New Zealand and Tahiti advice
 

I am planning an 18 day trip to New Zealand in March that includes a 3 night stopover in Moorea. We're just beginning to put together our itinerary. Since we arrive in Tahiti at 2am, we're trying to find a hotel for one night that's near the airport and isn't too expensive or seedy. Any suggestions? Then we're splurging on a beachfront bungalow at the Sheraton on Moorea for the next two nights.

We fly from Papeete at 3am! to Auckland to Queenstown, arriving around noon. There I've reserved 3 nights at the Pencarrow Inn. We'd like to do the jet-boating and maybe try zorbing. From there we're planning to fly/bus to Milford Sound for a day to do a boat tour and fly back. The tramping in Fjordland looks amazing but all the info I've found is on multi-day treks. Are there any day-hikes you'd recommend to see the lush forest of that area? Then we're unsure of whether to see Franz Josef glacier or Otago Peninsula or Christchurch area, etc... so we have 2-3 days open there. We are thinking of staying in Abel Tasman area for 2-3 nights to hike and/or kayak. Is that area better than Coromandel for coastline views, sea life, hiking, kayaking?

We will have a rental car and want to take the ferry to the North Island. The museum in Wellington sounds interesting. Is Napier worth a detour? Any opinions on which are the most charming/interesting towns/cities in NZ? We'd like to see Rotoroa and spend a night or two at Waitomo Caves. If we go to Abel Tasman, should we skip Cathedral Beach in Coromandel? And since I've been to Hawaii a few times and have been to the volcanoes there, would you still recommend doing the day hike to the top of the volcano?

We fly out of Auckland at 9pm so we'll either spend one night there or drive there in the morning and spend our last day there.

Since we live in dry land-locked Colorado, and have plenty of mountains here, we're trying to focus on sights and scenery that are very different for us, like the coasts, the fjords, glow-worm caves, and the rainforests. Since our time is limited, and we don't like to run ourselves ragged, I'd really appreciate any feedback and direction.
Thank you! Heather

Sorry I don't have advice as I am planning my first trip, but have you found zorbing in Queenstown? I looked and couldn't find it--only seemed to be in the North Island. If you have any information, I'd appreciate it.

No, I hadn't looked into zorbing yet. I had assumed they had it there, being it's the "adventure capital of the world"! Where have you found it?

I've only found zorbing in Rotorua. :(
http://www.zorb.com/zorbnz.htm
As you're planning on visiting the North Island, you can try it there!

Thanks! That's surprising. Do you know if zorbing is done in the states at all?

I haven't heard of it anywhere in the states. . . (Definitely not here in Minnesota!)
Liz

Hi there,

Can't help you with the Tahiti bit, but here are a few things abount New Zealand.

The following helps you out with the short walking part of your trip.

http://www.queenstown-nz.co.nz/information/Activities/

There are plenty of opportunities in and around trhe Southern Lakes District, Nelson and up in Rotorua to engage in day long walks in the area. (As well as other spots) The local DOC (Department of Conservation) offices as well as the local information centres will have details and walking maps for the local area. This link below takes you to the DOC walks site

http://www.doc.govt.nz/Explore/002%7...alks/index.asp

Another good site to use in your planning is the Purenz site.

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

As far as your trip being a feasible one, yes it is but you will be doing a fair bit of driving. If you do not mind that then great go for it. But in all honesty I would suggest you review the travel times between various points (The site above will help with this) as some of your destinations are a little out of the way, for example Catherdral Beach on the Coromadel.

IMHO I think that the Otago/Christchurch option you mentioned is better than Franz Josef. You say you live by mountains so I am sure you can see a glacier fairly easily close to home. In all likelihood though you would not be able to easily see penguins in Denver (Other than the Zoo). Otago Peninsula is a good place to spend a day, spotting Penguins, Seals and Sealions, viewing giant albatross alsong with some majorily impressive scenery along the peninsula itself.

Christchurch is a pleasent enough place to spend a day looking round, whilst at nearby Akaroa you can get the chance to swim with Dolphins if you like. A little up the coast in Kaikoura, apart from some great seafood to be had, there is the opportunity to go Whalewatching.

As far as Zorbing is concerned I have not heard of it being offered anywhere but Rotorua at the moment. They used to do it in Auckland and in the Bay of Islands but I don't think these operators are still going.

Hope some of this helps

Steve

Thanks Steve! I'd like to avoid driving more than 4 hours in a day, so I need to check out the drive times.

Can anyone give feedback on Pencarrow Inn? It's more expensive than I had thought it would be at $450 NZ a night. A poster awhile back said they stayed there for around $200 US a night.

I think you'll only need to spend one night in Waitomo, depending on what kind of cave activity you do there. If you're going to go cave tubing, for example, that will take a few hours of your day. We went with Black Water Rafting and had a great time.

Te Papa is a great museum; you can easily spend most of the day there.

Since you live in Colorado, you may have been to Yellowstone; in that case, you might not be too interested in visiting geothermal areas around Rotorua. It's a good place to get a glimpse of Maori culture, though, and if you want to zorb, this is the place.

Lee Ann

Hi there hwinokur

The variance in the anticipated price of the accomodation has a lot to do with the recent frefall of the USD. Two yeas ago it would have been around 200USD to stay there but at today's rates it will cost you around 320USD.

http://www.nzescape.com/queenstown-accommodation.html

The above link has a few more accomodation options for you to choose from.

If you do not mind leaving it the last minute you could always use wotif.com and book via that site. Major savings can be made that way.

BTW another site that is useful to use for calculating travel times is this one.

http://aatravel.co.nz/map/about.shtml

Cheers

Steve

Thank you Steve and Lee Ann! You've been very helpful. I haven't been to Yellowstone yet (how pathetic is that?!) but you've made a good point that it may offer sights similar to Rotoroa... minus the zorbing.

Can anyone suggest their favorite one day hikes for spectacular scenery? I've heard Abel Tasman is a good one. I'll check out all the websites that Steve forwarded. I've already looked at the driving info site and I see what you mean. We'd have at least a few 6-7 hour driving days with my current itinerary. Not fun.
Heather

Hi Heather,

Well, expensive and Tahiti may be mutually exclusive :), but the closest hotels to the airport are: Sofitel Maeva; Sheraton; Intercontintal Beachcomber; Hotel Le Meridan (not cheap); and the Matavai Hotel.

Jet boating is SO fun, but there's no zorbing in Queenstown (at least not yet). I've just returned (last week) from 3 weeks in NZ, while they've added some adventures since the last time I was there, zorbing isn't one of them! But, you're absolutely correct, it IS the "Adventure Capital", so you would think there would be, but no.

The well-known tracks are all multi-day ones; but you could still set out on your own or with a tour guide (even just an half hour outside of Auckland) and do some bush walking -- pretty much anywhere you go in New Zealand - that shouldn't be a problem.

Abel Tasman and Coromandel are both areas where you could have similar experiences (hiking, bush tours, kayak, beaches), I guess it will depend on what your primary focus is and how your time shakes out as to which will work best for you!

Te Papa museum is awesome, and if you're going to be in Wellington, it's worth an entire day (in my opinion); however, depending on your time, I would not say it's worth making a stop "just" for the museum, therefore, you may decide to forego the ferry and fly to the North Island.

As you probably already know, Napier is known as the "Art Deco City", and unless you're into Art Deco architecture I wouldn't say that it was worth a "detour" as you asked about.

As Kiwi (Steve) mentioned, you've outlined alot of driving time...while NZ is compact and very easy to drive, you do have to take into consideration single lane roads; logging trucks, motorhomes/campers, stunning scenery (aka photo stops); etc....basically what I'm trying to say is that everything will take you longer than you anticipate! :)

Since you mentioned that you live in Colorado I think you should concentrate on adventures /scenery that is unique and not so remincent of home -- more rainforest / bush & beach activities.

That said, it's still a great day to take the tram up Bob's Peak in Queenstown and view the Remarkables (mountains); or a helicopter to Mt. Cook. And, something I did for the first time this trip -- luging! Tons of fun (that's at the top of Skyline in Queenstown). Speaking of Queenstown, you asked about the Pencarrow Inn - lovely accommodations - absolutely, but yes, that's a bit "dear" in price....and, as I'm sure you know, it's not located right in town, so something to consider is that you'll need drive to/ from town when you want to go shopping or meandering around to restaurants, etc.

Hope this is helpful!

Regards,

Melodie
Certified Kiwi Specialist

>> I haven't been to Yellowstone yet (how pathetic is that?!) <<

Well, I live in New Mexico, and I haven't been there either, so I guess we can be pathetic together.... :-)

Lee Ann

Whoops - forgot to mention that dh, who has been to Yellowstone, thoroughly enjoyed Rotorua and Waiotapu, the geothermal area we visited. He took some neat pictures in Kuirau Park, right in the city, at dawn. You can see them, if you're interested, at http://community.webshots.com/user/ElendilPickle

Lee Ann

Lee Ann,

your pictures were wonderful! The ones at the park were awesome, award winning photography!

Regards,

Melodie

Thank you, Melodie. I'll pass on your kind words to my lovely dh. :-)

Lee Ann

Hwinokur,

I just remembered a day hike for you!! It's offered by Real Journeys, located in Queenstown. They're a very good company and have a one day walk. I haven't done this myself yet, so if you take it, please let me know how it was!

Thanks!

Regards,

Melodie
Certified Kiwi Specialist

hwinokur,
Are you planning to fly over to Moorea or ferry? Seedier places are nearest the ferry docks....flights of course cost more but obviously quicker. Might not be a bad idea to get a decent hotel within a 15 - 20 min taxi ride. Good splurge on Moorea hotel. Though do get out and eat at Le Bateau one night...excellent food, but he's a pretty anal french guy, definitely don't ask for catsup...you'll get a lecture on how it was the french who really made it first and how terrible it is....to save myself here, it wasn't our lecture! We overheard it from a nearby table! lol too funny.

Traveler863,
We will be taking a ferry to Moorea. We've booked a room at the Sofitel Maeva Beach on Tahiti for the first night. I read that it's a 10 minute taxi ride from the airport. Our room rate is $170 US, so it's not a great bargain, but it sounds safe and we'll get to see pretty views of Moorea from the hotel in the morning. Thanks for the restaurant recommendation. Funny catsup story - we'll also avoid ordering Cokes to drink with our dinner (that usually earned a sneer in France) :)

Melodie,
Thanks for the hike suggestion. I'll look into that. We're thinking of doing the first part of Routeburn for a day-hike or staying one night in a hut.

Lee Ann,
Your pics are great! It made me question our decision to skip Rotoroa...

Heather

Thanks, Heather! I'm glad you liked the pictures.

Lee Ann

OK, I have only been to the South Island, so I can only offer advice for that.
Fjiordland - we did the drive to Milford Sounds and the overnight Doubtful Sound Cruise, and all 4 of us agreed that the overnight cruise was one of the highlights of the trip. If you have the time, (and money, it's not cheap, but not unreasonable either), I would not miss this.
Glaciers- we spent two days there, and unfortunately were shut out on all the helihikes, but I think you would stand a much better chance in March of better weather (from what they told us). There are a wide range of walks in that area if that's your thing, but there is not a lot else there.
Abel Tasman - we did a full day kayak trip and LOVED it, and if I had the chance again, I would do an overnight trip in the park, either kayaking or tramping or a combo. But know that this area is quite a long way away from your other destinations, and with limited time, getting these may pose a problem.
Christchurch/Otago. If you have a couple days, I would spend at least one day on the Otago peninsula for the chance to see the Yellow Eyed Penguins, and maybe a chance to see the albatross. You should also be able to see some seals as well (though the best place to see them is in Kaikoura). We then spent a night in Oamaru for the chance to see the little blue penguins, and I have to say, this was one of our favorite parts of the trip. We also really loved swimming with the seals in Kaikoura, and I think that's really a once in a lifetime experience. Christchurch, IMO, is a city- it's a great place to fly in and out of, lots of opportunities to get those souveneirs, and some great restaurants, but there's not a lot to DO there. I would spend more time on either side of the city than I would in the city.
Hope that helps.
Kate

hwinokur,
LOL on the coke but I think you'll be safe with that order...or perhaps he might be in a tangent over French wine, one never knows but you can be assured its not only an interesting dining experience but one excellent meal.
Sofitel Tahiti sounds great. Ferry ride not that long about 30-45 minutes I can't remember exactly. If you want to fly there's short hops from the airport about 5 min flight. Sometimes easier.
Have a great trip!

Hi all,
Based on all the helpful feedback and recommendations I've received here, I've made some revisions to our itinerary. It still involves quite a bit of driving and we may, reluctantly, have to do further trimming...

3/9-3/13 - Arrive in Queenstown around noon. 3 nights at Pencarrow Inn. 4th night either in hut on Routeburn Track (hike first leg of it) or overnight cruise on Milford Sound (if not overnight cruise than doing day cruise). Jet boating on Dart River - 1/2 day tour or full day with canoe ride?

3/13-3/15 - 4 hour drive to Dunedin. Stay 2 nights. See Otago Peninsula. Hotel recs?

3/15 - 7 hour drive up east coast. Stop off in Christchurch. Stay in Kaikora 1 night.

3/16-3/18 - 4 1/2 hour drive to Abel Tasman Park. Water taxi from Marahau to Awaroa Lodge for 2-3 nights stay. 1 day Sea Kayak/hiking tour.

3/18 - Stay 3rd night in Abel Tasman or Wellington. Take ferry from Picton to Wellington(heard it's a scenic ferry ride).

3/19 - Fly to Hamilton. 1 hour drive to Waitomo Caves. Stay 1 night.

3/20 - 3 hour drive to Auckland. Stay 1 night. Fly out 3/21 at 9pm.

Reading over what I just wrote made me realize we are probably a little nuts. We've considered flying from Dunedin to Nelson or Picton but haven't found any non-stop flights. If we stay in Dunedin are we missing much by skipping Christchurch? I've been told repeatedly that whale-watching at Kaikora is a must do, but since I've done whale-watching in Kauai and we don't have much time, I think we may need to skip that. While I'm attempting to cut away, my boyfriend is poring over guides and reporting back with more to add to our trip! At this rate, we may have to divide and conquer. Help please!
Heather

Heather,
I so remember the agony of all the planning!!!
I think you just have to decide what's most important to you, plan that, and then fill in with as much as you can.
If the walking tracks are most important, make your plans for those.
I'll make a couple of other comments from your last post--
Kaikoura-- the weather was very windy and choppy when we were there (which I don't think is all that uncommon.) We had booked a seal swim in the morning, and an afternoon whale watch. The whale watch was cancelled, and we were a little bummed, but the seal swim was so fantastic, it made up for it completely. Talking to other people later, they say if you see a whale, it is fantastic, but it does only last a minute, and everyone on the boat runs to look at it, and you jostle for a view, and then it's gone. If you have done this before, I am not sure it is imperative. But I can say that we really loved the seal swim-- they are such inquisitive creatures, they come right to you, in fact, sometimes you think they might run into you!!!
Christchurch- I personally don't think you would be missing anything by skipping it.
We chose Wanaka over Queenstown (weren't into the extreme activities) so I can't answer that.
Dunedin - If you can get to the Otago peninsula by early afternoon, which we did, we had plenty of time to do the albatross center and the yellow eyed penguin reserve. We spent the night in Dunedin, and the next morning we did the Speights Brewery and Cadbury tours, and then drove to Oamaru (I think about an hour's drive), ate dinner, and saw the little blue penguins come in after dark-- and we really enjoyed that.

Hope that helps-- good luck!
Kate

What ever you do, avoid the Sheraton hotel on Moorea. We just returned from the place and it was a living hell. The employees who have not left are on strike. The Sheraton hotel is not even telling the guest before they arrive and leaving them with no services including food. The ownership of the hotel has changed and they cut wages and benifits. If you check the other web travel sites you will see several of the same warnings. Food,Accomodations,service,water,
attitude all bad.

hwinkur,
Hard to beleive but check that out fully before you go.

Hi Heather,

On your itinerary: I'm a bit concerned about your 7 1/2 hr drive on 3/15. Yikes! That's ALOT of driving, AND, I suspect, as always happens it will be more time than you've alloted (potty stops; kodak moment stops, lunch, traffic, stuck behind a campervan, etc).

3/16 Staying at Awaroa -- I've just come back from NZ myself and stayed there. I was disappointed, in fact; I checked out a day earlier than planned. Part of this was because of weather; it was very cold and windy.

The first night there we were pretty tired and as we often like to do, were planning on having a "picnic" on our small deck. We'd brought wine, cheese, bread, salami, and of course TIM TAMS. They actually called us at 9:30P to inquire if we were having dinner that night as the restaurant was closing shortly.

Breakfast runs about $20; appetizers around $20, Mains from $30-$45 NZD, and the least expensive wine is $25. Internet is $2.00 for 15 min, and is dial up.

There are several walks you can take from the resort, but the signage is terrible and confusing.

Re: whale watching in Kaikoura - if you've done it in Kauai, then why bother in NZ? A whale is a whale. A far better choice would be actually swimming with wild dolphins, which you can do there.

Hope this is helpful....if you need further info on the lodge, you can contact me at [email protected].

Regards,

Melodie
Certified Kiwi Specialist