Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - 3.5 weeks Trip to New Zealand - Australia

I am planning to go to New Zealand - Austraila for 3.5 weeks in November - December. This is my first time to that area and here is my planned itinery.

I need some advice on the following :

- Day 7 - Flying to CHC or Ferry - Drive to Kaikoura / CHC
- day 17 - Drive from Te Anau - CHC ( In the night )

I would like my trip to be a mixture of Sightseeing / Adventure.

I would like to take my camera ( with a couple of lenses) so any help from backpackers would be welcome.

Day # What activity Where
1-5 Flying into Auckland / Day Trips in Auckland - Any help with Day trips would be highly appreciated
6 Fly Auckland- Wellington
6 Sightseeing - All day Wellington
7 Ferry from Wellington - Picton 3:00 AM - Should I take ferry or fly into CHC and do dolphin swin in Akoura
Pick up car and Drive Picton to Kaikoura
7 Kaikoura Dolphin Swim
7 Driving 4:00 - 6:00 pm Kaikoura - CHC
7 Stay in CHC - Go around the city, eat out
8 CHC Mueseum, Gandola Ride
8 Driving 3pm - 10 pm Christchurch - Fox Galciers
9 Fox Glacier Walk 8:30 am
9 Driving to Mt Cook 2pm - 8pm
9 Staying in Mt. cook
10 Mt cook walk and around
10 Driving Mt Cook - Queenstown
11 Queenstown - Bungee Jumping, Jet Boating
12 Queenstown - Other activies - TBD
12 Driving Queenstown - Te Anau
14 Driving to Te Anau Downs 8am-10am
14 Boat from Te Anau Downs - Glade Wharf
14 Milford Walk
15 Milford Walk
16 Milford Walk
17 Milford Walk
17 Boat from Sandfly Point - Milford Sound
17 Milford Sound Cruise
17 Bus from Milford Sound - Te Anau
17 Driving from Te Anau to CHC 7pm - 5am ( Question here ? Can I do this )
18 Flying 6am - 8 am CHC - Sydney
18 Sydney CBD Walk, Opera House, Manly Beach , Bondi Beach
19 Two day trip to Blue Ridge mountains - TrolleyTours
20 Two day trip to Blue Ridge mountains - TrolleyTours
20 Flying to Melbourne
21 Staying in Melbourne Melbourne
22 Parliamant house, china town, edge tower, cube Melbourne
23 Tour to Apostle, Ballarat Mebourne - Around
24 Tour to Phillip Island, Penguin Parade Tour Phillip Island
25 Fly back to Auckland
26 Around Auckland - Unwind Auckland
27 Flying back to US

Looks awesome ... wish I was going ... even after just getting back from 3 weeks in QLD last week.

:D

Can't answer all your specifics but will give a few a shot ... also have a few suggestions you might want to consider if applicable.


Any help with Day trips (to AKL) would be highly appreciated


You might want to check out the ferry to waiheke island, rangitoto, devonport. Lots of accommodations on Queen St with easy access to ferrys and mass transit. I thought the Auckland museum was nice.

If you'll be requiring a hut bed for Milford or any Trek, you might gauge/consider making a reservation soon if you haven't already. Nov-Dec will be pretty busy and beds can fill up. The following site will allow reservations and also provide very nice info including downloadable PDF maps.

http://www.doc.govt.nz/

Take / pickup some good bug repellent ... bugs will be active in Nov/Dec.


17 Driving from Te Anau to CHC 7pm - 5am ( Question here ? Can I do this )


I've done very early morning drives to CHC, but more on the order of 4 hours ... most recently Twizel to CHC. The roads will be more of the winding category near Te Anau, but will become less aggressive the closer you get to CHC. I don't think you'll find it an enjoyable drive in the dark, and you will probably be quite tired arriving in CHC, but of course it's possible.

I find the following is good at estimating driving times:
http://www.accommodationz.co.nz/distances2.html

If you really want advice on the Blue Ridge Mountains ... some of which are in my neck of the woods then just ask; however, can't help with the Blue Mountains in NSW ... still haven't visited.

:D

Enjoy and welcome to FlyerTalk.

I need some advice on the following :
- Day 7 - Flying to CHC or Ferry - Drive to Kaikoura / CHC
Ferry & drive. Well worth doing

- day 17 - Drive from Te Anau - CHC ( In the night )No. Don't be an idiot :eek:. Take a bus maybe or fly

17 Driving from Te Anau to CHC 7pm - 5am ( Question here ? Can I do this )
18 Flying 6am - 8 am CHC - Sydney
18 Sydney CBD Walk, Opera House, Manly Beach , Bondi Beach
19 Two day trip to Blue Ridge mountains - TrolleyTours
20 Two day trip to Blue Ridge mountains - TrolleyTours



Welcome to FT, jitubats!

The drive can be done but I would strongly advise against it. It is a 650km drive on country roads which takes almost 8 hours without breaks. A bus won't work as you will miss your flight in the morning unless you can move the flight.

The much better alternative would be to fly from ZQN to SYD directly.

Also on the 18th day you can not do all the things on your list. If you arrive at 8am at SYD you will be in town 1.5 to 2 hours later. And Manly and Bondi are at very different ends of town and far apart unless you have a speed boat.

Then a 2 day trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains will be a challenge as well. Getting to the Eastern US and back in 48 hours will be hard. If you plan to visit the Blue Mountains outside Sydney however, then this can be done nicely. However, I would not recommend doing this. If you only have 3 days for greater Sydney, then spend all of those days in town. The Blue Mountains are nice but not the most spectacular place on the planet.

Actually, now that I look at your plan, maybe you should consider just staying in NZ? Just do the country "properly". There are some nice spots you can add on the South Island but obviously there are some great spots on the North Island which you can visit like Roturua, Bay of Island, Coromandel etc.

Then come to Australia on your next trup. ;)

Thanks for your reply guys.
I am trying to drive to CHC as I could not find a decent flight from Queenstown to Sydney. There is only one flight and that is late in the evening.

I was trying to save the day, so I thought I can leave Te Anau at around 4 pm and be in CHC late in the night ( 11-12 or so ). I have to put more thought into this tonight :)

Regarding Australia, I really want to see the country a little bit before I can come back sometime.

I was reading in the forum that people suggested taking a day trip in blue mountains so I will take your advice and spend more time in Sydney and around.

Will redo the itinerary ( i have redone it a million times by now :) )

Does anyone recommend a good car rental company, which allows one way rentals from Picton and does not charge arm and leg :)

Thanks
J

Your itinerary sounds great for the most part, but I also recommend flying ZQN-CHC. It's only a 45 minute flight against driving 5-6 hours, mostly in the dark, on fairly narrow and some times curvy roads and I doubt there'll be much open in the way of gas stations, restaurants, etc. between Queenstown and Christchurch at that time of the night.

NZ 831 ZQN-SYD departs in the afternoon and arrives a few hours later into SYD.
Very civilised and J is probably not difficult to get as a *A redemption.

Wonderful service and food, something I HIGHLY recommend. :)

I'd recommend a drive from Sydney to the Hunter Valley and tasting the Hunter's gift to the world (as shillard puts it :cool:), aged semillon. A few stops there, take your time, then drive back. More interesting than the Three Sisters / Blue (not Ridge!) Mountains, unless you've never ever seen scenic ever.

We are just back from a somewhat similar trip and I was given some good advice in this forum for routing Nth & Sth Islands on NZ. In NZ you'll only get a quick taste if you're going through so quickly.From Christchurch I highly recommmend a drive to the beautiful harbour/cafe village of Lyttleton and right around the bay, to Diamond Harbour.

For Sth Island, we drive CHC-Mt Cook (it was easy) but stayed 45-50mins away, at Omarama.

http://www.needitnow.com.au/needitnow/needitnow.asp?Type=Details&AccommId=42325
Wotif, Mt Cook area (http://www.wotif.com/search/Advanced?country=NZ&region=2210&viewType=all&startDay_displayed_=Fri+23+Oct+2009&startDay=&accommodationTypeMatch=&roomTypeCategoryMatch=&starRatingMatch=&maximumPrice=&isoCurrencyCode=NZD&propertyNameMatch=&assumedCountry=NZ&selectedSuggestionId=&searchTerms=)
This was a good idea because the day we arrived, the heavens opened and Mt Cook was hidden by the rain and cloud. We returned the following day for perfect weather there. The Heritage Gateway Hotel (popular w. tour buses) was only NZD$95 or less on wotif.co.nz (http://www.wotif.com/search/Advanced?country=NZ&region=2210&viewType=all&startDay_displayed_=Fri+23+Oct+2009&startDay=&accommodationTypeMatch=&roomTypeCategoryMatch=&starRatingMatch=&maximumPrice=&isoCurrencyCode=NZD&propertyNameMatch=&assumedCountry=NZ&selectedSuggestionId=&searchTerms=). You'd be able to get accommodation there, no trouble.

Twizel is closer/better for shopping/food options and we'd stay there next time. There is a cute row of A-frame rooms in a 'M O T E L' place visible from the Highway (maybe names Twizel Motel? :cool:. Worth checking. Here's one ~NDZ$80 (http://www.wotif.com/hotel/View?hotel=W10168&page=1&viewType=all).

We had great fun in a Hertz Ford Focus (much more fun than a Corolla). Beware the long, borig straight highway Twizel-Omarama is highway-patrolled for speeding - and use cruise control to ensure you're not caught!

Hope this is a helpful start. :)

BB

Your itinerary sounds great for the most part, but I also recommend flying ZQN-CHC. It's only a 45 minute flight against driving 5-6 hours, mostly in the dark, on fairly narrow and some times curvy roads and I doubt there'll be much open in the way of gas stations, restaurants, etc. between Queenstown and Christchurch at that time of the night.

Good point.

I often forget businesses outside the US aren't necessarily open 24/7 ... finding a place for gas may be an issue very late / early.

Your schedule is ambitious and likely to be very tiring. As mentioned by others travel times in NZ are longer than you'd expect, roads aren't great (mostly undivided with one lane in each direction, with long stretches where you cannot pass any slower traffic).

Driving long periods at night is not advised, even though twilight lasts a long time in December you'll have to deal with sunstrike & general tiredness.

Taking the early ferry from Wellington means you miss much of the scenery until close to Picton. It also means you'll be tired by the time arrive in Christchurch.

Fox Glacier to Mt Cook is a very long and mountainous drive. While it can be done in a day I wouldn't attempt this after doing a glacier walk in the morning. Fox Glacier to Haast or Wanaka would be less challenging.

Fiordland is one of the wettest places on earth. You definitely need a buffer of a day or two before your flight out of NZ in case the roads (& local airport) gets closed by weather.

(From a trip about 6 years ago):

Probably a day trip from AKL: black water rafting in Waitomo caves.
http://www.waitomo.com/black-water-rafting.aspx


Also, for lodging near Fox Glacier look into http://www.teweheka.co.nz/

Good point.

I often forget businesses outside the US aren't necessarily open 24/7 ... finding a place for gas may be an issue very late / early.

The OP won't have the problem with a bit of planning. He can get petrol in Queenstown and from there the tank will last to CHC.

> 18 Flying 6am - 8 am CHC - Sydney
> 18 Sydney CBD Walk, Opera House, Manly Beach , Bondi Beach


My goodness you'll be exhausted!

From Sydney Airport you can take the Air Train straight into Circular Quay for the Opera House / Bridge / harbour area.
Ferries to Manly also leave from Circular Quay. The ferry is about 1 hr each way, and depending on the traffic you'd struggle to drive + park in less time. I can't see how you could do Bondi Beach as well. It's on the other side of the harbour, awkward to get to by either public transport or car (you go via Bondi Junction, a major shopping centre and transport hub) and the roads into it are always busy especially if the weather's nice!

Best of luck with your planning.

18 Sydney CBD Walk, Opera House, Manly Beach , Bondi Beach

There's a nice trail along the foreshore from Bondi to Coogee beach, it takes over an hour to walk and you pass through little beaches on the way.
I've always liked to do this on a good day and finish with a cleansing ale at Coogee. Personally I think Bondi isn't all its cranked up to be but it is a nice beach.
Enjoy your trip.
David

The OP won't have the problem with a bit of planning. He can get petrol in Queenstown and from there the tank will last to CHC.

Possibly ... even ZQN - CHC is nearly 500 km.

I don't believe the car I drive day-to-day would make this on a full tank, but it would be close.


Sounds like OP may be a backpacker. He / she could just ditch the car and hike the last few kms.

I have done trips like this in the past. Next I wised up and learned to enjoy what I did instead of the number of things I did. Top Tip: slow down! Enjoy doing nothing in some of the most beautiful places on earth.

I have done more or less the same route in 4 weeks and that was too short (or too much to do).

Sorry guys, I had no internet connection for the past 2-3 days, was in MS, doing a habitat build. I am backpacker :), I changed my Itinerary a little bit less :)

-->I am now taking the picton ferry in the evening - seeing more of the scenery.
--> I will have to drive from Te Anau -- > CHC as there was no flights in the afternoon when I was flying, but I am leaving at 2 instead of 7, which will get me in CHC around 11ish ( gives me 5-6 hours of buffer time ). I wish I dont have to do it, but I did not get any other options.
--> I will try and stay in the glacier over the night, if i cannot drive because of exhaustion :)

Will post the newer itinerary tonight.
Does any one has good recommendations for a not very expensive car rental in NZ ( 9-10 days ), I am looking to do 30-40 dollars a day, and one which lets me drop off my car in the night ?

-
Thanks,
JB

Although I have never used this company, I do see a lot of these rentals around the Christchurch area. They offer older vehicles with high mileage for around $25 a day, along with newer vehicles at higher prices. Might be worth checking out -

http://www.jucy.co.nz/



Does any one has good recommendations for a not very expensive car rental in NZ ( 9-10 days ), I am looking to do 30-40 dollars a day, and one which lets me drop off my car in the night ?

-
Thanks,
JB

Hi,

I'm planning a 3-week trip in December too. This is my first time to that area too. I'm trying to decide if I should all my 3 weeks in Australia, or 2 weeks in Australia and 1 week in New Zealand. Your itinerary looks very interesting. Seems like you've done a lot of research already (I'm just starting).

Can you, and anyone who's been contributing here, comment on my plan I posted here:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/australia-new-zealand-south-pacific/1011760-3-weeks-trip-australia-possibly-new-zealand.html

Sorry for hi-jacking your request. I just recently decided the trip. I'd really need some help in planning.

Thanks,
Big