zxcvbnm

I've read/skimmed a few new zealand books, but could use help from those who have been there already. We like to visit national parks and other beautiful nature areas. We're not into bird watching or seeing wildlife-animals. As far as hikes this time we prefer short non-strenuous hikes, less than an hour long roundtrip--unless they're easy.

Thinking of skipping: Egmont NP, Kahurangi NP, Whanganui NP, unless one of you says that these are gorgeous and not to be missed. Not sure about Tongariro NP (Tawhai falls) or Te Urewera NP (Is Aniwaniwa falls nice?)--Are these worth visiting? Is it true that you can't get to Mt Aspiring NP unless you fly or boat--should we skip?

Debating about whether to visit Rotorua-and see Huka Falls, Lake Taupo, and volcanic springs. We've been to Yellowstone NP, which some say is similar?

So far we have:

1) ABEL TASMAN NP- short walks from black bay to torrent bay and from awaroa to torrent bay. but must cross at mid to low tide. catamaran or water taxi to Bark Bay. picnic. Then 3 hour easy walk to Torrent Bay (first track climbs steeply). Then from Torrent Bay on to Anchorage. Depending on tide cross estuary or walk around all tide track to Anchorage. Pass through DOC campground and relax on beach till boat picks you up.

2) NELSON LAKE NP- 30 minute walk near two Lakes: Rotoiti and Rotoroa.

3) PAPAROA NP- to see Punakaiki rocks. and Truman Track- 30 min hike to coast. Is Oparara Arch worth seeing?

4) Lake Tekapo, Lake Pukaki, hike to Tasman Glacier and Blue Lake. MOUNT COOK NP- (hooker vally track ? Is this hard hike?) Bowen Track Hike.

5) FRANZ JOSEF- sentinel rock- viewpoint of glacier, Mirror Lake, Peter's Pool Walk Hike, and Lake Matheson walk- one book said 1.5 hour RT the other said 3 which is correct?.

6) WESTLAND NP/ TAI POUTINI NP- viewpoint of fox glacier, Morraine walk, Minehaha walk, river walk lookout track.

7) ARTHUR'S PASS NP- Punchbowl Falls Track and Bridal Veil Falls hike- 1-1.5 hours each. Dobson Nature Walk. Haast Pass Lookout

8)WEST COAST- Hokitika Gorge.

9) FIORDLAND NP- Bowen Falls walk (30 min).

10) LAKE WANAKA

11) MILFORD SOUND - and DOUBTFUL SOUND- one book said you can't get to these yourself, need tour company? Bowen Falls, Mitre Peak.

-Which way would be best to drive this route?
-We will likely land in one place and fly home from another city- Please recommend which cities based on route?
-Tips for those who drive on the other side of the road and visiting NZ for the first time? How hard is it?

Thank you

Melnq8

What time of year will you visit? How many days do you have to work with?

<<Is it true that you can't get to Mt Aspiring NP unless you fly or boat--should we skip?>>

Not true at all. Absolutely do not skip.

Mt Aspiring can be reached via Wanaka, Glenorchy and Makarora by car and on foot.

<<Is Oparara Arch worth seeing?>>

Oparara Arch is about 10 km north of Karamea, which is well over two hours north of Punakaiki. We've visited the arches and toured the caves, they were interesting enough, but IMO not worth the time unless one has lots of time to work with.

<<MOUNT COOK NP- (hooker vally track ? Is this hard hike?) Bowen Track Hike.>>

The last time we hiked the Hooker Valley Track, we clocked it at 6.4 miles - it took us over three hours. The hike to Tasman Glacier and Blue lake took us two hours. I preferred it over the Hooker Valley Track. I don't recall either being particularly difficult and I'm no spring chicken.

The walk to the Lake Matheson Jetty Viewpoint is 40 minutes return. The entire loop is longer.

You can drive yourself to Milford Sound - we do it all the time.

You can drive yourself to Manapouri, where you will catch the boat, bus and cruise for Doubtful Sound.

Would love to know which book told said you couldn't get to Milford yourself, what a load of rubbish.

Driving on the left is a bit nerve wracking at first, but you'll get the hang of it in no time. It might take several days to stop turning on the windshield wipers when you mean to use your turn signals, but you'll do the same thing when you get back home.

Melnq8

If you haven't already found it, this site will be invaluable in planning your visits to NZ's beautiful National Parks:

http://www.doc.govt.nz/

tasmangirl

National parks here are spread out and some are in remote locations. you would need a lot of time to visit them all.
Most kiwi's have never been to Kahurangi NP or Paparoa. Same with Te Urerewa - I have been there and done the Waikaremoana walk but it's very remote.
Abel Tasman NP gets a big thumbs up - a beautiful park with golden sand. Go there.
Tongariro NP I love and would recommend a walk there. It is more open and desert like with the 3 mountains rising up in spectacular style.
Nelson Lakes is lovely but a half hour walk won't see much.
Rotorua will be underwhelming if you have been to Yellowstone (so I understand from other posts not personal experience!)
Start your holiday in Nelson to cover ATNP and then Nelson Lakes.
What time of the year is this? A car will be essential.

Melnq8

Kiwis don't hike the Heapy Track?

As international visitors we've hiked sections of it from both ends. As well as sections of the Kaituna Track and the easy walk to Riwaka Resurgence (all within Kahurangi NP). Not all of Kahurangi is remote.

Same with Paproa, some beautiful tracks there, and not the least bit remote - many tracks within Paparoa are easily accessible from Punakaiki.

Melnq8

As someone who has been to both Rotorua and Yellowstone, IMO Rotorua definitely pales in comparison.

zxcvbnm

thanks for your help.

This is for January. How many days should we plan for this trip?

Are any of the national parks, more driveable than others- as in you can see a lot of it by driving, even if you don't hike so much of it?

Also, how would you rate the national parks from your favorite to least favorite?

If you had to choose 5 national parks to skip which would they be?
and if you had to choose 5 national park musts, which would you choose?

tasmangirl

:-This is for January. How many days should we plan for this trip?-:
January 2017? Popular areas will be booked out for accommodation already. Its very late in the year to be planning anything for NZ in our most busiest month.
How long do you have for the holiday? Work out a day by day plan of what you want to see. You could spend months visiting all the parks.
Try focusing on bookings and flights rather than over thinking which parks to go to as they are all beautiful.
You can drive through Tongariro.
Fiordland is probably my top choice, followed by ATNP and Nelson Lakes (because I lived in Nelson when growing up).
For the most efficient use of holiday time go to the popular, easy to get to ones rather than exhaust yourself going somewhere remote just to say you have been there.

tasmangirl

Mel - don't know how I forgot the Heaphy. Maybe it is more popular with overseas tourists.
From Auckland it is probably easier and cheaper to go to Australia rather than get to Golden Bay. I love the place but have not been there for 20 years.

Melnq8

tasmangirl -

That's interesting about being cheaper and easier to go to Australia than Golden Bay from Auckland. When we lived in Western Australia, it was cheaper and easier to go to Bali than to other parts of Australia!

zxcvbnm -

Decide what you want to see most, then go from there. There's no way you can see every National Park unless you have copious amounts of time.

Some of the easiest National Parks to get to are the most popular ones - Abel Tasman, Fiordland, Westland, Mt Aspiring, Arthur's Pass, Akoraki/Mt Cook (and that's just the South Island).

You don't have to go very far to find a National Park in NZ.

I've been to the SI about a dozen times for two-four weeks each time and I'm planning a return visit next year for a month -just the SI.

To just scratch the surface of both islands, you need about three weeks, and I'd suggest more time on the SI than the NI.

zxcvbnm

thanks for your advice. Any ideas on planning where to start and end, are there any websites that help you arrange the car trip in the order that makes most sense to visit without backtracking?

tasmangirl

Dare I say it but go over to Trip Advisor and click on New Zealand. There is a lot of good info about different routes and driving plans.
We still need to know how long you have for the trip? Where can you fly into?
You will have to make some choices and see the parks that are in a logical order travelling south. It boils down to Mt Cook or Westland National Park as they are both on opposite sides of the Southern Alps.
So Plan No 1 West Coast is :
Fly into Auckland and then straight to Nelson.
1. Visit ATNP and Nelson Lakes, and see a bit of Kahurangi by going to the Riwaka Resurgence.
2. After this head to West Coast to Arthur's Pass but you can't avoid a bit of back track as there is no other road.
The West Coast is lovely and the glacier/rainforest area is one of only 2 in the world. The other is in Patagonia.
3. See some of Westland NP and move on to Mt Aspiring and Fiordland with a trip to Milford or Doubtful Sounds (they are actually fiords but were wrongly named).
Fly home from Queenstown.
Plan No 2 Mt Cook :
1. see 1 above
2. drive to Arthur's Pass then onto Mt Cook (quite a long drive 5 hours)
3. Mt Cook to Queenstown and from there explore/visit Mt Aspiring and Fiordland NP.
4. Fly home from Queenstown.

Mel - be interesting to see statistics on tramping in national parks - whether it is tourists or locals. There was an article in the NZ Herald suggesting people pay to walk our great walks. Certainly the Milford Track is very popular.

Melnq8

tasmangirl -

Yes, it would be interesting. I've never paid to walk a track in NZ, but I know many people do.

Melnq8

xycvbhn -

Most international flights to NZ land in Auckland.

From there visitors begin their exploration of the NI or they connect to a domestic flight to elsewhere in NZ.

You can fly back to Auckland for your international departure from a handful of places within NZ - Christchurch, Queenstown and Wellington amongst them.

We'll be of more help to you if we know where you're coming from and how many days you have to work with.

Once you've done that, the rest is easy.

This site might also help:

http://www.newzealand.com/us/

zxcvbnm

thanks tasmangirl, melnq, and everyone else. Flying from US. I'll check out those websites.

deSchenke

I think you are attacking this from the wrong angle. You asked: "How many days should we plan for this trip? "

My answer, "as many as you can spare"

So, is that between 7-12 days? 30-45 days? 90-150 days?

January is peak season. So not only are the tourists booking, the locals with their families will be out in full force as well.

There are loads of walks to incredible sights that aren't in National Parks!

What have you researched that is on your "must do" list? What are your general interests? Why did you want to go to New Zealand in the first place?

It's interesting that all the NPs you've chosen are in South Island, and the ones you think you can skip are in North Island. So, is this a South Island tour only? Generally, I'd recommend you fly in and out of Christchurch. But not knowing how many days you have, it's a bit difficult to advise.

A typical loop with 10 days would be:

1. Arr Chch

2. Drive to Hokitika via Arthurs Pass (or take Tranz Alpine to Greymouth THEN drive to Hokitika)

3. Drive to FJG Glacier

4. Drive to Wanaka

5 Drive to Te Anau (2N)

6. Coach tour to Milford Sound (self driving NOT recommended in winter due to snow & avalanche risk).

7. Drive to QTN (2N)

8. Explore

9. Drive to Mt Cook

10. Drive to Chch via Lake Tekapo.

The more days you have, the more you can add.

zxcvbnm

Have the recent earthquakes made any of the places on my list above unreachable by car or dangerous?

tasmangirl

If you are following deSchenke's plan above that should be fine.
Kaikoura town is completely cut off and the main highway on the east coast is ruined. Avoid the north east corner of NZ.
This probably makes Abel Tasman difficult to get to so I'd forget that.
Keep in mind the flow on effect of many tourists coming for the peak season who have to change their plans. Get your bookings and plans in place now.

Max_W

Hi

Taranaki Falls near Whakapapa Village is better than Tawhai Falls although Tahwai Falls is a much shorter walk. Bowen Falls has been closed for 14 years but you might be able to kayak over to it. Te Urewera is very nice but on gravel road.

zxcvbnm

thanks Max, I wasn't aware of that.