Back from South island New Zealand

liemsc

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Experiences...

As they say... leave your shopping behind. Mainly coz everything there is pretty much imported, no tax rebates.

True, experiences indeed. :)
Nevertheless, been hearing a lot of people mentioning honey. I'm not familiar with how to choose good quality honey though.
 

GeraldineT

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Is there any experiences that you guys have done that would recommend?
My partner and I are heading there from 25 april to 4 june, traveling from Wellington to south then fly from chc to Auckland and tour north.
 

BlackCube

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Is there any experiences that you guys have done that would recommend?
My partner and I are heading there from 25 april to 4 june, traveling from Wellington to south then fly from chc to Auckland and tour north.

All the exciting activities like sky dive (go for 19k ft one), bugee (go for 134m one), heli track or something at glacier. Expensive but ok la.

Stay 3d2n at Wanaka. If u go Roy peak then one day gone Liao. I like Wanaka. Stay at tekapo there for star gazing? Can't rmb if is tekapo or I rmb wrongly.

If u want lots of action and play, stay queentowns for maybe 3 full day?

never go north before so no idea.

just notice that u gg for one month plus. very hiong. but sure shiok.

Posted from PCWX using Pixel 3
 

zhenology

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Is there any experiences that you guys have done that would recommend?
My partner and I are heading there from 25 april to 4 june, traveling from Wellington to south then fly from chc to Auckland and tour north.

Aside from the super adventurous things like bungee jumping, you can try:
1) Black water rafting at Waitomo (North)
2) Parasailing (available at several places such as Lake Taupo up North)
3) Zipride at Kawarau (near Queenstown for those who want some adrenaline rush yet not as scary as bungee)
4) Onsen hot pools (Super nice!! But must book way in advance)
5) Horse riding experience (at Walter Peak Farm across Lake Wakatipu at Queenstown, available at other places too)
6) Glenorchy 4WD (looks superrrrr fun but we didn’t manage to try cos we were rushing off to some other tour)

There’re also lots of scenic trails for hiking, especially along crown range road which you get to pass by travelling between Wanaka and Queenstown. Those are spectacular sights you shouldn’t miss! If you travel from the direction of Franz Josef or Fox Glacier towards Wanaka, you must check out the Blue Pools walk, stunning views! Also, you can easily grab a good and reasonably priced pair of hiking shoes in NZ.

Alot of places worth visiting..depending on what you like.
 

zhenology

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Just a quick check.. What do people usually buy & bring back from NZ? :)
(we're not into wines though).

My partner and I are not into wines too. Among the stuff we bought, the ones worth mentioning are probably things like:

1) Manuka South royal jelly capsules which cost NZD60.90 (e exact same bottle of 365 capsules cost S$260 in SG)
2) Cookie Time cookies - if you go to Christchurch, their factory is there and you can get those big bags of cookies instead of individually packed ones found in supermarkets. Those big bags of cookies are about 50% cheaper. Personally find the chocolate chunk and salted caramel flavours super nice.
3) Manuka honey - they actually don’t cost cheaper than in SG, some brands are more expensive there. Maybe worth it to drop by some of those honey shops along the highway or small towns and get some honey from them since those are brands you won’t easily get in SG. Aside from Manuka, there’re also Clover honey, thyme honey (super strong smell not everyone likes), etc.
4) Hand cream from Wild Fern - these are more moisturising than the regular hand cream, more suitable for super cold and dry weather which I find really good when you visit during colder months.
5) Rotorua Volcano mask, etc - something you can’t easily get from outside NZ so it’s quite worth it to bring back some for your friends or family.
 

GeraldineT

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All the exciting activities like sky dive (go for 19k ft one), bugee (go for 134m one), heli track or something at glacier. Expensive but ok la.

Stay 3d2n at Wanaka. If u go Roy peak then one day gone Liao. I like Wanaka. Stay at tekapo there for star gazing? Can't rmb if is tekapo or I rmb wrongly.

If u want lots of action and play, stay queentowns for maybe 3 full day?

never go north before so no idea.

just notice that u gg for one month plus. very hiong. but sure shiok.

Posted from PCWX using Pixel 3

yes yes! we will be going for the franz josef skydive at 19f, heli hike at franz josef, overnight heli hike at fox glacier and also the mount cook heli hike.

my plan for wanaka was, while driving from fox to glacier early morning go lake matheson first, then blue pool, wanaka tree, then enough time either glendu bay/bremner. bay
2nd day i have wildwire adventure and maybe mount aspiring,
3rd day relax?
4tth day drive to te anau

we not doing any bungee though.

For queenstown I cant find any adventure I wanna do except for dart river but we might stay 4 days as 1 day we will be doing an elopement
 

GeraldineT

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Aside from the super adventurous things like bungee jumping, you can try:
1) Black water rafting at Waitomo (North)
2) Parasailing (available at several places such as Lake Taupo up North)
3) Zipride at Kawarau (near Queenstown for those who want some adrenaline rush yet not as scary as bungee)
4) Onsen hot pools (Super nice!! But must book way in advance)
5) Horse riding experience (at Walter Peak Farm across Lake Wakatipu at Queenstown, available at other places too)
6) Glenorchy 4WD (looks superrrrr fun but we didn’t manage to try cos we were rushing off to some other tour)

There’re also lots of scenic trails for hiking, especially along crown range road which you get to pass by travelling between Wanaka and Queenstown. Those are spectacular sights you shouldn’t miss! If you travel from the direction of Franz Josef or Fox Glacier towards Wanaka, you must check out the Blue Pools walk, stunning views! Also, you can easily grab a good and reasonably priced pair of hiking shoes in NZ.

Alot of places worth visiting..depending on what you like.

Ive been trying to book the onsen but cant seem to do so online ( will try again )
horse riding, i'm doing in geraldine
I wanna go glenorchy as well but cant seem to fit in days. :(

We will land in wellington first so probably will go there to get a hiking shoe first?
Do u think its better to buy there or in SG?
 

winningeleven

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Hi, booked the air fare to Christchurch during black friday

Planning my trip to south island in next year May and will do a anti clockwise self drive from CC and back to CC.

Anyone tried driving from hokikita to Wanaka before ?

Skipping FJG / fox as i wont be doing any helihike or any glaciers walk so no point for me to hang over there.

I do consider the spending a night at haast if really unfavourable to do that.

For mount cook. it is good to base my accommodation at twizel for 2 nights?

Day 1 . Arrived at CC. Stay at CC at 1 night for rest recovery
Day 2 . CC to hokitika Stay at Hokitika 1 night
Day 3 . Hokitika to wanaka (Stay wanaka 2 nights)
Day 4 Wanaka
Day 5 wanaka to queenstown (Stay Queenstown 3 nights)
Day 6. Queenstown
Day 7. Queenstown
Day 8. Queenstown to Twizel
Day 9. Twizel
Day 10. Twizel to CC
Day 11. CC flight home.

Me and wife are budget travellers , just want to explore the NZ and enjoy the scenery there . Wont be doing any thrill rides such as tandem skydive, bungee jump and anything that cost a lot of money. We are ok to do not so difficult hiking. (I can do roy peaks..but i know is too tough my wife)

It is a waste to stay both wanaka/ queenstown area for 5 nights? I try not to move in /stay 1 night /go for the next and have difference accommodations everyday. that why i choose to stay more time there . it is good to base all 5 nights in Cromwell since it is in between the 2 ?
 

liemsc

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My partner and I are not into wines too. Among the stuff we bought, the ones worth mentioning are probably things like:

1) Manuka South royal jelly capsules which cost NZD60.90 (e exact same bottle of 365 capsules cost S$260 in SG)
2) Cookie Time cookies - if you go to Christchurch, their factory is there and you can get those big bags of cookies instead of individually packed ones found in supermarkets. Those big bags of cookies are about 50% cheaper. Personally find the chocolate chunk and salted caramel flavours super nice.
3) Manuka honey - they actually don’t cost cheaper than in SG, some brands are more expensive there. Maybe worth it to drop by some of those honey shops along the highway or small towns and get some honey from them since those are brands you won’t easily get in SG. Aside from Manuka, there’re also Clover honey, thyme honey (super strong smell not everyone likes), etc.
4) Hand cream from Wild Fern - these are more moisturising than the regular hand cream, more suitable for super cold and dry weather which I find really good when you visit during colder months.
5) Rotorua Volcano mask, etc - something you can’t easily get from outside NZ so it’s quite worth it to bring back some for your friends or family.

Thank you!
Wondering why the manuka honey there is more expensive :) oh well.. We'll see.
 

liemsc

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Hi, booked the air fare to Christchurch during black friday

Planning my trip to south island in next year May and will do a anti clockwise self drive from CC and back to CC.

Anyone tried driving from hokikita to Wanaka before ?

Skipping FJG / fox as i wont be doing any helihike or any glaciers walk so no point for me to hang over there.

I do consider the spending a night at haast if really unfavourable to do that.

For mount cook. it is good to base my accommodation at twizel for 2 nights?

Day 1 . Arrived at CC. Stay at CC at 1 night for rest recovery
Day 2 . CC to hokitika Stay at Hokitika 1 night
Day 3 . Hokitika to wanaka (Stay wanaka 2 nights)
Day 4 Wanaka
Day 5 wanaka to queenstown (Stay Queenstown 3 nights)
Day 6. Queenstown
Day 7. Queenstown
Day 8. Queenstown to Twizel
Day 9. Twizel
Day 10. Twizel to CC
Day 11. CC flight home.

Me and wife are budget travellers , just want to explore the NZ and enjoy the scenery there . Wont be doing any thrill rides such as tandem skydive, bungee jump and anything that cost a lot of money. We are ok to do not so difficult hiking. (I can do roy peaks..but i know is too tough my wife)

It is a waste to stay both wanaka/ queenstown area for 5 nights? I try not to move in /stay 1 night /go for the next and have difference accommodations everyday. that why i choose to stay more time there . it is good to base all 5 nights in Cromwell since it is in between the 2 ?

I will only have our 1st trip to NZ later this month, but I've been researching a few months from forums, and happen to see that your itinerary is somewhat similar to ours, hence daring myself to share. Our plan:
1N CHC
1N Arthur Pass
1N Hokitika
1N Fox Glacier
2N Wanaka
2N Te Anau
3N QTN
1N Mt Cook (White Horse Hill)
1N Glentanner
1N Geraldine
1N CHC

To some of your questions:
Don't stay overnight in Haast, there's nothing there but sandflies (said people in TripAdvisor forum :)
5N Cromwell : I'd rather choose 2N Wanaka + 3N Queenstown, to minimize travelling time every day.
Mt Cook : if you're not campervaning, then 1st option for lodging (nearest) should be in Mt Cook Village. 2nd nearest is Glentanner (much closer than Twizel).

As said, I haven't done my trip yet, so take this with a pinch of salt :)
 

winningeleven

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I will only have our 1st trip to NZ later this month, but I've been researching a few months from forums, and happen to see that your itinerary is somewhat similar to ours, hence daring myself to share. Our plan:
1N CHC
1N Arthur Pass
1N Hokitika
1N Fox Glacier
2N Wanaka
2N Te Anau
3N QTN
1N Mt Cook (White Horse Hill)
1N Glentanner
1N Geraldine
1N CHC

To some of your questions:
Don't stay overnight in Haast, there's nothing there but sandflies (said people in TripAdvisor forum :)
5N Cromwell : I'd rather choose 2N Wanaka + 3N Queenstown, to minimize travelling time every day.
Mt Cook : if you're not campervaning, then 1st option for lodging (nearest) should be in Mt Cook Village. 2nd nearest is Glentanner (much closer than Twizel).

As said, I haven't done my trip yet, so take this with a pinch of salt :)

I thought of doing camper van initially. In the end i find out the cost of rental campervan per day + powered camp site is more much more expensive than accommodation+normal car rental .

Never been to NZ and all the info i know are from here and friends. A friend of mine who did the trip last year also told me not to waste time overnight on haast . He did mention drive from hokitika to wanaka is doable in a day. From what i believe . many travellers drive the FJG to wanaka.

I will going in may and the day is rather short. The 2 places u mentioned near mount cook are good suggestions. Thank you
 

evilerniex

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No plans for lake tekapo?
It is a nice place for star gazing, even if u dun plan to take the star gazing tour. And the view from Mt John during the day is amazing.
 

winningeleven

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I see lake tekapo is quite near to where I based. Twizel. I guess can make a drive there for star grazing, probably that is the only night drive I will have to do.
 

BlackCube

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yes yes! we will be going for the franz josef skydive at 19f, heli hike at franz josef, overnight heli hike at fox glacier and also the mount cook heli hike.

my plan for wanaka was, while driving from fox to glacier early morning go lake matheson first, then blue pool, wanaka tree, then enough time either glendu bay/bremner. bay
2nd day i have wildwire adventure and maybe mount aspiring,
3rd day relax?
4tth day drive to te anau

we not doing any bungee though.

For queenstown I cant find any adventure I wanna do except for dart river but we might stay 4 days as 1 day we will be doing an elopement

if i didn't get you wrong, you are going from FJG to Wanaka right.

I did that as well, but I think you need to cater enough time. And probably not enough time for all the location.

I left FJG at 9.30am and went to Bruce Bay View Point for a short while, maybe 10min, then Knight Point Lookout for 15min, then Ship Creek for awhile 20-30min, then Haast Beach for 1hr 30m cause taking photos and rest. Then Fantail Falls for another 30min, then Blue Pools Walk for an hour. You will see people jumping down from the bridge to the pool, I did that as well. Then Wanaka Viewpoint for 10min. Then The Neck for some stunning view for 15min, then Lake Hawea Lookout then finally reach Wanaka at 7pm.

Maybe will give you a better guage, if you based on google map, it states almost 4hr to reach from FJG to Wanaka, but if you cater the stopping and so on, then it took me a whole day to reach Wanaka.

I didn't really plan where to stop in between my destination, I have some main ones but along the way, you will discover some hidden gem.

Depending on the period and timing you go, Lake Matheson might have nothing to offer to you. Go research but as I can remember, you need to go at certain timing and season maybe? to get the best view. other than that, there's nothing make that Matheson offers, I feel, personally.
 

BlackCube

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Hi, booked the air fare to Christchurch during black friday

Planning my trip to south island in next year May and will do a anti clockwise self drive from CC and back to CC.

Anyone tried driving from hokikita to Wanaka before ?

Skipping FJG / fox as i wont be doing any helihike or any glaciers walk so no point for me to hang over there.

I do consider the spending a night at haast if really unfavourable to do that.

For mount cook. it is good to base my accommodation at twizel for 2 nights?

Day 1 . Arrived at CC. Stay at CC at 1 night for rest recovery
Day 2 . CC to hokitika Stay at Hokitika 1 night
Day 3 . Hokitika to wanaka (Stay wanaka 2 nights)
Day 4 Wanaka
Day 5 wanaka to queenstown (Stay Queenstown 3 nights)
Day 6. Queenstown
Day 7. Queenstown
Day 8. Queenstown to Twizel
Day 9. Twizel
Day 10. Twizel to CC
Day 11. CC flight home.

Me and wife are budget travellers , just want to explore the NZ and enjoy the scenery there . Wont be doing any thrill rides such as tandem skydive, bungee jump and anything that cost a lot of money. We are ok to do not so difficult hiking. (I can do roy peaks..but i know is too tough my wife)

It is a waste to stay both wanaka/ queenstown area for 5 nights? I try not to move in /stay 1 night /go for the next and have difference accommodations everyday. that why i choose to stay more time there . it is good to base all 5 nights in Cromwell since it is in between the 2 ?

Hokikita to Wanaka is possible, around 5+ 6hrs of driving non-stop. But you will stop for sure along the road for photo taking, and rest and so on. So your day 3 will be driving whole day, and possibly reach at night time at wanaka. You only left with 1 day at wanaka. So if you do roy peak on day 4, come back down should be say mid afternoon. you got no time to absort Wanaka. I think Wanaka is really nice.

Bungee is actually not very expensive, I think if just purely bungee is around 100 or so? Can go for the experience if you want. It's not difficult to do Roy Peak on May. Cool weather, and so on. I did on Summer and I almost died. :s13::s13: Didn't cater for sufficient drinks also.

I think is ok to stay wanaka for couple of days, and queenstown for couple of days. I stayed on Twizel as well previously, there's a place called High Country Salmon nearby, you can get nice salmon if you do eat.
 

BlackCube

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I will only have our 1st trip to NZ later this month, but I've been researching a few months from forums, and happen to see that your itinerary is somewhat similar to ours, hence daring myself to share. Our plan:
1N CHC
1N Arthur Pass
1N Hokitika
1N Fox Glacier
2N Wanaka
2N Te Anau
3N QTN
1N Mt Cook (White Horse Hill)
1N Glentanner
1N Geraldine
1N CHC

To some of your questions:
Don't stay overnight in Haast, there's nothing there but sandflies (said people in TripAdvisor forum :)
5N Cromwell : I'd rather choose 2N Wanaka + 3N Queenstown, to minimize travelling time every day.
Mt Cook : if you're not campervaning, then 1st option for lodging (nearest) should be in Mt Cook Village. 2nd nearest is Glentanner (much closer than Twizel).

As said, I haven't done my trip yet, so take this with a pinch of salt :)

Any particular reason to stay in Arthur Pass? If not, then go straight to Hokikta, or you can visit Greymouth if you want.

Not doing any activities in FJG? If you doing, then cater 3d2n as weather may cause some activity to cancel. 2n in Wanaka is ok, but note that going from FJG to Wanaka takes around whole day (see my previous post), so you only have one day to explore in Wanaka unless you intend not to stop from FJG to Wanaka which kinda defeat the purpose of going to NZ.

Your last couple of days staying at Glentanner and Geraldine got any reason? If not can compress and stay at Kimbell/Tekapo area so don't need to keep changing hotel?
 

BlackCube

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I see lake tekapo is quite near to where I based. Twizel. I guess can make a drive there for star grazing, probably that is the only night drive I will have to do.

When I was there, the sky not good. Can't see anything. :(

Hope you have better luck.
 

winningeleven

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Hokikita to Wanaka is possible, around 5+ 6hrs of driving non-stop. But you will stop for sure along the road for photo taking, and rest and so on. So your day 3 will be driving whole day, and possibly reach at night time at wanaka. You only left with 1 day at wanaka. So if you do roy peak on day 4, come back down should be say mid afternoon. you got no time to absort Wanaka. I think Wanaka is really nice.

Bungee is actually not very expensive, I think if just purely bungee is around 100 or so? Can go for the experience if you want. It's not difficult to do Roy Peak on May. Cool weather, and so on. I did on Summer and I almost died. :s13::s13: Didn't cater for sufficient drinks also.

I think is ok to stay wanaka for couple of days, and queenstown for couple of days. I stayed on Twizel as well previously, there's a place called High Country Salmon nearby, you can get nice salmon if you do eat.

Yes. Change my accommodation at wanaka for 3 nights and queenstown for 2 night. Accommodation in Queenstown is rather more expensive.

I guess that is quite alright especially I only have 10 full days overall there. I wish I have more days to spend there.
 

evilerniex

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When I was there, the sky not good. Can't see anything. :(

Hope you have better luck.

best if can stay in tekapo for more than a night, so that u have more chance to see stars.

actually same for all the weather dependent activities such as helihike and skydiving. cater more days in the area, in case bad weather u still can do the activity the next day.
 
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