Christchurch or Dunedin?
 

We will be going to the South Island of New Zealand in mid-October. We'll be doing a loop around the island, with a lot of hiking, cycling, kayaking, etc., along with a stopover in Queensland for a day or two. At the end of our 2 week trip we'll have the option of either spending a day in Dunedin or one in Christchurch. Any suggestions on which would be better? Thanks!

Jennifer: That's a tough call--they are both nice cities. We spent two days in both and it kind of depends on what you want to do as to which city is better for a quick visit. Dunedin is a nice, small city with a large university that ensures lots of cafes. pub etc. The highlight of our visit in Dunedin was a visit to the Penninsula outside of town. At the very tip of the penninsula is a royal albatross community--it is the only place on mainland in the world where the birds breed and live--they are amazing to watch--they have huge wing spans, live in N.Z. but feed off the coast of Chile and circumnavigate the globe in 11 days! The other highlight, which is just down the road, is the yellow-eyed penguin reserve where you can hike along the bluffs and shoreline and go into "hides" and watch these funny little guys waddle around and build their homes--it's pretty funny to watch. Tickets for both can be bought at the tourist center which is located right on the Octogon in the center of town. We stayed at the Southern Cross hotel which was about 2 blocks from the Octogon and it was quite nice--I would recommend it. Christchurch is a much larger city but is able to maintain a tremendous amount of charm. There's Cathedral Square which has a beautful cathedral, an arts and crafts center, a very interesting museum on the region (and I am not big on museums), spectacular botanical gardens, the Avon River (which you can go "punting" on or rent a canoe), wonderful historical walks (brochures and guides are available at the tourist center which is located right across from Noah's hotel downtown, next to the river.) Something else that is very interesting in Christchurch is the International Antarctic center at the Christchurch airport--this is the base for N.Z>, American and Italian exploration of Antacrtica and they have some very interesting displays and multi-media presentations--my recommendation is that you go to the airport a couple of hours before your flight and spend at least an 1 hour walking around the center. In Christchurch we stayed at Noah's which is one of the big hotels located right downtown (there are a bunch of hotels locates on a street that begins with a P (something like Papanuni??) that are less expensive, but they are a hike from the center of town. Noah's was very nice and came with breakfast and they had a complementary washer and dryer which came in very handy! In the end, as I mentioned, both cities, and the whole island are spectacular and you can not go wrong. About three years ago we did a similar trip and went from Christchurch to Dunedin to Te Anau/Milford Sound, to Queenstown to Mt. Cook, to Fox/Franz Josef Glaciers, up to Hokitika and then over the Arthur Pass and back to Christchuch--we missed Abel Tasman National Park which we now deeply regret. In any event, if any of these other places are on your route and you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me or post a follow-up and I will try to help as best I can. Enjoy the trip! H

Jennifer: Just a follow-up, I posted a more detailed description of thing on the SOuth Island a couple of days ago under a posting entitled Christchurch to Queenstown-which route? which might be of some interest to you. Have a great time and promise me that you will do (at least) the triple challenge in Queenstown of the jet boat on the SHotover River, a helicopter flight and whitewater rafting (if you are truly an adventurer, which I must admit we were not, you can go for the quadruple challenge and throw in a bungey jump too! Hang on and enjoy! Hans

Hans, thanks so much for your response, its been tremendously helpful. I have to admit publicly I'm not a true adventurer because there is absolutely no way I would do a bungee jump!! But it will be fun to see people try it. Thanks again.

If you can only do one -- make it Christchurch; especially if you're not a truly adventurous, outdoorsy-type of person. There's more to see in Christchurch that's of general interest.