Auckland in March
 

We may have a week off in late March to see Auckland and surroundings.

Can you recommend highlights we can take in comfortably in this short period ?

Is driving to Nelson and back too long a drive for this short trip ?

Thanks for your suggestions.

Oops- I meant Wellington, not Nelson. Thanks.

Is there any way you can extend your trip a bit? What are your interests?

For a look at how we spent 10 days on the North Island in April 2004, visit http://community.webshots.com/user/ElendilPickle

Lee Ann

We would be there just for spring break and cannot extend.

We'd hoped to learn a little more about the colleges there, and also see the outdoors to hike.

Thanks.

Hi there

Just to let you know the drive from Auckland to Wellington is around 9 hours with your foot down. I would suggest flying, only 1 hour by plane.

Which colleges in particular were you interested in? That would help with directing you about the country.

We would like to see U. of Auckland, but also wondered whether there are smaller colleges with a strong science program.

Can you give us some insight into the quality of the different schools ?

Thanks.

If I were a student again (very little chance of that, sad to say) I would much prefer Wellington to Auckland. I can't speak for the educational opportunities there but, to me, Wellington is a much nicer place to be. We stayed just above the city using a tramway which cut right through a university. Very cool. I would urge you to investigate the possibility of using NZ Air to hop over there.

If I was a student again I would love to go to the Otago Uni in Dunedin. I have no idea about science but it is a real university city. Great for art too.

A helpful site:


http://www.auckland.world-guides.com/


I preferred Christchurch over Wellington, which is only a little further flying time. There is a fair bit in and around Auckland. It is a large sprawling city (with speed cameras). Nearby Hamilton isn't bad. Rotorua isn't that far where you can see all the smelly volcanic stuff.

I may be biased about which University to attend, (As I am a graduate of it) but check out Otago University. It had, when I was there, a very good science department doing some good research in biological sciences. My flatmate in my final year was doing, alongside colleagues, some very interesting research for his masters into blood disorders, how they effect animals and these implications for humans. Meanwhile I was a mere commerce student, hence the name on here.

Uni of Auckland has a solid name in research as well. Also check out University of Canterbury (Christchurch).

Animal sciences, if this is your thing, are at Massey University (Palmerston North) and Lincoln University (Lincoln, just outside Christchurch). To be honest though neither of these last two uni's are located in particularly interesting spots. PN is a bit windwept and dull. At Lincoln, apart from the university, there is nothing there. You end up living in Christchurch and commuting.

Otago is based in Dunedin, the closest NZ has to a University city. The Uni itself is fairly central and everywhere is pretty much walking distance, though the hills are a bit steep. Otago is also the oldest Uni in NZ founded in the 1860's.

I hope some of this helps.

Wow, thank you everybody who chimed in about universities. That was very helpful, and I'd love to hear more.

Is U of Auckland a commuter school or do the majority of the undergraduate students live on campus ?

Dunedin seems so remote . U of Otago sounds like a campus worthy of a closer look but it seems so far from everything . Is the winter pretty severe ?

U of Auckland is a commuter school. My wife went there and lived (As did the vast majority of students) off campus. Actually when school is out downtown commuters enjoy it as the student traffic contributes alot to city congestion.

Dunedin is not too bitter a place to live. It snows on average once a year and even then you are lucky if it settles for longer than a day. Some of the student housing is of very low quality though. Landlords getting their pound of flesh from students who need accomodation. You end up have to dress for warmth inddors as well as out.

There are some good accomodation options though. Newer flats etc. These cost a bit more but they certainly are better to live in. In my final year I lived in a purpose built student house in North East Valley and it was fine, well insulated and cheap to run.

I had in previous years flatted in one place where the window did not fully close. Bit of a challenge when the temp dropped to freezing.

Otago (Dunedin) may be geographically isolated but as a student there the last thing you are is isolated. It is a great student town with good networks to support students who study there.

Are there other colleges with solid liberal arts and sciences in the north island ?

We hear about U of Auckland and Victoria in Wellington - both are large.

Looking for smaller colleges with a sense of community (which you may not get with a commuter school.)

Though I have not been to NZ in their winter, my relatives in Auckland assure me it is quite mild there (ie: the further you get from the South Pole, the better).

We met a couple of students from Otago University on the Tranzalpine train. They spoke very highly of their experience there. We only drove through Dunedin, but it seemed like it would be a good place to hang out. We were there in July during this past winter (which I understand was the coldest winter in 34 years) and it wasn't too bad there. of course we're from Chicago, so take that into consideration :-P! I think it was mostly in the 50's during the day on the west coast - warmer on the east (maybe 60 the day we drove through Dunedin). There had been lots of snow in the mountains and both Christchurch and Dunedin had some pretty significant ice storms the week before we arrived, but then things warmed up again. It made for some magnificent views of the mountains!

Thanks everybody.

Is Air New Zealand the only airline that flies into Dunedin ? Because we are so short on time unfortunately, looking to get around efficiently.

If we had only 3 days in the area of Dunedin what would you recommend we see ?

A trip down the harbour to see the albatross. You go on an old fishing boat. Stay at The Brothers which was where priests lived. We had the chapel..beautiful.
Art Gallery and the art gallery cafe [near The Brothers]
Wander around the stone buildings of university, railway station, court.
Fish & chip shop opposite court called Best Cafe. Bluff oysters supurb and cheap.

We will have 4 days in Dunedin . We do want to spend some of this time learning more about Otago Uinersity.

Is a car mandatory if we fly into Dunedin ?

For accommodation, there are four of us- an inexpensive motel or cottage probably best.

We see a Claremont House, which has a cottage, which seems to have nice accommodations- is this walking distance to the "city" ?

858 George Street Motel sounds convenient to the University.


Kiwi -I know this is a travel post but can you help me understand the " college" system at U. of Otago- are these similar to fraternities ? For example St Margarets, Aranas, Selwyn ?

Thank you.

Hi Okoshi,

I have been offline for a few days and had not seen your message.

The colleges at Otago are not like fraternities that you have in the US. They are in the main residential halls, though each has its unique attributes. Mine, Unicol, was better known for partying than academic prowess but that was not a bad thing as far as I was concerned. St Margarets, Arana, Knox and to a degree Selwyn are better knowns as the colleges where the more studious students end up. St Mags is next to Unicol with Arana next door to St Mags on the other side. These three colleges are on campus opposite the older buildings of the University. Knox is a bit of a walk off campus. Selwyn is about 400 metres from the north "gate" of the university on Castle Street. Still technically "on campus"

As well as these places there are several other accomodation choices. Best bet is to go online to the universities site and then click on accomodation choices.

http://www.otago.ac.nz/about/accommodation/halls.html

I hope this helps

Thank you Kiwi. We are looking forward to our visit in March to see Otago and the surrounds.