gfeibleman

We have to be at a meeting (mornings only) in Queenstown from Sept 1-4. We fly to Auckland on Sept 10 and head back to the states the afternoon of the 14th. Here is what we have mapped out. Any thoughts, ideas and suggestions? Not really sure how to best spend our time in queenstown and we do not have time for an overnight boat trip so we thought we would see fjordland by air.
Also any recommendations for helicopter companies out of Queenstown?

The critique of my sicily trip in 2005 was very much improved by this group.

31-Aug TUE Arrive Queenstown 3:35 pm
1-Sep WED helicopter?
2-Sep THU Group Dart River Safari?
3-Sep FRI Gibbston Valley Winery and Bungy Site Tour?
4-Sep SAT ?
5-Sep SUN Drive to Twizel. Stop at lakes along the way stay at Heartland Lodge in Twizel. Dinner at lodge
6-Sep MON Day trip drive to Mt. Cook
7-Sep TUE drive to Christchurch (about 3 1/2 hours)
Stay at Anslem House B & B or Roma on Riccarton
8-Sep WED ???
9-Sep THU R/T scenic train to Arthurs Pass?
10-Sep FRI Leave Christchurch at 9:40 a.m. Arrive Auckland 11:00 a.m. drive South to Waitomo. Stay at Waitomo Caves Lodge
11-Sep SAT Tour Waitomo caves. Which tours? See some thermal areas on way to Rotorua.Stay at Waiteti Lakeside Lodge or The Lakehouse
12-Sep SUN Rotorua explorting Maori culture
13-Sep MON explore Whakarewarewa Thermal area in mornings (Pohutu geyser, Waiotapu therman wonderland, etc. South of Rotorua. drive back to Auckland Stay at Hotel Langham
14 - Sept. TUES. Drive to airport. flight leaves 235pm for states.

Melnq8

So Sept 1-4 are half days? The only Dart River Safari that operates in September leaves QT at 11:40 am. Guests are transported to Glenorchy, where the tour gets underway at 1 pm. Will you have time to fit this in?

Schedules here:
http://www.dartriver.co.nz/dartriver/RatesAndInfo/

There's loads of things to see and do in/around QT...you'll have no trouble filling Sept 4. Will you have a car, or are you strictly looking for organized tours? If you have the whole day, you might consider taking the tour to Milford Sound. It's a very long day, but people do it all the time. Gorgeous scenery on a clear day.

Are you spending the night of Sept 6 in Mt Cook? I ask because the drive to Christchurch from Mt Cook is 331 km, about 4:45, not 3.5 hours.

Unless you're set on Mt Cook, you might consider driving from QT to Christchurh via the West Coast - it's absolutely gorgeous, but takes longer, so you'd need to re-work you itinerary. Once you reach Greymouth, you could drop off your rental car and take the TranzAlpine to Christchurch. I've taken it both ways and felt it was too much - a one way journey on the TranzAlpine was plenty for me. You could arrive the evening prior to your departure to CH, freeing up some time elsewhere.

Sorry, I can't help with the NI, it's been too long since I was there. I'm a diehard SI fan anyway.

gfeibleman

Thanks. the plan had been to stay in Twizel and day trip to Mt. Cook so that the drive to Christchurch started in the flatlands.

are you suggesting "skip" Mt. Cook and do the west coast drive? If so, how do you break it up? Thanks

Melnq8

I'm just pointing out that the drive along the West Coast is one of the most scenic stretches on the entire SI.

I'm not a huge fan of the inland route, but others might disagree with me. Driving up the West Coast will take longer...you'd need to break up the drive in/around the glaciers.

Queenstown to the glaciers takes at least six hours, but man it's pretty, and there are many reasons to stop along the way. The glaciers to Christchurch will take you another 5.5 hours, or only 2.5 hours from the glaciers to Greymouth, where you could pick up the return TranzAlpine train to Christchurch. I believe the train leaves Greymouth after lunch, so you'd have plenty of time to make the drive from Franz Josef or Fox Glacier.

Mount Cook is only 63 km from Twizel and it's not a difficult road, certainly not mountainous, as the road goes between the mountains, not into them.

mlgb

I like the inland road. The pass area through the tussock lands is very scenic as are the turquoise lakes. If you can afford it and if it isn't too late, I would recommend staying inside the Mt. Cook National Park rather than at Twizel. Gives a better chance to see the mountain at sunrise/sunset.

Enjoyment of either routing is weather dependent.
The walk to Mt. Cook's Hooker Valley track and glacier's lake is quite good and can be done without guide, but you won't go onto the glacier.

The west coast drive is through rainforest and all that it entails, ie chance of a rainout!

freetoroam

West Coast or Mt Cook? Would give the nod to the west coast although I'm sure you wouldn't be disappointed with either. Since weather can be a spoiler, you might want to make your decision based on the weather forecasts on the day you leave Queenstown. Of course this assumes you're willing to take the risks involved with waiting.

Queenstown activity options for any afternoon/evening - Arrowtown, Skyline Gondola [beautiful views - http://www.skyline.co.nz/queenstown/ ], Kiwi Birdlife Park [very educational - http://www.kiwibird.co.nz/ ], Maori experience [ http://www.hakapa.com/ or http://www.skyline.co.nz/queenstown/kiwihaka/ ]. Mentioned the Maori option as a way to free up time on the NI.

NI comment - consider reducing amount of time allotted to thermal activities / Maori culture and spending 2 nights in Auckland. SI advocates will probably disagree but I feel Auckland is worth more than just a place to spend the night before flying home.

ElendilPickle

We really enjoyed the Black Labyrinth cave tubing tour in Waitomo. If you're up for a bit of mild adventure, it is lots of fun.

Lee Ann

travellingdad

you have a lot of great advice for SI, so I'll try help a bit with NI only.
Firstly Waitomo : The 'town' itself is tiny and not much there, so you may want to consider staying in taupo, which is much livelier and set on the beautiful lake taupo. Depending on how adventurous you are, you'll want to consider the cave tubing like ElendilPickle says. Otherwise though, we found the regular glowworm cave tour very disappointing. A lot of hype and not that great, and very short. Instead you may want to think about the 1 day hike Tongariro Crossing in Tongariro National Park near Taupo. It's regarded as the best one day hike in NZ, which for that country is really saying something. We did it with our 2 boys and it was spectacular, an incredible day through classic Lord of the Rings territory.
Another area to consider in NI is Coromandel. A series of small towns and magnificent beaches - best is Cathedral Cove - not too far from Auckland.Well worth it if you can find the time.