mlgb

I haven't done it, but I always see the walk up to Key Summit recommended as a day walk. It's the leg of the Routeburn track that leads off of the Divide on the way to Milford Sound. I am guessing there is not a requirement to reserve for a day walk. You could check on the DOC website if no one else on Fodors can confirm this.

Tim_and_Liz

Hi Lisa,
We have a similar itinerary to you... An American couple spending 11 nights in the SI in January.
We are spending 3 nights in Fiordland, coming from Queenstown. The morning of the first day, we're doing the Dart River Jetboat Safari out of Glenorchy, then driving to Te Anau. We have the 8pm glowworm tour booked for that night. Day 2 in Fiordland is completely open for the Milford Rd drive. Since it will be light so late, I think we'll plan on a later start in order to miss the tour buses, but I will talk to our hosts at the Campbell Autolodge to see what they suggest. On the third Fiordland day we board the Doubtful Sound overnight cruise... The following day we're driving to Dunedin.
It was very difficult for us to decide on Milford vs. Doubtful, day vs. overnight, but we finally decided on the daycruise in Milford so that we can take our time enjoying the drive and short hikes off the road, and the overnight in Doubtful. I can't wait! I will be posting a trip report when we return, hopefully before you leave.
Liz

luv2globetrot

Liz, I can't wait to hear how your trip goes!!! I like your itinerary...can you fill me in on the rest or I guess I could just look to se if you've posted it before, but I am curious to see what else you've got planned
mlgb, thanks for the tip on the Key Summit...I'll definitely be checking that out! Thanks again!
Lisa

Tim_and_Liz

Sure, Lisa... I love to "talk" about our upcoming trip!
We are first spending 6 days in Sydney with friends.
Day 1: fly SYD-Christchurch, drive to Kaikoura
Day 2: 5:30am dolphin swim in Kaikoura, drive to Hanmer Springs
Day 3: Drive Lewis Pass to Punakaiki Rocks down to Franz Josef
Day 4: heli-hike
Day 5: Drive FJ- Queenstown
Day 6: Queenstown (TSS Earnslaw, Bungy, other things)
Day 7: Dart River Safari in Glenorchy to Te Anau, Glowworm Tour
Day 8: Milford Road/Sound; Te Anau
Day 9: Doubtful Sound overnight
Day 10: Doubtful Sound to Dunedin
Day 11: Dunedin; Otago Peninsula Tour
Day 12: Fly Dunedin to Fiji (with 2 layovers)

Our lodging, if you decide to skip the campervan:
Kaikoura: Anchor Inn Motel
Hanmer Springs: Settlers Inn Motel
Franz Josef: Punga Grove Motel
Queenstown: Browns Boutique Hotel
Te Anau: Campbell Autolodge
Dunedin: 97 Motel Moray Place

luv2globetrot

Thanks Liz, for your trip ininerary and hotel info!! I tried to read through all of your posts on this forum to see how you've been going thru the process to get ideas...boy, it takes alot of work, doesn't it?? But, it sure is fun
So, I am leaning towards an itinerary that sounds VERY much like yours. However, I'm having trouble deciding on our transportation. We are leaning towards the campervan because of the ease and time-saving of not having to check-in/out of hotels every day or 2 and packing-unpacking. However, if we do the camper thing we may be limited to pick up in CHC and drop off in QT or vice versa. So it's really hard to to figure out how to fit in either the south coast (Dunedin area) or nort coast (anywhere from Kaikoura to Abel Tasman).
It's so hard to figure out what to scratch off the must-see list!
Also, with the freedom of a campervan it's so hard to know exactly on what date you are going to want to do certain excursions, like the Milford and Doubtful Sound cruises...and if you do book, what if the weather is terrible? I guess you're just out of luck, right and you go and make the best of it? Reservations in advance on those types of things are essential in Feb I'm guessing?
Also, we're more interested in seeing penguins in the wild than dolphins, only because there are other vacations we can take where you can swim with them that are much closer to home...so we kind of wanted to save the time to see things that are unique to NZ.
What do you hear about Lewis Pass? Is it as scenic as Arthur's Pass?
Still, so many questions...haven't really ruled out anything yet...
Thanks again,
Lisa

Tim_and_Liz

Hi again Lisa,
Yes it has been very fun planning this trip, AND a lot of work. It must have taken you hours to read through my past posts! I've been working on this for about a year now. I am very much looking forward to this trip.
We decided against the campervan for two reasons: First, DH is tall (6'5&quot and likely would not fit comfortably. Second, we did not want to have to drive the campervan on windy mountain roads, or to be slowed down overall. If DH was a normal height, I might consider it more.
You could rent the campervan in Christchurch, drive north then through Lewis Pass down the west coast, dropping it in Queenstown. You could then rent a car to see Fiordland, Catlins and/or Dunedin...
We have booked the following excursions: dolphin swimming in Kaikoura, heli-hike in Franz Josef, Te Anau glowworm tour, the Doubtful Sound overnight, and the Otago Peninsula Elm Wildlife Tour.
From what I understand, it is not necessary to book the Milford Sound boat tours ahead of time because there are many operators and we will be going either before or after the tour buses from Queenstown are there. It almost always rains in Fiordland, so rainy weather is expected. (Supposedly it makes the waterfalls even more beautiful.)
I understand your desire to see penguins over dolphins because it is so common to have "Swim with Dolphins" attractions in Mexico, the Caribbean, etc. But those are often very awful conditions with the dolphins treated poorly and contained. The experience in Kaikoura is completely environmentally responsible and the dolphins are in their natural habitat. I have not seen a similar thing anywhere in our travels, nor read about it. That said, we hope to see the penguins in Doubtful Sound and have booked the wildlife tour in the Otago Peninsula.
Finally, I don't believe that Lewis Pass is as scenic as Arthur's Pass... But Haast Pass, which we will be driving between Franz Josef and Queenstown, is. (Someone please correct me if I am wrong.) So we are completely satisfied with our mountain itinerary. (My in-laws live in Colorado too.)
Let me know what you decide!
Liz

luv2globetrot

Liz,
It DID take me hours to read thru, and I just kind of skimmed and didn't even get all of them!! But I've basically been at this all day today and into the wee hours you might notice
And I've come up with what I hope is a good plan that I can go with!
I'm already finding that flights (within NZ) are getting booked up as well as some of the excursions...I booked our overnight on Doubtful tonight and the days on either side were already booked! And OUCH, they're expensive, eh?
Anyway, this thread was wgetting too long, I feared, so my ne itinerary is posted at "Opinions before I book this trip, please!!!!"
Let me know what you think!
Thanks for all the helpful advice!
Lisa

Sainesy

Hi

Found this thread on google when searching for info on NZ - can any of you help me out? I'm flying into CHC on the 4th December and will only 15 nights to see as much as possible in the SI. I'm travelling with two other girls and we're are all in our early 30s. As they are currently travelling in Austalia I am having to research an itinerary so I can let them know. Therefore my suggested itinerary is as follows:

Day 1: Christchurch to Dunedin (stay Dunedin)
Day 2: Drive Dunedin to Te Anau (stay around Te Anau)
Day 3: Relax in Te Anau
Days 4 - 6: Do the Routeburn Track
Days 7-8: Do the overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound then drive to Queenstown
Day 9: Drive to Fox Glacier and do some activity
Day 10: Drive to Marahau
Days 11 - 12: Explore Tabel Asmen
Day 13: Drive to Kaikoura and swim with dolphins / whale watch
Day 14: Drive to vineyard then to Christchurch
Day 15: Fly back to England

We're hiring a motor home and my friends are on a budget as travelling for a whole year. Does the above make sense?
How long will it take to drive from Fox Glacier to Maharau or should we stay somewhere else to explore Abel Tasman.

As my friends are travelling I have limited contact with them, so am having to make all decisions by myself so if anyone has got suggestions to the above I would be very grateful.

Cheers

mlgb

Sainsey, I'm not sure about the third day in Te Anau, it has lots of sandflies, really it's just a base for the hiking tracks.

One idea is to add the day along Dunedin to Te Anau. Perhaps see more of Dunedin/Otago Peninsula on the first half of Day 2 and spend night 2 somewhere along the Catlins. Day 3 you can to see the rest of the Catlins-Invercargill-Te Anau leg and still arrive early in Te Anau.

Or, Day 2-3 take the inland route from Christchurch via Tekapo /Twizel, visit Mt. Cook, Cromwell, Queenstown, then Te Anau. Wine tasting is big around Cromwell and the Gibbston Valley east of Queenstown.

If you are looking for a winery between Kaikoura-Christchurch, Pegasus Bay is wonderful, and the Kaikoura winery outside of town (to the west) up on the hill is pleasant. Kaikoura has lobster (crayfish) year round. Pacific Seafoods is a supplier that sells to the public, and charges about half the restaurant price. It's located on a short pier at the far west end of town (near the end of Esplanade at Avoca St.)

Two days should be fine in Abel Tasman. I stayed in Nelson, so can't give a recommendation for a closer town.
It would be a long day to reach the coast from the glaciers.

vbca

Maybe I can clarify the situation regarding Milford Sound Vs Doubtful Sound.
THey are both simmilar in many ways, but with enough points of difference to make it worth while doing both if you have the time.

Milford is the smaller of the two sounds, and the most spectacular. Granite cliffs rise sheer from the water to over 1 mile above you. Waterfalls drop sheer into the sound, and the boats can nose right up to them so the spray is falling on the fore deck. If you are brave enough you can stand under them.

The drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound is one of the worlds great scenic highways. Allow plenty of time to enjoy it, at least two hours from Te Anau.

Doubtful Sound is much larger than Milford, and more remote. Access if more difficult, so there are fewer people. The mountains in Doubtful Sound are not as sheer as in Milford, but the wildlife is probably better. The trip to Doubtful takes you over Lake Manapouri, then the coach takes you into the giant West Arm Power Station. THis is an underground power station beneath Lake Manapouri. It is really impressive, even if you are not much into power stations. You then travel over the Wilmot Pass to Deep Cove, with great views down onto Doubtful Sound. On Doubtful the boat takes you out to the Tasman Sea, and also into Halls Arm where they shut the motors off and let you hear the sound of silence, It's deafening.

If you have to choose just one I would say Milford. It's the most famous, and with good reason, but if you choose Doubtful you will not be disapointed.

Regarding Rain. Yes, it rains in Fiordland, over 300 inches per year. Next to Mt Manaloa in Hawaii it's the wettest place in the world, so don't get your knickers in a twist if you get a bit damp. It is fantastic in all weathers, and to truely experience the beauty of Fiordland you need at least four visits in different conditions. Although 300 inches / year averages out to about 1 inch per day, it does not, in fact, rain every day. When it rains, it buckets down. 15 - 20 inches per day, so they could get their entire annual rainfall in just 15 days. Of course they don't, and there are quite a few rainly days, but there are also many, many absolutely fabulous days. It's just the luck of the draw.

Regarding Sandflys. Anywhere there is native bush in NZ you will get sandflys. They are not actually "sand" flys. They live in the bush, and breed in gently flowing streams, so they would be more properly called bush flys, Infortunately Capt Cook, who named them was not much into entamology, and he got it wrong, and the name has stuck.

You will not get them much in Te Anau, there's very little native bush left around the town, but if you go over the lake, or into Fiordland National Park you will get bitten. Wear a long sleeve shirt and long trousers, smear some repellent on your hands and around your neck (avoiding your eyes and forehead) and they won't worry you.

The absolutely most fabulous and unforgettable thing you can do in NZ is an overnight cruise on either Milford or Doubtful Sound. It's expensive, but it's worth breaking the budget for.

Time to spend in Te Anau. Ideally two nights. Arive one day, go to Milford or Doubtful the next day, leave for Dunedin or Queenstown the next. Add a day if you want to include another sound, or to do some of the walks in the national park.

Day walks from Te Anau. The Milford Track is a controlled track, and you can't go on it except as part of a organised tour. Trips n'Tramps do day walks on the Milford Track (www.milfordtourswalks.co.nz). Other than the Milford Track you can walk on any of the tracks in Fiordland without a guide and without booking. you WILL need to book if you wish to stay in any of the huts. either the DOC huts, or those used by concessionaires. Tramping in NZ is generally safe. There are no nasties like snakes, bears etc. The main danger is getting lost, and although unlikely on the major tracks, it has been known to happen. We have a very efficient search & rescue organisation which usually manages to find most lost tourists in a day or so. The others usually stumble out after a couple of weeks.

Whatever you decide you won't be dissapointed. everything in NZ is fantastic, and some things are REALLY FANTASTIC.

(Tim & Liz, look forward to meeting you in Te Anau)

momfromnj

Arriveing Queenstown in Jan for 8 days before leaving for Sydney. Will be with daughter (20's) and husband. I am booked at Heritage for first 5 nights (flexible) for water /air sports, then off to somewhere for next 3 days. Want to hike, see local culture/geography. Suggestions? Te Anua or Wanaka? Leaving from Queenstown Airport.Should we stay back in Queenstown for last night?
Want to also go to Milford Sound: Overnight Cruise or day? Do I have to book now?

Do I need car? I have never driven on 'wrong' side.

Thanks