A friend and I are going to New Zealand in August. What is there to do there? The only thing I've ever heard that's fun in that country are the beaches and the Austrailia Sydney Opera House! Where can we go in New Zealand? restaurants? beaches? tourist sites?

We are going to OZ & NZ in November. After doing research, I am planning more time in NZ than OZ. Again, it may be your definition of fun. We are predominantly planning our NZ time in the South Island to include the following: <BR>Marlborough - Blenheim -Wine Tasting (also Picton has alot of nature walks) <BR>Kaikoura - Whale watching & Dolphins <BR>Akora - Eating (Bakeries in French fishing village, harbor cruises, mini riviera type location. <BR>Tranz Alpine train - Great Views through the mountains. <BR>Franz Josef - Helicopter rides to Glaciers (also glacier walks if you are a little bolder) <BR>Queenstown - Jet boat rides, mountain cable cars, bungy if you want it, plane rides to Milford Sound to see the Fjords, or Helicopter to Mt. Cook <BR>Dunedin - Penguins, albatross, views. <BR>And thats just some of the cities. Christchurch has gardens and gambling. In the North Island, Wellington is also wine country and is suppose to be similar, though smaller to san Francisco. <BR> <BR>We have not been, yet so it is hard to recommend, but most travel books/brochures rave about the country. <BR>Get a book on the country. Frommers just came out with a new one for NZ. By the way the Sydney Opera House is a minimum 3 hours away by plane in OZ, which country are you visiting?

you mean you're committed to going to NZ in a few months, which is costing a lot of money to do and you have NO plans yet? what, are mommy and daddy funding the trip? also, FYI, the Syndey Opera House is in Syndney, AUSTRAILIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! duh

We have a hard enough time getting people to respond to OZ and NZ questions without anonymous pranks who cannot spell "Sydney". If you have nothing positive to contribute, please find the grinch and wining web site.

Mary Ann, <BR> <BR>How long are you going for? We did the Tranz Alpine R/T ...and enjoyed it..but...would probably not do it again. It took up an entire day..and the return trip didn't offer any different scenery than the trip out...although the scenery was beautiful. For us, it just wasn't an active enough day..too <BR>much time on the train.If you are going to do the train, you might consider only taking it one way. <BR> <BR>We went on great short hike in Queeenstown that offered a panoramic view of the area...got us up so high..we skipped the cable car. <BR> <BR>New Zealand is a fabulous country!

Dear Peter: <BR> <BR>Can't imagine who you have been talking with. New Zealand is magnificent in all its splendor. Just go and enjoy. It's like no other place you've ever visited. <BR>John

DD - talk about spelling......it's wHining, not wining - and YOUR contribution to answering the question was WHAT???

Dick & Peter <BR>We are taking the tranz alpine only one way to Greymouth and then are planning to pick up a car and go to Franz Josef. We too were concerned about spending all that time on the train and then repeating the same route. Thanks for the confirmation on our instincts. Did you book the train that day or get advance reservations?

Mary Ann, <BR> <BR>We had our hotel make reservations for us and to reserve a cab to take us to the train station. Not sure if it makes a difference to you, but we also specified forward facing seats(seats are reserved). <BR> <BR>Glad to be of help. <BR>Dick <BR>