Brilliant! This ensures that you definitely get to see the whales (if there are any).. Also, children under 4 go free of charge!! And you can ask them to drop you at the top of a hill later for a hike if you please... You may compare Wings over whales with Kaikoura helicopters and decide the better of the two.

http://www.kaikourawhalewatching.com...-companies.php

Letting go of Dunedin/Oamaru does lessen your traveling time.. and makes your itinerary more relaxed..

Phillip Island near Melbourne? An Oz trip too? I so envy you!!

i think the weekend might have something to with Melanie's and mlgb's absence from the forums..

Sorry..planning an excursion to hopefully see the blue whales off of Orange County tomorrow.

I would not go out of the way to see Arthurs Pass, I think I've mentioned before that the thing I like most there is the Kea and a view point toward the west but it isn't really a place that a casual visitor might enjoy as much as someone doing some more difficult mountain hikes.

nikidi -

Just back from a day of hiking, beer and wine sampling and a lovely lunch in the Swan Valley. Will check back in a few hours.

well the aussie trip is no where in the near future - but hopefuly one day!!:-)its in the list.

mlgb, melnq8 , hope you wil have (had) a brilliant day. awaiting your thoughts on the above..

the route is rotura(2), wellignton(2), upper moutere(3),kakoura(2),punaikiki(1),fox(2),wanaka(1/2?),QT(3),te anau(2),mt cook(2), christchurch(1/2?),auk(2)

i have removed 1N from te anau and added it to rotura to have 2 days there.? does this make sense?

also debating whether wanaka or christchurch requires 2 nights? our flight to auk is at 5pm from christchurch. so where do you think we need more time?

also, i was wandering whether it will be better to route wanaka, then te anau, QT after that to go to mt cook.
this will elminate a 6 hr drive from te anau to mt cook.but what about the scenary enroute? which routing is better? is the drive te anau-mt cook better?

how abt pohatu penguin reserve from akaroa (near christchurch)?

mlgb.. have a good one..

Melnq, we hope we can enjoy life the way you do, at your age!! :-)

At my age????

hey guys, would really appreciate your advise on the routing/no of days ASAP, need to start booking the accomadation soon.

I'm going to ignore your previous cheeky comment.

Again, about The Pohatu Penguin tour.....it may not be the best choice for kids your age. You need to check with the operator.

...the route is rotura(2), wellignton(2), upper moutere(3),kakoura(2),punaikiki(1),fox(2),wanaka(1/2?),QT(3),te anau(2),mt cook(2), christchurch(1/2?),auk(2)

i have removed 1N from te anau and added it to rotura to have 2 days there.? does this make sense?
.......

Yes. Two nights in Rotorua will give one one full day to explore the area. I'd keep that second night in Wanaka if you plan to explore the sourrounding area (Mt Aspiring Nat'l Park, the lake overlooks, etc).....if you don't want to explore, you probably won't need it. How much time you spend in Christchurch depends on what you want to see and do there. One night is plenty if you're in transit, not-so-much if you want to explore the sights, in which case two nights will give you one full day to do so...it just depends on what you want to do there... .

My feeling is that one night stays=transit, that's it. If you hope to SEE an area, you need at least a full day to do it, so a minimum of two nights. I personally try to live by a self imposed three night rule, not less than three nights in any given area, which allows two full days to explore. This has worked really well for me and my personal traveling style.

There are exceptions of course, such as being in transit. But if you want to explore an area, I'd allow at least a full day to do so.


...also, i was wandering whether it will be better to route wanaka, then te anau, QT after that to go to mt cook.
this will elminate a 6 hr drive from te anau to mt cook.but what about the scenary enroute? which routing is better? is the drive te anau-mt cook better?.....

It's a moot point. The scenery is the same - it's the SAME road, regardless of which you do first.

Mel, I meant semi-old!! :-)

But seriously, your trip reports are such an inspiration and temptation...

Well in that case...

thnx mel,

well of course, would love to SEE both wanaka and christchurch. but given the limited time, i was wanting to know which had more worthwhile sights

in wanaka - puzzle world, the lake and the surrounds.(but will it be very similar to glenorchy/QT scenary) if thts the case,
i guess we can see something different in CH.(may be use that day for trip to akoroa?)

in CH - thought we could do the tramride, the gardens and do the punting on the lake(so one day should suffice?)

<in CH - thought we could do the tramride, the gardens and do the punting on the lake(so one day should suffice?)>

One full day, yes, one partial day with driving from Mt Cook, no.

I can't make that decision for you nikidi. One man's 'worthwhile' is another man's waste of time. For example, I personally have no interest in Puzzling World, but a family with kids would. I like Wanaka for it's proximity to the walking tracks in Mt Aspiring, but for a family with young kids the tracks probably aren't an attraction.

Wanaka is very similar to QT IMO. In fact, I think of it as a wannabe QT. Akarora is entirely different from Wanaka and QT though, so it would certainly give you a different perspective of the SI.

My adult friends had a lot of fun in Puzzling World, but I wonder if maybe your kids are too young to appreciate it? I haven't been, but I would read up a bit or hope someone else posts that knows it better.

The scenery around Wanaka and Queenstown is very similar, just different lakes.

I think I might tip toward Christchurch, the Botanic Garden or Akaroa, the Canterbury Museum might be interesting for the kids (there is a recreated Victorian street) and it isn't big, also upstairs the Antarctic Gallery is great.

BTW we saw 5 blue whales and hundreds of common dolphins. One of the whale sightings was a mum and baby, the mum whale stuck her head up out of the water when the boat was quite close. We think she was checking us out but the captain says they surface feed that way.

It is so crazy that we go half way round the world to go whale watching in Kaikoura and here the big one are, just a few miles from home and $15 for a 3-hour tour!

Sounds like fun mlgb - I'm hoping to see some of the big ones myself in a few weeks - about four hours from home.

hwow mlgb, the trip sounds wonderful!

mlnq8, i was wondering whether rob roy track in wanaka is doable with kids. its recomended in the LP guide saying 3-4 hrs return.
also, how good is maple grove in upper moutere, got a rate of 210 without bf for early December.

we haven't still found a proper farm stay(harris hill farm in nelson is an alternative but they only have "suntop" aptment which doesn't sound that tempting.all the cottages are booked.
do you know any other already tried out farmstays in Te anau / kaikoura ??

nikidi -

The Roy Roy Track is a challenging hike...I can't envision two three year olds and a 14 month old making this trek, but then again, I can't envision kids of that age doing much hiking, period. There's a very good chance you're going to be carrying them all back to the car before you even reach the glacier.

The road to get to the trail is unsealed past the Treble Cone turnoff and there are several fords, which might be impassible if there's been heavy rain.

Here's an excerpt from my trip report describing the track:

<The Rob Roy Valley Track crosses the West Matukituki River via a swing bridge, and then climbs through a gorge to the top of the valley, which offers views of the Rob Roy Glacier. I won’t lie to you, I found this walk difficult and challenging, with plenty of rocks and limbs to scramble over. It was hard on my already bothered knees and it wore me out. Bill seemed unaffected by the rough terrain and 300 meter elevation gain. In fact, this was his favorite walk of the entire trip. No doubt it was a beautiful hike, and we saw more trampers here than on all our other walks combined; it’s one of the area’s most popular tracks.

The track is marked 3-4 hours return; it took us just under four hours (10 km, 6.5 miles).>

As for 'how good is Maple Grove"? All I can tell you is that we really enjoyed our stay there. It was clean and comfortable. Breakfast was included in our rate, they left ample supplies in the fridge for us.

I haven't stayed at a farmstay in Te Anau or Kaikoura, so can't make any firsthand recomendations.