Back from South island New Zealand

[WWH123]

Just got back from Christchurch with spouse. Had a wonderful time self-drive with 11 nights accommodation. All the accommodation were booked in SG before trip. Spent NZD2600 while in South Island. Did not use credit card there. Sightseeing is FOC everywhere saved for activities which we did - helicopter with snow landing from Fox Glacier, Milford Sound day tour from Te Anau, horse trekking in Glenorchy, jet boating in Queenstown. Activities set us back by SGD1200.

 

[fireantz]

just in time when i'm planning for my honeymoon next year. SIA is having a promotion.

Have not started much on itinerary planning, so if anyone can share theirs with me? Im planning tot spend 2-3 weeks just in south island.

 

[zhihong]

Anyone selling used NZ sim card (Vodafone, 2Degrees etc)? Looking for one with at least 1.5gb left and validity till end of December - PM me if you have!

 

[googoogaga]

Just got back. I have two Vodafone nz Sims. Both have validity until February 3rd. One is a micro sim with around 600mb 4g data left. Other one is a nano sim with around 1.1gb 4g data left. Let me know if anyone is interested.

 

[ahbunehneh]

Any recommendations?

Hi!
Im visiting New Zealand in early to mid September this year for my honeymoon. We will be self driving.
Is 10 days enough for the south island?
If i get 11 full days to be there, the air ticket goes up by 100 per pax for both of us.
Should i go for the 10/11 days?

As we have 10 days only, we are leaning more towards sight seeing, relaxation, wildlife.
Not sure whether it's a good time to swim with the dolphins in such cold weather.
Otherwise, we will like to cover:
1. Lake Tekapo
2. Mount Cook
3. Dunedin (Will like to see penguins)
4. Kaikoura (Is september a good month to spot dolphins, whales and seals?)
5. Queenstown. (Shotover water rafting, skyline gondola, chill at it's city)
6. Fiordland
7. milford sound (Kayaking)
8. Will like to see the southern lights. (Where is a good place to go?)
9. Horse trekking Glenorchy

We will like to forgo some of the places above. Which one is more out of the way?
Will appreciate if someone could help us on this. We love nature and wildlife and not so much on glaciers. We will also love not to drive too much in a day and preferably spend 2 nights per places.

As we are going in september, i guess snow chain for a car is needed?
Another concern is the accommodation. Should i book beforehand or grab a motel booking booklet to book as we go? But i'm actually scared of this option.

THANKS!!

 

[ahbunehneh]

Just got back from Christchurch with spouse. Had a wonderful time self-drive with 11 nights accommodation. All the accommodation were booked in SG before trip. Spent NZD2600 while in South Island. Did not use credit card there. Sightseeing is FOC everywhere saved for activities which we did - helicopter with snow landing from Fox Glacier, Milford Sound day tour from Te Anau, horse trekking in Glenorchy, jet boating in Queenstown. Activities set us back by SGD1200.

Hi!
Do you mind sending me your itinerary?

 

[sellun]

Hi!
Im visiting New Zealand in early to mid September this year for my honeymoon. We will be self driving.
Is 10 days enough for the south island?
If i get 11 full days to be there, the air ticket goes up by 100 per pax for both of us.
Should i go for the 10/11 days?

As we have 10 days only, we are leaning more towards sight seeing, relaxation, wildlife.
Not sure whether it's a good time to swim with the dolphins in such cold weather.
Otherwise, we will like to cover:
1. Lake Tekapo
2. Mount Cook
3. Dunedin (Will like to see penguins)
4. Kaikoura (Is september a good month to spot dolphins, whales and seals?)
5. Queenstown. (Shotover water rafting, skyline gondola, chill at it's city)
6. Fiordland
7. milford sound (Kayaking)
8. Will like to see the southern lights. (Where is a good place to go?)
9. Horse trekking Glenorchy

We will like to forgo some of the places above. Which one is more out of the way?
Will appreciate if someone could help us on this. We love nature and wildlife and not so much on glaciers. We will also love not to drive too much in a day and preferably spend 2 nights per places.

As we are going in september, i guess snow chain for a car is needed?
Another concern is the accommodation. Should i book beforehand or grab a motel booking booklet to book as we go? But i'm actually scared of this option.

THANKS!!

NZ is too beautiful. If there is no other factor like taking leave & etc, I suggest you to go as many days as you can! 10days is just barely for the standard round trip for bottom half of South island.
First time going? Suggest you to do the standard round trip.
CHC - Arthur - Franz - wanaka - Queenstown - Milford - mt cook/tekapo - chc.
I don't think you'll need snow chain in Sept already.

I personally love my campervan experience in south island, I would recommend you and your wife to hire campervan for your road trip if you guys are looking for a memorable & adventure experience. It feels really great to wake up in the middle of nowhere in the beautiful country. You won't have to worry about accomdation as well. In my experience, should cost slightly cheaper than booking car + accomdation.

Sent from iPhone 7 using GAGT

 

[ahbunehneh]

NZ is too beautiful. If there is no other factor like taking leave & etc, I suggest you to go as many days as you can! 10days is just barely for the standard round trip for bottom half of South island.
First time going? Suggest you to do the standard round trip.
CHC - Arthur - Franz - wanaka - Queenstown - Milford - mt cook/tekapo - chc.
I don't think you'll need snow chain in Sept already.

I personally love my campervan experience in south island, I would recommend you and your wife to hire campervan for your road trip if you guys are looking for a memorable & adventure experience. It feels really great to wake up in the middle of nowhere in the beautiful country. You won't have to worry about accomdation as well. In my experience, should cost slightly cheaper than booking car + accomdation.

Sent from iPhone 7 using GAGT

Thanks for your reply. Yes our first time to new zealand. Due to work commitments we can only take up to 13 days (Minus off 2 days for the flights, will leave us with 11 days..)
Will it be better if we take a train further in from christchurch then rent a car to reduce time spend on driving? As for the camper van, i wanted to rent one at first in fact. However, i read from forums that september has shorter daylight so they recommend hotels instead.

How was the camper van experience? Does it drag the vehicle when going uphills? How much did you spend on rental and petrol consumption?

Thanks!

 

[sellun]

You can probably train to greymouth and start driving from there. But the time you save is probably just few hours? Not sure its cost and effort worthy.

I'm not sure why shorter daylight = hotel. For me, shorter daylight is more a reason to choose campervan. On one of our night, we overestimated our route and it went dark before us reaching the next town. We searched on one of the app (camper mate) to find the nearest free camping location to just cook dinner and stop for the night. We camped right beside the ocean by the side of the highway. The sky is filled with stars and we could hear the sea waves for the whole night. Best night of our trip in NZ.

If you think campervan is slower than normal car, you are right. But we were almost always at the speed limit so if others advice you to take up normal car because of the speed, that means you would be speeding over the advised speed limit! Not my fun way to travel. The scenery while driving is the main point for a route trip in NZ for me.

I went in late may, which had even shorter daylight. Probably colder but the heater in the van is even better than our accomdation for our first night (cheap accomdation similar to chalet). We had winter discount so about $1800 for 10nights for our 6berth van (biggest and best) fuel maybe around 400+- for the whole 10days.
We rented from KEA. All their vehicles seems quite new, and its really easy to drive. Fully auto with power steering, big window allowing you to have very clear sight of surrounding. No issues with uphill and downhill at all.

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[sellun]

Another way to travel differently from the standard round loop is to travel either north (franz, greymouth, fox) or south (tekapo, mt cook) and end at Queenstown then fly domestic flight back to chc for your return flight. BTW you're flying to and fro chc right?

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[zenogear]

For those with experience driving a campercan/motorhome in New Zealand, is it required to book the campsite in advance?
Any risk or items that one need to take note for campervan/motorhome?

 

[sellun]

For those with experience driving a campercan/motorhome in New Zealand, is it required to book the campsite in advance?
Any risk or items that one need to take note for campervan/motorhome?

Depends on season. Winter no need, summer need.
Get insurance, drive slowly you're having holiday and not rushing, many roads are single lane so stop by the side if you're hogging other vehicle, don't overestimate your distance and take it easy. Get a self-contained one and try freedom camping in various campsites.

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[zenogear]

Depends on season. Winter no need, summer need.
Get insurance, drive slowly you're having holiday and not rushing, many roads are single lane so stop by the side if you're hogging other vehicle, don't overestimate your distance and take it easy. Get a self-contained one and try freedom camping in various campsites.

Sent from LGE LG-H815 using GAGT

Thanks Sellun. You mentioned you drove a 6 berth motorhome. Any issues with driving such a large vehicle on your trip (I am assuming you have a class 3 license)?
Pretty worried about driving since I don't have much driving experience and given the motorhomes are usually quite large vehicles.

 

[ahbunehneh]

thanks sellun!!!
we have decided to change our destination because of our budget. 7k seems low for 2 pax for 2 weeks.

 

[Careful Investor]

Hi
In preliminary planning to go to South Island. Need some advice.
1. For driving around NZ, do you normally stay around 1-2 nights at each stop? If travelling in 1st 2 weeks of Dec, is it peak yet that we have to book accommodation in advance or do you go around looking for accommodation when you reach each stop? Since normally staying only 1-2 nights at each stop, do you find it very troublesome keep on having to change accommodation - pack and unpack things in luggage?

2. From Christchurch to Franz Josef, I must go westward to Greymouth then new to Franz Josef? No way to go directly from Christchurch to Franz Josef?

3. From Franz Josef, not possible to go to Mt Cook directly? From Queenstown, which route is better : Queenstown-Mt Cook-Lake Tekapo or Queenstown-Lake Tekapo-Mt Cook? Whichever route I choose, there will be backtracking, correct? Eg From Queenstown take State Highway 80 to go Mt Cook, then take State Highway 80 again to State Highway 8 to go Lake Tekapo.

4. Is it easy to find eating places, toilets and petrol kiosks along the way when driving in South Island?

Thanks for advice.

 

[sellun]

Hi
In preliminary planning to go to South Island. Need some advice.
1. For driving around NZ, do you normally stay around 1-2 nights at each stop? If travelling in 1st 2 weeks of Dec, is it peak yet that we have to book accommodation in advance or do you go around looking for accommodation when you reach each stop? Since normally staying only 1-2 nights at each stop, do you find it very troublesome keep on having to change accommodation - pack and unpack things in luggage?

2. From Christchurch to Franz Josef, I must go westward to Greymouth then new to Franz Josef? No way to go directly from Christchurch to Franz Josef?

3. From Franz Josef, not possible to go to Mt Cook directly? From Queenstown, which route is better : Queenstown-Mt Cook-Lake Tekapo or Queenstown-Lake Tekapo-Mt Cook? Whichever route I choose, there will be backtracking, correct? Eg From Queenstown take State Highway 80 to go Mt Cook, then take State Highway 80 again to State Highway 8 to go Lake Tekapo.

4. Is it easy to find eating places, toilets and petrol kiosks along the way when driving in South Island?

Thanks for advice.

1) one night every few hours drive. Two or more at each town. Dec is definitely peak and I would recommend booking in advance, even car rental.
Yes troublesome so I recommend doing campervan
2) yes no way to drive direct
3) no way except you take helicopter tour, I would go Mt cook then tekapo.
4) it's very easy, roads are straightforward. I would recommend to pump petrol every chance you have tho.

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[Careful Investor]

Hi Sellun
Even if we drive campervan, we still need to check into parking sites for electricity, dumping grounds, etc. So need to pre-book these parking sites or find one along the way? If pre-book, still have to plan where will you end up in exactly every night, correct?

Just to check, if we are not keen in hiking, is it worthwhile to go Mt Cook? How long is the drive between Lake Tekapo to Mt Cook? Is Mt Cook visible from Lake Tekapo so that we can see Mt Cook without going there since we are not hiking?

Thanks for quick reply.

 

[nicholaslee]

Guys, I've covered South for 2 weeks honeymoon and North for 1.5 weeks in 2 separate trips.. We went to North with our 8 mths old child in Aug 2015..

Now we are thinking of returning to South with our child in may 2016.. We love the self drive and scenery experience. But not sure is it still worth going back one more time!?

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[Mockingjay]

New zealand like super exp

 

[Trazora]

New zealand like super exp

Great for scenery