Christchurch or Akaroa?

Old Mar 26th, 2015, 02:55 PM
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Christchurch or Akaroa?

I' need some more advice about our planned 17-day trip to the South Island of New Zealand in November. (Thanks for your feedback on the initial plan, which we have subsequently revised.) The first 15 days we will be in Abel Tasmen NP (3 nights), Fox Glacier (2), Milford Sound (1), Arrowtown (2), Routeburn Track (3), Queenstown (2, on either side of the Routeburn trip), and Aoraki/Mt. Cook (2). We know we will be driving a lot, but we will also be hiking and kayaking a lot to make up for it--and seeing that amazing scenery.

We are left with 2 nights and 2+ days after we leave Mt. Cook and before our flight out at 8 pm on the last day. Here's my question: should we (1) drive directly to Christchurch and spend both nights there; (2) spend one or both nights in Akaroa; or (3) stop overnight somewhere along the way from Mt. Cook and spend only 1 night in Christchurch (or Akaroa)? Any suggestions for your favorite places to stay for the final 2 nights would also be much appreciated. Thanks!
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Old Mar 26th, 2015, 03:55 PM
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Akaroa

Although it's a 5.5 hour drive from Mount Cook, it'll be entirely different from the places you've already visited. Christchurch, while interesting enough in it's own way, is basically just a city, whereas Akaroa, situated in an ancient volcano, is rather unique. The Criterion Motel is a good option with waterfront views, but presents a few noise issues.

It'll take you about 90 minutes to get from Akarora to the airport on your day of departure.

Please tell me you don't plan to drive from Abel Tasman to Fox Glacier and Fox Glacier to Milford in one go - it's a nine hour drove from Abel Tasman to Fox and a 10 hour drive from Fox to Milford.
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Old Mar 26th, 2015, 04:20 PM
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Thanks, Mel. Great advice, which we will follow.

We MAY drive from Abel Tasman to Fox in one go, but we may break it up with an overnight along the way (but then we'd only have 1 night in the glacier area). If we decide to break it up, where should we do it?

From Fox we are driving to Arrowtown for the night (to break up the drive), then on to Milford for the next night, and back to Arrowtown for a night after that. We are planning to kayak in Milford the morning after we stay there and then back to Arrowtown in the afternoon.

I know Queenstown is very close to Arrowtown, but we have basically free lodging in Queenstown before and after the Routeburn hike as part of an Ultimate Guides spring special, so that's why we are staying in both places.
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Old Mar 26th, 2015, 05:33 PM
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A good option for breaking up the Abel Tasman-Fox drive is Punakaiki. Other options include Westport and Greymouth.

I drove from Motueka to Punakaiki back in September and it was exhausting. The roads are very winding and slow going. It took us 8 hours with stops, and I'm experienced with driving on NZ roads. I'd have jumped from the moving car if I knew I had to continue to Fox.

While I fully understand your limited time and desire for two nights at the glaciers, which I recommend, please don't try to drive from Abel Tasman to Fox in one go.

Where exactly in the Abel Tasman region are you leaving from?

Fox to Arrowtown is still a long drive, close to six hours with stops, but doable.

Kayaking in the morning, then driving back to Arrowtown - this is 4.5 hours of driving - any reason you don't want to just stay in Te Anau? Arrowtown is easily visited from Queenstown.
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Old Mar 27th, 2015, 04:25 AM
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I am going to be so bold as to disagree with our resident NZ expert, Melnq8. Christchurch, IMHO, is not "just another city" It is a city recovering from two major earthquakes in some remarkable and fascinating ways. You will see things there you have not seen elsewhere.

Although we tend to be focussed more on outdoors and nature on our travels, we spent 2 days in Christchurch on our recent first ever visit to NZ and enjoyed it immensely. We also did a day in Akaroa, but the sailing and swimming with dolphins we had planned we cancelled due to bad weather. We managed to put in the time okay but spent more of it in gift shops than I would have liked.
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Old Mar 27th, 2015, 03:56 PM
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You make a very good point eliztravels2. I stand corrected. I thoroughly enjoyed our post earthquake visits to Christchurch as well.

A good way to see Christchurch is via Segway.
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Old Mar 27th, 2015, 04:22 PM
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Correction: I meant to say the activities we planned for Akaroa WERE cancelled, not by us because we didn't like the weather, but by the tour companies because conditions were too bad. it is a lovely town but in my view not a place to linger in inclement weather.
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Old Mar 27th, 2015, 05:15 PM
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You are making this choice difficult! We'll think about it (we live in a city and enjoy city life, but we also love charming rural/small town areas). Sounds like weather will be a factor--perhaps more in November than later in the season?
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Old Mar 27th, 2015, 06:02 PM
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I was in Akaroa for three nights this past September. We had 1.5 beautiful days and one crap day. The beautiful days were spent on a harbor cruise, taking long walks and exploring the hills above town.

The crap day was spent walking the Onawe Peninsula, visiting the cheese shop, a winery, the museum and a couple of galleries.

To me, the drive to Akaroa is a highlight, and the various tracks above the settlement are well worth a full day of exploration. It's a beautiful place, particularly on a beautiful day.

Christchurch definitely has more indoor activities which would suit on a bad weather day (Quake City for example) but even cities look better in the sunshine IMO.

Both have their attractions, it just comes down to your personal preferences and what you want to do.

There's just no telling what the weather will do, so I wouldn't make a choice based on that.
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Old Mar 28th, 2015, 01:54 AM
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The drive to Akaroa is indeed lovely, but as we travelled by shuttle bus we weren't able to explore en route. One of those times when having our own vehicle would have made a difference, giving us access to alternate activities.
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Old Apr 17th, 2015, 03:41 PM
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I second eliztravels2 about Christchurch. At this point in its rebuilding, the city doesn't have a lot of normal "musts" to do. However, my husband and I in our trip last month and this found the earthquake rebuilding experience completely fascinating. The science of earthquakes, what happens to people and buildings and even ground in an earthquake, the spirit of the community in fighting to rebuild, the creativity you see everywhere -- it's right there in front of you, not on a tv show or a documentary. If that doesn't float your boat tho, I'd skip it.

We did not go to the town of Akoroa because it sounded like more shopping and restaurants; we drove the Summit Road to hike on Godley Head, north of there, which was stunning. However, Akoroa gives you access to wildlife cruises, and that's kind of an NZ "must" in itself. We had already done such a cruise in Kaikoura, where on the whale watch we saw a whale (lol my husband said he thinks the company has one chained to the ocean floor because they give your money back if you don't see one), a huge group of Dolphins, fur seal lions and a couple of albatrosses. If you don't think you're going to get that elsewhere on your trip, I would definitely try for that. If the weather turns crappy and your lodging is flexible, you could always switch to Chrustchurch. You can see everything there with an umbrella. That really is a good thing about a city!

Re the weather, in our month in NZ it only rained twice during the day. It rained at night, it was cloudy during some days (unfortunately during all of Abel Tasman, which looks a lot like Maine without sun), and a couple were fogged in. But we were never stuck inside because of heavy rain. However, it's not just rain that cancels things. Rough seas after a cyclone cancelled the whale watches for five days in Kaikoura; helicopters can't fly to the glaciers in fog or clouds; small planes won't take you to the top of mountains if it's too windy. Abel Tasman cancelled kayaking one day because of waves; we went the next day, which was calm. All this outdoor stuff means it's great to have some flexibility.

As an aside, I know a lot of people love Arrowtown, but it struck us as just another quaint town full of shopping and restaurants; we've seen that a hundred times everywhere. We did the river hike there and it was just ok. That was the one day in a month we felt we kind of wasted. If it's less of a hassle to just stay based in Queenstown, you might think about it. If you're going to Milford, it's convenient to stay in Te Anau, which is two hours from Queenstown. We stayed in the Dusky Ridges farm b&b there, which was uber comfortable and had gorgeous views.
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Old Apr 25th, 2015, 08:35 PM
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Although I live in NZ I am not an expert on the South Island. Christchurch is indeed very interesting due to the rebuild but the chance to see the world's smallest dolphin in Akaroa and to sit and breathe in the freshest air I think ever, is really special. I think it is one of those places that are really 'pure' New Zealand. Enjoy your planning.
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