So excited. Just booked the airfare (what a nightmare!) but we're going in February 2008. I am sure I will be posting lots of questions and reading the archives.

In the meantime, one quick question. How far out do most people book their lodging? I guess my question is - is there a sense of urgency because things get booked quickly or do we have time?

You've made a wise choice - NZ is a beautiful country and you're bound to have a great trip.

Some travelers like to fly by the seat of their pants in NZ, but I'm not one of them. I've already booked accommodation for a three week trip to NZ in August. Even though it's low season in most parts of the country (high season in ski areas) three of the places I'd chosen were already booked, which really surprised me.

February is high season, so can be pretty busy (by NZ standards anyway). Suggest you make bookings for activities you absolutely don't want to miss and for accommodation in small, popular areas (glaciers, Mt Cook) as accommodation is limited and you might be disappointed.

Having said that, I've never booked a cruise on Milford - just turned up and walked on a boat - but I've never visited in February either.

Suggest you check this site to see if your dates fall on any NZ school holidays:

http://www.minedu.govt.nz

You have plenty of time to book, don't worry.

Hi. The first week of Feb is likely to be very busy. We have a National holiday on the 8th - which tends to drag out over a few days. School term starts in full swing about 2nd week of Feb. I would strongly advise you make bookings for any beach places.

Thanks for the information. We haven't figured out where on the island we want to go - trying to narrow it down from so many wonderful areas is not easy!

We arrive on Feb 9 - staying for two full weeks...I will probably make sure we book our favorite spots first (once I figure out what those are) and build around that!

I am sure you will all be hearing from me!

You don't say which island? But parts of Feb will be busy in most places - even if you avoid the public holiday at the beginning of Feb, Christchurch for example has a run of festivals in Feb (Festival of Flowers, Festival of Romance) that could result in accomm being in short supply.

Thanks for the advice. We are going to the South Island. I will probably start to get things booked in the next month.

I think the good news for us is that we don't have our hearts set on anything right now, so it will be easier to be flexible. I have had trips where I knew exactly what I wanted to do and where I wanted to stay and when there wasn't availability, I was really bummed - this happened in our most recent trip to St. John.

Thanks again to all. Have a great weekend!

LBLB555:

Very good choice - New Zealand, that is.

We were there last winter and spent 5 weeks in Nelson. We arrived on the 3rd of February.

Nelson is reputed to have the most sun shine days of all New Zealand and accommodation was tight.

Our whole trip was 9 weeks. We had accommodation reservations in some places but not all. Earlier, before Nelson, we were at an information site at Oamaru, about 10:30 when we booked there at a bed and breakfast, the El Gecko [very good]. Later the same day we were back at the i site and overheard them tell a visitor that the whole town was full! Oamaru is popular to see the little blue penguin. We had wanted to stay an extra night at the Gecko but they were booked so we moved on.

You would be wise to reserve early for those spots you want.

We heard locals say that Nelson has never been busier.

New Zealand is a small country so there is obviously less in accommodation than other larger communities. But then that is part of what makes it a great place to visit. Ferwer people!

Have a good one.

Woodie