new zealand in December, but is it worth stopping in brisbane on way out for 5 or 6 days?

[TennisFan]

I need to book a trip to New Zealand for this December - totally time away will be about 3.5 weeks.
I have been to NZ before, but this will be first time for DH and 2 DC.

I would really like to stop off in brisbane for 5 or 6 days on the coast - and then on to NZ for the rest of the holiday, with a direct flight home.

Has anyone done this before and would it be worthwhile doing, or should we take a shorter stopover in Hong Kong or Singapore - just worried really that the DC will not be too impressed touring NZ for so long.

thanks if anyone has any tips or advice - I am a bit of a longhaul novice

My DC will be 11 and 7 and because I couldn't get it booked any earlier than now the Singapore airlines flights are working out more expensive.

Wish I could have booked earlier when there was more options -with price

It could work but Brisbane is just a city. If you are looking to chill for a while then look at Noosa or the Gold Coast. Plenty for the children to do from the Zoo to the Theme Parks.

I'd probably (personally speaking) not do it though as your flight from Asia is likely to be direct to New Zealand. Doing Brisbane includes extra flights and time.

If you are wanting a stopover without going too much out of your way what about LA? Going through the states is around the same flying time as through Asia.

Failing that I'd think about Singapore or Hong King.

I've done it but because we had friends in Brisbane and we went on holiday to North Stradbroke Island before going on to NZ. Also been to Noosa and (a long drive to) Byron Bay. Brisbane isn't really a tourist city but has an animal park and well it's near a lot of places and definitely isn't an offensive place to be!
Australian flora and fauna are pretty amazing if you like that sort of thing (I was with 3 biologists).

Why not try here? We stayed there for 3 days and it was lovely. Weather will be fab for you.

BIWI that resort looks lovely, and it would be great for the DC - its ages since I booked anything so i am so out of touch with prices and rates that I hardly know what it reasonable price anymore.

I like the look of both Noosa and Moolooloba too so looking at something further north too.

thanks

Noosa is great. But 3.5 weeks in NZ is not long! You could easily use up the time just in NZ, given that distances are quite long and there is a lot to see (honestly!) What do your DC like? Do they like nature? Or do they just like hanging round on beaches? The main reason to stop in Australia would be to get guaranteed sun and warm sea (in which case Noosa highly recommended)- which is not guaranteed in NZ. But it will add a lot of travelling time to journey and gives you two different time zones to get used to instead of one.

We did stop off in Brisbane/drive to Noosa before heading onto NZ when DC were 3/4mths because we have family in Brisbane but it was such a faff, we only did it the once. We are thinking of doing it again but it cuts too much into time in NZ (we have family in NZ as well).

Tennis - I am from Brisbane. Lots to do their with kids. It is a city to be a kid or have kids in. The rest of your life it is boring.

Look at
Stradbroke Island
Moreton Island (Tangalooma Resort)
Currumbin Sanctury
Dreamworld
Wet and Wild
Sea World
Australia Zo (Steve Irwins place)
Queensland Museum
Science Centre (my most favourite place)
Southbank
Noosa
Maleny

The main reason was to get sunshine, but maybe Florence is right and we should just to NZ properly as it will be a long time until we can afford to take the family again.

My 2 DC like to be kept entertained, but will also like hanging out and doing very little, but I'm sure we can organise this in NZ too - and if we stay north maybe the weather will be OK - at least it will be better than here in NI.

Just to add that the south island can be very hot in December (at least if the wind is blowing the right way) - and is very scenic (thinking of e.g., Lake Wanaka, Fox/Franz Josef Glacier, Pancake Rocks, Abel Tasman national park). But weather is iffy everywhere at this time of year - pack as if you were going to Cornwall/Wales in a British summer ie fleeces and raincoats along with shorts and tee-shirts!

To give an example, in the ten days before Xmas, we are thinking of doing a round trip tour of Wanaka, Haast pass, Mt Cook, Franz Josef Glacier, Pancake rocks, and Kaikoura - and then onto Wellington to spend Xmas, flying up to Auckland to see friends for a few days, a few days camping in Opotiki with my sister and then back to UK - this takes up a bit under four weeks. If I were to add a north island section I would include Ruapehu, Bay of Islands, and the far north but it would be a stretch!

OK have made the decision - was getting no help from DH - but thanks to everyone here for their suggestions.
We have decided against the Australia stopover and are instead having longer in NZ. Will start off in Christchurch, do as much of South Island as we can, then over to North Island finishing up in Wanganui for Christmas and leaving before new year to get back to cold NI

Will have to go and buy good guide books now and start planning our route.

to add, because of the earthquake we're not sure whether we'll spend any time in Christchurch - but hoping we can fly into there and then hire a car.

Looks like we'll be there at almost the same time!

How about going through Singapore or HK and then stopping off in Sydney for a few days?

We did this on the way back and it really made our holiday (BC). It does have nice botanical gardens etc. and beaches.

Sorry, just read your most recent posts!

We hired a car at the airport (Christchurch) and drove straight to Lake Takepo for the night without lingering in Christchurch.
We did arrive too late to get dinner anywhere and this was at 9.30pm!