Our First Trip to New Zealand
 

Our son is living Queenstown, NZ for the next year and we want to go see him. The plan is for my wife, me and 2 friends to travel to NZ in Feb/Mar 2015. We are very middle class, so we do not have unlimited funds...but we can afford to do this trip properly also. We are pretty average working class people all around 60 yrs. old and in good shape, so outdoor activities are welcomed. We are limited to 3 weeks time and know that travel to and from the US will consume 3-4 days.
Obviously we want to spend some extra time in Queenstown to be with our son, but would like to see both islands. It seems like Auckland is where most international flights arrive, so we would probably start there and work our way south.
We have been planning this for a while, but have not committed to anything yet. I understand that even though NZ is relatively small, auto travel is slow, due to roads and terrain.
Questions we have are:
Should we fly into Auckland, travel around NZ and return to Auckland or should we try to fly out of Christchurch to save time?
We love to camp, but RV Campers are pretty expensive. Is an RV worth it or should we rent a car and use B and B's instead? Are there other options?
We want our schedule to be as flexible as possible. For the most part, are B & B reservations needed in advance to insure a place to stay or are there enough so this is not a real issue?
Is late Feb and early Mar. a good time or will it be too cool?
For activities, we are open to almost anything. Some of our interests are hiking, bungy jumping, wineries, the mountains, ferry/boat rides, Rotorua, Maori. Almost anything. We do enjoy going "off the beaten path" also, so roughing it a bit is fine also.
Any help, suggestions or experiences will be greatly appreciated. We want to do this right.
Thanks
Steve

Hi Steve -

It sounds as if you've done some research and are on the right track.

I suggest you consider a week on the North Island, and two on the South, with an emphasis on the Lakes District since your son is down that way.

Auckland is the gateway for flights to/from the US. From there you can fly to Christchurch or Queenstown easily enough.

Regarding booking accommodation in advance, February/March is high season, yet you can still be flexible other than in areas with limited accommodation, such as Mt Cook and the glaciers. These places do fill up and as nearby alternatives aren't particularly close, you could be caught out of you don't book at least a few days in advance.

Given the expense and space issues for four adults, I can't help but think you'd be better off avoiding campervans.

There's a wide assortment of moderately priced accommodation throughout NZ. It's not difficult to find two bedroom units, house and apartment rentals and all manner of unique accommodation, although not booking in advance will limit your options somewhat.

B&Bs, farmstays, homestays and cottages are abundant and a great option. Hostels are another possibility as there's no age limit for staying in one in NZ. Motels are inexpensive and well equipped, most offer basic to extended kitchen facilities, laundry facilities, etc. NZ is a great place to be a tourist!

This site might help get you started:
http://www.accommodationinnewzealand.co.nz/

I wouldn't worry about being too cool, Jan/Feb/March are the warmest months in NZ.

I can only add a big DITTO to all of Melnq8's excellent advice.

When we (family of 4) traveled on our 3 trips through NZ, we almost always stayed in motels, which as Melnq8 said, you can find with kitchens and laundries. Those certainly came in handy to prepare breakfast & picnic lunches and to get some clean clothes!

Does 17 days in country give us enough time to start at Auckland, circumnavigate both islands and return back to Auckland to leave or would it be best to start at Auckland and fly back to the states from Christchurch?
It also seems like renting an auto and staying in a motel/B & B, etc will fit our needs better than renting an RV/camper.
Any recommendations on rental companies, places to stay and must go places to see? Again, we are not against roughing it, if there are places worth seeing or things worth doing off the beaten path.
Thanks for your info.
MS

You will probably find it least expensive to fly in and out of the same city (Auckland or Christchurch, but Auckland has many more international flights). You can of course return to Auckland via a flight from Christchurch. You don't want to try to see the whole country in 17 days - otherwise you will spend your holiday in the car. My favourites are

North Island
Coromandel - beautiful beaches like Hahei, kayaking etc
Taupo (with volcanoes Mt Ruapehu and Tongariro National Park nearby, natural hot springs etc)
Hawkes Bay - great wine, good climate, sun, golf, Maori cultural experiences

South Island
Nelson, beaches, walks in Abel Tasman Park, kayaking
The West Coast and Glaciers (Franz Josef and Fox) - the most beautiful drive in the country
Wanaka, Queenstown and the Southern Lakes - stunning alpine scenery, lots to do, good climate, wineries
Fiordland - must see, do an overnight boat cruise on Doubtful Sound.

So even limiting yourself to these areas will take quite a bit of time to get around. Queenstown has a great airport with lots of flights in and out, so a good base to do excursions from down south to Fiordland or up north to the glaciers, West Coast, Nelson etc. In some ways I would suggest limiting yourself to the south island and just flying in and out of Auckland.

As Melnq8 says, Feb and March are peak summer and heavily booked - so make some accommodation bookings in asap and check out flights and rental car availability. It is good weather generally right to the end of March and first week April.

The following are a few more useful links for planning your holiday:

www.airnewzealand.co.nz - fly London-LA-Auckland
www.newzealand.com - official tourism website
www.doc.govt.nz - excellent information about national parks and hiking tracks.
www.aatravel.co.nz - travel routes, motels and backpackers
www.greenjourneys.co.nz - holiday planning and small luxury lodges.
www.bed-and-breakfast.co.nz - bed and breakfast collection

Steve, we did our first [hopefully not our last!] trip to NZ last year and by co-incidence we had 17 days [actually nights] to spread between the north and south islands.

we split it 4 in the north [not long enough even for our very limited itinerary] and 13 in the south which was nothing like long enough.

I don't think that flying into Auckland and out of CC is likely to add much to the cost, and it's a lot more time effective. However, given that you want to spend extra time with your son in QT, if you really only have 17 days, I would question whether you want to try to fit in both islands, or on this occasion to concentrate on the south.

in 17 days you could do a really lovely and well-paced tour - you won't see everything but you'll certainly have a great time. perhaps save the NI for next time!

On our 3rd trip to NZ, we spent an entire 2 weeks just on the South Island and we could have easily spent more time there. Since your son is based in Queenstown and you only have 17 days for this trip, I'd recommend you go straight to the South Island for your whole trip. You won't lack for things to see and do in those 17 days.

If you haven't already done so, I'd pick up a Rough Guide or Lonely Planet guidebook for New Zealand to give you some ideas of what to see and do there. Those were the most useful guidebooks for me when I planned our trips.

Here's two suggestions for "off the beaten trail" activities. One year our family did a 3-day self-guided hike of the Kaikoura Coast Track. The scenery was amazing and the hosts at each of the stops could not have been more accommodating. The next year we did a guided hike of the Hollyford Track. Again, more fabulous scenery and the guides were quite knowledgeable. I recommend them both.

http://www.kaikouratrack.co.nz/walk.html

http://www.hollyfordtrack.com/three-...he-experience/

I want to thank everyone for their suggestions and hope I get more. Every bit of info helps.
Limiting this trip to just the south island, would simplify many things and also make things a little more economical.
Living in the states and the vastness of it in size compared to NZ, we originally thought it'd be no problem to see both islands. Between the terrain, roads, bridges and sights to see, that isn't as do-able as we first thought. I do have an excellent travel guide, which is helping a lot.
Our son will meet people and gather intel from the locals to further assist us in our plans.
What should we look for in the weather this time of year. I imagine it is kinda like being in the mountains of the US. Down low it can be hot and cooler the further up you go. Then there is the ocean which is unique to itself.
Keep the suggestions coming!!
Thanks Again.

Hi again Steve -

Generally speaking, in NZ the further north you are the warmer it is.

This site might give you an idea of what to expect:

http://www.tourism.org.nz/climate.html

Steve, I can't stress enough the problems of driving in NZ - as a Brit living in Cornwall I thought that I was pretty well inured to difficult driving conditions but NZ takes them to a whole new level. That said, what we found best was to have a long driving day, followed by a day, preferably two, of rest. if you try to move on every day, that could become very tiring.

if you can possibly limit yourselves to the SI, that is definitely a good start.

February is the best month weather-wise normally hot and settled. As you get in to March it will start to cool down a bit but should still be warm. A nice time to visit as children will be back at school, so not that busy.

Steve,
Word of caution about air arrangements. If you are flying from South Island back to Auckland to make your connection back to the States on the same day, make sure and book that flight when you book your RT flights to and from Auckland. The reason is if you have travel problems on the first intra-NZ flight (delays, cancellations, etc.), your airline will not charge extra if things have to be changed. If you wait and book that intra-NZ fare in NZ, they are not responsible for "getting you to the church on time." Also watch Air NZ fares carefully - they just had a sale on premium economy seats, and they may have another.

In looking at rental car companies, there are many "economy" type companies that appear to be much less in cost because they use late model cars instead of brand new ones.
Has anyone out there had any experience with any of these?

In talking to many people, both personally and on-line, since we only have 21 days total, the concensus seems to be stick to the South Island only.
I am leaning towards this myself, but it ould sure be nice to at least see a some of the north one also.
Thoughts?
Thanks

You previously indicated that you would have 17 days "on the ground" in NZ and you got some excellent advice, especially from Annhig who also had 17 days in NZ, to limit yourself to the SI.

If you actually have 21 days "on the ground", you could spend 7 days on the NI and 14 days on the SI.

Yes, it would certainly be nice to see some of the NI, but not at the expense of being rushed and limited in your sightseeing on both islands. Sometimes "less is more" and this is one of those instances.

Thanks Longhorn. We will be gone 21 days total, but with travel, we figure 17 days to see NZ.

if you decide to see the NI, I can recommend the Coromandel peninsular as a first stopping off point. It's about a 2 hour drive from Auckland so makes a good stop-over if like us you've decided not to bother with Auckland. We wished that we'd stayed 2 nights though - seeing the peninsular AND getting to Napier in the same day was very hard work, not something we would have embarked on if we'd had any sense/listened to all the good advice we got here.

A night somewhere on the way to Wellington and then another in Wellington itself is probably the max you should think of on the NI if you only have 17 days in total, but on the whole, I would give it a miss and concentrate on the SI.

We've used Rental Cars New Zealand out of Christchurch three times. Much, much cheaper & the car was definitely an older model ( in fact we got the very same car two years apart!) but mechanically very sound and the company were very easy to deal with. On one of the trips we drove the Nissan Bluebird to the top of Cardrona (in a blizzard) and were the only car to get off the mountain that day :-)
If you do decide to take in the NI, don't leave Rotorua out! But really, it's a long way from Nth to Sth and as all the experts above have said, you are probably better maximizing your time in the SI.

Thanks for the responses. Right now, from the advice received, I am leaning towards limiting our trip to the South Island only. But, I am only one of 4, so majority will rule. It would be great to see both islands, but with our son in Queenstown, we don't want to short change our time with him. Plus it seems like there is more than enough to occupy our time on the SI.

Well we pulled the trigger and will be spending 3 weeks in NZ starting March 1.
We plan to rent a car and spend 5 days on the NI and then fly from Auckland to either Christchurch or Queenstown and spend the remainder of our time there.
Any suggestion on things to do and see during our limited time on the NI? We plan to rent a car to travel the SI also. Are there any advantages to flying into Christchurch versus Queenstown, or is it "a horse a piece"? Are there any "can't miss" places to stay on either island? Are the NZ airlines pretty much equal?
Enough for now.
Thanks in advance

Air NZ is the only national carrier - NZ also has a few smaller commuter/regional services that work with Air NZ on less traveled routes on prop planes (Mt Cook Airlines, etc), but Air NZ is the big one.

I've flown Air NZ many, many times and they'd be my choice for the international portion as well - if you can swing it, they have an incredible Premium Economy service, which is a nice compromise between cattle class and Business.

Flying into Christchurch makes sense as it's such a great starting point for making a loop, figure 8 or even a one way trek of the SI. Most flights from Auckland stop in CHC first anyway.

But where you begin really depends on your intentions and whether you plan to see as much as you can vs. if you plan to spend most of your time in the QT area.

I've only been to the NI once, so I won't be much help there, but in planning a trip to the NI myself for February I found it quite difficult to stretch my week very far as I wanted to avoid a lot of driving. So, we've booked three nights in Martinborough (wine region that spouse is determined to visit) and four nights in Wellington. I have no doubt we'll find plenty to do.

Jetstar flies between Auckland and Christchurch and Queenstown I think. They are the budget part of Qantas, an Australian airline. Fares are normally cheaper than Air NZ, although on these routes they may be very similar. In that case go with Air NZ.

I would recommend going onto the NZ version of ANZ website, www.airnewzealand.co.nz

You can get excellent fares booked well in advance (especially if you are flexible with the exact date).

I personally prefer to fly into Queenstown since there are plenty of excursions that can be done without renting a car (which can be quite expensive).

You may want to look at flying in to one city and out of the other, also.

Car rentals are not necessarily more expensive booked one way.

Our flights are booked, now for rental cars.
We will rent a car and spend 5 days on the NI, then fly from Auckland to Christchurch, rent a car there for 14 days finish out at Queenstown, drop off car there and fly back to Auckland and then head back to the US.
We are looking at some of the companies that rent gently used cars.
Has anyone out there had any experience with either Apex, NZ Rent A Car, Economy Car Rentals, Jucy or Rental Cars NZ? Or any other recommendations?
Thanks in Advance
Steve

I always liked Apex.

I also found that Avis was competitive, either try their NZ website or look for discount codes with Costco, Autoclub, your airlines, etc.

BTW if you have a Visa Signature card, your insurance may be covered if you use that card and decline any supplements. Check with Visa Benefits.

We've used APEX on our last 6-7 visits and have booked with them again for our visit in February - never had a problem with them and I very much appreciate that they rent both newer and older cars - renting an older car save one a lot of $$$ and they've already gotten their bumps and bruises, so less attention is paid if you add a scratch or of a kea decides to lunch on the rubber around the windscreen.

All

Did you rent a new or used car from APEX?

Used. At the time I'm not even sure they offered new!

We rented older cars too - they have several categories, listed by year range - we always go for the 2006-2012 age range.

I had a problem with Apex staff at the depot at Auckland airport [or rather not at Auckland airport as the depot is quite a long way away]. Be aware that they do not give out maps [apparently because they want you to rent their GPS] and that they will not under any circumstances give you a glass of water or allow you to use the toilet.

I was not impressed with their attitude as you can tell. We ended up stopping at a petrol station along the road and buying some water and a very good road atlas, [published by Pathfinder] which had a most useful section where it tells you how long it takes to drive from one place to another. We used that lots.

they bus you to the depot, so I would strongly suggest using the loo and buying some water at the airport before you leave; also, taking a map/ road atlas with you.

I suggest stopping at the Auckland airport iSite to pick up copies of whatever they have. They used to carry the AA guides and there should be an assortment of regional guides.

Better yet download directions out of the airport and onto the freeway to paper, a phone or tablet before you leave. Sometimes I find that wises.co.nz is more useful than the others. Outside of Auckland you probably won't get very lost.

I believe you can still get reciprocal membership at the NZ AA club if you have a US membership. In the old days they gave out fabulously detailed maps for free. Now they give out simplified ones. Glad I saved the old ones.

all good ideas, mlgb. We took too much for granted having had very good service from the car hire co we used in OZ.

Fortunately we weren't heading north to Auckland, but south, and there's really only one road you can take. stupidly, we'd assumed that they would at least give out a rudimentary map, which was all we needed to get us to the Coromandel peninsular, as we'd thought that we'd be able to pick one up at our leisure. We had guide book with a map of sorts in the back so we resorted to that.

we found the road atlas very useful for telling us about all the sights that we could see en route, and for helping us navigate big cities like Wellington and Christchurch.

We've used NZ Rent a Car many times. very economical and very friendly service out of Christchurch.

Thanks for all of your advice.
We arrive in Auckland at 0600 on March 2. Will rent a car and tour the NI till the 7th and then fly from Auckland to Chch. We will rent a car there and travel counterclockwise around the SI. We will finish in Queenstown to be with our son for the final 4 days and use it as our base to visit Milford Sound, Mt Cook and other places in that area. We spend multiple days in Queenstown and Nelson. We tried to never make any killer days of driving.
If anyone can share some good places to stay, see and eat in the towns we plan to overnight in, would be greatly appreciated.
Here is our tentative itinerary. Let me know what you think...

Mar 2/15 Arrive Auckland 5:55 AM RON (Remain Over Night)
Mar 3 Waitomo (Waitomo Caves) RON
Mar 4 Taupo (Haku Falls)/Rotorua RON
Mar 5 Tauranga (Wineries) RON
Mar 6 Coromandel Town RON
Mar 7 Leave Auckland 12:20 PM & fly to Christchurch

Mar 7/15 Arrive Christchurch 1:30 PM Drive to Kaikoura (seafood, dolphins, whales) RON
Mar 8-10 Nelson RON (Abel Tasmun, Golden Bay, Marlborough Sound, Wineries)
Mar 11-Greymouth/Punakaiki RON
Mar 12-Franz Joseph/Fox Glacier RON
Mar 13-Queenstown RON
Mar 14-Invercargill/Dunedin RON
Mar 15-19-Queenstown (Te Anau, Doubtful Sound, Milford Sound glow worm caves, etc.)
Mar 20- Depart Queenstown (fly) to Auckland and then fly from Auckland back home.

well, Steve, if nothing else your itinerary demonstrates to me just how difficult it is to plan a trip in NZ - do you realise that you are giving yourselves 6 one night stands in a row? And on most of those days you have about 3 hours' driving? so you are giving yourselves no more than ½ a day in each place to find your accommodation, book in, settle in, sight-see, eat....that would be too much for me.

When you get to the SI, again you only have ½ a day to do the activities you have earmarked for Kaikoura, then you have about 4 hours driving to Nelson, where you will have at best 2 ½ days, but intend to use part of that time going back to Picton to see the M'borough Sounds. Then on 11/3 you'll be spending the morning driving to the glaciers, leaving little time to see them, and leaving again in the morning ,which will have to be an easy start as it's a good 6+ hours' drive to QT. etc. etc.

In fact we started off with an itinerary which was not dissimilar, but we very quickly realised that it was going to kill us to do it, and changed our plans, using the free cancellation option on our accommodation that we'd book through booking.com. Honestly, do more than 2 one-night stands in a row and you'll want to cut your throats!

please think again!

Where are a good place to stay in the Marlborough Sounds and Abel Tasman areas?

Mel will be able to help with this better than I; I can only say that we stayed in Nelson at the Sails Motel - it was slightly out of the centre [but walkable in 5-10 mins], very comfortable, and they were very helpful - although our ferry was delayed by several hours which meant that we had a late arrival in Nelson, he stayed up to let us in and make sure that we were ok, even talking us in when we couldn't find our way in the dark!. They also have excellent laundry facilities which is very useful on a long trip.

But I am sure that there are many other equally good places to stay in the same area.

I know I sound like a broken record when I tell people to slow down and take a breath, but once again I find myself typing the same thing - too much in too few days - you're underestimating the time/energy needed to get from place to place, you'll be seeing NZ from the inside of your car, blah, blah, blah, you've heard it before.

I personally find two nights in a given area completely too much of a rush, so it stands to reason that I avoid one night stays like the plague - they're absolutely exhausting and leave virtually no time to visit the place one has spent half a day driving to. I realize we all have different traveling styles, but having been to the NZ some dozen times, this is not an itinerary I'd attempt for myself, let alone suggest to a first timer.

Having said that, some accommodation suggestions based on personal experience:

I would not stay in Nelson - I'd stay closer to Abel Tasman - such as Ruby Bay, Mapua, Upper Moutere, Motueka, Kaiteriteri, or right at the doorstep of Abel Tasman in Marahau. These locations are ideal for exploring Abel Tasman and will give you reasonable access to Nelson (as in 40-60 minutes drive), but won't help you much with the Marlborough Sounds, for which you'd do best to stay in/around Picton or somewhere IN the sounds. I've stayed in most of these areas and can give specific recommendations once you've narrowed down in which town/village you want to stay. If you plan to stay IN Nelson, I can't help, haven't stayed there for ages, as I don't find it the best base for exploring the Abel Tasman area.

Greymouth or Punakaiki - which do you plan to overnight in?

Franz or Fox? Which do you plan to overnight in?

Mel and all-
Thanks for the input. This is the kind that I am looking for. It is very well taken.
I have to learn to think like a NZ'er. Here in the states (due to it's size) our itinerary would seem very reasonable, if not somewhat on the conservative side. We tried to keep every day's drive short (thus all the "one nighters". Would it make more sense to drive a little further every day, which would enable us to have more multiple night stays? Unfortunately both my wife and I work, so 3 weeks is about all the time we can get away at one time. We hadn't planned to go here until we retired, but want to see our son while he is living in NZ. We are really excited to see your country and want to make the most out of our limited time (w/o killing ourselves).
With that said, we are looking at Picton and Kaiteriteri.
From what I have read, FJ has receded so much that there is not much to see of the glacier, so we are leaning towards Fox (unless you advise us otherwise) and Punakaiki seems much preferable to Greymouth.
Our son has 4 days off at the end of our trip. Our hope is to semi-base out of QT for the final 5 and see Mt Cook and other attractions. We also plan to stay in Te Anau area to see Milford, possibly Invercargill and Dunedin also (that is pushing it I know).
I now realize we are trying to pack "10 pounds of poop in a 5 pound bag", but these are the cards we gotta play with and will have to do the best we can. Again, thanks for any input. It is all good.
MS

Steve -

As a former time-poor Yank, I feel your pain.

Because visiting your son is your focus, why not concentrate your SI time on the area he is in (south of the SI) and leave the rest for another visit? I highly recommend you not try to fit in the north and south of the SI, PLUS the NI into such a short visit.

The glaciers have indeed receded and may not have the WOW factor one might expect, but considering the very long drive days on either side of your glacier visit, only one night there will give you very little time to see either. There are some lovely walks in the area, and where else in the world does an alpine glacier meet the rainforest?

Franz and Fox (the actual glaciers) are incredibly similar - both can be visited (and walked up to) in one full day (which means two nights). I've done this many times myself. You can also fit in the walk around Lake Matheson on the same day, but remember that you are at the mercy of the weather gods anytime you visit NZ.

Franz is a larger village than Fox, more options for accommodation and food - Franz is closer to Okarito which is a perk for some, Fox is closer to Lake Matheson, which is a perk for others, otherwise, not a huge difference between the two.

If the glaciers don't appeal, why go there at all? Why not fly directly to QT or drive from CHC to QT via Mt Cook and Lake Tekapo? This will save you loads of time.

As for Punakaiki being preferable to Greymouth - well, Greymouth is a town, Punakaiki is a tiny village with very limited services (no gas, no groceries, only one or two places to eat, etc). Greymouth gets a bad rap, but if you're looking for choices, you'll have more in Greymouth - the Monteith's Brewery tour, better accommodation options, for instance. You can easily detour to Punakaiki, see the rocks, then spend the night in Greymouth if you plan well. But for only one night, I'd choose base on logistics, drive times, etc.

Mt Cook as a daytrip is too much from QT IMO, but I understand that your son probably wants to see it, so I get this.

Invercargill? Really? It's a flat, boring industrial town with very little on offer for visitors. Not worth the time on such a short trip, trust me on this.

Te Anau makes a perfect base for exploring Milford - you've got that bit right - I suggest a minimum of two nights there, which will give you one full day, and you'll need every minute of it.