Amazing New Zealand Trip
 

Just got back from three-and-a-half weeks in New Zealand. I'm not going to bore you with the details of the whole trip, but want to recommend some highlights and some good places to stay.
In Auckland, we stayed at Stafford Villas, which is outside of town in Birkenhead, but it's a lovely B&B and you can take a ferry across to downtown Auckland very easily.
Bay of Islands was my favorite place in all of New Zealand -- very beautiful and easy to get around. We stayed at a wonderful B&B: Cliff Edge By The Sea which had great rooms and stunning views. Can't recommend this place highly enough.
Also in that area, we took a group tour by plane called Salt Air Tours that flies you up the north coast and shows you all the beautiful scenery, then lands and takes you in 4-wheel-drive vehicles so you can get a closer look at some more isolated areas.
In Rotorua, we did a tour with a Maori guide, named Sonny Corbett. He gave us a fascinating tour of the area and its history -- I find a lot of tourists totally miss out on the Maori side of things when they do New Zealand and that's a shame.
In Wellington, we stayed at 298 Oriental Bay, a B&B about ten-fifteen minutes walk from downtown. It has a great view of the bay; and the owner, Susan, was the most gracious and hospitable person we met in all of New Zealand (and that's saying a lot, considering Kiwis are a very hospitable people). She really took care of us like our mother would have. A great place.
On the South Island, the drive on the West Coast south to Queenstown is perhaps the most beautiful drive we've ever done anywhere. It really is not to be missed. Along the route, we stayed at the Kapitea Ridge Lodge, a B&B with breathtaking views, comfortable rooms and all the modern amenities.
In Queenstown, we stayed at a B&B just outside town called Pencarrow Bed and Breakfast which has humongous rooms that have fabulous views of the water. They also serve the very best breakfast in New Zealand -- and possibly anywhere. You have to drive to get into Queenstown, but we found Queenstown a very manageable city to drive in (unlike Auckland or Dunedin or Wellington). Also had good meals in Queenstown at The 19 and The Bunker. Did a helicopter tour over the mountains with Over The Top Helicopters -- great pilots, who really know what they're doing.
In Te Anau, we stayed at a B&B called Te Anau Lodge, a very charming place that used to be an old convent!
From there we did the overnight on Doubtful Sound on the Fiordland Navigator -- an amazing experience! Interesting people, lots of wildlife, beautiful scenery -- highly recommended!
We drove from Te Anau to Dunedin (lots of farms and lots of sheep!). Stayed in Dunedin at Corstorphine House, a marvelous place where each room is decorated like a different country. This was one of our favorite places to stay. Also outside of town, but it was easy to taxi in and out.
One of the highlights of our trip was in Dunedin. Elm Wildlife Tours takes you on a tour of all the wonderful animals in the area, ending up on an isolated beach where first there's a fur seal colony with about a hundred seals frolicking all over; then a part of the beach where you walk right past 800-pound sea lions (they don't bother you and they're fascinating to watch) up to a 'hide' (a wooden shed where you can view wildlife) where you can watch the rare, endangered yellow-eyed penguin gather and socialize on a hill-side. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
In Christchurch, if you're going to splurge on one fancy restaurant anywhere, try Rotherhams -- it's out in the suburbs so you'll have to take a taxi, but it's worth it -- our best meal on either the North or South Island.
In Kaikoura, we stayed at a lovely B&B called Kincaid Lodge. We did the local whale-watching tour there, and they really have it down to a science. I've done whale-watching elsewhere in the world, and these folks have the best boats and crew anywhere.
We also stayed at a few luxury lodges -- won't list them all. But if you want to splurge for one, we thought Treetops outside of Rotorua was the most unique and special, with tons of beautiful hiking/walking trails on its grounds.
We planned some of this ourselves but a lot of it came from our great travel agent, Donna Thomas of New Zealand Travel in Langhorne, PA. She's a wealth of knowledge about the country.
All in all, an amazing trip -- we're in love with New Zealand... and just about everybody who goes there feels the same way!

Glad you had a nice time! We're in love with New Zealand too!

Thanks for sharing California9 - glad to hear you had such a good trip.

I second the motion.

Thanks for sharing you trip.

I got back several weeks ago and could identify with much of your trip.

If I did not live so faaar away fro New Zealand I would go every year.!

Percy

It sounds like you had a wonderful time. Thanks for doing a trip report. It brought back so many memories of things I had done last year. I'm glad you enjoyed Elm wildlife Tour. Wasn't it great?
And Bay of Islands Ahhh...wonderful.

Great report California9. We may have crossed paths somewhere. We just returned from just over a month in NZ. We had a wonderful trip too and now we realize that we waited much too long to visit New Zealand. We went to many of the same places that you did, but surprisingly, didn't stay in any of the same B&Bs. Another vote for the Bay of Islands.

California9 - I am finalizing plans for a 10-day NZ trip at Christmas with my husband and 18-yr. old son. I've been going back & forth between Huka Lodge and Treetops (as well as skipping Rotorua in favor of Kauri Cliffs or your Cliff Edge B&B which I'm going to check out this morning). I noticed your comment about Treeptops. Would you say that is a must-do for us? It looks lovely, and Huka gets some less than favorable comments from some. Treetops is harder to find anything on. We are savvy travelers, want some luxury but also want to get a real feeling for the country (e.g. Sonny Corbett comment). Please help! [email protected]