Weddingbee boards

yes, New Zealand is further south so it is colder than Sydney. Winter in Sydney is generally about 50-60 degrees during the day but the temperature drops when the sun goes down. It can be a little bit more rainy also. New Zealand is colder during the day. Just bring a jacket with you! If you travel further north to Queensland in Australia though it's warmer in winter. Let me know if you have any more questions! I have been living in Sydney for 3 years and have traveled around both Australia and New Zealand so am happy to share any info I can.

Skiing is a really big draw to the south island of New Zealand. An area called Wanaka is where all the skiers go. There is plenty plenty more to do in New Zealand and as far as natural beauty, New Zealand is THE BEST place in the world. Everywhere you go is gorgeous and the people are SO friendly and kind.  I am not a skier and I LOVED New Zealand. The some of the places/towns I traveled through are:

Christchurch: city on the South Island
Franz Josef: glacier that you can climb - highly highly reccommend this!
Wanaka: ski town, I didn't ski but the town is really cute and relaxing
Queenstown: adventure city! bungee jumping, jet boats. Really fun little town, lots of travelers through here so lots of nightlife.
Milford Sound: gorgeous fjords, you do a boat trip around them
Kikora (I'll have to check the spelling on that one): seaside town, nice hike up a big hill with beautiful views at the top.
Ferry from south island to wellington on the north island
Wellington: I had the most fun in this city, it might have just been the people I met up with but the bars were fun, restaurants good, really good museum called Te Papa.
Rotarua: where all the sulpher craters are. the town smells likes eggs but it is great to go on the walk to "Craters of the Moon" to see them.
Taupo: another cute new zealandy town. There is a walk here around Lake Taupo which has a natural hot spring. Bring your bathing suit because you jump in and it is so hot! but then you can swim 10 feet out into the lake and it's freezing cold water!
Auckland: city on the north island. I found a Dunkin Donuts here which made my life after being DD Coffee deprived for 6 months!
Bay of Islands: northern tip of the north island. very pretty area

Have I sold New Zealand yet? I LOVE LOVE LOVE it there! It's so beautiful!

just re-read your second post: on the drive to Milford Sound you drive through rainforest. and for animals you will see a lot of Sheep, maybe a few Kiwis. Oh I did go out somewhere where you go throught these glowworm caves, in the freezing water, in the pitch dark. So cold but SO WORTH IT and they give you a hot shower after. So in that town, Waitomo, they had a place that had angora hair bunnies. Woah, they are crazy looking.

What is a 3 way ticket? Does it go US, NZ, AU, US? I agree with finbladez about timeframes. 2 weeks is going to be really hard to try and do both NZ and AU. I would do one or the other. And I would recommend NZ over AU. Not that I don't love Australia as well, I mean, I moved here after all, but NZ is just so beautiful and different. I spent 3 weeks travelling NZ and I wouldn't recommend spending less. It can be a hike in between the towns/cities/places you want to go to so the less time you have the less places you'll get to and you spend half you time getting there. Also with the LONG flight you'll be a bit jetlagged and will want to be able to relax and not rush around trying to squeeze everything in.

As far as travelling around NZ, I did a tour with a group called Kiwi Experience. It's a bus that goes all around NZ, a hop-on, hop-off kind of thing. It very much for backpackers so I wouldn't recommend it for a honeymoon, you won't get much privacy and you stay in hostels, which are very UNromantic! :) The cities, Christchurch, Auckland and Wellington, I'm sure have bus systems, but they are not that big anyway. And the towns I mentioned above are all small enough to walk around. As far as getting from place to place, your best best might be to rent a car. It is on the other side of the road but it's not a scary or difficult as it sounds. I found when I first started driving here, you tend to follow traffic so it's less likely to end up on the wrong side of the road. You'll be fine if you just take it slow and pay attention. :) Also, you can fly in between Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland on JetStar or VirginBlue airlines.

If you want more info on AU check out this thread <font size="2" color="#81a026">Honeymoon in Australia -- need advice</font>  I'm going to pull more info together for those bees on Australia and I will post it there.

I agree with finbladez and aloweha, you can't rush NZ or AUS.  I lived on the North Island of NZ for half a year and had a wonderful time every weekend exploring different cities around Auckland and taking different nature tours.  At the end of my stay I had 10 days to travel and everyone said go see the South Island rather than going to AUS.  So that is what I did.  It was amazing!

If you have two weeks you could see both the North and South Island quickly, hitting the hot spots.  If you have three weeks you can really enjoy it, seeing both the cities and the natural beauty (alowha's recommendations were right on!)  As for transportation I took a bus everyone, not a touring bus but the inner island bus system which is great!  I spend less than $80 US to travel the entire South Island, starting in Queenstown, stopping in Christchurch, Dunedin, and ending in Nelson.  Or like aloweha recommended, renting a car is great.  Then you can go to anywhere you want!  Oh, and don't be afraid to stay overnight in hostels or backpackers.  Many will have double or full beds with private or shared bathrooms for way less than hotels.  It is a once and a lifetime kind of trip and if you can take the time to do it, it is so worth it.  You could always try to add in a weekend in Sydney but like the others said, this is more time on a plane! 

If you do it (which you should!) don't miss an ice bar in Auckland called 5 below (the whole bar and even your glasses are made of ice!) the glow worm caves near Waitomo (North Island near Rotorua), hiking in Abel Tasman National Park near Nelson on the South island, tour Milford Sound near Queenstown, any of the hot spring spas (so relaxing and romantic!) NZ green mussles if you like seafood and hokey pokey icecream!

And one more FYI: the native people to NZ, the Maori pronouce anything that is spelled in with a Wh as F meaning if you were visiting Whanarua Bay it would sound like Fanuarua Bay.  That may help when planning your trip!  Best of luck and enjoy your honeymoon!