New Zealand Trip

[9fingers]

SWMBO and I have a plan to visit NZ in the next 12 months or so for a few weeks and are looking for ideas on what to do, see etc to come up with a rough itinerary. Not just woody attractions - I won't get away with that :lol:
SWMBO can't walk too far especially on rough ground so long hikes are out. Neither of us can abide sport in any form so will want to avoid the Rugby etc. We are both in late 50s so not into theme parks :lol:
We will hire a car and be staying in budget motels for a day or few before moving on and aim to cover both Islands as we are not likely to go that far again.
So if anyone has 'done' NZ and willing to pass on tips, I'd be grateful. Recommendations for useful guide books would be helpful too.

TIA

Bob

 

[Waka]

Bob

I did the New Zealand thing about 8 years ago, only managed to do North Island in the 3 weeks we had, so at some stage We've got to do South Island.

We hired a camper van while we were there, not having done the camper van thing before we were a bit sceptical, but we needn't have worried it was really great.

It gave us the flexibility we wanted, and if you're going to hire a vehicle then why not take your hotel room with you. When we did all the pricing it worked out cheaper to do the camper van than hire a car and then accommodation.
There are plenty of campsites and they have all the facilities you could ask for and everyone is friendly and helpful.

We did all our research on the internet and booked all the bits of the holiday independently, not sure if we saved any money that way but it sure was fun organising it all.

Hope asll goes well with the planning.

 

[Jensmith]

Bob,

I asked a colleague of mine who is from NZ but she's very much into extreme holidays so wasn't much help unfortunately.

She did recommed either hiring a car or a campervan and to avoid booking with 'Kiwi Experience' because they're, I quote: "full of drunken 18 year olds!"

Hope that helps in some way.

 

[9fingers]

Thanks Jen and Waka. I had not considered a campervan until you mentioned it. I will have to try that idea on SWMBO and try and compare costs.

There might have been a time that holidaying with drunken 18 year olds would have been acceptable but these days I would not be able to keep up with them or want too sadly!!

I must take a trip to my local library before it closes and see what I can find in some guide books.

Thanks

Bob

 

[RogerM]

We went to NZ in 2003 for our 50th birthdays and silver wedding anniversary and had a fabulous time. It is however the land of outdoor sports and adrenaline activities and it is difficult to avoid them. Our itinerary included :-

Sailing in Auckland harbour.

Nikau Caves http://www.nikaucave.co.nz/

Hot springs at Rotorua

Walking the Tongariro Crossing http://www.tongarirocrossing.org.nz/?gc ... 4QodSgcd-Q and http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&pq ... 47&bih=900

Te Papa museum, Wellington http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/pages/default.aspx

Then crossing over to south Island

Canoeing on Queen Charlotte Sound

Water taxi up the Abel Tasman coast to see dolphons before a 12 mile walk back through the forest and tropical beaches.

White water rafting on the Buller River

Glacier walk on the Fox glacier.

The Siberia Experience - possibly the best day out we have ever had! http://www.siberiaexperience.co.nz/

Rest day in Queenstown.

Walking the lower slopes of Mount Cook.

Trip in inflatable boat with glaciologist to see the front edge of a glacier as it entered a lake.

Visit to a deer farm on the Canterbury Plains.

Christchurch

Milford Track - a 40 mile (with diversions) walk from Te Anu to Milford Sound. Just stunning! http://www.ultimatehikes.co.nz/guided-w ... ford-track

It remains the best holiday we have ever had, and as soon as SWMBO retires we'll be back!

 

[Lons]

SWMBO and I have a plan to visit NZ in the next 12 months or so for a few weeks and are looking for ideas on what to do, see etc to come up with a rough itinerary. Not just woody attractions - I won't get away with that :lol:
SWMBO can't walk too far especially on rough ground so long hikes are out. Neither of us can abide sport in any form so will want to avoid the Rugby etc. We are both in late 50s so not into theme parks :lol:
We will hire a car and be staying in budget motels for a day or few before moving on and aim to cover both Islands as we are not likely to go that far again.
So if anyone has 'done' NZ and willing to pass on tips, I'd be grateful. Recommendations for useful guide books would be helpful too.

TIA

Bob

We are booking the flights tomorrow :-D for our trip in November. will only have a couple of weeks there as we're also spending time in OZ and we'll be visiting only the North island as we had a short visit to the south a couple of years ago.
We landed in Christchurch and took the transalpine train (stunning 4 hour journey over the mountains) to Gteymouth where we collected our hire a car, booked quite cheaply in advance on line. we had also booked very reasonable accommodation on line. We weren't disappointed with any of it. Driving was easy down the coast to the glaciers and on to lake Wanaka and Queestown

I think the country is fabulous and I'd retire there if I could afford it.
We're back 11th Dec so if you haven't been by then, I'll let you know what it's like.

cheers

Bob

Arthurs pass

off the road from the glaciers

Lake Wanaka