Air New Zealand Air Points - Auckland-Christchurch: fly or drive?

I've not gotten a response over in the Pacific forum, so I'm going to try here...

I'm getting ready to nail down my itinerary for late August. I want to see as much of the two islands as possible, and perhaps even overnight on Stewart Island. I've got two weeks to do this, and realize I'll be pushing it much of the way.

I fly into Auckland, and plan to crash there for 2 - 3 days to get in the right time zone. A car rental company I contacted there suggested flying to Christchurch from Aukland, picking up a car there, and they would give me a very good rate for relocating a car to Auckland for them.

Financially, it makes sense--flights are around $50 US one way, and one ferry crossing without car eats up a lot of that. The daily car rate drops from $48 NZ to $25 NZ! Avis is the only big company to offer a decent price that lets me switch cars at the ferry crossing, but it is still quite a bit more than this.

My original thought was to essentially drive down one coast and back up the other on each island. So, would this save me that much time, driving, & expense, or would I just be rearranging how I do things?

FYI--I enjoy driving, and find nearly any drive in a foreign country interesting. I'm also a budget traveler, and am more concerned with touring than luxury (though comfort is not underrated!)

Thoughts?

JP

2 weeks will be rushed if you want to drive from AKL to CHC and visit the right places in between.

If you're from PHX, time zone isn't a great deal. It's effectively a few hours behind but a day ahead. On the other hand, you may want to stay in AKL for a couple of days to do the tourist things around there.

I'm not entirely sure your plan/thinking is, you want to drive AKL-CHC one way and fly back (or vice versa)?

Just to give you some indication, AKL-WLG is about a 7 hour drive, and Picton (where the ferry docks in the South Island) to CHC is a little bit less than 7 (around 5 - 6). That is non-stop driving, no tourist activities.

It depends on what tourist things you want to do, i.e., which places you want to visit between AKL and CHC. Decide that first.

To maximise time, I suggest fly. Another thing to consider is the cost of the ferry, from memory, it's around NZD$80-90 one way.

Oh, does the rental company that offers you the relocation deal have a time limit?

Hi, thanks for your reply!

Yes, plan A would be to fly into Auckland, stay a couple of nights, then drive south down one side of the north island, cross the ferry, do a loop of the south island, then drive back on the other side of the north island.

Plan B would be to stay a day or two in Auckland, fly to Christchurch, and begin my driving itinerary there.

Looking at maps & guidebooks last night, I realize I really need a month or two to do it right! The tough part is going to be deciding what to skip. (Gisbourne/Hawkes Bay is one I really wanted to do but am now thinking about bypassing) I'm thinking more & more that the flight to Christchurch would buy me a couple of days of otherwise duplicated driving.

I'm glad to hear your thoughts on the time change--that is what I've been hoping my experience would be, but you're the first to confirm it.

JP

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by j379pa:
Yes, plan A would be to fly into Auckland, stay a couple of nights, then drive south down one side of the north island, cross the ferry, do a loop of the south island, then drive back on the other side of the north island.</font>

Yep, this is a little too much for a couple of weeks. I'd definitely suggest driving however, and if it was me I would probably do a one way drive and then catch the plane back to Auckland. You'll be pleased to see some of the North Island (and it will be slightly warmer during the winter)... and the trip across the Cook Strait on the Ferry is a good experience.

How about travelling from Auckland down to the Bay Of Plenty and on to Rotorua and the Hawkes Bay. This would give you a decent taste of the North I think. From there you could drive straight down to Wellington to catch the ferry. I'd suggest going from Picton across to Nelson and then down the West Coast of the South Island. I love the West Coast. It is so rough and remote http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Perhaps you could go all the way down to the Milford Sound and then head inland where you could visit Lake Tekapo, Wanaka, and Queenstown etc. Then back to Christchurch for a flight back to Auckland. Just a suggestion. I think you could do most of this without being too rushed, but others will tell me if I am wrong!

Hi,thanks. I think my plan B would be that trip you describe but in reverse, which has the rental company giving me a good deal for relocating the car from Christchurch to Auckland.

My only complication itinerary-wise on the north island is getting over to Taranaki. I also want to spend part of a day in a town a bit north of Auckland which bears my last name, which is fairly uncommon. (If you're curious, there is also a prison & a forest by the same name on the Isle of Wight in England)

It's a shame that life isn't reversed, and we have work 4 weeks out of the year & vacation the rest of the time!

JP

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by j379pa:
It's a shame that life isn't reversed, and we have work 4 weeks out of the year & vacation the rest of the time!</font>

Yes it is!

Sounds like your plan B should work out fine. Let us know if you need help with any specifics http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

So you are heading up to Parkhurst? Is this actually a town in itself, or more of a district or suburb of Helensville?

Mrukk plan is very good.

Most relocation deals have a maximum time frame (48hrs?) so this could play a part in your decision.

I believe the south island has the best scenery (have you seen Lord of the Rings?) and is ideal for driving around. You could easily spend two weeks just in the south island travelling around.

You mentioned a night on Sewart island. From Christchurch, thats at least an 8hr non-stop drive.
Going north, Chch to picton to catch the ferry to wellingtonis about 4 hrs and then 3hrs on the ferry.

I certainly recommend Lake Tekapo, Wanaka, and Queenstown, as well as just north of christchurch, Hamner Springs, Kaikora (you must stop for crayfish/lobster by the sea)

Hope some of this helps, and hope you have a great time in NZ!

[This message has been edited by chc4me (edited 03-30-2003).]

May I suggest a CamperVan rental. This way you can stop and stay as you please. It is very popular way to see NZ and some deals can be had.

Lots of good advice on offer. I just wanted to add that I would skip Taranaki (they've been dragging my mighty Hurricanes down for years http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif ) and head up the other coast to the Hawkes Bay. Even better, if you like driving, you might like to go up from Wellington to Taupo via the Desert Road (a fantastic wilderness which will probably be covered in snow and ice in August - road closure could be an occasional problem), so that you get to drive round Lake Taupo. You get then cut across to Napier/Hawkes Bay before retracing your steps a little and going up to Rotorua and Mt Maunganui/Tauranga before heading on to Auckland. From there I recommend heading north - the Bay if Islands is about a 4-5 hour drive, but you could do Dargaville etc on the way (only for your own reasons and to see the old kauri forrest - there's not much else out there).

If you only have 14 days I would suggest aiming for an 8-6 north-south split. The south island is beautiful but there are more "activity" stops in the north island. Whatever you decide, have an awesome time....and, maybe, if you can, get an indirect CHC-AKL flight via WGN as take off and landing in Wellington are always good fun and will give you (on a good day) great views over Wellington and its harbour.

Cheers

Grant

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by gratn:
...and, maybe, if you can, get an indirect CHC-AKL flight via WGN as take off and landing in Wellington are always good fun and will give you (on a good day) great views over Wellington and its harbour.</font>

Hehe, yep the approach to Wellington airport is a good one. On a nice windy day you feel as if you will die for sure. The best thing is that your stomach is going up and down from the plane moving all over the place, but you look around and no one else even seems to notice, since they are so used to it http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by Mrukk (edited 03-31-2003).]

New Zealand is fabulous and your on the right track. I made a similar trip in 22 days trying to see all of NZ (both islands) and it was a lot of driving (over 3000 km) and still didn't see it all. I would never recommend such a rushed trip to anyone who doesn't realize what they are getting in for (driving manual transmission shifting with the left hand is the hard part, along with some pretty crazy traffic around Auckland). It really takes 6 weeks to drive around all of NZ and see it properly (even that would be a rushed trip). But well worth the effort.
Not to state the obvious, but you do realize that August is mid-winter and the South island is the closest inhabited land to Antarctica (not really true, but it makes a good story). And that Fiordland has the highest precipitation totals in the world; it is possible to be snowed in for a week, or to have a road blocked and the detour is 400 miles -- I mention this only because it sounded like you planned to drive down the west coast, which is a wonderful drive (in the summer). Similarly the tours of the Fox and Franz Jozef glaciers are great -- in the summer, not in August. I would stick to the north island for this trip, and visit the south island during their summer. If you do go to the South island (and Stewart, which is even colder and more stormy) you should research the weather and know what you are getting in for (it varies a lot by location, some very pleasant and some pretty wild).

Thanks for all the great advice! It's helping me firm up some plans.

I think I will have the 8/6 split with the weight on the south. I'm going at the end of August, so I'm hoping maybe the weather will be breaking a bit. I spent 6 years in northern Ohio, (why I'm now in PHX), and understand snow driving, though I'll avoid it if I can. I did tour Britain at new year's 2000, and so have some right-hand drive experience under my belt. I still plan to either avoid cities with the car, or park it and take the bus.

I'm scheduling in a cruise of either Doubtful Sound or Milford Sound, with Doubtful being my preference.

I'm thinking of basing in either Taupo or Rotorua (?) for a couple of days before getting back to Auckland, and do some driving out of there.

So, again, thanks for the great advice so far--please keep it coming!

JP

BTW--I confirmed my rental at NZ $25 (today, US $13.83) a day, which I think is about as good as I could have done!

[This message has been edited by j379pa (edited 03-31-2003).]

Suggest you stick to the North Island ONLY. The South Island will be next trip. Yes, there WILL be a next trip! Take time to do it properly - by car all the way. There's too much in the North for three weeks so why stuff around by skimping on time and places to cram it all in? It's a holiday after all (I presume). Do the South Island in SUMMER (ie December) and you'll love it - there's not enough day length to go far south in winter - unless you want to ski.