Will break our trip to AU (Nov 8 - Dec 7) to visit NZ for about 2 weeks. Guidebooks offer wealth of info about particular places, activities, and the like, but I am having difficulty grasping the "whole." Any advice about:
1) a general itinerary/routing, probably devoted to South Island doing it by car? Don't want to flog ourselves to cover great distances and stop multiple places, but would like to sample diversely.
2) would train from Auckland to Wellington give us a look at North Island passing through, or try to get directly to South Island?
The Auckland-Wellington train will be gone by the time of your trip. There are plenty of buses doing the route, or you could drive yourself with a rental.
Where is best to go really depends on your interests. Some people love seeing the natural beauty and taking day walks (or multi-day tramps) and so could quite easily spend the whole 2 weeks along the west coast. Others like adventure stuff, or golf, or ...
A sample itinerary would be to spend a few days based in Christchurch, explore the city with a day trip to Akaroa. Head north through Waipara (wines) and Hanmer Springs (hot pools) and cross the Southern Alps at Lewis Pass and the Buller Gorge to the west coast. 1 night in Westport - check out the museum, then south past Punakaiki to see the blowholes. Overnight at Lake Brunner or at Hokitika. Head further south to the glaciers (Fox and Franz Josef) - take a guided walk on them (or helicopter ride over them), see Lake Matheson (bush and reflections of the Alps) and Okarito (wetlands and birds). Cross over Haast Pass to Wanaka (toned down version of Queenstown). Visit Queenstown and spend a few days there. Back to Christchurch via Tekapo (side trip to Mount Cook if you like).
The Auckland-Wellington train will be gone by the time of your trip. There are plenty of buses doing the route, or you could drive yourself with a rental.
What's happening to that Auckland-Wellington train? It sounded like a good way to traverse the North Island fairly quickly and without too much effort, while seeing something of it going past on the way to the main course, that being the South Island. Is it a seasonal thing (what season?), or is it going out of business altogether soon?
(Around 1993, I showed up in Buenos Aires looking forward to a great trip around Argentina on that extensive railroad system built with the help of the British long ago. The AmEx people looked rather puzzled, since the system had deteriorated and passenger service was a thing of the past beyond Rosario.)
What's happening to that Auckland-Wellington train? It sounded like a good way to traverse the North Island fairly quickly and without too much effort, while seeing something of it going past on the way to the main course, that being the South Island. Is it a seasonal thing (what season?), or is it going out of business altogether soon?
It is closing in a couple of weeks - the operator is claiming it is uneconomic without an increase in government assistance. I can understand why - it hasnt been promoted, service has slipped, slow compared with similar cost flights or much cheaper buses, etc.
The only regular passenger train services left will be Picton to Christchurch, Christchurch to Greymouth, commuter trains including Palmerston North to Wellington. There are also some tourist trains (steam etc) in north canterbury (Waipara), otago (Taieri and Kingston); and the odd charter service.
It is closing in a couple of weeks - the operator is claiming it is uneconomic without an increase in government assistance. I can understand why - it hasnt been promoted, service has slipped, slow compared with similar cost flights or much cheaper buses, etc.
The only regular passenger train services left will be Picton to Christchurch, Christchurch to Greymouth, commuter trains including Palmerston North to Wellington. There are also some tourist trains (steam etc) in north canterbury (Waipara), otago (Taieri and Kingston); and the odd charter service.
Too bad about the Auckland-Wellington run. Travel by train can be a nice way to go. (What is it about me that they shut down train service in advance of my arrival?)
I'll be in New Zealand for about a month in late 2006. Trying to avoid the nasty 3% foreign currency transaction charged by US credit card companies and your post about the EFT-POS system caught my eye. Suggestions on how to get a debit card that will work with the EFT POS system? Can I do that before I arrive in New Zealand or must I wait until arrival. If upon arrival, how do you get a debit card?
Easiest way is to have an account with a NZ bank. Not sure it will be worth your bother with a 1 month stay. You could always put some money on your credit card and use that.
