Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - New Zealand--Where Not to Go...

This is a terrible question, I know. I've got two weeks (last week of August, 1st week of September), and I've awoken to the fact that I'll never see it all, not even in a month.

Both islands are definitely on the itinerary and are not negotiable. I've pretty well ruled out very far north past Auckland, and the very southern tip/Invercargill. A major goal is a cruise on the Doubtful Sound, then probably the train ride across the mountains & back out of Christchurch, and Fox or Franz Josef Glacier. Then, time in Rotorua. Dunedin is pretty well off the list--should it be?

Should I omit Hawkes Bay/Gibsborne or Taranaki? Mt Cook? Nelson/Picton? Wellington?

Thanks for ideas & thoughts!

JP

JP

It should be fun!!!!!!!!

Seem like you already decided on where you are going, mostly.

You start off that you have 2 week and know you cannot see it all. TRUE.

You follow by saying you will not negotiate about splitting you time between the two islands. Bad decision? UNLESS this will be your only trip in your life to NZ.

If you ever plan to go back, then I believe you are committing a big mistake. By eliminating the far North and the far South, and some of the East and West how much time wasting will you do trying to do those next time (money too).

Two weeks is barely enough time to do "most" of the North Island! Assuming a future trip, hopefully of greater length, you could do most of Auckland (normal flight destination, say 6 day layover) next trip and concentrate on the rest of North Island the first trip.

We have been to North Island twice, and never to South Island. The first trip was several days in Auckland and then 9 days traveling by car around the North Island. We did not make it to the far North, which we saw on a cruise on a subsequent trip as well as another two days in Auckland.

We will do South Island some day with a trip to Australia (been there 4 times) or as part of a South Pacific trip (done once).

Oops, enough about me. Just a way to show you that there could be another way.

Now to your 2 islands, 2 weeks program. Auckland has a lot to see. Do some web work and figure out what YOU would like to do. Bay of Islands is a lot of out of mainstream driving, but beautiful. Hamilton has a nice zoo and is near the glow work cave, but the drive down the West coast get boring soon (rolling hills and sheep). Rotorua has the "sulphur" sites and Maori traditions (ie Hangi). Huka Falls (more a shooting river) is then on the way down to Wellington. Built like San Franscisco (hilly) the Museum here is a MUST, but the city is not (we stayed two nights). Hawkes Bay/Napier was nice and we stayed there two nights

The weather may play a part in your South Island tour. August is cold (13/4).

Two week tours are available, so it is possible to "brief" both islands in that time. A little web search on "New Zealand tours" should give you lots of choices. If you want to "do it yourself", these tours make great templates,

Flying in country will help cut some commuting time off the trip. Trains and driving do not. Naturally these are trade offs.

Good luck, and remember, great planning will help you narrow your route.

August is the equiv. of Feb in the US, so plan carefully if you go TransAlpine and to the glaciers and keep an eye on the weather. It is impossible to understate the severity of some of the storms that can occur there -- same for Doubtful sound. I took a walking tour on Fox glacier but it was in December and a wonderful experience (also something you could never do in the US due to liability concerns, they give you crampons and take you to scary places). My guide had a story about his ski patrol training a few years earlier, he was snowed in by a storm and it took 2 weeks before he made it out (not far from Fox). NZ is a great place, but keep in mind that you are going into a rain forest during its cold phase. Personally I'd advise dropping some parts of the trip, you are very (very) tight on time. Maybe do more North island and then ferry to Picton and drive to Christchurch down the east coast (or take the train on the same trip, actually the train is slightly better route along the coast).

Thanks for the thoughts. After a couple of days in Auckland, I fly to Christchurch & pick up the car there, so gives me a hair more breathing room. I'll definitely watch the bad weather--unfortunately, my roadmaps don't always indicate what is in the higher elevations, though heading south will obviously get colder.

JP

Elevation probably isn't a problem for places you are likely to go to, with the exception of Arthur's Pass. Flash floods along some of the rivers is the biggest threat, not sure if that is better or worse in August. Some of the rivers increase flow rate by 2 orders of magnitude during storms (100 fold increase in the amount of water is quite impressive, and there are even bigger flood plains around). If a bridge is washed out there may be a 200 mile detour to get around it at the southern parts of the south isle. Very remote country, which makes it quite beautiful but not much fun if you miss your flight.
You may be interested in the following site, though not directly related to your trip: http://www.softrock.co.nz/mg/climb.htm

Thanks for the link! I found a similar one for the Milford Road. I love webcams--your link one has a good one.

JP

I did both Milford and Doubtful last August and had "chamber of commerce" weather for both -- it was chilly, tho. The captain on my Milford cruise pointed out a mountain and mentioned that it was the first time he had seen it in a week. But I lucked out. I did 7 days circle on the South Island: Christchurch, Franz Josef, Te Anu (2 nights), Invercargill, Dunedin, & Christchurch driving the whole way with NO problems (almost no traffic). The drive across the island out of Christchurch follows the train line most of the way. If you are renting a car don't bother with the train. Invercargill and Dunedin are interesting, especially the Catlins inbetween. I was planning on flying from Auckland to Christchurch (and back) but then I read about the great museum in Wellington, so I starting checking the airfares -- and found out that I could stop off in Wellington for the day on the way to Christchurch for NO additional fare . . . and the whole round trip was $127. I flew out of Auckland at 8 in the morning, spent the whole day in Wellington and flew on to Christchurch @5 -- the museum is worth it. BTW had a great stay(s) at the George Hotel (with two great restraurants) in Christchurch.

[This message has been edited by trd (edited 05-18-2003).]

[This message has been edited by trd (edited 05-18-2003).]

thanks for the info! So, if you were to choose Doubtful or Milford Sound, which would you go see? Whichever one I don't will definitely be on a future itinerary, along with the Milford Track...

JP

the trips and scenery are completely different -- doubtful requires a whole day, Milford can easily be done in half day. I stayed in Te Anu and drove in about 90 minutes to Milford -- there was no traffic and I was able to catch an earlier boat than had been advertised, 10AM if I remember(there are several different boat companies -- all cover the same territory). Given a choice I actually liked Doubtful better, in that it was less "commercial" -- you're the only folks there!