stricky

another question re: New Zealand...is there a particular place (town, B&B etc) that would be especially nice for Christmas and/or new years?

DownUnder

I would have thought Auckland, Christchurch or Queenstown would be worth cosidering. I don't like Wellington, but that is just a personal opinion.

poll162

We have had Christmas and New Years in New Zealand. It is difficult to get anything to eat because it is public holidays so a lot of the restaurants close. Wierd I know but its to do with penal rates.

If you want to be in a town where there are crowds of noisy people choose Queenstown or Whitianga for New Years. We read about it in the paper but it was not what we wanted to do.

We had christmas in Auckland at our favourite B&B, the Great Ponsonby. We had a champaign breakfast with the other guest. It was a really hot day and they made us a picnic lunch which we took to the beach with many New Zealanders. Family groups lay under trees or on the beach eating, sunbathing and swimming for the whole day.

Any beach or river area where you can bar-b-que would be nice.

mlgb

I've been on V/c over Christmas and it's fun to go shopping the week before and see the "shopgirls" in Christmas costumes. I was also surprised by Santa Claus on the golf course, offering free "beverages" courtesy of the ladies club.

Doing an overnight hike for Christmas Eve/Day/Boxing Day solves the problem of not being able to find somewhere to eat.

I actually came back before NY's so can't advise on that.

danp709

Hi stricky,

We also stayed in the Great Ponsonby B&B in Auckland, we had the Penthouse room which was wonderful, with an enormous super king bed, great little balcony witha view over the city and hills in the distance. I would definitely spend New Years in somewhere like Auckland rather than one of the small coastal holiday places because they tend to get very crowded with drunken teenagers around that time. At least in the city you can find a civilized bar or a view over the harbour somewhere, and we took advantage of a public fireworks display over the Viaduct area downtown.

I'd really recommend the Great Ponsonby for that time of year - Ponsonby is so convenient to the city and ferry terminals if you want to do trips out to one of the islands for the day, and it has the best restaurants of anywhere in the place, we found. The owners have heaps of local knowledge and are always happy to suggest interesting activities and unusual destinations.

Apparently it is a 'kiwi' thing to do to spend christmas on the beach which would certainly be a novelty! There are some great beautiful beaches a short drive from central Auckland, especially towards the West Coast.

Enjoy your trip! Dan