mrwunrfl

Here is the itinerary that I've arranged with Air NZ Holidays for a trip for my brother and I at the end of the year. I'd appreciate any advice or suggestions. We have no interest in wine tours and my brother is not active at all - walking is a problem.

Dec 24 - arriving late at night in Auckland on Santa's sleigh from Sydney after departing LAX on the 22nd.

Dec 24 - 27 Auckland - Novotel in Ellerslie- 2 standard rooms, 3 nights

Dec 25 - plan to go to Sky Tower. And more to be determined.

Dec 26 - A day at the races at Ellerslie!

Dec 27 - Fly to Blenheim, arriving at 10:30 and connecting to the train at 1:33PM to Christchurch

Dec 27-30 Christchurch - Copthorne City - 2 superior rooms, 3 nights

Dec 28 - see Christchurch sights

Dec 29 - Arthur's Pass day tour. Bus to Springfield, train to A.P., by road to Viaduct Lookout, lunch at Chalet Restaurant, explore village of A.P., stop at sheep farm on return to Chc.

Dec 30 - Christchurch to Queenstown one-way tour. Lake Tekapo, see the church, bus along Tasman river to Mt Cook, time for helicopter or ski plane tour, go on to NZs "Adventure Capital".

Dec 30 - Jan 3 Queenstown - Heritage - 2 bedroom suite, 4 nights

Dec 31 - see Queenstown sights

Jan 1 - maybe go out to Arrowtown

Jan 2 - Milford Sound day trip with scenic flight. Bus to Milford Sound, cruise on Red Boats with buffet lunch, scenic flight return to Queenstown. 7:20AM-4:30PM.

Jan 3 - fly Queenstown to Rotorua departing at 10:20AM

Jan 3-5 Rotorua - Novotel Lakeside - 2 lake view rooms, two nights

Rotorua - might take a tour or might rent a car. Want to see the Maori center. Very interested in a hangi dinner.

Jan 5-6 Auckland - Novotel - 2 standard rooms, 1 night

Jan 6 - 9AM AKL departure for SYD and then LAX.

ElendilPickle

Why does Air NZ Holidays have you going to Sydney before Auckland? That doesn't make sense, IMO, if you're not going to spend time there.

We went to the evening concert and hangi at the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute in Rotorua and really enjoyed it. Tamaki and Mitai also get good reviews.

Lee Ann

mrwunrfl

I bought the ticket to/from New Zealand separately, LAX-SYD-AKL and return.

Tim_and_Liz

Looks great! In Queenstown make sure to take the gondola up to Bob's Peak, and you can luge while your brother watches... or you can just relax in the restaurant/bar. You can take the TSS Earnslaw across Lake Wakitipu. The farm tour may be too strenuous for your brother, I am sure Real Journeys will be able to tell you...

mrwunrfl

I ended up booking this myself and saving 15% over what Air NZ. It took about 10 days, and a couple of price increases (even after dropping the last hotel night), before I gave up on Air NZ Holidays. It took me only about three hours to book it all, including air, hotel, and tours. I called Queenstown to make sure they had our reservation.

Will definitely take the gondola ride, minus the luge x2, and the boat on the lake.

Seems like Rotorua is a place where we will need a car.

Should I book the concert and dinner at the Maori A&C Center in advance? Seems like this might be a popular time for visitors there.

ElendilPickle

Not only is it a popular time for foreign visitors, but it's when a lot of Kiwis go on holiday, so I would go ahead and book it in advance. We went in April (not exactly peak tourist season) and had a pretty good-sized group.

Lee Ann

alesnever

Rotorua is small, you do not necessarily need a car. The have a great shuttle service to and from most sites and hotels. I visited Te Puia during the day which is a Maori cultural site. And had the traditional hangi meal at Mitai. I highly recommend Mitai...the whole thing was well done and very entertaining. Most places offering the Hangi dinner will pick you up from your hotel and bring you to their location.

mrwunrfl

How far in advance ElendilPickle? Thanks for transport info and Mitai recco, alesnever.

I've got another ticket for myself to travel to NZ in November. The 17th to 27th. I've always wanted to take a boat from NI to SI, so I will do it then. And then go down the west coast. I've still got a lot of research to do. I'll be looking for hot springs.

patw

HI mrwunrfl:

Did you get one of the "mistake fares" that was the talk of Flyertalk.com? I grabbed 3 for the same time period. We are leaving LAX on 12-21 and arr. in Christchurch on 12-23. We're in NZ for 9 nts and 1 nt SYD on the way home. I wish I had more time but son is in HS and we had to fit it around his Xmas holiday.
we are 3 nts Christchurch
2 nts Kaikoura
4 nts Akl (including New Years Eve)
We have done lots of Fiords/Glaciers etc so we are skipping Queenstown and Milford Sound. We are more into swimming w/dolphins, kayaking with seals, boat rides, wineries, etc so we figured just stay in the Canterbury area before going to AKL. We love cities and having been to AKL before am looking forward to going back.

Have a great trip

mrwunrfl

Thanks, you too.

Yes, I got 5 CNZ tix but cancelled two solo trips. Now have the 1 solo trip and one with my brother, all upgraded to F using 4 SWUs and 60K miles.

ElendilPickle

I think we booked the hangi about a month in advance, to be on the safe side. At that time of year, I'd book earlier, but I like to have stuff like that arranged way in advance.

Patw, what was this "mistake fare" about?

Lee Ann

mrwunrfl

The mistake fare was a United fare for SFO or LAX to AKL, via SYD, with trans-pac on United only, and trans-Tasman on any carrier. Business class for about US$1480 roundtrip. Booking code CNZ.

mrwunrfl

It was offered back at the beginning of May for a few days and is long gone.

ElendilPickle

Wow, what a deal!

Lee Ann

mrwunrfl

Yes, indeedy. And it was available to WLG, CHC, maybe ZQN, not just AKL.

ElendilPickle

I will not envy you...I will not envy you...I will not envy you...

It's not working.

Lee Ann

mrwunrfl

I've located the Ellerslie Novotel on a map and have read that it is near a train station, but I can't tell how far.

Looks like the Greenlane station would be the closest one. What kind of train line is this? Must be light rail for commuters not subway. The line is laid between the Great South Road and the Southern Motorway, is that it?

KathyNZ

Living close to the said railway station it is a suburban train system that runs above ground but if you expect something modern you will be disappointed, we have the old carriages from Perth's suburban train system whilst they have nice new modern ones. If you want to get to the city from Novotel this is probably the easiest way although if I was coming to Auckland as a tourist Novotel wouldn't be my first choice. Especially at Christmas. Plus I'm not sure if the trains run on christmas day.

mrwunrfl

I won't be disappointed by the rail cars, that's for sure. Sounds like they have character.

I think we will probably be taking a taxi on Christmas day anyway, especially if the station is a distance from the Novotel.

I have been checking other hotels for both trips. I realize that the Novotel is probably not the kind of place to stay at if you want to enjoy the hotel or be convenient to the sights. But the price is right and it is next to the race course.

mrwunrfl

I'm getting ready for the trip that starts in less than a week.

patw, I originally had a ticket on your outbound flight. Would have been interesting to meet a fellow fodorite and flyertalker, but we are leaving the day after you.

alesnever, I am glad I came back to this post and saw your mention of the shuttle bus in Rotorua. I haven't booked a car yet and probably won't, unless I do it at the airport on arrival.

KathyNZ, I definitely considered your advice about the Novotel on Christmas. Last month I stayed at the Sky City Grand and found it to be convenient and a good value. We are going to stay there for three nights. On Christmas Day we are booked for dinner at the Orbit restaurant at Sky Tower. At 8:45, just 4 minutes after sunset. We also have reservations for a fab lunch buffet at a restaurant in the hotel (Terrace).

Now I have to figure out how to get out to Ellerslie on the 26th.