New Zealand Advice

[RHP]

Gentle readers I come to you for advice:

After christmas myself, SWMBO and our 2 sons are off on a touring holiday of New Zealand for 3 weeks.

My wife is arranging the itinerary which makes me nervous.

We start in Aukland, want to see north island then south. Are there any 'must see' places you´d recommend etc.. and any general hints (yes I am well aware there will be knocking shops in every town, but no I cant stop off....... ). The kids are 8 and have the energy for energetic holidays.

Also: campervan and having to still pay for campsites, or rent a normal car and stay in B&B´s?

We dont want to spend a fortune (the flights are expensive enough) we just want to have a good´ol family holiday.

What say you laddies?
Richyard

[masalai]

I have never been there but hope to sail there one day soon via the islands of Melanesia...

There is the "shotover experience" in jetboats, Bungee jumping, Xmas is the middle of summer time so lots of hiking - The movie "Lord of the rings" was shot there and the Hobbits village used to be open as an attraction. http://www.newzealand.com/travel/Australia/ Mid winter June/July or a bit later for the smow to really build up? in S Island add lots of snow activities - N island has wonderful sailing and parks as well as maori cultural shows etc...

http://www.nztourmaps.com/
http://www.ouatnewzealand.com/self-d...ps/classic-nz/
http://www.newzealand.com.au/small-g...ern-adventure/

[Guest625101138]

Do you like wine? Maybe not ideal for the boys.

I like the car/motel better than campervan/park. This is somewhat personal but a car, like a soft roader, will get to places easily and travels well. Motels are a bit more expensive though. Need to look at the motel prices to see if they are within your budget. Consider serviced apartments rather than just motel. Buying your own food and eating healthy with basic cooking can be lower cost than constant fast food or expensive restaurants.

Fishing is good if you know someone. Also sailing in Aukland. Need someone to make an offer. I can find out more about ocean fishing if that is an interest.

Probably "must" do rather than must see but only if it interested. Jet boats on the rivers. Bungee jumping - not my bent though but it was invented near there and they developed the modern version.

I have spent more time on the southern island. Dunedin is cute to pretty. Christchurch has a decent chairlift. Queenstown is touristy but some scenic lakes.

Hopefully someone who lives there will give some good pointers. I tend to know the wineries better than anything else.

Don't try to count the sheep.

Rick W

[Fanie]

Hi Rest Hin Piece,

What's in New Zealand ?? Someone here won an all expenses paid holiday there.
The first prize was a week in New Zealand and the second price was two weeks in New Zealand

Just kiddin. It sounds like a fabulous undertaking. Wish I could go.

Don't try to count the sheep.

He he... and don't learn any habbits from the locals either

That was another old lame joke ok...

[jehardiman]

My wife and I did about the same thing in '98, 2 weeks in NZ then a week in Fiji on the way back to the US.

We went in April (fall down there) got a car and drove. We didn't really have a problem finding places to stay, but you need to make the inter-island ferry reservation NOW. As far as rooms went, we just drove into town and looked up the local tourist information office (big blue "i") and let them get us a room house stay.

We flew into Auckland, drove north to Paihia on the Bay of Islands (nice) then back down through Whangarei to Tauranga (missed the Coromandel, and were told by many that we should have gone there, maybe next visit), To the cultural center at Rotorua which was nice with all the volcanics, down to Wellington (a very nice city to walk around in) then on the the South Island. Down the west coast to Greymouth and the Southern Alps, all a very nice drive with little traffic. On to Queenstown where all the sports stuff is then over to Fjordland National Park. Go there and take the overnight cruise, very nice and the tunnel is fun. Across the island to Dunedin and Oamaru to see the penguins then up the east coast to Christchurch; again a very nice walking city with botanical gardens and a very neat gondola ride to the top of the caldera that forms the harbor.

They drive on the left but I had no problem with a RHD manual. There is not as much traffic on the South Island and the food was inexpensive and good, I think I had red deer or trout every night. Roads are better, and wider on the North Island but at night there may not be much marking the ditches or edges of the rural roadways. Very good tourist information system, we would normally drive a few hours each day and get a room in the early afternoon, walk about then have dinner. All in all a nice trip. Just remember that the tip of the North Island is tropical, and Fjordland is decidedly temperate. The country is much larger north to south than it appears.

PS. On one lane bridges with rails, the train has right of way......

[MikeJohns]

Well to add to the tourist blurb you already have and not knowing what the family interests are this may add some insight:

Get out of Auckland as fast as possible, it's an urban sprawl with no soul sort of LA for beginners. A day sould do and there's much better things to see. I wouldn't bother going North of Auckland unless you just want beaches.

There are some wonderful spots off the beaten track, if you like exploring hire a car since you'll get to far more places. Get hold of the AA camping ground guide, usually pays to ring ahead and book a cabin or a motel for the following night.

Waikaremoana and the smaller lake waikareiti are real gems with very nice nature walks. Waikareiti is worth seeing before you die, you can only walk there along an easy track ( far better to go here than the coromandel peninsular IMO) The central volcanic area, and associated hot pools boiling mud steaming lakes etc are interesting but a bit ho hum after the first dozen . Gisborne is pretty but hardly worth the very long drive and Napier hastings are not worth visiting unless you like Art deco towns (Napier).



In the South island you want to spend twice as much time as in the North.
Takaka area is very pretty but a dead end and a long drive but the Abel Tasman national parkis worth visiting at the northern end. Also there's the biggest hole in the southern hemisphere which is worth looking down and a magnificent spring where a very large river appears out of the ground.

The west coast is a must, and worth spending several days exploring. drive all the way down and across to Wanka. I thought Milford sound was worth the visit and a boat ride. TeAnau lake and environs are very nice too .

Cose to Riverton theres another pretty lake off the beaten track called Hauroko that's worth a look if you like pretty lakes.

Central Otago is interesting for the old gold workings and shcist rock country and deep fast flowing rivers.

Stewart island is a real gem too. But I doubt you will have the time.

On the east coast Dunedin is worth a day or two ( go to the albatros colony) interesting large free museum close to the university with some good collections is definately worth a visit. Drive up mount cargill is a fantastic view of the whole area and a reasonably quick easy drive on a gravel road.

Christchurch is a flat city with not so much scenery as Dunedin. but it's much nicer than Auckland and easy to get around. Port hills are nice but after the othe rscenery you will have seen they will pale to nothing !

Camping grounds often have cabins with 4 bunks and a toilet/shower block and a communal kitchen, they are a great way to save money and meet people, much more social than motels.


Hope that doesn't confuse things too much.

[Fanie]

cabins with 4 bunks and a toilet/shower block and a communal kitchen, they are a great way to save money and meet people

Maybe in the kitchen, but are you sure about the other places

[MikeJohns]

Oh there's always a bevy of beautiful bikini clad New Zealand girls in the showers, you just have to mix in and share as best you can.

It's hard but that's New Zealand, no sense of propriety , shocking really. Just don't know why I keep going back

[Fanie]

That's it RHP, have you a place for me to go along or are you going to come up with some lame excuse

[owene]

I'm in NZ about 50km from the Abel Tasman National Park. But I grew up down in the south near Fiordland National park and that really is the best part of the world to see. The other comment about escaping from Auckland is dead right - it's full of argument and grief and expense. Motels are cheap, no more than $120-130 a night even at the Jan time of the year although a rental camper is likely to cost you a small fortune for one big enough for 4. Hire a car but be very careful about surcharges if you don't return it to the source. Kiwis are very hospitable and to prove the point, give us a yell and we might be able to find you a bed or two (we live in the country in a fairly large house where big boats get built!). See www.english-family.net/boatbuild

[masalai]

owene, bloody nice work, she will be a lovely build...

[tom kane]

As a born New Zealander I would be interested to know what the world at large think`s of the " Haka" performance. personaly I think it is offensive and my natural reaction is to tap the said performer on the nose,sharply or blow him away (like Capt., Cook did). It is not performed in context anymore but if you are in the police,armed services etc., you are expected to carry on like an idiot in this manner and the haka it part of your compolsory education,pupil and teacher.The compolsory Religious and Cultural protocol goes right through our society now,even hospital services,and it does not stop there.The Patenting System has Religious and Cultural committes. The Race Relations laws have got everybody screwed.

[masalai]

I have seen a "friendly" rugby where the other team refused such "intimidation" and mimicked the moves to the words of "Humpty Dumpty" with an anticipated consequence - Samoa won, - Maori lost that time - - - but excellent entertainment value for spectators... Where are all those Samoans?

As a spectacle in context and in a cultural centre, almost unbeatable...

[owene]

As a born Pakeha kiwi, I would say that the haka is fine as long as it's kept to relevant maori performances but I do object to my kids being taught to do it compulsarily at school (I also object to some of the other social mumbo-jumbo that they are force-fed at school which is what I thought was a place to learn to read and write). This whole pakeha/maori argument has been bought about by those black "freedom speakers" of the 70's that came over from the USA and stirred the maoris all up. I actually lived in UK for many of those years so missed much of it but was astonished to see the inherent biases that had crept in when I returned in 2002. Perhaps we should collectively (ie maori and pakeha) be looking at the gradual movement of power by stealth from the third group who seem to be sneaking in and taking over this beautiful country. This is a tad off the subject of boat designing and I'd forgive the moderator for putting a big thick black line under it!! But I had to chuck my dollars worth in.

[owene]

By the way Fanie - you can count the sheep here now, they've all left for greener pastures and we only have about 295 million left (less the two I hit last night on the Gresham Road).