<b>Mt. Cook to West Coast Drive:</b>

The drive from Mt. Cook to the west coast, via Haast Pass, is beautiful! We loved this drive. You pass several huge lakes, and I believe it is a law in NZ that the color of water must be stunning and varied! :-D Along your route from Mt. Cook to Haast on the west coast you pass Lake Pukaki and Lake Hawea. You drive close to Wanaka, though we didn't stop in Wanaka. Then you head up towards Haast Pass. Beautiful drive and we were glad we started after breakfast and spent a gorgeous day enroute to the west coast.

We timed it to arrive at Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki on the west coat between Haast and Fox Glacier before dinner. It was a beautiful drive, and I had a big generous scoop of Hokey Pokey ice cream at a roadside cafe in Makarora, near Haast Pass. There are 2 roadside cafes in Makarora. One has better pre-wrapped sandwiches, is cheaper, and friendlier than the other. You can easily stop and check out both as they aren't far apart. Don't let the tour buses scare you as this place has efficient service and they have a big supply of good pre-made sandwiches that they replenish after the tour buses clean them out. By buying pre-made sandwiches you save time and therefore have more time for your scenic stops.

This is a long drive, from Mt. Cook to the west coast, and we didn't have time to dilly-dally, so we skipped Wanaka and saved our stops for scenic road-side stops and had lunch, toilet stops, and snacks in quick road-side cafes en route. I had been dreading this drive which is listed as 5 hours which I knew really means 8 hours for us...but it was a beautiful day. No worries. (-: There are several scenic stops in the Haast Pass area that you want to save time for, such as the Thunder Creek Falls (10 minutes) and the Blue Pools walk (30 minutes).

<b>Coming Up Next: West Coast; Flying home from Queenstown; and Travel Tips</b>

The YHA in Mt. Cook does have a small supply of groceries for sale, milk, eggs, soup bowls, etc. It's a very good budget choice, they have private rooms (upstairs with share baths). Not a view of Mt. Cook itself. I wonder if where you stayed was the old Glencoe Lodge or if it is brand new?

mlgb: We didn't stay in the Glencoe Lodge. The place we stayed is fairly new and is called the Aoraki/Mt. Cook Alpine Lodge. It was opened around July 2005. It has 15 rooms with ensuite bathrooms plus cheaper dorms. The front rooms (ensuite) are the ones with mountain views of Mt. Cook. It is run by Adele and Tony Delaney. The web-site is:
www.aorakialpinelodge.co.nz

There aren't any reviews of it yet on tripadvisor but I plan to add one. In the recent past someone mistakenly posted a review of the Aoraki wing of the Hermitage hotel under the name &quot;Aoraki/Mt. Cook Alpine Lodge&quot;. I wrote to tripadvisor and explained that the review was in the wrong place. I think they fixed that mistake. I will soon post my review of the Aoraki/Mt. Cook Alpine Lodge on tripadvisor...it's NOT affiliated with The Hermitage, although it is actually located within walking distance of The Hermitage. The Aoraki/Mt. Cook Alpine Lodge, the Visitor's center, and The Old Mountaineers Cafe are all located close to one another, which is convenient. The Glencoe Lodge is actually further away. Hope this helps. Also, the new Rough Guide New Zealand, fifth edition, published September 2006, is currently the most up-to-date guidebook that I found, and it contains several new places, including mentioning the Aoraki/Mt. Cook Alpine Lodge in Mt. Cook village centre. For anyone seeking budget lodging, the lodge also has dorm rooms at $36. We didn't see the dorm rooms and can't comment on them. I can only say that we would definitely stay here again, in one of the rooms upstairs with the view of Mt. Cook, as I loved having a view for only $165 NZ.

mlgb: One more comment...on page 728 of the new fifth edition of the Rough Guide I see a map which shows Glencoe lodge and the YHA as being fairly close to one another, and a bit distant from The Hermitage. Then, at the top of the map, further north, is shows a cluster of buildings together, and they are: The Hermitage, Visitor Center &amp; DOC office, The Old Mountaineer Cafe, and Aoraki Mount Cook Alpine Lodge, plus the Chalets that belong to The Hermitage.

<b>West Coast:</b>

From Haast on the west coast, if you continue driving north along the coast, you drive through a wild area of lowland rainforest, with beautiful tree ferns and flax.

The west coast of the South Island is wild and beautiful, from Haast up to Lake Matheson! We loved it!

The little town of Fox Glacier is very touristy, however.((H)) 8-) This was quite a shock, after spending time in the relative wilderness of the Lake Moeraki area, where there is no civilization for miles around the Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki.

We felt privileged to spend 3 nights at the Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki, which is expensive, but hey, it was our 25th anniversary trip, so it was worth it. There isn't anyplace else around for miles! (-: This Wilderness Lodge is located on the west coast, close to the highway, between Haast and Fox Glacier. Even though it is close to the highway, it feels very much isolated in nature. (There aren't any other hotels or restaurants for miles in either direction.)

From the lodge it is a convenient hike to the Monro Beach, which is a lovely wild-looking beach with drift wood. In November you can see the Fiordland crested penguins here; however this was February and you can't see them in February. It is still a beautiful beach. (You can stop at this beach on a day-trip if you stay in Haast or Fox Glacier.) There are rugged rocks in the water, with the ocean spraying up around them. We had no sand flies as it was too windy fortunately.

There are several rainforest walks you can take right from our lodge. I saw an intriguing ancient tree on one of these walks which I am positive is an Ent. :S-

Because of the absence of city lights in this area, on a clear night, the sky is inky black and you can see trillions of stars. We were astonished to see the milky way so clearly! &gt;:D&lt; It is also the absence of pollution, I think, that allows this amazing view of the stars. Also, you can see glo-worms right from the highway, which is very dark at night near the Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki on the west coast. This was one of their short guided walks, to see the glo-worms. It was pitch black outside and the guide had a powerful flashlight, and we walked carefully along the highway. (Very few cars at night here, as there is no place for them to go!)

<b>Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki:</b>

www.wildernesslodge.co.nz

We booked a rainforest room with King bed for 3 nights. This place is expensive, but we wanted a splurge for our anniversary. Price includes 3-course dinner and a coffee/tea social hour after dinner. Food is gourmet and there are 2 choices at dinner for your appetizer, entree, and dessert. We enjoyed excellent lamb, venison, and fish. These dinners were among the best we had in all of New Zealand. ((*)) Full breakfast menu included in room price, as well as short guided nature walks.

The staff was very enthusiastic and helpful by e-mail. They reserved us the rainforest room that has the best view...it has a view of both river and forest. Very romantic view! Many rainforest rooms don't include the river view, so I am very grateful to the staff for making our anniversary special.

In fact the Wilderness Lodge staff is great. Upon check-in we were given an enthusiastic welcome and tour of the facilities. There are kayaks and canoes available for guest use...sorry, they don't let you go down the rapids though! :-P

I would describe the rooms at the lodge as “wilderness luxury”, meaning that they are understated in d&eacute;cor, yet very comfortable, and with nice big windows to enjoy the view. The rooms are generous in size. Free laundry room with free laundry powder, and the washers and dryers are large capacity which is handy. Free internet use with 1 shared computer.

Malcolm, the manager, was very friendly and knowledgeable. Also met Anne, one of the owners. She said the owners live at the other Wilderness Lodge at Arthur's Pass, and they visit the Lake Moeraki lodge.

Malcolm will be moving on to open up a new place, and I am excited for him. I think it will be a great place, and it will be especially good for bicyclists, as it is on a cycling route. I will give you the web-site, and look for this place to open soon, as I have a hunch about this place, having met Malcolm, it will be good:
<i>Kokonga Lodge
Central Otago, New Zealand
kokongalodge.co.nz
Please note that I haven't stayed here...it isn't open yet! I am mentioning it because I think it looks interesting. Kokonga Lodge will be handy for bikers and walkers from the Central Otago Rail trail.
Hosts: Malcolm Edwards &amp; Dorothy Piper
Kokonga Lodge will be 2.5 hours from Queenstown or Wanaka.</i>

I am confident that the Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki will always be in good hands. I'm not sure who will manage it when Malcolm leaves, but as I said we met one of the owners, Anne, and I know you will always be in good hands at either of the locations of the Wilderness Lodge (Lake Moeraki or Arthur's Pass). We only stayed at the Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki, but we met other guests who had also enjoyed the Wilderness Lodge Arthur's Pass.

<b>Jackson Bay, West Coast:</b>

One of our day-trips from the Wilderness Lodge was to drive down along the west coast as far south as the road goes, to Jackson Bay. It was a pleasant drive, through coastal rainforest. We ended up at Jackson Bay, which is about as UN-touristy as you can get. It is a quiet bay, with little boats, and has a slow and lazy feel. Small pier. End of the road. No tourists except for us. There is a little trailor on the shore called the Cray Pot, which is inexpensive and you can enjoy the fish of the day. We had the best fish and chips there for a good price! ((*)) The catch was elephant fish the day we visited. We had asked Malcolm at our hotel if there was anyplace to eat at the end of the road, and he recommended the Cray Pot. (Now, don't blame me if it changes owners...whoever runs it in February 2007 during our visit was doing an excellent job!)

There is a trail you can take through coastal rainforest from Jackson Bay, but we only had a few minutes on it because we were out of time. We wanted to go back to our lodge to do the Monro Beach walk at low tide in the afternoon. Malcolm at our lodge has a tide chart.

<b>Fox Glacier:</b>

From the Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki on the west coast, we took a day-trip on our own to the glaciers. It was an hour's drive to Fox Glacier. We walked 30 minutes to the viewing area at the face of the glacier. We have seen the glaciers on both of our trips, and my husband and I have opposite reactions. I am bored with glaciers...although I understand they are a unique feature, they look like dirty ice to me and I am not very excited standing there staring at them. :-&lt; However my husband gets very excited about glaciers. He was thrilled to fish a piece of the icy glacier out of the shallow glacial stream that was accessible to visitors. He held it in his hands and explained to me how old it was :-D and how exciting that was to him. I didn't really get it. This shows our opposite reactions!

I need to say that there are barriers at both glaciers and warning signs about the dangers of going past the barriers. We stayed on the safe side of the barriers. Glaciers are dangerous to take an unguided walk on...ice can collapse!:-O The guided walks don't start from the same face as the viewing spot. They start from someplace else and they have special equipment.

<b>Lunch at Neve Cafe, Fox Glacier:</b>

My rating: 7/10; Very Good
Great smoked chicken with salad, and a creative thingie with potato, zuchini, kumara (sweet potato?) portobello mushroom, dressing, etc.

<b>Fox Glacier town:</b>

The village of Fox Glacier, from the highway, looks amazingly touristy to me. I was shocked to see how touristy it is, after coming from the natural area surrounding the Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki, south of Fox Glacier. There are an amazing number of tourists in the glacier area. It attracts tour buses too. There are so many signs for scenic flights it makes you dizzy.#-O Personally I think the coast south of the glaciers, all the way down to Haast and even south of Haast, is prettier and less crowded than the glacier area!

<b>Lake Matheson:</b>

On a clear day, Lake Matheson is worth a stop even if the wind prevents you from seeing reflections on the water. Unfortunately a lot of other tourists will stop along with you. There is a new cafe right at Lake Matheson. But the sight of Mt. Cook, in the distance beyond the lake, is gorgeous on a sunny day.

I got a photo I love with grazing cows, and Mt. Cook in the background! An intriguing combination. Right near Lake Matheson.

We were glad that we walked along Lake Matheson, as it was beautiful even though it was too breezy to see reflections.

<b>West Coast to Queenstown Drive:</b>

It was sad to leave the Wilderness Lodge as it was nearly the end of our trip. But the drive from the west coast, through Haast Pass, to Queenstown is wonderfully scenic. ((Y)) It was another beautiful sunny day, and we got some great photos.

We stopped for a tasty pre-wrapped sandwich and a generous scoop of ice cream at a roadside cafe along the 6 highway in Makarora near Haast Pass. There are 2 roadside cafes down the road from each other in Makarora. One of them has better pre-wrapped sandwiches, and big scoops of ice cream. You can easily stop at both and have a look at the sandwiches in the case and you will see which one you prefer. The one we chose is more popular with the bus tours as well, but the service is friendly and efficient. They have a lot of pre-made wrapped sandwiches, and they replenish them quickly when the buses come through. They taste very fresh and are a good price. I loved the hokey pokey ice cream, :-X and I had a scoop on both of our scenic drives, as we passed through the Haast area on 2 different days! (Mt. Cook to west coast drive, and west coast to Queenstown drive.)

<b>Last Night in Queenstown:
Browns Boutique Hotel</b>

I have already previously reviewed our last night's hotel, Browns Boutique Hotel in Queenstown. For the price I was disappointed. It is a nice place, with a hard-working kind staff, but I felt it was over-priced, our room was small for the price, and our shower door leaked water onto the floor. The good part was that it is near the gondola so we had time to take the gondola up for a great view before we flew out of Queenstown our final morning!

If they fix the leaky shower door in room 10, it would help a lot. I also think the price is a little high for the size of the room. I suggest that they stop offering free wine and beer in your mini-frig, and cancel the breakfast, as there are lots of places in town for breakfast...and that way they could probably afford to lower the price a bit and fix the shower door.

<b>Flying out of Queenstown:</b>

We flew Air New Zealand from Queenstown to Auckland, and WHAT A VIEW! The fantastic view made up for the scenic flight which we hadn't had time to take. Our flight left around 3:00 pm. Stunning, jaw-dropping views of Mt. Cook from our window on the right side of the plane! &gt;:D&lt; White snow, rugged mountains; a few scattered whisps of white cloud, WOW. Blue and blue-green...were those lakes? Incredible...where clouds are thicker it looks like a frothing sea has been frozen in time between the mountain range. The mountains live, they breathe, they remember the history of the land. They hold their secrets. This is the glory of God...this is our higher power, whatever we believe.

I will return to New Zealand. Mt Cook beckons again and again. Fiordland is a glorious place. The southwest coast boasts a beautiful rainforest and deserted beaches. The peace of the wild, natural southwest coast really suits me. So long, New Zealand....but NOT goodbye.:(( =;

<b>THE END</b>

And you thought this trip report would never end! Actually I think I didn't want it to end, because I was reliving all our trip highlights. (Thank you to anyone who has actually read down this far! I hope it helps somebody else.)

<b>ishki:</b> That is great that you also celebrated your 25th anniversary in New Zealand! Enjoy your upcoming trip. If you stop at the tuatarium in Invercargill, let me know how Henry is getting along with his new girlfriend. (Henry the determined bachelor has refused to mate with the ladies and tries to bite them.) Yes, I am talking about Henry the tuatara! (-: Let us know about The Croft when you return...I heard that is a good place. I agree, you can never get enough of those mountain vistas. Enjoy!

<b>okoshi2002:</b> I think it's great your family can check out the Otago University together with your daughter. I thought Dunedin was a pleasant university town...and she can also travel around and see the south island from there! Let us know what she decides.

I forgot to mention that after we flew from Queenstown to Auckland, we then flew from Auckland back to LAX on Air New Zealand, and drove home from there.

Thank you Melissa for taking the time to tell us about your New Zealand trip. I have enjoyed reading about your adventures. My husband and I leave a week from tomorrow! We are spending two nights at Christchurch and five nights at Queenstown (with some day trips planned to other areas). I am very excited, but I am also in a &quot;Kiwi Panic&quot; as I prepare for our trip! =) Grandparents will be staying with our daughters while we are away. So part of my anxiety is leaving them behind and wanting everything to go smoothly at home. Take Care.

MarsBars, how well I remember those times when my husband and I left the kids with grandparents and flew off somewhere. Promise yourselves at least some time when you won't be talking about the kids! Take solace in the fact that you will be even better parents when you return, as you will miss the kids and you will realize more than ever what a blessing they are, since you are going to have a much-needed break from them!

Queenstown is a wonderful base for 5 days. Are you going to rent a car? There are so many great day-trips from Queenstown. And good food in town too!

When you return do tell us about Christchurch too. We couldn't fit Christchurch in on this trip. I think we saw it on the first whirlwind trip, but we spent so little time in each place on that first trip that I can't remember a lot of places we saw!

Enjoy! (-:

Hi Melissa - I am glad you shared your experiences and I enjoyed that for a time our trip reports intertwined.:-)

Obviously your return journey was much longer than my 3 hrs back to Sydney.

And now for Europe eh?? I will be going again late this year or early 2008(spring)and will go to LA first(my father now lives 2 hrs out of LA) then NYC then who knows but certainly Poland.

It has been great reading your (and angelnot1's) trip reports. Brings back so many neat memories. All of your detailed planning seems to have paid off with a successful trip.
As they say, &quot;Good on ya, mate!&quot;
PS: Old ice from Fox Glacier is about 1,000 years old. Supposedly does wondrous things for old scotch. However, it didn't taste any different to me either.

Angelnot1, yes, it's been fun watching our trip reports unfold at the same time! Yes, our return journey was long...first we flew Queenstown to Auckland, with wonderful views. Then we flew Auckland to LAX non-stop, 12 hours. The time goes fairly fast on Air New Zealand as they have the individual screens with movies on demand...you can even pause your movie and rewind! (Of course it took me about 2 hours to figure out how to do that! :-P

angelnot1, I love starting to plan a new trip just when I am feeling sad about the previous trip being over! Who knows, maybe someday we will be writing Poland trip reports at the same time! I have one question on the Poland forum, and will add many more...as soon as I can finish my reading about Eastern/Central Europe. I will look for your trip report after you visit Poland again!

BillJ: Good on ya, mate! I like that...though I'm not sure what it means, it sounds good. I think I am glad my husband didn't make me taste the 1,000-year-old ice! Thanks for hanging in here with angelnot1 and I... I did get a bit...ummm...wordy!!! :-P Now that I have printed out my own trip report I can say that I've finally written that novelette...

This was an incredible amount of work. Thanks so much for sharing. My son just moved to Wellington for at least a year to get his master's at Victoria Univesity. We hope to be heading there in December or January. I went on to a lot of your links to get information to save for our adventure.

AprilinParis, you mean...this was an incredible amount of play! :-D Yes, it was a lot of work...but I happen to love both travel and writing, and they do go together so well! Enjoy planning your adventure in New Zealand. December or January will be NZ summer as I'm sure you know. This year, they had an unusually cold December. I think I might cross my fingers and shoot for January if you have a choice!

How great that your son will be getting his Masters in New Zealand. It will simply be your duty to visit him! :-P

I'm glad some of the links I included were helpful. I know other people's trip reports have been a great resource for me. I am glad to return the favor.

What a fabuulous report! One more question: Flying Qt to Auckland were you on the right side of the plane facing fore or aft? Are the views great from either side? I may as well try to get the best view possible. Many thanks. C.

gtnz07, thanks! We were on the right side of the plane, assuming you are facing towards the front of the plane, where the pilot sits... We had great views from our window, as we could see Mt. Cook and beautiful mountains and what looked like lakes, flying from Queenstown to Auckland. However, I'm not saying the views from the left side are bad, as we couldn't see what those people were seeing. I did peek over there now and then, and I never felt like their view was better than ours...Hope this helps! I would sit on the same side again. I think we were near the wing, but the wing wasn't in our way. Maybe we were over the wing. Enjoy your flight!

Yes, you do want to be on the west side of the plane if possible!

mlgb: Since my brain lacks an internal compass entirely, it is fortunate for my husband that I didn't have to figure out which was the west side of the plane, but I bet gtnz07 can figure it out! :-D

Honestly, mlgb, it would be a lot easier for me to orient myself in the world if only things would stay in one place, and wouldn't keep moving about like they do. The world is like a merry-go-round to me. There isn't any use in pin-pointing the location of anything, because it will just move, like horses on the merry-go-round.

That is why my husband and I make a great travelling pair. He has an excellent internal compass. But he doesn't like all the little details of planning and researching a trip. So I plan the trip, and when we arrive, he drives and makes sure we don't get lost!

I understand about getting disoriented. When I am in Palm Springs I am always flipped around because I expect the big mountains to be to the north, not the south!

mlgb: Those big mountains do have a bad habit of getting up and moving about on you, when you aren't looking...That is the trouble with Palm Springs. :-d

Melissa: Thanks for all the wonderful information. We are going in December and, once I actually study our itinerary and your review, I'm sure I'll be back with specific questions. Do you have your pictures posted online?

Senga, I would be happy to help in any way that I can, when you are ready to post your questions and itinerary. I hope my trip report helps. I found it very helpful to read other people's trip reports when I planned this trip. It really supplements and updates the info in the guidebooks. Plus I like to get the inside story.

I will be posting my New Zealand photos on-line, but it is a new process for me. My son is helping me by setting me up so I will understand how to post my photos. Hopefully they will be ready for posting soon!

Meanwhile, luckily for you all, I will NOT be posting all 700 photos that I took with my digital camera while in New Zealand! So far I have deleted a few and am down to only 534 photos! :-D You gotta understand, it was my first digital camera and I couldn't be sure if I was taking good photos so I decided to take a lot! I will choose the best few and post them.

Senga, enjoy the planning process...it is the beginning of your journey to gorgeous New Zealand! Whatever you think you can fit in...write it down...then chop it ruthlessly in half...you'll be glad you did in the end!

Melissa5,
I have so enjoyed your trip report, with your great turn of phrase making everywhere sound so interesting.
I am a NZer who is very familiar with many of the places you visited, and your enthusiasm mirrored my own for this area.
We visited Jackson Bay in January, the 2nd time in 40 years for my husband, the first time for me. What a quaint little place. We too had a wonderful meal of fish and chips at the Cray Pot -our fish was Blue Nose - which just melted in your mouth. We were staggered by the sight of the two huge and beautiful pohutukawas covered in flowers that were on the foreshore just along from the Cray Pot.
Did you notice the way the trees lean on that stretch of road from Wilderness Lodge to Jackson Bay? Definitely worth several photos!
Thanks again for your report.

Okay, Melissa and Dotty have managed to pique my interest in Jackson Bay, which I'm completely unfamiliar with. Where exactly is this gem?

I have taken so many notes from Melissa5's reports . Thanks. We leave in 3 weeks and are at wits end trying to figure out driving times and how to fit it all in. We plan to spend 7 nights in South Island (Queenstown, Milford Sound overnight, Fox Glacier or Lake Moeraki (long drive from Milford Sound), maybe Karamea next, Abel Tasman and Nelson or Blenheim.

Then 6 nights on North Island to Wellington for 2 nights, Napier, Roturua, Waitomo Caves and Auckland (just to be there for morning flight back to San Francisco.

We are probably jamming too much in but I think driving from Queenstown to Milford just after arriving would be crazy so we figured 2 nights there to adjust. But it does mean a very long drive from Milford to wherever we stay north of Queenstown. Trying to decide between Mt. Cook or the West Coast. Can't really do both as too much back-tracking. Thoughts?

Thankz

garymey -

Check out this site for help with drive distances and times:

http://www.accommodationz.co.nz/distances2.html

Regarding your proposed SI itinerary - WAY too much. There's just no way you can do all that in 7 days and actually enjoy yourselves.

Suggest you scratch Karamea completely - not much there - just the start of the Heaphy Track, which you'll have no time to walk and the Honeycomb caves.

Also suggest you choose between the south of the SI or the north of the SI. Drive times and distances are too great to do it all. NZ looks small, but it's long and the roads are narrow and winding with many, many places to stop along the way.

Scale back and you'll have a much more enjoyable trip.

If I can be of any help, feel free to contact me at [email protected].

dotty: Nice to hear from a Kiwi! What a gorgeous place you live in! Yes, those leaning trees between Lake Moeraki and Jackson Bay are quite striking. Wish I was close enough for more fresh fish and chips from the Cray Pot...now I'm spoiled.

Melnq8: Jackson Bay is on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Driving south from Lake Moeraki, it is as far south as the coastal road goes. Many folks probably haven't ventured as far south as Jackson Bay as it is even further south than Haast. It is NOT a Must-See destination at all...it is one of those refreshingly untouristed out-of-the-way spots you like to run across when you are in the area. We had 3 nights at Lake Moeraki, which was enough time to explore the southwest coast a bit. I wouldn't suggest you go out of your way to find Jackson Bay, but if you spend a few nights somewhere between Haast and Lake Moeraki, do drive down to Jackson Bay and have fish and chips at the Cray Pot (a trailor on the bay.) We enjoyed seeing the unique coastal rainforest in this area, with Tree Ferns. On a return trip to New Zealand I would like to look into some more of the walks on the SW coast area which we didn't have time for.

garymey: Melnq8 is right, you cannot fit it all in. I agree with her suggestion to choose either the northern half or the southern half of the South Island. The South Island is magnificent, and the going is slow. The roads are winding, one lane in each direction, with lots of scenic stops, plus you often get stuck driving behind a huge camper or truck which refuses to pull over.

Relax, garymey...the good news is you can't see it all no matter how much you try to cram in...so you might as well slow down and enjoy 13 nights in paradise...I recommend you choose either the North or South Island. 13 nights is enough time to enjoy half of one of the islands! One of the things you may not realize is that New Zealand is just packed with breath-taking sites that take you by surprise...they just take your breath away, and you won't want to move on. Do just one-half of one island. Use flights to get back to Auckland when you need to fly home. With the pace that you are thinking of planning, you would be having a drive-by vacation...but New Zealand entices you to stop, get out of the car, take a walk, snap dozens of photos, enjoy some unique wildlife, chat with friendly folks from NZ and all over the world...

I love both Mt. Cook and the West Coast. You say you are trying to choose between them. One thing that may help you...if the weather is good, you can have views of Mt. Cook from a distance without actually driving all the way up to Mt. Cook. For example, from Lake Matheson on the west coast, on a clear day, Mt. Cook is beautiful in the background.

You have 13 nights. I would focus on 3 main areas. Spend 3 nights in each of your 3 main areas. Choose an accomodation to use as a base with a good location in each of your 3 main areas. Use the extra nights to stay near the airport at the beginning and end of your trip, or to string together your 3 main areas with an overnite stop, in case they are too far apart to drive in one day.

Some questions to ask yourself:

Q: Am I drawn to wilderness areas, where there is only nature for miles around me?
Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki, west coast, is in a natural, peaceful area. Haast on the west coast is also a middle-of-nowhere sort of area, and although I can't recommend a particular accomodation in Haast, you would be able to drive to see the coastal rainforest nearby, if you like wilderness areas. You can look into various hikes in the area near Haast and also near Wilderness Lode Lake Moeraki. (We didn't find the town of Haast particularly interesting, but it is well-located for anyone who likes to be within driving distance of uncrowded natural areas.)

Question: Am I drawn to drive all the way up to the top of the mountain, as far as the road goes? Even at the risk of having bad weather obscuring my view of the mountain? Does the mountain call to me?
Mt. Cook village is the end of the road...it calls to me, and I love it...I will return again...but for some people, seeing the mountain from a distance is just as rewarding and not so out-of-the-way.

Question:
Do I like big towns with lots to do, or little villages near nature?
Queenstown is a busy town with lots to do in town and also many day-trips surrounding the town. Te Anau is a small town but it is closer to the fijords. Personally I enjoyed a stay in both Queenstown and Te Anau, but it is also a fine choice to choose one or the other.

Well I have been blabbing here long enough!

Garymey, I just love planning trips, travelling, and talking to trip-planners. One question I would suggest you ask yourself: WHY am I trying to cram in as much as possible? What am I afraid of missing? Where did I get the idea that travel means cramming in sites into my itinerary? Do I really want to see just a little bit of a LOT of places? Isn't it better to see a LOT MORE at just a few places?

That question wasn't just for you, Garymey, I threw it out there for anybody who wants to think about it. It is a common temptation to include everything and to have difficulty &quot;giving up&quot; something. Where do you suppose we get this idea that that is the way to travel?

If you read a lot of trip reports, very seldom if ever will you find somebody saying, I went there, and I went way too slow, I was bored, I shoulda gone faster. Show me that trip report! I don't think I've seen it.

Instead, you will read people saying...we needed more time here...we left there reluctantly...we wish we had skipped this place because we didn't even have enough time to enjoy it...we have to go back and spend more time in these places...etc.

What I have found is that the feeling that you are &quot;missing&quot; something important mostly happens in the planning phase. Resist the temptation to include too much. Once you arrive at your destinations, you are so thrilled on a well-planned trip, the places you &quot;skipped&quot; become a pale ghost, compared to what you are really seeing, and you have no regrets about &quot;missing&quot; the places you left out.

Garymey: Okay, one more thing I gotta say: of all my memories of New Zealand, on both of our trips, Fiordland is #1 for me...If I could only choose one place to go in New Zealand, and I had to spend a whole week there, there would be no contest. I would choose to spend a whole week in Fiordland. (So much magnificence...when I think of Fiordland, and forgive me if I have expanded the geographical area too much, but I think of Te Anau, Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound, Milford Road, Routeburn track, Queenstown, Glenorchy, and the drive to Paradise.)

Melissa -

Looked up Jackson Bay after I posted my question - sounds like my kind of place - the quieter the better. Always on the lookout for out-of-the way spots, so will be sure to check it out next visit.

Melnq8, we enjoy finding untouristed spots that aren't on anybody's Must-Do list, to add to our itinerary as well. One of the employees at Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki was talking to the manager about having had a swim with dolphins at Jackson Bay, which is what intrigued us. (NOT a tour, he just got in the water and swam with some dolphins.) We drove down to Jackson Bay, and just enjoyed being in a peaceful uncrowded area. We didn't see any dolphins however. But that was okay as we enjoyed the fish and chips at the little trailor, Cray Pot, which had been recommended. I hope it's still there for you! There are some walks you can do from Jackson Bay as well, but we didn't have much time there. It looked like one of the trails probably went to another isolated beach, but we didn't have time to get that far. Enjoy exploring! It's not just the Jackson Bay that is the attraction...it is the fact that to get there, you will drive through some nice coastal rainforest as well, especially if you are driving down the west coast. My favorite area of the west coast was between Lake Moeraki, near Monro Beach, and driving south along the west coast, all the way to Jackson Bay. There aren't too many places to stay in this area...which of course is part of it's appeal. The only places to stay would be either the Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki (great but expensive), and some places in Haast. I know Haast is kinda the middle of nowhere...like you said, a blip on the road sort of...but I think there are a lot of walks in this sw coast area, and I would like to return to explore some more! Most people won't have time to go south of Haast unless they are staying somewhere nearby. That's why I love the Wilderness Lodge, it really is in the middle of nowhere, a great place to be in my opinion! Beautiful area, kinda has a wild, untamed feel to it.

I've just started reading your report and it sounds absolutely wonderful!!
Can't wait to see what's next!

I love all the detail of your report. My husband and I have decided on 10 days in NZ (South Island) as part of what had originally been planned as an Australia only trip (mid August - mid September). I'm so excited and have taken lots of notes from your report!

Hi Melissa5,
I have been reading your trip report of NZ with great interest - I love the way you write and your observations are excellent. My husband and I (I think) are a bit like you guys: we are both biologists and we love to travel. This year we are taking our kids (12 &amp; 17) back to New Zealand for 14 days concentrating on the bottom half of the South Island. Must walk on those glaciers before they melt with global warming! Like you I thoroughly enjoy planning our itinerary way in advance (going in September), reading travel reports like yours really really help. Just a bit concerned of the amount of driving we will be doing each day (I agree: teenagers tend to zone out inside cars despite all the lovely scenery around, case in point, our Kakadu trip last year). One of the longest drive I think will be from Wanaka to Dunedin (1 day) then from Dunedin back to Te Anau (we will have to miss Invercargill I'm afraid, my husband does not fancy driving for 10 hours!). What are the roads like out there in Otago? I read in many reports about how they are so full of twist and turns and pretty steep in some places. A lot of the distance/time estimates provided in travel websites appear to be based on a speed of 100ks/hr, I don't think that is a sightseeing speed really. What speed did you guys do on your drives? Love to pick your brain some time when I get our itinerary sorted. Right now, I'm so awed by the amount of ideas just reading your report.

For planning, I'd use 80 kilometers per hour. 100 is not realistic between slow moving campers on two-lane roads, as well as photo stops.

Melissa - Thank you for bringing back wonderful memories with your detailed and beautifully written trip report. It is fascinating to follow your itinerary and impressions. I enthusiastically share your love for the Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki. That's truly a magical experience! We were celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary there and felt the splurge was well worth it. Didn't have as &quot;luxurious&quot; a room as you did but the food and fellowship was great then, too.

We were there in 1993; in those days we were simply given flashlights and walked up the road with another couple to view the glo-worms. The starry nights - utterly unforgettable. Had a personal guided tour by the owner of the Lodge by kayaks, on foot and by car. I'll never forget the ferns and fauna in the rainforest. Of course, we never encountered another soul. That goes for the walk along Lake Matheson, too. What a serene spot. The bugs had a field day with us, though :-)

We traveled by rental car, train, bus, boat and every possible puddle jumper while visiting both the North &amp; South Island. My birth country (Switzerland) has some pretty neat scenery, but New Zealand blew us away. It's easily the most beautiful and diversified country I've ever laid my eyes on.

I wholeheartedly share your opinion of the village at Fox Glacier. Even in those days, a disappointment - the only one of the whole 3+ weeks - I may add. We stayed 2 nights there.

Again, thank you - you're a most gifted writer. What a joy to read of your trip to Paradise!!

nevermind: I have been busy this month and just popped on the forums to see what I have been missing. I'm glad you enjoyed my trip report, and I know I took lots of notes from other people's trip reports to help plan our wonderful trip! Enjoy an amazing country!

bellytoo: Ah, the southern half of the south island, a fantastic choice! Yes don't believe those driving times. You can't go too fast because the roads are only 1 lane in each direction and inevitably you get stuck driving behind a slow truck which refuses to pull over. Besides around every bend is a wondrous view and you have to keep stopping to take photos. Since you are biologists like my husband, you will also be stopping in places that no normal person would stop because you will spot some type of rare flora or fauna. :-D So when you see those driving times, they are all wrong for bio-tourists. Yes New Zealand is a biologist's dream trip! I suggest you NOT plan to take a drive which is listed as longer than 5 hours in one day. For bio-tourists, a 5-hour drive becomes an 8-hour drive. If you decide to dawdle over a lunch stop, that could add an hour.

You ask how bad the roads are with all those twists and turns over the mountain etc. Well that depends on what you are comparing the roads to. Compared to Costa Rica Roads, New Zealand has fine modern roads. :-P Ah but Costa Rica, there is another bio-tourism dream trip! :-X

Really I thought the roads in New Zealand, during the New Zealand late summer (February) were fine...just slow and winding and narrow, but they felt safe. Now in winter with ice and bad weather, they would be scary to me, but I live in southern California so we don't have weather here!

I'll try to peek in here to see how your trip planning is coming. I'm planning 2 trips at once now...September 2007 and September 2008 family trips.