Please, look over my ideas for first trip to New Zealand.
 

The Asia board members gave us so much help several years ago, during the planning stages for a SEA trip and a trip to Japan That thanks to all the help, the trips were both dreams come true.

We are in the very early planning stage again. This will be a long trip with some set arrival/departure dates. Part of the trip will include our first trip to New Zealand mostly the South Island. We plan starting the trip Feb 2009. I would love to have holds on accommodations early, so I can book flights as soon as they open.

We love to drive, ride trains, sightsee, stay in nice places, eat good food and shop (special experiences). We like laid back and scenic settings. The adventure scene is not for us. Quite, quaint and scenic is. Don’t really like to linger too long, would rather be on the go. My knees are a problem, so hiking/trekking are out except an easy walk to a lookout and driving(riding or me) is in.

Ok, what I have come up with so far:
Mon(also on Fri), Feb 9- Honolulu, Hawaii (pm) to Auckland, then on to Christchurch. Air New Zealand
Tues(Sat), Feb 10- Cross the International Dale Line.

Wed(Sun), Feb 11- arrive Christchurch, New Zealand (am), Rent a car. Drive to Authur’s Pass 130km, 1 1/5 hours. Wilderness Lodges of NZ Apline Lodge.

Thurs, Feb 12- Arthur’s Pass

Fri Feb 13- Authur’s Pass to Glacier Area. Drive scenic west coast road to Glaciers, ?km 4 hours. B&B in the area.

Sat, Feb 14- Glacier area to Wanaka Lake. Along coast and over Hasst Pass. Look for B&B on the lake. ?km, ?hrs.

Sun, Feb 15- Wanaka Lake to Te Anau through Queensland ?kms 2 hrs and on to Te Anau ?km,2 hrs. Fiordland Lodge.

Mon, Feb 16- Te Anau Day trip to Doubtful Sound.

Tues, Feb 17- Te Anau Day trip to Milford Sound.

Wed, Feb 18- Te Anau along SW edge of Fiordland Natl. Park and along South Scenic Road and Coast to Dunedin. All day, Claremont House B&B.

Thurs, Feb 19- Dunedin- Evening Elm Wildlife Tour- husband would like to do this.

Fri, Feb 20- Dunedin to Christchurch Along coastal road 396kms 5hrs. Millennium.

Sat, Feb 21- Train/Ferry Christchurch, New Zealand to Wellington, New Zealand.
Rent car, drive to Martinborourgh in the wine country, 70 mins, Peppers at Martinborourgh.

Sun, Feb 22- Martinborough Tour area, and wine tasting

Mon, Feb 23- Drive back to Wellington see a bit of the town. InterContinental.

Tues, Feb 24- Train Wellington, New Zealand to Auckland, New Zealand (7:25am to 7:20pm). Auckland Hilton.

Wed(also on Fri or Sun) Feb 25-Auckland, New Zealand to Cairns, Australia (pm). Air New Zealand.

An alternative, I have been thinking about, is a weekly rental in Christchurch area and do day trips. This may be to much back tracking everyday so I don’t know. The pull to the Fjord and south coast area is very strong.

I need some help/ideas with the order/accommadations etc. Ideas please...

Thanks for any suggestions as to best trip order and any special places along the way!

Hi cwn -

This site will help you fill in the km ? marks and travel times:
http://www.accommodationz.co.nz/distances2.html

According to their online schedule, the train from CH to Picton is over five hours long. I don't know how this connects with the ferry, but the ferry trip is three hours long and then you've planned to drive another 70 minutes once you reach Wellington. I've never done this and it might work quite well, but is sounds like a pretty long day, especially when you consider the time needed to get on and off the ferry, pick up your car in Wellie and get your bearings, etc.

Unfortunately, the base city concept doesn't work very well on the SI. There's too much distance between attractions and day trips just aren't feasible unless you really limit the places you want to visit. Sumner, Lyllelton, Akaroa, Waipara, Kaikoura, and Hanmer Springs are all within day trip distance of CH, but that's about it.

Forgot to mention that The Moorings is a popular place to stay in Wanaka (great lake views). We stayed at 52 on Willowridge a few weeks bank. It's not on the lake, but very close and the owners have a wonderful garden with distant lake views.

Thanks for the link, I will fill in the "?". My husband will be driving and likes to see that information in the plan. Of couse, it always takes us longer than the stated time, but that at least it gives him a referrence point.

Will check out the lodging sights. I figured from trip reports and other information the loop was probably our best and most relaxed way to see the Island. Just really wanted another view from people who have been there-thanks again.

According to the information on the NZrail site the train/ferry connection is planned("seamless?"). Of course, the weather may affect actually getting to Wellington at the stated 4:25pm. So your point is well taken.

If all goes well getting the car is not a problem. According to something I read the car is waiting at the dock, you check in and drive on. So in the best of all possible worlds we would get to Mantinborough in time for a nice dinner. But we are traveling......
Probably ought to leave that open.. drive on maybe.. or stay in Wellington for that night... might be less stressful.

Sounds like the train-ferry-car is a good way to go then. I'm not really surprised it's set up so well, as many travelers no doubt do the same thing.

You asked about the order of your itinerary - it loooks good to me, but keep in mind the trip from Dunedin to CH is a rather boring one along the east coast. You could make it more interesting by driving inland via Lake Tekapo, but that will add quite a bit of driving to an already long drive day, so may not be a feasible option.

That travel time/distance for Feb 11 doesn't sound right. That's 80 miles in 80 minutes, isn't it? 60 mph or 97 kph as an average speed from CHC to Arthur's Pass?

Is it common for rental cars in New Zealand to have automatic transmissions or are they all/mostly manual?

The website for Arthur's Pass Wilderness Lodge states that they're 130 km (90 minutes)from Christchurch City. I suspect there's no time for stops in their estimate. The speed limit in NZ is 100 km unless indicated otherwise, subject to conditions of course.

Rental car companies in NZ offer both manual and automatic. We always get an automatic.

Yes, that is where I got the time distance for Authurs Pass.

I have read the coast road D to CH is both boring and has some nice stops. I will see what I can find on the other route also. What do you lIke about it? At this point I can rob "Peter to pay Paul" so to speak to get an extra day. I just have to make the days we want to fly Air New Zealand into and out of New Zealand are days they actually go where we want to go!

Moeraki Boulders is probably one of the stops you've read about and there's at least one shoe fence, which is good for a photo.

My suggested alternative is only feasible if you have an extra day and don't mind some extra driving. To give you an idea, here's an excerpt from one of my trip reports regarding this route, but in reverse.

<We picked up SH 1 and headed towards Timaru (150 km from Christchurch). We passed several wineries, berry orchards, sheep & dairy farms and even an alpaca stud farm. We had great views of the snow covered mountains as we approached Ashburton, and there were flowers in bloom throughout the town. After a quick lunch stop, and a visit to the Countdown grocery store (good selection and prices) we continued on SH 1, eventually picking up 79 at Rangitata. We then passed through Geraldine (89 km from Lake Tekapo), where we saw dozens of motorcyclists out enjoying the Sunday sunshine. We continued west on 79, where the landscape gradually changed from farming country to rolling hills and forest and we continued to pass motorcyclists headed in the direction of Geraldine. We entered the McKenzie District, stopping briefly at the Farm Barn Café to take a photo of the gorgeous snow covered mountains in the distance. We continued our drive, gaining elevation as we continued on to Fairlie, awash in blooming spring flowers.

We stopped for a quick break in Fairlie at The Old Library Café, which looked like a great place for lunch or dinner. We then picked up SH 8, passing an ostrich farm, Mt. Dobson Ski field, and crossing Burkes Pass on our way to Lake Tekapo, where we arrived eight hours after leaving Banks Peninsula>. NOTE - this would be about 6.5 hours from CH with above stops.
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After our stay in Lake Tekapo, we continued south on SH 8, making a detour to Mt Cook. On this route you'll pass through the wine regions of Cromwell and Alexandra, then you can pick up SH 1 at Milton and head up to Dunedin.

This is a round about way of getting from Point A to Point B, and may not work for you - I'm merely throwing it out there as an option.

Another option would be to fly back to CH from Dunedin, thus freeing up a few days that you'd otherwise use for driving.

That route sounds nice. I will look at it. We can adjust the amount of time as I said before. We do not like to fly so will stick to driving. We will be newly retired so no real time issues, just how far we can stretch the money! This is the begining of a trip around the world-all the places we have always wanted to go.

Thanks so much for your help.

The inland route DUD to CHC (rec by Melnq) is definitely more scenic than the coastal route (which isn't awful). If you do go the coastal route it is only about 4 to 5 hours, and there is a superb restaurant in the little town of Moeraki (not at the site of the bolders) called Fleur's. You would need reservations but it's not fancy, just popular.

Instead of doing the day trip to Doubtful Sound, why not do the overnight tour. We did this in January and it was amazing. Very peaceful.