NZ South Island in Jan/Feb
Jan 2, 2014, 6:04 pm
#17
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While it is inland, the only road links to Tekapo and Mackenzie Basin are from the east coast (or the south).
Jan 8, 2014, 4:18 pm
#18
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 132
I was going to see the bird island...Tiritiri? Northern Auckland. Is that interesting? It was one of the top rated things in Trip Advisor.
How about the glowworm caves? It looks neat, but a co-worker told me it is sort of overblown.
Is hobbiton interesting?
I've got a packed schedule. I want to hike the Tongariro pass, but am not sure if my wife is up for it. I'm fairly athletic, but even at 105lbs, she complains quickly about getting tired.
How about the glowworm caves? It looks neat, but a co-worker told me it is sort of overblown.
Is hobbiton interesting?
I've got a packed schedule. I want to hike the Tongariro pass, but am not sure if my wife is up for it. I'm fairly athletic, but even at 105lbs, she complains quickly about getting tired.
Jan 9, 2014, 7:13 am
#19
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Looking forward to our trip - we've got everything on the South Island nailed down, for better or worse, and are just making some decisions on the North Island. We've still got 4 days to plan: We'll be leaving Rotorua on the 9th and have to get back to AKL by the evening of the 13th. We are definitely considering hiking the Tongariro Pass so I'm thinking of staying in Taupo (or Turangi?) for a couple of days in case the weather's not great. Is there a logical itinerary that would keep us near that area waiting for the best day to do the hike?
Feb 9, 2014, 2:07 pm
#20
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Just a bit of an update - Thanks for all the suggestions. I was really pleased with the itinerary we worked out. Only the last day involved a lot of driving, on the others we were able to take our time and stop at lots of spots on the way. We had excellent weather, which helped a lot.
On our first day we landed at Christchurch, picked up the rental car and did a bit of a tour of the city. We stocked up on food and some excellent wine and cheese from a little shop called Decant in Riccarton that had been recommended - excellent selection. Pretty easy drive to Arthur's Pass where we hiked out to the waterfall and ate a reasonable meal at the local pub. The next day we drove to Fox Glacier and spent two nights there. That was followed by 3 nights in Queenstown and a further night in Cromwell with the owner of one of the wineries. After that we had a beautiful drive to Te Anau. We lucked out on our 2-day kayak trip in Doubtful Sound. After we set off, the wind picked up and started blowing straight at us down Deep Cove. After about an hour, we had made little progress and the forecast was for 40-50km winds so the trip was scrubbed. They substituted a boat cruise and overnight stay at the hostel (hot showers!) The next morning we woke up to perfectly calm conditions so got on the water by 7:30 and covered most of our planned 2-day route by lunch time. We had a rest stop at the campsite, and after experiencing the density of sand flies we all agreed that the hostel was a much better choice. We had one long travel day from there to Dunedin where we stayed overnight then flew to Auckland - we drove the Scenic Southern Route and took quite a few detours along the way.
All-in-all it was a good first trip to the South Island and I look forward to returning and seeing some of the places we missed. Thanks again for the helpful suggestions!
On our first day we landed at Christchurch, picked up the rental car and did a bit of a tour of the city. We stocked up on food and some excellent wine and cheese from a little shop called Decant in Riccarton that had been recommended - excellent selection. Pretty easy drive to Arthur's Pass where we hiked out to the waterfall and ate a reasonable meal at the local pub. The next day we drove to Fox Glacier and spent two nights there. That was followed by 3 nights in Queenstown and a further night in Cromwell with the owner of one of the wineries. After that we had a beautiful drive to Te Anau. We lucked out on our 2-day kayak trip in Doubtful Sound. After we set off, the wind picked up and started blowing straight at us down Deep Cove. After about an hour, we had made little progress and the forecast was for 40-50km winds so the trip was scrubbed. They substituted a boat cruise and overnight stay at the hostel (hot showers!) The next morning we woke up to perfectly calm conditions so got on the water by 7:30 and covered most of our planned 2-day route by lunch time. We had a rest stop at the campsite, and after experiencing the density of sand flies we all agreed that the hostel was a much better choice. We had one long travel day from there to Dunedin where we stayed overnight then flew to Auckland - we drove the Scenic Southern Route and took quite a few detours along the way.
All-in-all it was a good first trip to the South Island and I look forward to returning and seeing some of the places we missed. Thanks again for the helpful suggestions!
Feb 10, 2014, 10:48 pm
#22
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Jul 21, 2014, 2:11 pm
#23
Join Date: Sep 2005
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Can anyone post good lodges/hotels they stayed in during these trips? All the luxury lodges are well 1.5k-2k NZD a night! Looking for the 500$ range.
Jul 25, 2014, 12:22 pm
#24
Formerly known as vgandhi
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NZ South Island in Jan/Feb
I am flying into queens town renting a car and driving to te Anu and Milford sound in June first week 2015. From there to Christchurch and then flight to Wellington . Driving north to rotorua hobbiton and then Auckland. Can the fellow New Zealand ers give some input on where to stay budget and eat and do things.
Jul 25, 2014, 5:31 pm
#25
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I am flying into queens town renting a car and driving to te Anu and Milford sound in June first week 2015. From there to Christchurch and then flight to Wellington . Driving north to rotorua hobbiton and then Auckland. Can the fellow New Zealand ers give some input on where to stay budget and eat and do things.
Eating? Pick wherever you see that happens to be open. The standard throughout most of the country is usually excellent outside of the chain restaurants/fast food. I can't remember the last time I had a bad meal in NZ.
You're visiting Milford in the first week of June? That'll be interesting. Drive...very carefully. Very. Carefully. And if you were thinking of taking the inland route from there up to CHC then add another "very" on to that. Black ice is not your friend, but it can certainly make you day exciting.
Jul 25, 2014, 8:11 pm
#26
Formerly known as vgandhi
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gotofly
I am flying into queens town renting a car and driving to te Anu and Milford sound in June first week 2015. From there to Christchurch and then flight to Wellington . Driving north to rotorua hobbiton and then Auckland. Can the fellow New Zealand ers give some input on where to stay budget and eat and do things.
How budget are you wanting? Motels will be under $100/night for most/many places outside the main centres and you can find, compare, and book directly at places like www.jasons.co.nz. A good number of backpacker places if you want genuine budget, but they can be.... a bit variable.
Eating? Pick wherever you see that happens to be open. The standard throughout most of the country is usually excellent outside of the chain restaurants/fast food. I can't remember the last time I had a bad meal in NZ.
You're visiting Milford in the first week of June? That'll be interesting. Drive...very carefully. Very. Carefully. And if you were thinking of taking the inland route from there up to CHC then add another "very" on to that. Black ice is not your friend, but it can certainly make you day exciting.
Originally Posted by gotofly
I am flying into queens town renting a car and driving to te Anu and Milford sound in June first week 2015. From there to Christchurch and then flight to Wellington . Driving north to rotorua hobbiton and then Auckland. Can the fellow New Zealand ers give some input on where to stay budget and eat and do things.
How budget are you wanting? Motels will be under $100/night for most/many places outside the main centres and you can find, compare, and book directly at places like www.jasons.co.nz. A good number of backpacker places if you want genuine budget, but they can be.... a bit variable.
Eating? Pick wherever you see that happens to be open. The standard throughout most of the country is usually excellent outside of the chain restaurants/fast food. I can't remember the last time I had a bad meal in NZ.
You're visiting Milford in the first week of June? That'll be interesting. Drive...very carefully. Very. Carefully. And if you were thinking of taking the inland route from there up to CHC then add another "very" on to that. Black ice is not your friend, but it can certainly make you day exciting.
Also is it is better to rent a car or a campervan.
Thanks in advance
Jul 26, 2014, 3:31 pm
#27
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 1,315
Excellent post from SeriouslyLost; driving can be quite straightforward but just be extra careful on cold and potentially icy Southern roads.
Re dining, my own experience is that venues that rely very heavily on the tourist trade, and therefore have a very low incidence of repeat customers, can be very poor. This can be particularly true in small regional towns, e.g. Franz Josef. Try finding a place that might be recommended, on the day, by the locals. (No different than anywhere else in the world really.)
A campervan in June in the deep South will be a heck of a cold way to spend your nights. I'd recommend a car, and staying indoors.
Re dining, my own experience is that venues that rely very heavily on the tourist trade, and therefore have a very low incidence of repeat customers, can be very poor. This can be particularly true in small regional towns, e.g. Franz Josef. Try finding a place that might be recommended, on the day, by the locals. (No different than anywhere else in the world really.)
A campervan in June in the deep South will be a heck of a cold way to spend your nights. I'd recommend a car, and staying indoors.
Dec 16, 2015, 12:25 pm
#28
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Time for a return visit!
I got so many useful suggestions from this thread two years ago that I'm re-opening it in hopes of getting a few more for our upcoming return trip. My wife and I have just booked a three-week trip to New Zealand for January/February 2016 and we're planning on visiting some of the places we missed on our first trip.
We land in Auckland (from Toronto via LAX) at dawn and will pick up a rental car and head up to the Northland. We'll have five days up there to explore. Is there an obvious spot to base ourselves for the whole five days or would it be better to pick a couple of towns to visit? We'd like to do a bit of sight-seeing - Cape Reinga, the Kauri forests, Whangarei Falls, etc. and something a bit active - hiking or sea kayaking. Any suggestions for a must-see or must-do?
After that, we'll return the rental car and I've booked us at a place on Waiheke Island for a couple of days. Then we're going back to the Central Otago for their Pinot Celebration, so we'll fly into Queenstown and spend some quality time drinking Pinot Noir and meeting the wine makers. It's a great event.
After that, we'll have 10 days to get back to Auckland for our flight home. We drove down the west coast to get to Queenstown last time, so this time I'm planning on driving from Queenstown via Lake Tekapo to Christchurch and continuing on towards Nelson. I got lucky and booked one of the (seemingly) last rooms available on Lake Tekapo for our first night.
Then, the plan gets murky. I haven't really researched the north part of the South Island or the south part of the North Island, but we totally skipped them last time and would like to spend some time in one or both.
And finally, we had planned to do the Tongariro Crossing last time, but the weather didn't cooperate (sub-zero and gale-force winds.) I think we'll have another try at it this time too and spend our last couple of nights in the area. Any suggestions as to a good location or resort? We stayed in Taupo last time and enjoyed it, but are thinking it might be more convenient to stay on the park side of the lake this time.
As before, any suggestions or criticisms of our (rough) itinerary will be appreciated!
We land in Auckland (from Toronto via LAX) at dawn and will pick up a rental car and head up to the Northland. We'll have five days up there to explore. Is there an obvious spot to base ourselves for the whole five days or would it be better to pick a couple of towns to visit? We'd like to do a bit of sight-seeing - Cape Reinga, the Kauri forests, Whangarei Falls, etc. and something a bit active - hiking or sea kayaking. Any suggestions for a must-see or must-do?
After that, we'll return the rental car and I've booked us at a place on Waiheke Island for a couple of days. Then we're going back to the Central Otago for their Pinot Celebration, so we'll fly into Queenstown and spend some quality time drinking Pinot Noir and meeting the wine makers. It's a great event.
After that, we'll have 10 days to get back to Auckland for our flight home. We drove down the west coast to get to Queenstown last time, so this time I'm planning on driving from Queenstown via Lake Tekapo to Christchurch and continuing on towards Nelson. I got lucky and booked one of the (seemingly) last rooms available on Lake Tekapo for our first night.
Then, the plan gets murky. I haven't really researched the north part of the South Island or the south part of the North Island, but we totally skipped them last time and would like to spend some time in one or both.
And finally, we had planned to do the Tongariro Crossing last time, but the weather didn't cooperate (sub-zero and gale-force winds.) I think we'll have another try at it this time too and spend our last couple of nights in the area. Any suggestions as to a good location or resort? We stayed in Taupo last time and enjoyed it, but are thinking it might be more convenient to stay on the park side of the lake this time.
As before, any suggestions or criticisms of our (rough) itinerary will be appreciated!
Dec 18, 2015, 3:11 am
#29
Join Date: Oct 2015
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While the roads are well maintained and relatively empty of traffic, even in the Jan-Feb high season, they are fairly slow. There are no freeways/motorways and the police are fairly aggressive in speed checks. It's a leisurely country and a bit of a time warp, which people like. You know the saying - "New Zealand is 12 hours ahead and 20 years behind."
A few tips on places and things to do:
Wellington is very pleasant, by far the nicest city, with a great museum and interesting architecture.
Dunedin is next best and the penguin/albatross colony is worth seeing.
Christchurch is very dull, and that's before the tragic earthquake struck.
Auckland is boring.
Fiordland is dramatic, especially if you've not been to Norway. Milford Sound can be seen from the jetty - it's all there, that iconic peak etc. Drive down there, see the view, and drive back. Doubtful Sound is far more beautiful and you should take a day cruise. This will take the best part of a day. Fiordland has unreliable weather, so if you want some nice photos, you need to spend at least 3 days there, preferably in the Te Anau area.
We avoided Queenstown which seems to be a big mass market tourist resort. Not our thing at all.
We stayed at Fox Glacier, had booked in for 2 nights and checked out a day early. Our least favourite area but we didn't do the touristy/adventure/hiking things.
Blenheim is a dump, Nelson is lovely and the surrounding winelands are wonderful. We did 4 nights up there, cooking for ourselves and drinking great wines.
Napier on the North Island gets raves from most people - it has some vaguely interesting art deco buildings and a lousy beach.
Rotorua - the geysers are dramatic but probably not if you've been to Yellowstone. We did just a night in this area and that was enough for us.
Tongariro is a wonderful drive-through park.
Way up north is the Bay of Islands area around the town of Russell. We went up here by ship en route to Vanuatu and the Solomons. We thought Russell was utterly delightful, but very touristy. Nevertheless we could easily send a week or two around these parts.
Our main memory of NZ is just driving around and the scenery. .
A few tips on places and things to do:
Wellington is very pleasant, by far the nicest city, with a great museum and interesting architecture.
Dunedin is next best and the penguin/albatross colony is worth seeing.
Christchurch is very dull, and that's before the tragic earthquake struck.
Auckland is boring.
Fiordland is dramatic, especially if you've not been to Norway. Milford Sound can be seen from the jetty - it's all there, that iconic peak etc. Drive down there, see the view, and drive back. Doubtful Sound is far more beautiful and you should take a day cruise. This will take the best part of a day. Fiordland has unreliable weather, so if you want some nice photos, you need to spend at least 3 days there, preferably in the Te Anau area.
We avoided Queenstown which seems to be a big mass market tourist resort. Not our thing at all.
We stayed at Fox Glacier, had booked in for 2 nights and checked out a day early. Our least favourite area but we didn't do the touristy/adventure/hiking things.
Blenheim is a dump, Nelson is lovely and the surrounding winelands are wonderful. We did 4 nights up there, cooking for ourselves and drinking great wines.
Napier on the North Island gets raves from most people - it has some vaguely interesting art deco buildings and a lousy beach.
Rotorua - the geysers are dramatic but probably not if you've been to Yellowstone. We did just a night in this area and that was enough for us.
Tongariro is a wonderful drive-through park.
Way up north is the Bay of Islands area around the town of Russell. We went up here by ship en route to Vanuatu and the Solomons. We thought Russell was utterly delightful, but very touristy. Nevertheless we could easily send a week or two around these parts.
Our main memory of NZ is just driving around and the scenery. .
Dec 18, 2015, 6:58 am
#30
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Unless you're going there for the Central Otago Pinot Celebration at the end of January!