Matthew

Hi all!<BR><BR>My fiancee and I will be traveling in Australia and New Zealand for our honeymoon starting June 24th of this year. We've been frustrated with our travel agent trying to lock us into a "package" tour deal - we just want hotels, rental cars and flights - and want to do everything else ourselves.<BR><BR>As it stands now, our itinerary is: <BR>Sydney (Observatory Hotel) 2 nights<BR>Hunter Valley (Peppers Guest House) 1 night<BR>Mossman (Silky Oaks Lodge) 4 nights<BR>Hayman Island (Resort) 4 nights<BR>Auckland (Heritage Hotel) 2 nights<BR>Auckland (Hotel Du Vin) 1 night<BR>Rotorua (Millennium Hotel) 2 nights<BR><BR>We may tack on some south island time as well (Christchurch), but we're not sure.<BR><BR>Anyhow, my question is - are we making any mistakes? Are we missing anywhere? Our budget is pretty high, so we're free to go wherever, but we want to focus on less urban things - wineries, rainforest, snorkeling, etc... while still being sure to see the essential stuff. We don't have an interest in Ayers Rock, but we'd like to see at least a taste of the more arid interior - maybe just as a day trip by car.<BR><BR>Also, any recommendations on thigs to see in those areas? We're especially fuzzy on New Zealand.<BR><BR>Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!

Heather

Hi Matthew, <BR>I am also trying to plan a honeymoon but we are concentrating on NZ...from the research I have done we are thinking about staying at lodges...if you are going to Roturua you might consider the Solitaire Lodge or the Huka Lodge in Taupo 1 hr drive from Roturua. Also I hear Milford Sound is a must see....we too are interested in more activities...winetasting water sports etc than Urban Sightseeing. <BR>Hope this helps

Matthew

Heather:<BR><BR>Thanks - I'd forgotten about the Huka Lodge and I am interested in staying there. Any thoughts about the North Island vs. the South?

Heather

I am really struggling with the N vs S...they both have so much to offer. I tend to think South has more in terms of wineries, and water especially with Milford Sound, Nelson (paratiho farms lodge)Christchurch ( The George) is a good suggestion for Christchurch.) What you miss in the North though is the Bay of Islands (Kauri Cliffs Lodge) and the Coromandel Peninsula (Puka Park) and Hawke's Bay (good wine region) and Wellington....there is just too much to see!!<BR><BR>I just looked at the Hayman Resort as an option for us b/c I want to make sure we get the relaxation time in we want. Where are you flying from the start..As I am in the states I am not sure how to orient our trip so we are not on the go go go all the time....we would love to do both Australia and NZ but want to do each justice so I was concentrating on NZ...but you are inspriring me to try to do both...as we are looking at 3 weeks time also. <BR>

Marija

Just got back from 3 weeks in NZ. The South island is incredible. We spent two weeks on the South island and 6 days on the North island. We took an overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound and that was the highlight of our trip. For the honeymooners I would recommend cutting one of the nights at Silky Oaks and adding a night to Sydney. Silky Oaks is great but so is Sydney. We spent one night in Auckland and that was enough. It's a nice city but nothing more. Rotorua is certainly interesting, the highlight of the North Island for us, but we only saw Martinborough, Nelson, Rotorua and Auckland. I would not recommend Christchurch if you have limited time. If I was doing the trip I'd skip Rotorua and Auckland and fly straight to Queenstown. From Queenstown you can go drive to the fjords or go to Glenorchy, a beautiful town with some great resorts. If you want to stay in the Christchurch area, take the train to Arthur's Pass and stay at the Wilderness Lodge in Arthur's Pass, a great place for learning about NZ ecology, sheep, etc. Have a great trip. <BR>Marija

Heather

Marija, <BR>Would you mind posting your itinerary route and places you stayed for us?<BR>I am trying to figure out the best routes to take.<BR><BR>Thanks in advance <BR>Heather

Matthew

Based on other email threads, we'll probably switch gears and plan time around Milford Sound, etc... We'll still spend a few days in the Auckland area, too, but it sounds like missing the south island is a no-no.

Marija

Heather--<BR><BR>Here's our itinerary for NZ. <BR><BR>Arrive Christchurch, spend night at Parkroyal. Nice hotel (for some reason upgraded us to the Presidential suite!).<BR><BR>Took trans Alpine train to Arthur's Pass where we were picked up by ther Arthur's Pass Wilderness Lodge. Spent three nights at the lodge. The lodge and adjacent sheep farm are owned by a Ph.D. ecologist who is very actively involved in promoting and providing eco-tourism. The facilities and food were excellent. We went on several guided walks in the area and learned a lot about NZ wilderness and sheep farming. Would highly recommend the Arthur's Pass Wilderness Lodge. We then continued on the transalpine train to Greymouth where we picked up a rental car. From there we drove to Hokitika (only an hours drive) and spent the night at Villa Polenza, an Italian inspired boutique hotel. The owners were very nice and the dinner was excellent. A fake Italian villa on the outskirts of a small NZ town was a strange experience. Then on to Franz Joseph glacier where we stayed for one night at the Westwood Lodge. The lodge was comfortable, but contrary to travel book descriptions, didn't have a view of anything memorable. At 700 NZ it was fairly pricey for what it delivered. Dinner was mediocre. Then we continued on to Wilderness Lodge lake Moeraki, owned by the same ecologist. The rooms at this lodge were not as nice as those at the Arthur's Pass lodge, since it was a converted motel. It's on the edge of a rain forest with a path to the Tasman sea where you can see penguins and seals when they are in residence. The "naturalist" was not as knowledge as those in the Arthur's Pass lodge, but we did enjoy the two nights we spent there. The next stop was Lake Wanaka where we stayed at the Whare Kea lodge, a very nice property which we had all to ourselves. Then we continued on to Queenstown for a one night stop at the Parkroyal, a fairly standard hotel. On the way to Queenstown we had a wonderful lunch at Gibbston's winery. Since our next activity was an overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound we drove to TeAnau and spent the night there before starting the cruise. Fiordland Travel has a new boat, the Navigator, which began operations in November. We were very pleasantly surprised by the facilities--queen bed, shower, good food. The cruise was incredible. Porpoises played with the boat, we saw large numbers of seals swimming and lounging. We had selected Doubtful Sound over Milford Sound since it was supposedly quieter and less touristy. We were very pleased with our choice. After the cruise we headed to Glenorchy where we stayed at Blanket Bay, a wonderful resort, worth the extravagant rates. After three nights we flew to Wellington on the North Island and drove to Martinborough, a small wine town. We stayed at the Martinborough Hotel which had great rooms and excellent dinners. Martinborough is a very small town but we enjoyed touring the wineries and relaxing. After two nights we headed to Hastings where we stayed at the Hawthorne Country Lodge, a nice B&B. We had dinner at the Seleni winery and enjoyed it very much. Next were two nights in Rotorua where we stayed at the Solitaire Lodge. It's a nice lodge but not as nice as Blanket Bay. The service was not very good (spoiled fruit in the bowls, wine bottles taken away after opening and then the wine glasses not refilled during the dinner since wait staff vanished). The lodge is also not as well located for viewing the thermal sights as you might think from a map. To get anywhere except for the Buried Village you have to drive into Rotorua and then drive south again. The thermal oddities were fascinating and well worth seeing. We then returned the rental car and flew to Auckland where we stayed at the Stamford Plaza, a nice modern hotel. We really enjoyed NZ, especially the South Island. Let me know if you have any questions.

Heather

THANKS thats a great help.<BR><BR>

Big

I don't understand why you would be going from Mossman for one night to Hayman because that means you are flying into Cairns and going to Mossman then flying out of Cairns the next day and going down to Hayman Island. I am not against going to Hayman, on the contrary but to only have 2 days in Sydney is not doing youself a favour especially as you will be jetlagged - take out the Hunter Valley and then to fly all the way to the Cairns region and only go to Mossman is also not doing yourself a favour either as that area has at least one weeks full on fantastic things to do - but then you fly south 500 klms to Hayman ( nice choice) after only one night!!!!<BR>Remember this is the very best time to be on the GBR although it can be a tad cool. It will however be very very cold in NZ so take that into consideration as to where you want to go. For my money Queenstown is the best area for a number of reasons - skiing, rafting, scenery, closest to Milford or Doubtful and also other things to do.<BR>Auckland is a stopover only en route to somewhere else, Rotorua could be a day trip unless you really are into hot mud springs and it stinks to high heaven too. So the South island is by far and away the better one to visit as the nice areas in the north island are not at their best in the middle of winter anyway and for my money they don't stack up against the south Isl. at any time of year. Check with others who have been to Milford Sound in winter as it could well be that you won't get in because of snow, ice and fog.

Aussie

JUst back from Queensland. We went to Silky Oaks Lodge. Mossman only for afternoon tea...It blew me away. What a lovely relaxing place to stay. As we left the 4 wheel drive tours arrived back, we stayed at Port Douglas, if I had my time again Silky Oaks Lodge would have been my choice . Good luck.

Matthew

Bertha:<BR><BR>Thanks for your suggestions!<BR><BR>I'm confused, however - we are planning to spend 4 nights at Silky Oaks, not one...<BR><BR>Anyhow, you're the second person to suggest an extra day in Sydney, so I think that's what we'll do. We've also tacked on another day in Hunter Valley.<BR><BR>Most significantly, we've changed our NZ plans dramatically to make sure we see the south island (at least the southern part of it). Here's our new plan:<BR><BR>Sydney (Observatory Hotel) 3 nights<BR>Hunter Valley (Peppers Guest House) 2 nights<BR>Mossman (Silky Oaks Lodge) 4 nights<BR>Hayman Island (Resort) 4 nights<BR>Queenstown (Nugget Point Resort) 3 nights<BR>Auckland (Hotel Du Vin) 4 nights<BR><BR>Any suggestions on these revisions? Places we shouldn't miss? Places we shouldn't stay at?

Suzie

I wouldn't spend 3 nights in Auckland...go anywhere else in NZ. Its just a big city and there is soooo much more to see in NZ, especially in the S. Island. Or if you have to be in that area for some reason, go over to Coromandel or up to Bay of Islands, just leave Auckland.

Dawn

We are spending 3 weeks in New Zealand for our honeymoon, beginning May 1st. Here is our itinery (this website was very useful for planning).<BR><BR>4 Nights Queenstown<BR>3 Nights Wilderness Lodge, Arthur's Pass<BR>1 Night Akaroa<BR>2 Nights Christchurch<BR>Tranz scenic train to Picton, ferry to Wellington<BR>2 Nights Wellington<BR>1 Night Martinborough<BR>3 Nights Bay of Islands/Northland<BR>2 Nights Auckland - probably day in Coromandel<BR>1 Night Hotel du Vin<BR><BR>There are a number of areas we are missing, but we tried to balance seeing a lot, with our desire to spend at least 2 nights whenever possible (you know how hectic it is planning a wedding - we look forward to relaxing, but still want to see so much!)<BR><BR>4 Nights at Hotel du Vin seems like a lot, it is a way outside of Auckland, but may be convenient for day trips to Coromandel or Waitomo.<BR><BR>good luck!

Mmm

I often wonder why people go where they do and the Coromandel area is one of those places. I didn't find it at all interesting or even pretty, would probably rate as one of the most boring places I have seen in NZ<BR>Auckland as a city, by the way, ranks as having one of the highest rates of crime in the world.<BR>Wellington is the windy city and nothing there of any interest and Akaroa can be seen in an afternoon and is not far out of Christchurch. Christchurch is a stop-over for the night.

Dawn

People have a lot of reasons (many of them very valid) for choosing to not use their real email addresses, but it is always interesting to me that those who only offer negative feedback with no USEFUL advice at all always use fake/no email addresses. (and have no legitimate data to back up crime rate assertions!)<BR><BR>Everyone has their reasons for choosing the cities/timeframe that they do...it is great to use these boards to get advice/feedback/exchange tips, but simple criticism with no valid information (of course we know the distance of Akaroa to Christchurch - we are visiting friends of family)(or useful suggestions) behind it do no good at all.<BR><BR>Best of luck to you Matt...You'll have a wonderful time, and you have received some great feedback here.

Matthew

Thanks all for some great advice!<BR><BR>One thing to note - the reason we want to spend some time in the North Island has a lot to do with the fact that we'll be going during the NZ winter. It will be our honeymoon and I believe the Queenstown area will be quite cold! Nice for staying in a cozy lodge, but not so nice when it's snowing!

Kiwi

Don't expect it to be too much warmer in the north 'cause it could be very cold, very cloudy and very windy and very rainy and uncomfortable. Queenstown at least gets sunny more often.

Mmm

Well Dawn from Chicago you can come off your high horse. You listed where you were going and by making a comment about those places I thought you may want to take a closer look at them and by not mentioning those that I agreed with you about was the easiest method of making a bloody comment. If you don't wish, for some reason, to take the information on board then thats ok too. However you are the type of person that people hate to make a reply to as you are a know it all " of course we know how far it is from Akaroa to Christchurch" How the hell do I know that. You may well have never known where it was but thought that spending 5 days there was a good thing because you read it in a magazine - how should I know. Without making any comments no one on these boards would get any information and if when they did make a comment we got " well I knew that Invercargle was't a great place to spend 2 weeks" then no one would ever give anyone any help. So go spit you dummy you rude person, preferably don't come here to NZ as we don't want people like you who think because they are a yank they know EVERYTHING

Alan

What an extreme reaction (above!) to what was really quite a mild comment! I always thought the idea of forums like this was to bring people together, not vilify them for their differences of opinion or country of birth!<BR><BR>To Matthew: My only suggestion for your new itinerary is that 4 days in Auckland is really too much. Possibly an improvement would be 2 nights in each of Auckland, Queenstown, and Christchurch. The temperature differences between north and south island will only be noticeable when you start to climb mountain ranges; therefore, Christchurch (a very pleasant city) shouldn't be significantly colder than Auckland. Queenstown, however, may be! Whatever you decide, have a great time!