Never been to New Zealand or Australia? Is it nice? Should I go?

Nice?? What a stupid bland flavourless word. How typical of a McYank

Never been to Australia but New Zealand is awesome. I'm a rugby fan and a nature fan and NZ is world class in both. And the people are also awesome. Really nice people there.

Australia and New Zealand are both great places to visit but do not attempt them on one trip unless you have at least six to eight weeks for the trip. Australia is the same size as the USA (without Alaska) so travel within Australia takes time. A quick trip to Australia can be done in three weeks with eight days in Sydney (including a two day trip to the national capital, Canberra) five or six days in Cairns in tropical north Queensland with the rainforests and the Great Barrier Reef and five days in the red centre taking in Alice Springs and Uluru. That would give you a good taste of Australia.

New Zealand is much smaller but it has a lot to offer on the two main islands and you could easily spend a week and a half to two weeks on each island. A big difference between the two is that you can hire a car or a campervan in NZ and get around the country easily as it is not far from one place to the next. In Australia distance is a problem and you need to fly. You could drive from Sydney to Cairns to Alice Springs and back to Sydney but it is 7900km which, at 800km a day, will mean you are on the road for ten days just driving.

The people in both countries are friendly and helpful.