owen

My wife and I and 3 kids (12,15,16) have 13 days in Australia and 12 in NZ. I get to plan NZ. My plan is to fly into Christchurch and spend that day and the next two in and about that area Stay at Charlotte Jane?), then take the tranz-alpine train across to Greymouth and rent a car. From there I want to drive to Mt. Cook Village and stay two days seeing that area, including the Fox Glacier (alpine guide walk) and Lake Matheson (stay at the Glacier Hotel?). From there we can drive to Queenstown for 4 days (Eichert's Private Hotel?), from which we can take day trips to Te Anau, Milford Sound and do all the sporting events to do in Queenstown. We then fly to Auckland and spend 2 days there before flying back home to St. Louis. I've left 1 day in the plan for leeway. Does anyone have any better ideas? Better places to stay? can I rent a car in Greymouth? Can I realistically drive this much? Thanks.

ALF

Your South Island plans sound do-able to me. Greymouth is pretty darn small. You might just want to hire a car in Christchurch and drive over Arthur's Pass yourselves (its a beautiful drive). Where are you flying from to get to Auckland? That would have a bearing on where you would be headed for driving.<BR><BR>If you or your kids like horseback riding, there is a good stable right near Lake Matheson for some trail rides with views of the Southern Alps. That alpine guided walk on Fox Glacier is great, but be careful! you will be in some slippery situations with nothing but hobnail boots on the approach, and instep crampons on the ice.

John

Owen:<BR>I like your plan. Ask 10 people, you'll get 10 different opinions. We took the day trip from Christchurch to Arthurs Pass by motor coach and returned by train. The train ride was breathtakingly beautiful. The motor coach was OK but nothing like the scenery observed from the train. I personally would not want to drive. It's a case of everyone but the driver enjoying the ride. Two lane winding road.

Steve

Looks pretty good to me. The only thing that jumped out at me was the time in Auckland. Make sure you have two days of stuff you want to do there before locking it in. It's a nice city but not terribly different than home. Definitely get to Milford Sound and take a long cruise--absolutely stunning. Te Anau is nice but not in the same class.<BR><BR>We just finished a trip that included NZ (4 weeks) and Oz (3 weeks). You can check it out at www.wanderlust2002.com and see if it gives you any ideas. Enjoy!

Owen

Thanks folks. I appreciate the advice. Note to first response - we are flying into Christchurch from Cairns and out of Auckland back home.

carolyn

Your itinerary on South Island can be done. The TranzAlpine is very scenic and relaxing. You can pick up a car at the train station in Greymouth, no problem. We used Avis, but there were others available also. The driving time from Greymouth to Queenstown is about 10 or more hours. Greymouth to Fox and Matheson is less than 3 hours.<BR><BR>Also, you can only access Mt. Cook Village by car from the southeast side. On your itinerary you are coming from the northwest side. Anyway, the village is nothing special. The view of the mountain and glacier are pretty though. It is about a two hour side trip off the main road that connects Christchurch to Queenstown. I would skip it and consider viewing the glacier by helicopter from Fox Village.<BR><BR>The drive from Matheson to Queenstown is very pretty with lots of places to stop along the way, good photo ops. Once in Queenstown, the kids will find lots to do. The food is as good as it gets in NZ. Bobsledding and the Jet Boat rides were especially fun. We took a side trip by car to Glenorchy for half a day and enjoyed it much more than the more publicized trip to Arrowtown. Don't miss Milford, but you can skip Te Anau altogether. One soulless, boring place. Since you have a car, I would drive to Milford rather than use the bus. Leave early and allow time for the many stops along "The Long and Winding Road". If you take an afternoon cruise on Milford, the crowds (and buses)are gone. You can easily book the cruise with little advance notice once you are in Queenstown.<BR><BR>One other thing, there is really no need to prebook all of your rooms. We were in NZ in February, and were able to negotiate favorable rates on all of our rooms by just walking in. I am not sure when this trip is planned, but you do not need advance resv. unless it is in the snow ski season in Queenstown. For the rest of the trip, I would keep it loose so that you can make changes to your itinerary as you see fit.