Back from South island New Zealand

veryred

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Hi sellun,

thanks for your reply. It will only be my partner and I going. only the two of us.
I am planning a mixture of adventure activities, hiking and sight seeing.
I have updated my itinerary. There are still a few days which I need to complete.
But I think I am getting the hang of it.
Would really appreciate if you have any comments or any feedback for me.
Thank you.
Here is the updated itinerary.

Day 1 CC to Lake Tekapo (Earth and Sky Stargazing at Mt John)
Day 2 LT to QT (Hang Gliding@SkyTrex followed by Skyline Gondola and Stargazing)
Day 3 QT (Full Day Ski Package at Remarkables)
Day 4 QT (Day Trip with BBQ Bus to Milford South)
Day 5 QT to Mount Cook (star gazing and hiking) Stay a night
Day 6 Mount Cook to Franz Jocef Glacier (Hiking) Stay a night
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10 CC
Day 11 SG

you might want to consider flying from CC to QT instead. The flight is legit scenic.
The itinerary really makes no sense at all. I have been travelling around NZ for 3 months and the only time I ever drove a long distance was my first day from CC to Franz josef and it was a huge mistake which I have learnt my lesson.

The ski season ends on 7th Oct. It is always good to go earlier because the mountain might be closed. I am currently stuck in QT for a couple days now cause of high winds, no mountains are open.

If you really want to go skiing, I suggest you fly to QT from CC. AIRNZ is not exp at all.
You can drive from QT to - invercargill - dunedin - tekapo - mt cook- back to CC
or Qt - wanaka - franz/fox - hokitika - abel tasman - marlborough - kaikoura - cc

if you want to do both glacier and mt cook you have to do a loop, which you can't because you need to get to QT for skiing. So, you can only choose 1 side. Or fly instead of drive
 

touchme

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Hi sellun, already bought my jetstar tix departing 12nov 8pm arriving melbourne 13nov morning. transit at melbourne for 15+ hours before taking night flight to christchurch. will reach christchurch 14nov around 6am local time.

departing christchurch 19nov 8:35pm. so i have 6 days including the early morning arrival. and the night departure.

my return tix costs 2.9k for 3 person with 40kg baggage.

Sorry to pour cold water, but truly waste of time, energy and money,
as sellun already advised you against, but airlines and tour industry loves you.

NZ south alone min. 2 weeks to explore superficially.
For your realistic 4 days, just do CC and QT, that's 15% of NZ south.
You'll have fun nevertheless.
 

nicholaslee

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Hi sellun, already bought my jetstar tix departing 12nov 8pm arriving melbourne 13nov morning. transit at melbourne for 15+ hours before taking night flight to christchurch. will reach christchurch 14nov around 6am local time.

departing christchurch 19nov 8:35pm. so i have 6 days including the early morning arrival. and the night departure.

my return tix costs 2.9k for 3 person with 40kg baggage.

Hi, may I strongly suggest take another domestic flight to Queenstown and spend all your available days there. Do side day trips etc from QT. then fly back to CHC for your return trip.
 

fiopsy

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Hi all,

Planning a trip for 4 adults to south island in late nov/early dec period.. It's our first trip to NZ.. Our preferences are sightseeing and wildlife, so thinking of taking the Southern Scenic route to visit the Catlins & Otago peninsula..

Has anyone tried that route before? How are the road conditions? Below is the initial rough plan of the stops we are making along the way.. There's only 1 driver among 4 of us.. Is the driving too hectic?

QT (1night) -> Te Anau (2nights) -> Curio Bay or Waikawa (1night) -> Owaka (1night) -> Kaka Point (1night) -> Dunedin (2nights) -> QT (2nights)

Appreciate all advice/feedback if this rough plan works..

thanks! :)
 

alpc

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Catlins are great!

Well, I drove the entire South Island trip (14 days) on my own, so 1 driver is ok, as long as the person is willing to do it.
 

veryred

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Hi all,

Planning a trip for 4 adults to south island in late nov/early dec period.. It's our first trip to NZ.. Our preferences are sightseeing and wildlife, so thinking of taking the Southern Scenic route to visit the Catlins & Otago peninsula..

Has anyone tried that route before? How are the road conditions? Below is the initial rough plan of the stops we are making along the way.. There's only 1 driver among 4 of us.. Is the driving too hectic?

QT (1night) -> Te Anau (2nights) -> Curio Bay or Waikawa (1night) -> Owaka (1night) -> Kaka Point (1night) -> Dunedin (2nights) -> QT (2nights)

Appreciate all advice/feedback if this rough plan works..

thanks! :)

I was just in Catlins a week or two back. Its an easy drive compared to the west coast (But still quite zzz if its your first time driving in NZ. Its quite whiny and the uphill is kinda daunting, but nothing compared to the west coast really. . & the drive into owaka is beautiful! 1 driver is absolutely doable. There are a lot of places you can stop and take a break if you get too tired.

Honestly, curiobay, owaka and kaka point you can finish driving within a day even if you were to take it slow. It is a very small town and there is nothing to do, except sight seeing, so it might get tooo boring at night? Unless you plan to go learn surfing in curio bay, I guess that could take up a whole day.
 

jimmytango

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Anyone tried travelling around NZ in caravan? Is class 3 license sufficient?
I went campervan trip few months ago in south island. It was 4berth and was really huge vehicle. Parking and maneuvering in city area like christchurch was a bit a hassle due to the size of it. Long distance driving is quite comfortable in it.
You got to compare with car+motel trip as well, as each has its pros and cons. If I'm going again, would likely to try car+motel instead.
 

coachie

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Hi all
I am considering atrip to South Island around Oct - Nov time.

saw that there are many activities to do in NZ, but they are all rather ex (>100). dun tink i have e budget to do as many activties as i want, so i planning to select just a couple of activities.... Any recommendations on activities which you have really enjoyed?

P.S. not a fan of bungee jumping, sky diving stuff.... too scaredy for me.

I am currently considering the Milford sound cruise. I also saw Helihiking @ fox/franz josef glacier, it looks fun, bt really ex... worth e $ to go?

My fren recommended Walter peak cruise+farm tour...
 

sellun

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Hi all
I am considering atrip to South Island around Oct - Nov time.

saw that there are many activities to do in NZ, but they are all rather ex (>100). dun tink i have e budget to do as many activties as i want, so i planning to select just a couple of activities.... Any recommendations on activities which you have really enjoyed?

P.S. not a fan of bungee jumping, sky diving stuff.... too scaredy for me.

I am currently considering the Milford sound cruise. I also saw Helihiking @ fox/franz josef glacier, it looks fun, bt really ex... worth e $ to go?

My fren recommended Walter peak cruise+farm tour...

Oct - Nov is a great great time to do hikes! South island have super nice hikes/walks all over the place! If hiking is your kind of thing, i'm sure you'll have fun doing many hikes. They have short walks from 1hr to long 3d2n hikes. And its very cheap (unguided) to totally no cost.

I highly recommend kayaking at milford with rosco's, did it in winter, amazing experience. Not your typical tourist adventure and the price is reasonable.
 

coachie

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hi sellun, thanks for ur recommendation about the kayaking at milford sound!

i can totally imagine how nice it will b to kayak around such beautiful scenary. bt is e waters at milford sound calm? any chance of capsizing?
 

sellun

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hi sellun, thanks for ur recommendation about the kayaking at milford sound!

i can totally imagine how nice it will b to kayak around such beautiful scenary. bt is e waters at milford sound calm? any chance of capsizing?

I went in winter when the water is at the most calm period. having said that, the water at milford is generally very calm as its not really open sea with waves. The waves normally comes from the cruise ship and the instructor will guide you. I would say 0.01% of capsizing if you don't purposely flip. The kayak they used are slightly bigger than the ones i used before so its really stable.

Its pretty tiring tho as you'll be kayaking for few hours and best to at least have one person (the one at the back) with kayak experience.
 

jimmytango

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Out of all activities in nz that I tried, I actually enjoyed the free one the most. Hiking at hooker valley, bush tramping along the Milford Sound highway, Abel Tasman coastal walk.
If you planning to spend overnight along arthur pass, there's a nice camp site, Jason retreat camp. They had a private tramping track which end up in a small waterfall, really amazing experience like having your own private waterfall.
 

veryred

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Hi all
I am considering atrip to South Island around Oct - Nov time.

saw that there are many activities to do in NZ, but they are all rather ex (>100). dun tink i have e budget to do as many activties as i want, so i planning to select just a couple of activities.... Any recommendations on activities which you have really enjoyed?

P.S. not a fan of bungee jumping, sky diving stuff.... too scaredy for me.

I am currently considering the Milford sound cruise. I also saw Helihiking @ fox/franz josef glacier, it looks fun, bt really ex... worth e $ to go?

My fren recommended Walter peak cruise+farm tour...

i wanted to heli hike franz josef but the weather was no go.
I did a heli hike from milford back to QT instead. It was awesome. Definitely worth my money.
 

coachie

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I went in winter when the water is at the most calm period. having said that, the water at milford is generally very calm as its not really open sea with waves. The waves normally comes from the cruise ship and the instructor will guide you. I would say 0.01% of capsizing if you don't purposely flip. The kayak they used are slightly bigger than the ones i used before so its really stable.

Its pretty tiring tho as you'll be kayaking for few hours and best to at least have one person (the one at the back) with kayak experience.

hi sellun
thks for ur helpful reply!
wow...kayaking for few hrs... i was thinking it will be a v relaxing & leisure kayaking experience... i not v fit n my fren & i both no kayak experience.

so e instructor will guide u to kayak to different places of milford sound? i was thinking of taking e cruise too...but doing both kayaking at cruise seems to b repetitive? if i do only kayak, i dun tink i wont b able to experience e whole sound? which do u suggest for firstimer to NZ - cruise or kayak better?

i m also considering doubtful sound...hahaha... thinking if i shld do both sounds...
 

coachie

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i wanted to heli hike franz josef but the weather was no go.
I did a heli hike from milford back to QT instead. It was awesome. Definitely worth my money.

i only knew helihiking at franz josef and fox glacier... didnt know milford to QT also got helihike.

good...if suay suay e weather also cmi when i m there, at least i know a backup plan now!

tks!
 

coachie

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i check SQ NZ air tic prices.. woah cost $2.1k per pax. no promotion now, only flexi tics...

anyone can advise roughly how cheap can the tics to NZ go down to (assuming there is some promo)? 1.5K or lower?

not v interested to consider other airlines due to e lengthy stopovers...
 

Cissiboy

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you check SQ of course cost you a bomb...

Changi to Seletar also cost a bomb with Sq
 

coachie

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sq is the only airline direct to NZ right? other airlines gt stopover one, of cos cheaper...
 
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