Would you go to Australia or the South Pacific?

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We are going on holiday for two weeks (max can got off work). Have priced up some different options.

We can either go to Australia or we can go to some islands in the South Pacific (Thinking Fiji/Vanuatu or Tahiti)

Where would people go? Looking mainly to relax and swim and take in some culture

Relax and swim 100% South Pacific. Culture Oz (if you mean indigenous culture).

What time of year? Different climates and seasons across the whole of Australia and the Pacific.

South Pacific. Best to see these places as soon as possible. They'll only get more and more commercialised. Australia will always be there.

depends on the season. I don’t think it’s worth going to Australia for 2 weeks, there’s so much there. You could spend 2 weeks just in Melbourne and surrounding area.

If you only have 2 weeks, the travel if you are European based is really long to the South Pacific, I personally would look at Indian Ocean

Personally I'd go to NZ for both.

Cook Islands

Have already done Maldives/Mauritius/Seychelles and a fair chunk of the Caribbean. Hence why looking further afield.

You can get to Fiji in 21 hours with one stop. That's fine with us, seeing as Australia is 23 hours and upwards.

Looking at going over Christmas, so the price of flights to Australia is absolutely astronomical, but South Pacific seems reasonable in comparison (if you consider their remoteness etc)

Fiji is really lovely. You could travel via LA. One thing is that food on Pacific islands can be a bit dull and quite expensive as so much has to be freighted in and sadly climate change is affecting local production. So it is not a great foodie destination. But lovely people and beautiful beaches etc.

Australia is as big as Europe, so with only 2 weeks, you'd likely just see 1-2 cities- unless you did whistle stops of 3-4 and spent a whole day travelling between each. Not relaxing at all!

Depending on the season, I'd go Sth Pacific. Cook islands are stunning. Also some of the many Fijian islands. You could spend a few days in a 'larger' town/island, then go to a more remote island hotel to relax. Snorkelling and diving is stunning, clear, warm water and friendly locals.

The only caveat is I found New Caledonia and the capital Noumea in particular to be unwelcoming. I have a reasonable command of French, yet I found most locals were dismissive and unfriendly. Might have just been me- but I wouldn't return when there are so many other islands to go.

I have not been to either, but have always wanted to go to Easter island and Galapagos. Have you considered those?

I haven't travelled since covid, so things might have changed, but sometimes you can get a flight to an Asian hub- Singapore, Bangkok, Taipei- then get a cheaper airline to some of the Pacific Islands. Otherwise, they can go via the US. Some worth looking at include:

Tiger air
Jetstar
Air Asia
Air New Zealand

Cook Islands look fab, but think the extra change in Auckland would make it too much travelling. Would leave us with about 10-11 days in the islands which seems so little to go so far!

had a look at flights to asian hub airports, but as it is Christmas they are all super expensive too. Flights to Bangkok coming up at £1,500 😮