eileennz

When we visited NZ the last time, we rented a car, toured the North Island and enjoyed it so much that we never got to SI. Now we are back and want to see the SI and are wondering if we will have trouble renting a car again since we are 73 and 75. Just in case we can't rent are there any NZ tour companies that will do tours of short duration? Reading your blogs the roads on SI don't seem as easy to drive as NI. We will probably stay for a week in Christchurch, then do the same in Queensland. Bus tours from those cities and maybe Picton would be helpful. We are planning the trip in February - March 2010. We hope to spend three to four weeks there.

Thank you all in advance for any help. We have been enjoying the blogs so far.

olesouthernbelle

I think you may have mistakenly spelled Queensland, which is in Australia. Do you mean Queenstown, which is in NZ?

I wish I had some info to provide. I will be watching for responses to your thread.

kiwi_rob

South Island roads are quite ok for driving -- it's just that we locals (and a few visitors as well) think that our scenery down here is, for the most part, such that you don't want to try to rush things too much. You just need to remember that most of the roads are one lane each way with no median strip or dividing barriers.

I can't help with info about rental car hiring will be affected by your ages. A quick enquiry of one or two of the rental firms should clear that up for you smartly.

mlgb

There is a lot more of the narrow mountain curvy road driving, with bridges that are one lane. Other than that, and frequent roadworks, there are a few unpaved roads and your rental agreement will clearly state which roads you are not allowed to drive on (there are a few around Queenstown).

The official NZ tourism website is very good for the linking to tour agencies.

http://www.newzealand.com/travel/USA/

Queenstown is full of tours that you can reserve, I think even if you are able to rent a car you might consider the bus to Milford Sound since it is such a long day. You really don't even need a car to see the nearby sights.

eileennz

You are right. I missed the spelling erroe. Of course I meant Queenstown on SI.

eileennz

We never did the south island. Other places got in the way.
We are definitely going in 2012. We have our plane tickets for mid February returning mid April. We plan not to rent a car. So we would like to rent small apartments in the middle of the following cities : Nelson, Picton, Bleheim, Kaikoura,Christchurch,Te Anau, and Dunedin.

To get from place to place we were thinking of using Relaxing Journeys independent coach tours. If I am reading their brochure correctly we can take the bus between cities, usually with a sightseeing tour included and the buses run daily so that if we wanted to stay a week or more we could pick up a later tour. If the accommadations are in the city we could arrange our own tours while we are there.

I learned of this company in The Fodor Forum and would like to know if anyone has used them and do they recommend them. If there are any other tour companys that do something similiar we would like to hear about them.
We don't want to rent a car. We were in Ireland this past year and found that the driver never was able to enjoy the scenery. In addition, we are in our mid seventies, very active,but want to have someone else do the work.

We sort of know the places we want to visit, but are always interested in others' experiences. Also, if anyone wants to recommend accommadations in these cities we would be interested.

I am looking forward to hearing from all those who have done this trip.

Thank you in advance.

Diamantina

For Dunedin, you might be interested in this link:
http://www.commodoregroup.co.nz/apartments

My husband has rented from them for the last 19 months. The apartment is fully furnished, with washer, dryer, dishwasher, cable TV and Internet access, weekly maid service. He pays NZ$600 a week for a one-bedroom apartment but this includes a car rental, which you do not need or want, so I would imagine you would pay $500 or less a week.

Their apartments on Manor are within walking distance of the center (The Octagon), the tourist information office, and close to public transit. Their Clearview apartments above St. Clair beach are more luxurious, situated in a nicer area, and are perched on the a hill with great ocean views, but you would need a car, so I wouldn't recommend it for you.

I don't know if the apartments on TradeMeNZ are open to short term rentals, but you might try e-mailing them as the prices are reasonable.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/property/re...-415762652.htm

golfernz1

I don't see any reason why you should not hire a car in the South Island if you have already done so before in the NI, the main roads are generally an easier drive than in the NI and far less traffic. I would suggest takng a day trip to Milford Sound by tour coach from Queenstown and maybe having four nights in Queenstown with a trip on the Earnslaw across to Walter Peak sheep station for lunch. That's a lovely trip.
Then the area around Queenstown which is only a short drive are Arrowtown and the local wineries which are worth a stop.
The drive into Mt Cook National Park is a must and and one night at The Hermitage Hotel which as well as the glorious alps also has some interesting exhibits and a theatre in the hotel. Time it to be there to see the programs, they are wonderful. The small towns of Lake Tekapo, Twizel and Geraldine you could make a short stop at and even stay overnight at one to break your journey but I think right now three or four nights in Christchurch is ample. I did this trip last year with a friend from Holland and it was fabulous. I live in Auckland but it was the first time I had actually been to Mt Cook, breathtaking.
Check out the main players for your rental car quotes. Have a lovely holiday.

mlgb

You do know that Christchurch really has not been the same since their massive earthquake in February?

I think you may want to drop Chch. Perhaps add Queenstown, where you can book numerous tours from the center of town.

I think your plan is a bit top heavy..Picton Nelson Blenheim and Kaikoura? I'd drop two of those (my list would go Nelson Kaikoura). Blenheim would ONLY be if you are interested in winetasting.

Personally if you don't want to drive I'd just look into flying between cities or using Atomic Shuttle rather than locking into Relaxing Journeys, although I can't say I know anything about them so maybe unfair. Pretty much every city has taxis but many tours also will pickup.

Here's the website for Atomic Shuttle.

mlgb

http://www.atomictravel.co.nz/