Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Driving from Wellington to Waitomo to Aukland

Our trip is nearing and we have only a few holes in our itinerary that need to be set. We are taking the ferry from the South Island to the North, and then driving up to Waitomo for a day. We have 1 1/2 days to drive there. My question is this, we were thinking of stopping in Matamata to see what is left of Hobbiton (we are tourists after all! :o ) if it were on the way or not too far out of the way. We are driving from Waitomo to Aukland at the end of the day, but I think a side trip at that point would be too tiring.

Any other good stops? Is there more than one route to take?

Is it worth it? Any advice is appreciated.

1 1/2 days from Wellington, or 1 1/2 days from Picton on the South Island? If the latter then I'd want a stopover for sure. (NZ roads arent too good, mostly one lane each direction and many hills and windy sections.)

Matamata isnt too far out of the way (see map (http://aatravel.co.nz/map/waikato-waitomo.shtml)). Maps and driving times on the AA site here (http://aatravel.co.nz/map/about.shtml).

Taupo is a good place to break the trip. Nice town and scenery, plus activities ranging from fishing to bunjy jumping. Rotorua is nice but slightly out of your way (being the other side of the main route north from Waitomo).

The best road is highway one, but you'll need to turn off for Waitomo. The main alternative route, which can be nicer scenery (and certainly much less traffic) is to turn left at Waiouru (towards National Park) or at Turangi.

We have 1 1/2 days from Wellington. The ferry drops us at about 2:30 on Wednesday, and we have a motel reservation for Thursday night, but don't need to be there at any specific time. In fact, we were told not to get to Waitomo too early, as there is not much there in the way of restaurants and sights other than the caves, which we will be seeing on Friday.

Where do you start travelling from on Wed? Taupo is nice but will be tiring to travel that far if you started that morning from say Christchurch. Whereas starting from Picton is much easier to reach Taupo.

We will probably be near Picton, which is going was going to be my next thread, but I might as well ask now. :)

We are taking the Trans-Alpine train on Monday, arriving in Christchurch at @6:00. We then have to be in Picton on Wednesday for the ferry to leave at 10:00.

The idea is to rent a car in Christchurch and then go to Marlborough to visit some wineries. Hopefully end up only 1/2 hour from Picton to make Wednesday morning easier.

1. We are renting a car Monday evening, should we get on the road right away? We don't necessarily need to see Christchurch and we thought it would be nice to be able to cut down on the driving for Tuesday. Is there a good place to stop b/n Christchurch and Blenheim? Good place to stay? Eat?

2. Good winery suggestions? Hunter was recommended to us. Also need a place to stay Tuesday night. Just started researching the available options in the area and are looking for someplace middle of the road in price. Atmosphere is important, so we would spend a bit more if it is worth it.

3. Whale watching - we may try to fit this in, but I think it will be too much. It is towards the final days of our trip and I think we will be exhausted.

Thanks Kiwi Flyer and all others who have offered extensive advice on this board. I have been reading it for months in preparation for this trip and the information I have gotten from FT is wonderful.

We will probably be near Picton, which is going was going to be my next thread, but I might as well ask now. :)

We are taking the Trans-Alpine train on Monday, arriving in Christchurch at @6:00. We then have to be in Picton on Wednesday for the ferry to leave at 10:00.

The idea is to rent a car in Christchurch and then go to Marlborough to visit some wineries. Hopefully end up only 1/2 hour from Picton to make Wednesday morning easier.

1. We are renting a car Monday evening, should we get on the road right away? We don't necessarily need to see Christchurch and we thought it would be nice to be able to cut down on the driving for Tuesday. Is there a good place to stop b/n Christchurch and Blenheim? Good place to stay? Eat?

2. Good winery suggestions? Hunter was recommended to us. Also need a place to stay Tuesday night. Just started researching the available options in the area and are looking for someplace middle of the road in price. Atmosphere is important, so we would spend a bit more if it is worth it.

3. Whale watching - we may try to fit this in, but I think it will be too much. It is towards the final days of our trip and I think we will be exhausted.

Thanks Kiwi Flyer and all others who have offered extensive advice on this board. I have been reading it for months in preparation for this trip and the information I have gotten from FT is wonderful.

You've got a very full itinerary there - beware that although distances in NZ look small, the roads are not dual carriageways and they are often hilly and winding, so it will take longer than you think to cover the distances.

If you want to get any time wine tasting around Blenheim, you're going to have to leave ChCh on Monday evening. The obvious place to stop along the way is Kaikoura, which is on the coast a bit past halfway - just over 2 hours brisk drive from Christchurch. There are plenty of motels and other accommodation here, and a reasonable selection of places to eat out (crayfish is the local speciality) though prices have really risen a lot lately to take advantage of the tourists. The town itself is small and quite scruffy but it is in a beautiful setting. There's also a seal colony on the peninsula which is quite interesting (though smelly). Kaikoura is the base for whale watching, but that will take an entire morning and you really don't have the time if you want to make it to some wineries.

Now, moving onto Marlborough wineries (my specialist subject!) - I'll give you a few pointers but feel free to ask more questions or PM me for more info. It also depends what sort of wines you're most into - Pinot noir? Sauvignon blanc? Bubbly? Here are some of my favourites:
- Hunters is good, especially their sav blancs and bubbly. Also quite a nice restaurant on site.
- Seresin is possibly my favourite these days - very basic facilities but consistently fabulous wine.
- Cloudy Bay is a benchmark and very famous Marlborough wine of course. As well as the sav blanc their Pelorus bubbly is classy stuff
- Daniel Le Brun if you want to focus on bubbles.
- Montana, if you wanted to see a huge operation in action (they produce over 60% of NZ's entire wine output). I've not been since their new cellar door opened.
- Villa Maria is another big company, but produces consistently excellent wines and always has very knowledgeable staff manning the tasting desk. Not many people go here, which is a pity - I think they are a must visit.
- Wairau River has some of the best food in a nice stone cottage, though the wines are not exceptional. (Not bad though.)
- Saint Clair: fabulous wines, haven't tried their new cellar door, though.
- Grove Mill: consistently good producer, the best wines (eg the sauvignon) are fabulous
- Fromm: produces a very different range of wines to most Marlborough producers, including several rieslings and pinot noirs but no sauvignon. Made in a more European style
- Vavasour (the first winery you reach if coming from the south - actually just north of Seddon, turn right after crossing the double-decker Awatere river bridge). Famous for its sauvignon blanc, especially the single vineyard if you can get it. Don't bother with the second label Dashwood wines.

Beware that many wineries are only open from about 10am-5pm, and the time will rush by very quickly! Also beware not to drink and drive - the police are very vigilant and do random breath testing.

Re places to stay in Blenheim, the most characterful (and probably most expensive) place to stay is Hotel d'Urville (http://www.durville.co.nz/intro/index.cfm) - very boutique and trendy. If you don't stay there, definitely eat there - great food, and a fantastic wine list with lots of options by the glass and knowledgeable staff. Other options include the Marlborough Hotel or Chateau Marlborough, though to be honest I think both are probably lacking much in the way of character. There are loads of cheap motels around, or plenty of B&Bs which probably have more character. My advice would be if you can't stretch to d'Urvilles, just go for cheap and cheerful.

Hope this helps - feel free to ask more specific questions. :)

Edited to add: another characterful (but not cheap) place to stay is St Mary's convent (http://www.convent.co.nz/), a converted convent.

Thanks Mad_atta. Great advice on the wineries and places to stay. We know it is a hectic schedule ( and you don't even know the half of it), but we are not happy if we are not frantic :p I had read about the Marlborough Hotel, and now maybe I'll move on and find somewhere else. Staying in Kaikoura Monday night is a good idea.

I will show what you wrote to Mr. Littlechi and I'll let you know if I have more questions. Knowing me, I will. :D

You can save a lot of $$ by dropping off rental car in Picton and getting a new one in Wellington. (Ferry is expensive for vehicles.)

You can save a lot of $$ by dropping off rental car in Picton and getting a new one in Wellington. (Ferry is expensive for vehicles.)


That is exactly what we are doing. Good to know we were given a good recomendation by the people helping us book the trip. Actually, the way we structured our time in NZ, the rental car is being treated as one continuous rental, even though we are dropping it off and picking up new ones in different places, so that we can save some money.

We made a reservation at Hotel d'Urville. Mr. Littlechi decided that we will probably only get to NZ once in our lives and it was no time to be cheap. Also made a dinner reservation there. He liked the idea of the big wine list so that he wouldn't have to drive afterward and wouldn't feel the pressure to taste too much at any of the wineries we visit since he will be the one driving.

We leave on Thursday. Getting very excited. Thanks again for all the help and information we have received.