Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Nov - Dec Trip Report

Before I continue, a few comments. I have been reading some of the posts on this forum and came across a thread where a person criticized an experience in OZ and then was taken to task for the criticism. In fact, I have seen this a few times on this forum. PLEASE keep in mind that ALL opinions expressed in my/our posts are MY/OUR opinions. Others may have been to the same places, maybe even at the same time, and come away with completely different opinions. How many times have you gone to a movie with other people and walked out thinking that was a great movie and hearing someone else say that it was awful. REMEMBER, DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS!!

On with the report.

Nelson: We flew from Rotorua to Nelson. With the exception of Auckland to Rotorua, all inter-city travel was by air. For the remainder of the trip in New Zealand we rented cars from Apex. They were VERY good. We were always met on time, given excellent service, nice cars and overall were VERY pleased. Accommodation – For our 2 nights in Nelson, we stayed at Long Lookout Gardens. This is a small – 2 rooms – B & B slightly outside the center of town. On a scale of 1 – 10 we rated this about 10+. Our room overlooked the beautiful garden and also had a view of the harbor (harbour for our OZ and NZ friends). Our hosts were superb and very helpful with suggestions. Also excellent cooks with outstanding cooked breakfasts. When we return to NZ, we will definitely stay longer in Nelson and it will be at Long Lookout Gardens. Dining – We ate at two restaurants down by the harbor – Harbour Light and Ma Fish. We preferred our meal at Ma Fish. It was very good, well prepared fresh fish. Harbour Light was OK. When/if we return to Nelson, we would probably try different places. Activities – We went to Nelson because we like crafts and had heard that there were good crafts around this city. We visited the World of Wearable Art (WOW) and we HIGHLY recommend it. On exhibition were the costumes from the last competition and they were spectacular. We also drove our Apex hire car outside of Nelson to various galleries and artists’ studios. One place worth mentioning was Hoglund Art Glass. They have an interesting tour and a wonderful collection of FINE glass. Worthwhile visit. REMEMBER – art and crafts are VERY subjective – what we like may not be to everyone’s taste.

Christchurch: Our Apex rep met us on arrival from Nelson and got us on our way into CC. Accommodation – We had a 3 night stay at Weston House. This is a very nice, 2 guest room, B & B in the center of CC across the street from the George Hotel. The full breakfast was EXCELLENT and the hosts were very cordial. On our scale, we rate it about 8 – 9. Dining – The first night we had reservations at Pescatore in the George Hotel. How convenient. When we made the reservation, we didn’t know that it was across the street from our B & B, We had heard that it was one of the best restaurants in CC. It certainly must be, because it couldn’t be too much better. Our meal was outstanding. But, be forewarned IT IS EXPENSIVE! The next night we had a reservation at C’est La Vie in Akaroa. Again, it came highly recommended. C’est La Vie is a very small, French restaurant on the main street of Akaroa. They have 2 dinner sittings – 6pm and 8:30pm. We opted for the 6pm. The restaurant serves about 20 people. Because we were the first people there, we were asked if we wanted to sit alone or share a table with other people. We opted to share. There were 8 people at our table – 3 couples and 2 single ladies traveling alone. My meal was excellent. My wife’s meal wasn’t as good. Overall the restaurant probably rated a 7. It was a lot of fun and a good time but didn’t quite live up to the hype. Our last night in CC we went back to the George. Different restaurant but equally as good. (It was raining that night and we might have tried something different but it was late and the George was convenient.) Activities – We started with the On/Off trolley around the city. Nice ride and worthwhile. We jumped off at the art center area. Visited the museum and enjoyed. We were very disappointed with the remainder of the art center. It seemed to us to be a lot of small stores with touristy undesirables. Our second day, we drove to Akaroa. This was a nice side trip. Good scenery and some interesting side roads along the way. Now for the complaining. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE BEGINNING OF SUMMER!! IT WAS FREEZING!. There was a South wind right off the Antarctic. It was so cold that all the boat trips in Akaroa had been cancelled. In spite of that, it was worth the trip. For our third day we had booked the “Alpine Safari Tour” from Scenic Pacific. This was a multi-part adventure that consisted of a coach ride to Waimakariri Gorge. (Explanations of the countryside and general NZ info along the way.) At the Gorge, we had an hour jet-boat experience. Sort of like an amusement park ride with beautiful scenery added. It was fun! Then a unique experience aboard a 4 wheel drive vehicle traversing a sheep station. And lastly the Trans-Alpine Express from Arthur’s Pass back to CC. A full and fun day.

To be continued.