Sally30

I am traveling to NZ for work in January. My husband won't be able to join me because of his schedule and I have been unable to recruit a travel companion to join me (maybe the 20 hour/each way plane ride has something to do with it). I do not like traveling alone but I am excited to go to New Zealand and don't want to miss the opportunity to see a bit of the country after my business stuff is over. i've never been to NZ before.

Do you have any suggestions for groups that do day trips or trips of several days?

I am in my early 30s, active and love to travel. I am interested in seeing a bit of New Zealand. I haven't done my homework yet but the south island looks interesting. I would like to go with a group for the convenience (both so I don't have to plan logistics and so I don't have to drive on the "wrong" side of the road). I also don't want to spend a fortune on a group tour - as the only tours I've seen are the very expensive Travcoa, Abercrombie & Kent type trips which are out of my budget. I have about a week to travel.
Thanks

Sally30

Thought I would try this again.

My new plan is to fly into Auckland the first week in February. I will be working during the day for that first week but expect to have time to do some sight seeing in Auckland and Rotorua in the evenings or over the weekend. I then have about 5 days to sightsee. As I mentioned above, I'd like to go to the South Island and don't want to rent a car so probably need to go by bus or rail.

I expect that at some point I’ll be back to NZ (with my husband assuming I like it!) so I don’t think it is my only opportunity to ever go to NZ. But I do want to take advantage of being there and not having to pay for my flight!

Any suggestions for what to see in 5 days? I am pretty open to ideas. I am interested in just getting a sense of what looks like a beautiful, varied and very interesting country, in this short period of time. I like being outside, hiking, museums, wine country, etc.

Advice on recommended tours would be great. I am hoping to do the full 5 days (including transportation and hotels and food) for about US$1,000.

I also expect to fly from Rotorua to the South Island to save time. Not sure where best place to fly into is.

Thanks!

Jed

Air New Zealand and Qantas offer tours to various parts of NZ. You might start by looking at their sites, which show the various tours available, or getting their brochures, which are exhaustive. I don't know how their prices are. Then you would have a package which includes airfare, hotels, and attractions, and someone to do all the planning.

From Rotorua you would most likely fly to either Queenstown or Christchurch. I suspect you would prefer Queenstown.

You could also look at <b>http://www.experiencenz.com/guided_tours.cfm</b> and

<b>http://www.scenicpacific.co.nz/?source=gg-content-txt-booking&amp;gclid=CKSZ77315YECFRALSQodkUsaqg</b>

wlzmatilida

Hi Sally,

After your 20 hour plane ride, it's a shame that you only have 5 days to spend in NZ! Because of your limited time I'd suggest that you stay on the North Island to maximize your time; even flying to the South Island to save time, you still have limited time with packing / unpacking, in/out of airports, etc.

I just had two girls going to NZ on their own with concerns about driving and wanted to keep it to a minimum (they had more time than you and did the South Island where they did drive). While in the North though, I gave them the timetable for catching the bus from Auckland to Rotorua, and it worked out just great.

There are some day tours outside of Auckland and you could always opt for tours in the Bay of Islands and/or Coromandel as well, depending on your interests.

Hope this is helpful!

Regards,

Melodie
Certified Kiwi Specialist

Tim_and_Liz

Hi Sally,
If I were you I would fly from Auckland to Queenstown for 5 days. From there, you can take day trips to wineries or the sounds. There are hiking trails close by too. I don't think there are very many museums, but you may find Arrowtown interesting.
Liz