got into a head on collision but… that’s another story!).
I hope my brief itinerary on things I did helps you out, 25 days is a long time but at the same time you could be there a lot longer and still not see everything. Especially if you are driving everywhere because you should note a lot of these cities/towns their parks close at like 430/5 ish. Wellington would’ve been somewhere we wanted to go but just didn’t have time.
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all good ideas for a nz first timer here. nz is a place you wanna get off the beaten track a bit away from the cities. this time of year is best for the beaches and bush walks. head west from auckland into the waitakeri ranges for amazing nature walks or go to the coromandel peninsula for beautiful beaches.
new zealand is a lot bigger than it looks on the map so be prepared to do lots of driving. its the best way to see the landscape anyway. as far as tcg goes there isnt much apart from modern product you can get anywhere. if your into mtg there is a cool shop in queens arcade in aucklamd called king of cards. i know nothing about msgic but the shop has always fascinsted me.
rotorua is esentially a hot spring/pool city. try te polynesian spa. its pricy but definately worth it.
as far as auckland goes my favourite thing is the asian influence in the food. head to dominion rd and try barilla dumpling or new flavour. they rule.
ps apoligies in advance for the tropical cyclone thats gonna hit us this weekend. hope your not staying in a tent.
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Loved the gold coast, visited my bro there many years ago my ship docked in Brisbane.
For sure check out the gold coast, even the Great Barrier Reef before it gets cooked. As for card shops… we have nothing compared to what the states have, Im from the other side of Aus but have good things about www.cherrycollectables.com.au In melb.
Look out for drop bears also
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I live in Brisbane.
Dont come here, go to Gold Coast instead. Only an hours drive.
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For Melbourne, definetly consider going along the Great Ocean Road for a daytrip. Beautiful views this time of year and lots of ocean to play in!
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If you need any good restaurant suggestion for Sydney feel free to pm me with what you’re feeling. Always happy to help.
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Thanks everyone for the advice so far! We are currently on the South Island of NZ and have almost 2 weeks before we head to AUS. We did North Island already and are currently in Te Anau. Still have Queenstown, Dunedin, Christchurch, and I think one other city left down here off the top of my head. We will be flying to Brisbane - then flying to Sydney - then flying to Melbourne before leaving back to the states. Food suggestions or activity suggestions - feel free to leave them here or Pm me. I’m reading everything and working things in to our itinerary as we go where I can. Thanks again!
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Sydney - sydney harbour bridge and Sydney opera house obviously… if you like a drink go to squires landing for some drinks, it has great views of the opera house/bridge late afternoon, it’s quite expensive tho… try go to a Rugby League game while here, it’ll open your eyes to Australia’s most popular sport…
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go to bondi.
Alright guys I’m officially done with New Zealand and now I’m in Brisbane! Will be in Sydney the day after tomorrow for 3 days and then in Melbourne for the last part of my trip. Have taken some advice from you guys. I plan on trying to visit a card shop in Sydney i think if I can. I know there seem to be a lot of collectors there as well 
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