Help with a possible trip to Australia

[wesdor]

We are at the very initial stages of "thinking" (that comes before planning) and hope some of our Aussie and New Zealand members can provide some guidance.  

My wife and I are considering traveling to Australia from LAX, arriving Melbourne mid October.  2-3 days in Melbourne and then travel to Adelaide (train- 10 hours or fly 1.5 hours??).  From Adelaide take the Gahn to Darwin (I think that is 3 nights and 4 days).  2-3 days in Darwin then fly to Sydney.  2-3 days in Sydney and then another couple days along the coast to the north.
On the return, time constraints require us to choose to visit New Zealand or Tahiti.  Tahiti will be less time than New Zealand.  

Questions:  Is the weather too hot by mid-October?

Are there places we should include that are unknown to me at this time?

How do we make a wise decision between New Zealand and Tahiti?

In full disclosure - I traveled with a colleague to Melbourne in 1986 where we did research for a week.  Visited the Barrier Reef near Townsville, traveled to South Island New Zealand which included Christ Church, Dunedin and Omarama.  Stopped in Tahiti for 3 days on the return trip.  
While we still have health I am hoping to take my wife to this awesome part of the world.  

Any suggestions from "locals" is greatly appreciated.  

[Ianab]

If you are only planning a few days stopover, I'd say Tahiti. Tropical Island, just relax and take it easy. US to Aus or NZ is a long flight, so a stopover in Tahiti would break that up. 

A short visit to NZ will miss so much. There's some travel threads I've posted on trips around NZ. Those were like 2 weeks just in Sth Island, doing something different each day, and there was still places we had to miss due to time. You could easily spend a month travelling around NZ and still not see it all, especially if you dig into some of the more interesting local spots. 

[JonathanPace]

I'm based out in Hamilton, NZ. A short stop here wouldn't work; you'd miss too much. Tahiti is a good option; the whole island network has some fantastic places to enjoy. A tropical island holiday does everyone a world of good and makes for an excellent way to enjoy the last few days of what sounds to be an epic vacation.  8)