New Zealand in January
 

New Zealand will be the first overseas destination for us besides our country of origin and we are thinking of making a trip in January 08 to the South Island. Friends have said that 10-12 days is more than sufficient. Will this be a fair statement? We are thinking of hiring a car and staying at motels/apartments. My husband thinks that a campervan may be the way to go but because our two girls are teenagers, I am afraid that it might be uncomfortable. The other question I want to ask is, can a red "P" plater drive in New Zealand and if so, do we put up the "P" plate as we do here in NSW, Australia? Any suggestions as to the places we must see?? Cheers

I think 10-12 days will be a good amount of time. Especially as you are from Oz so can always come back if you enjoyed yourselves.

I would recommend motels just to give everyone a bit of personal space. But if budget is a concern and you all get along well a campervan can be fun.

here is a link to driving information
http://www.landtransport.govt.nz/factsheets/56.html

Unfortunately it doesn't mentione the P Plates and I can't imagine you need them because no one would know what they represent. I assume this is for learner drivers. Remember a lot of NZ roads are windy so I wouldn't recommend letting a learner drive in a foreign country.

Go to Queenstown and Milford Sound. With teenagers you want to plan some activities. If they are adventurous perhaps do some white water rafting or some day tramps.

The top of the north island marlbough sounds. Abel Tasman National Park. Apparently you can hire sea kayaks and see the coast that way.

Go visit the Glaciers.

In January you definately want to book ahead as that is the "family" tourist season post xmas while kids are out of school.

Anyway I hope you have a great time.

Ditto Wilees' comments, especially about staying in an apartment as opposed to a campervan. Having traveled with teenagers (even as good-natured as mine are), I think you will all want some separate space at the end of the day.
You can have a great vacation on the South Island in 10 - 12 days.

We stayed in SI for 14 nights, and saw a lot, but not all. Of course, it depends on what you want from the visit, how much you can stand to be so close to your teenagers, and how much they can stand to be constantly with you. Only you can judge.

Having travelled with teenagers, methinks motels/apts are preferable, but each to his/her own taste. ((*))

You can ask that question of learner plates to the Automobile Association here but if you do not use them and are caught, serious trouble I would think. And ditto to other poster, why would a learner driver be driving on roads they don't know?

Thank you for the many responses. We will take all the advise given and start planning for the trip soon. Campervan just sounds like a lot less planning than motels. Nevertheless, I rather we all not get on each other's nerves after a long day out. Travelling is expensive so we will try and see all we can in one trip. As for a "P" plater....it isn't a learner's permit - it is a Provisional Driver (someone who has just passed). She is very keen to drive in NZ and we will try and find out what NZ's rules are. I just checked out the land and transport link....do Australians need an international driver's license to drive in NZ? According to the site it looks like it.

What's the weather like in January? We got caught out two years ago in our trip to Melbourne, Australia....it poured every single day we were there for an entire week!!

No you do not need an international permit. The Australia License is fine - so long as it is valid in Oz.

Regardingg weather - it is very changeable in NZ. As a rule January has good weather (but much cooler than Oz at that time).

It will rain on the west coast (they are called rainforess for a reason).

However, the last decade we have occasionally has January completely washed out with storms. Which is unusual - so plan for warm weather but rain as well.

Thank you Wilees....keeping my fingers cross that January will not see too many storms. Now we have to go get our passports and start planning. Really looking forward to the trip...I have heard it is a beautiful island. Cheers

oh and I forgot to ask....anyone heard of "Lord of the Rings" tour, if it is still available. Looked up a link on nz.com but it does not say if there is a tour available.

I believe Red Carpet Tours offers Lord of the Rings tours; you can also book tours around Queenstown and Glenorchy, often led by people who worked on the films.

Or you can just get a copy of Ian Brodie's "Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook" and do some of the sites on your own. We found our copy to be very useful when we visited the North Island.

Lee Ann

Thanks ElendiPickle, I have written down your advice ... we aren't thinking of doing the North Island so perhaps, we'll just get the guidebook and tour around ourselves. Cheers.

Regarding the P plater driving, I think you will find that all rental car agencies specifically forbid anybody under 25 driving the cars. If you go ahead and let her drive and you have an accident (even if it isn't her fault) you will be liable for all the expenses. As other readers have said, the roads in NZ aren't the best, and I wouldn't be trusting my family's safety to an inexperienced driver on unfamiliar roads, no matter how keen she is to do it.

Dear Ozgal

Thanks for your advice....my husband and I have already discussed earlier and informed my daughter that she won't be able to drive. Although a little disappointed, she has accepted it. Cheers.

What a lot of nonsense, 'the roads aren't the best'. Our roads are excellent but the nature of the terrain makes for some windy and hilly areas as one would expect. The diverse terrain is one reason for our diverse scenery.
Also the weather in January can be very hot in certain areas as wilees should know, if they come from here, Christchuch gets very hot and can be hotter than the main cities in Australia. The seasons are changing year by year and generally becoming warmer as per the whole world. And January is quite dry, if there have been a few storms they are isolated in small areas, not all over the country.
And Fiordland and the rest of the west coast has a lot of rain, hence the dense forests and lushness.
I would not recommend kayaking on the coast to inexperienced users, the least requisite is to have a guide with you if you have little experience.
And motels are the best option for a family, you will pay about the same for a motel per night as for the campervan and petrol so for the comfort factor it's worth paying the extra for a car and of course it will use far less petrol.

Thanks KathyNZ for your input...certainly will not venture out on our own with kayaking. We will probably join some tours and drive to other sights on our own and yes, the idea of going in a campervan has long been "thrown out". At the moment, I am just checking out airfares...wondering if we should use our FF or just buy the tickets online...anyhow, I am still scouting around. Talked to a colleague today and she suggested taking the "Express Alpine" ...not sure if I got the name right. She is from the North Island. What do you think of her suggestion?
Cheers

Does this help?

http://www.tourism.net.nz/tours/lord...urs/index.html

http://www.lordoftheringstours.co.nz/

It certainly does Jed. I actually printed out your NZ trip report last night. It was very informative and interesting. Certainly will come in very useful for our planning. Thanks heaps.

It's the Tranz Alpine Express, go
www.tranzscenic.co.nz, it's a wonderful train journey across the south island and very popular, all details are on this website as above.

Thanks KathyNZ...will check out the site.

Can anyone tell me whether it is easy to catch a cab from Christchurch to our hotel/motel (not booked yet) if we arrive at 1 am in the morning. Tickets at this time of night is the cheapest....is this even a good idea? to save A$300 for the 4 tickets I need to purchase.

If you are arriving on a scheduled flight then generally there is a reasonable rank of cabs available at the airport at that time. If one is not there then one can be phoned for and it should not take too long to get one at the airport.

Good thing about ChCh airport is that it is very close to the CBD travel wise. So if you are staying in the CBD you should be there in 10-15 mins time from the airport itself at that time of the morning.

Hi oinkoink

We travelled around the South island with three teenage girls and I must say the vote was against a campervan!
Have a look at my (looong)trip report - hope it helps

Thanks Kiwi acct. That's great.....we should have any problems then.

Thanks angelnot1. I have printed out your report and will read it through thoroughly. I am sure it'll be helpful when we do our planning. Thanks heaps.

I have been reading several postings of reports of NZ trips taken and it seems like some have suggested that if you fly into Christchurch and see the sights along the west coast namely Punakaiki, Greymouth, Franz Josef Glacier, Jackson Head, Wanaka etc....Queenstown, than it might be an idea flying back from Queenstown. Can you tell me if it is worth driving back to Christchurch and taking a fly back to Aust from there? Are there any sights worth seeing on the drive back to Christchurch or should we take off from Queenstown? We have decided that we'll spend about two weeks in the South Island.

Going straight from QT to CC, it seems to me that the only reasonable spot to stop at is Mt. Cook. You could also go via Dunedin, or even via the Catlins.

We went from QT via the Catlins to Dunedin, flew from there to Rotorua. If this seems interesting, you could fly from Dunedin to CHC to Aust. ((*))

The lakes (Pukaki/Tekapo) are beautiful, and I think Mt. Cook is a worthwhile detour. It might be fun to take the boat launch to the "icebergs" at the foot of the Tasman glacier.

The YHA in Mt. Cook Village is a good spot, for campervans there is also Glentanner just outside.

If we detour to Mt Cook/Lake Tekapo from Queenstown, should we head down to Dunedin (is it possible to drive from Mt Cook straight to Dunedin - how far is it? and is it worth going to Dunedin? What is there to see?). From Dunedin, what's the best route to take to head back to Christchurch? Flying to Christchurch from Dunedin will add to the cost of our trip so we may drive. Are there any sights to see/places to stop if we go through Oamaru, Timaru, Ashburton or would u suggest another route?

or and I forgot to ask if it is worth driving all the way down South to Invercargill. Tks and Cheers

Worth it to drive to Invercargill? Well, I guess it depends on what you're interested in seeing there. I've been to Invercargill a few times and actually spent three nights there one visit, but it's not generally on the radar of most first time visitors to NZ. Invercargill is a flat, agricultural town. There's a nice park, an aviary, and well, that's about it. If you're going down that way to access the Catlins or to continue on to Bluff to catch the ferry to Stewart Island, well, that's a different story. But honestly, I wouldn't recommend Invercargill as a destination in and of itself.

With only 10-12 days, you'll have time to hit the highlights of one island at a reasonable pace - Invercargill certainly isn't a highlight IMO.

According to the following drive distance calculator - Mt Cook to Dunedin will take about 4 hours and 35 minutes.

http://www.travelplanner.co.nz/driving/smlcalc.html

Thanks Melnq8 for your advice. Would you know if it is worth driving back to Christchurch (to fly back to Syd) from Dunedin or should we fly back to Syd from Dunedin. If it is worth driving back to CHC, what's the best route to do more sight seeing??

Personally, I'd fly back to CH from Dunedin to make the outbound connection. This is usally a time saving measure, but of course it will all depend on flight connections, etc. The return drive to CH via the east coast isn't particularly scenic anyway.

OK Melnq8. Thanks for your advice. I guess, the other alternative would be to drive to Dunedin from Christchurch and see the sights "clockwise" around the island.

I managed to find cheaper tickets with Virgin Blue for a flt to Christchurch on 1st Jan 08 however,NZ's public holidays are on 1st and 2nd of January. Does anyone know if anything is even open during public holidays or will it be wiser to fly into Christchurch after the public holidays?

Can't help you with that one, but you might get more responses if you start a new thread.

Great advice...will do so now. Thanks heaps....