New Zealand

IanC

IanC

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Hi All,

Just wondering if anyone has ever traveled to New Zealand and if so, would you mind giving me a bit of itinerary advice?

Myself and my wife want to go around the the new year (busy time I know) and we want to mainly south island locations (hobbiton being the exception) by hiring a car.

Thanks in advance for any advice or tips.

Thanks

Ian
 
Ian have you watched the visually stunning program on BBC called 'New Zealand' ? 3 episodes still available on the iPlayer (I watched epi 1 last night)

Sorry cannot help otherwise, never been. :(
 
Hire a campervan and drive around the south island, you'll need at lest two weeks, preferably more.

It's quite easy as there is only one road all the way around so you can just stop where you feel like.
 
As Nawty says, hire a camper. We did it way back (1990?) and got a deal where they flew us down from the north island and we drove the camper back over 3 weeks - worked out cheaper as most want to drive north to south.
I can't remember names of places but we stopped at anyplace that appealed and had the best time. Just allow the place to dictate the pace..
 
badlywornroy said:
Ian have you watched the visually stunning program on BBC called 'New Zealand' ? 3 episodes still available on the iPlayer (I watched epi 1 last night)

Sorry cannot help otherwise, never been. :(
Click to expand...
Yes, it is making me want to go even more! :)
 
Thanks all. Camper van is looking like the way to go to avoid not being able to book accomodation.

Problem is, I don't want to drive anything too big which rules out the toilet option, then we are reliant on finding camping places. Hmmmm
 
When we toured the South Island, we only took a car & booked motels/b&b. It needs to be booked around a proper itinery, but that worked fine.

Wanaka was a lovely lake town. We stayed 2 nights at Franz Josef, Glenfern Villas, so we could spend a day on the glacier. Mt Cook area is spectacular, but you get to soak it all up as you drive along. Mt Aspiring was a side trip along an unmade road - you wouldn't get a camper along there - it was the best spot. Crossing over a glacial river, on a rope bridge & walking through the wood to fantastic views. Queenstown is great for adventure trips, & a cable car to the top of the mountain gets you to mountain biking or concrete 'luge'. Shotover Jetboat is good fun.

We picked up the car in Christchurch & dropped it off at Greymouth, & caught the train, said to be one of the ten best train journeys in the world!
 
IanC said:
Thanks all. Camper van is looking like the way to go to avoid not being able to book accomodation.

Problem is, I don't want to drive anything too big which rules out the toilet option, then we are reliant on finding camping places. Hmmmm
Click to expand...

Our camper was one of those little car-based ones - we staying in camp sites most nights so toilets/showers were no problem, and on the nights we didn't, well, we went native...
 
IanC said:
Thanks all. Camper van is looking like the way to go to avoid not being able to book accomodation.

Problem is, I don't want to drive anything too big which rules out the toilet option, then we are reliant on finding camping places. Hmmmm
Click to expand...
You'll be amazed what they can fit in a camper. You don't need a big coachbuilt model to get a shower and toilet. You can see showers and toilets in vw transporters which are no bigger than a large estate like a Mondeo. In NZ they will be Japanese imports like Toyota hiace.

This model looks good. It's larger than a transporter but they are very easy to drive. It's also very nice to have a nice lounge to relax in. You can also sleep with 2 singles rather than make up the bed every night which can be a pain if your knackered from driving all day.

www.mightycampers.co.nz/cheap-campervan-hire-nz/Pages/deuce-2-berth-campervan.aspx
 
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I'm off to NZ in November for 4 weeks. No itinerary at all just drive around ( both islands) and hopefully find accommodation on the way. I have pencilled in White Island as a place I want to go and Mrs plloydie has said Milford Sound for her. had someone point out that using Airbnb can be useful for finding places to stay. Camper vans seemed hugely expensive. When we go on this sort of road trip we never have anything planned and so far it's always been fine.
 
plloydie said:
I'm off to NZ in November for 4 weeks. No itinerary at all just drive around ( both islands) and hopefully find accommodation on the way. I have pencilled in White Island as a place I want to go and Mrs plloydie has said Milford Sound for her. had someone point out that using Airbnb can be useful for finding places to stay. Camper vans seemed hugely expensive. When we go on this sort of road trip we never have anything planned and so far it's always been fine.
Click to expand...
Milford Sound is an amazing place, especially if the weather is kind to you, but be warned about the mozzies....
 
plloydie said:
I'm off to NZ in November for 4 weeks. No itinerary at all just drive around ( both islands) and hopefully find accommodation on the way. I have pencilled in White Island as a place I want to go and Mrs plloydie has said Milford Sound for her. had someone point out that using Airbnb can be useful for finding places to stay. Camper vans seemed hugely expensive. When we go on this sort of road trip we never have anything planned and so far it's always been fine.
Click to expand...
Hi Paul, have you traveled in New Zealand before?
 
I see you have made Hobbiton an exception, I have too but Mrs wants to go so I'll be dropping her of at the entrance and doing my own thing. I've told her if she wants to walk around what is effectively a sheep farm I have a mate who has such a place 30 mins from our front door. The YouTube videos of hobbiton look awful.
 
My wife did NZ by car before I knew her. She was out there for three weeks and said she barely scratched the surface and wants to go back for a proper look (with me in tow). She pre booked hotels before she went and did the driving in easy stages. Be aware that a lot of the roads are 50mph limit and the scenery is breathtaking, so it'll take a lot longer to get around than you might think. ;)
 
IanC said:
Hi All,

Just wondering if anyone has ever traveled to New Zealand and if so, would you mind giving me a bit of itinerary advice?

Myself and my wife want to go around the the new year (busy time I know) and we want to mainly south island locations (hobbiton being the exception) by hiring a car.

Thanks in advance for any advice or tips.

Thanks

Ian
Click to expand...

I've love NZ. Been 3 times, twice for 3 weeks (holiday with friend and honeymoon) and once for around 6 months backpacking around, though never been there at the time of year you are going - always around March -October.

It really depends what you want to do and how long you are there for but South Island is basically amazing scenery and adventure activities. Not sure on the time of year you are going but at times you can:

Go whale Watching
See Penguins
If you have time and like trekking visit Stewart Island (might be very busy, was empty and cold when I went) -you can see penguins and Kiwi birds there. Need to carry your own food, cooking stove, clothers etc though).
Queenstown - so much to do activity wise
Walking on the Fox or Franz Glaciers \ Skydiving over them.
Lots of great horse riding to be found
Christchurch had the Antartic centre which I fond interesting, not sure if it's still there
small 4 seater plan ride to Milford Sound, then boat or Canoe on the Sound itself (you can also drive there - but long drive)

North Island you can swim with dolphins and some great (and quite warm) diving - can't remember the name know Knight's something maybe.
Wellington is nice as a town
Auckland I found a bit bland
Tongariro Crossing is a really good 1 or 3 day walk.
Taupo is really nice and Rotorua has the lovely sulphur egg small and geysers.

I can try and dig out specific places I actually did some of the above if that will help.

When I was there for 6 months I just bough a car off backpacker for £300, then sold it again for about the same when I left. With my wife hired a car and left our itinery open - some of what you want to do will be weather dependant to keep that in mind - no point going to Mount Cook for example if it's covered in Cloud.

Whatever you will do:

1. You will love it
2. You will never have enough time!

Enjoy!

Al
 
IanC said:
Thanks all. Camper van is looking like the way to go to avoid not being able to book accomodation.

Problem is, I don't want to drive anything too big which rules out the toilet option, then we are reliant on finding camping places. Hmmmm
Click to expand...

We did the North Island, but hired a camper without a toilet from Escape, was great and the whole back turned into a queen size bed, with a camping stove accessable from the rear. Stayed mainly at Conservation Society camp sites, which were dotted all over the place and had showers and toilets.

We flew into Auckland, but didn't spend any time there. Drove north around Northland to see the Kauri trees and Tane Mahuta, around to the Bay of Islands, then down and around to the Coromandel - Rotorua - hobbiton - waitomo glow worm caves and then some beaches on the coast on the way back to Auckland, we were only there for 2 weeks though and travelling with an almost 2 year old.
 
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My wife and I went there fro out Honeymoon, 16 nights visiting both North and South Island.
Pre-planned our trip using mainly B&B - there was a voucher scheme so you got a consistent (and cheaper) pre-book price.
Allowed for a 2-3 hours or so driving each day, with rest of day to explore - as others have said, could easily have been there for longer (we didn't go south of Queenstown, just wasn't time unfortunately).

RE: Speed limits - they are (or were when we went) strictly enforced, with fines based on how much you exceed the limit by (as I found out to my cost - stuck behind 2 camper-vans going up one side of a mountain going well below the limit but with no safe option to pass, on the way down, came to a nice long downhill straight, road clear, so put my foot down and got quickly past them. In the distance a police car spotted me and then pulled me over - I was 10mph over the limit as I finished overtaking, so it was a fine and a warning to make sure I kept to the limit in future)
 
IanC said:
Thanks all. Camper van is looking like the way to go to avoid not being able to book accomodation.

Problem is, I don't want to drive anything too big which rules out the toilet option, then we are reliant on finding camping places. Hmmmm
Click to expand...


We borrowed our friends camper which wasn't self contained (the term for having a bog inside) and had no problems at all, there are lots of government run campsites which you just rock up to (there's an honesty box registration), all have toilets or if not you can just go wild - free camping is a major thing over there. There are always cafes and things you can find in the morning if you don't fancy that.

The Sounds, Doubtful and Milford are both amazing - the overnight Doubtful trip especially.

Something you don't hear much about but is awesome for a couple of hours is the Omaka Aviation Heritage centre near Blenheim (where you should go to try wine) which is sponsored/owned by Peter Jackson and was put together by the LOTR set people, it is really cool.

http://omaka.org.nz

Something I would say is that NZ is a long way to go so you want to do as much as possible whilst your there and it is no way near as cheap as you might expect (especially food and wine, it is cheaper to buy their wine here than it is even from a cellar door over there, lamb too) so try to make sure you have plenty of spare funds.
 
Faldrax said:
My wife and I went there fro out Honeymoon, 16 nights visiting both North and South Island.
Pre-planned our trip using mainly B&B - there was a voucher scheme so you got a consistent (and cheaper) pre-book price.
Allowed for a 2-3 hours or so driving each day, with rest of day to explore - as others have said, could easily have been there for longer (we didn't go south of Queenstown, just wasn't time unfortunately).

RE: Speed limits - they are (or were when we went) strictly enforced, with fines based on how much you exceed the limit by (as I found out to my cost - stuck behind 2 camper-vans going up one side of a mountain going well below the limit but with no safe option to pass, on the way down, came to a nice long downhill straight, road clear, so put my foot down and got quickly past them. In the distance a police car spotted me and then pulled me over - I was 10mph over the limit as I finished overtaking, so it was a fine and a warning to make sure I kept to the limit in future)
Click to expand...

We got pulled over for going 10kph under the speed limit and were told to go faster!
 
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