Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Auckland-Christchurch: fly or drive?

OK--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 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

We have driven from Auckland down the coast to Wellington and then back up the opposite coast (april 1999, see trip report in Archieves). The drive, pretty to start, eventually got a bit boring. Narrow highway, rolling hills, sheep and to fast of drivers.

We took 9 days for the drive (after 6 days in Auckland). The museum in Wellington is a must! We did not get North of Auckland (picked up on a cruise in 2001). Thats a bit over two weeks for only the North Island!

We have not returned to do the South Island yet.

Flying to Christchurch will force to to miss a lot of NZ, no matter what route you take back. Rushing this country is a mistake. So unless you have little interest in "doing things" while on this trip besides driving, or if you have 30 days, I would suggest you rethink your plans. These are two "big" islands to drive around!

Pick an island and go for it. Return another time to do the other island. You will see more, appreciate what you see and "enjoy" your time there.

I am sure you will get some other opinions. I also suggest you do a search in both this forum and the trip reports for more data. Lots of great web sites with attractions to see in NZ and treks you can make.

Be comfortable with the small motels you will encounter around the island, we never had a bad one. The people are great (when not driving)

I agree with Ranles that driving up and down the coast should only be considered if you have the time to take it slowly, say 3 weeks or more. I was in NZ around this time last year and spent about 1 week in Auckland and the North Island and about 2 weeks on the South Island. South of Auckland, I was glad I did the blackwater rafting at Waitomo, but thought that the 2-3 days I spent in National Park would have been better spent on the South Island.

I don't know what it will be like in August (winter), but the weather was often significantly different between the islands and between cities on the same island. The more flexible you can be, the better. Depending on what you like to do, consider whether you might want a 4WD vehicle on the South Island in case you run into frozen weather. Most highways on the South Island were 2 lane.

One lodging that particularly stands out in my mind was the Te Wekeka Inn in Fox Glacier. Great little boutique type hotel, with wild parrots flying around in the morning.

Thanks for your responses! I got an incredibly good deal on the one-way rental car out of Christchurch. I'm going to go ahead & do both islands, but not go all the way south or all the way north, and will probably skip Taranaki. The way my travel plans seem to go, it will probably be a decade before I get back.

I found a site for the Te Wekaka Inn--It looks beautiful, but a bit more than my budget will bear. With the off-season, I think most of my lodgings (b&b's, homestays) will average $40 US. I will be doing Sheraton Auckland the first 2 nights in the country to get in the right timezone.

Again, Thanks!

JP

Remember that the Sheraton Auckland is a Cat. 1: only 2-3K *points per night http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif!

------------------
Play the travel game 3 vacations into the future!

The ferry crossing costs NZD 199 (Lynx) or NZD 179 (slower ferry) with a car (or about NZD 150 more than a single passenger fare). Hope you have that cost factored into the great one-way rate! Probably lots of capacity now on the ferry, but when I was there the car part was sold out for 5 consecutive days -- best to have advance reservations if you are tied to a specific schedule and can't afford to wait a day or two for ferry space. Details on the ferry are at http://www.ferrytickets.co.nz/

number_6

Nice post, lots of people need to know the ferry situation. This could be a vacation, and maybe even flight, disaster!!! I will keep it in mind for a eventual return trip to NZ.

Thanks for the helpful info. Yes, I did factor in the cost, and already have a reservation--the car rental company got me a very slightly better fare. With the Quantas flight ($44 US) and the ferry crossing, it's about a wash with the standard rental companies, but I'm buying several extra days by not driving the Auckland-Christchurch route on the way down.

I'm frustrated at the decline of the dollar to other world currencies. My dollar is now worth 18% less in NZ currency than it was when I started planning this trip, but the rate is still favorable.

I'm now starting to work on loding. Any sense if it's worthwhile staying in Mt Cook Village, or would I be just as well staying out on the main road to Queenstown?

Again, thanks!

JP

I recommend staying in Arrowtown (very cool ex goldmining town near Queenstown); there are some very nice bed & breakfasts in Arrowtown and you will enjoy that area a lot even on a low budget.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by j379pa:

I'm now starting to work on loding. Any sense if it's worthwhile staying in Mt Cook Village, or would I be just as well staying out on the main road to Queenstown?

Again, thanks!

JP</font>

There aren't many options on lodging at Mt.Cook, and unless you are planning on doing some hiking around, a few hours there will be sufficient. There is really not much there except the views of course.

I also recommend Arrowtown, it is a great alternative to Queenstown and only a 20 minute drive there.

Since I moved down here from North America, it has been a real shock to the system to see how CLOSE everything is. All the driving distances are really small compared.
You will see many various gorgeous sceneries within a short drive.
Also remember, that most NZ roads are quite windy in the south island, which is quite different when coming over from a straight A to B interstate system.

also, check out http://www.backpack.co.nz/
for all your budget accomodation needs. Most NZ hostels have cheap single rooms too, and the quality is really high. In any case, I wouldnt recommend booking any accomodation far in advance, you can always get a better deal and quality once youre already here, especially since you will be mobile

Also, since you are here in August, chances are most of the South Island high country will be under snow, and the roads, as someone mentioned, are 2 lane, icy and windy.